The 19th Defense Meteorological Satellite Program spacecraft successfully launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket Thursday morning from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., according to a release. “The launch of DMSP-19 continues the vital weather support to operational commanders for another decade,” said Col. Scott Larrimore, director of the Space and Missile Systems Center’s Defense Weather Systems Directorate. The satellite will orbit the Earth in a “near polar, sun-synchronous orbit” and is capable of covering the entire Earth in about 12 hours, states the release. The satellite is slated to provide environmental data into the mid-2020s and is part of an extension of DMSP operations that resulted from a 2012 reboot of the Defense Weather Satellite System. It is the third ULA mission out of a slated 15 in 2014, according to a company release.
The first live-fly dogfights pitting artificial intelligence against human pilots took place last fall, and more tests are planned as the Air Force prepares to launch the Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, DARPA and Air Force test officials reported.