An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft crashed during a routine training sortie from Creech AFB, Nev., early on Dec. 11, 432nd Wing officials stated. The Reaper went down in an unpopulated area approximately one mile east of the base. Emergency responders were able to cordon off the wreck-site, and no Air Force or civilian personnel were injured in the mishap. Wing officials will release more information as it becomes available, according to a release. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
The Space Force is playing midwife to a new ecosystem of commercial satellite constellations providing alternatives to the service’s own Global Positioning Service from much closer to the Earth, making their signals more accurate and harder to jam.