Approaching inclement weather on the Atlantic coast of Florida on Wednesday pushed back the scheduled launch of WGS-3, the Air Force’s third Wideband Global Satellite Communications spacecraft, by 24 hours, according to Air Force Space Command. The new launch window is now Thursday from 7:22 p.m. to 8:43 p.m. East Coast time, the command said in a release. WGS-3 will be carried into space aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket fired from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. It will reside in orbit over the eastern Atlantic.
A half-dozen pilots from one of the Air Force’s premier F-16 units, the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., have been awarded one of the service’s highest decorations for their role in Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.