Lockheed 
Martin announced Monday that GEO-1, the Air Force’s first Space Based Infrared System geosynchronous orbit satellite, has arrived at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., in preparation for its scheduled launch in early May. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will carry the sophisticated early warning satellite into space. “GEO-1 delivery to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station represents the program’s most significant milestone to date and I am proud of the entire SBIRS team dedicated to delivering this cutting-edge missile warning spacecraft,” said Jeff Smith, Lockheed’s SBIRS program director. “GEO-1 will play a vital role in our national security space architecture, and we look forward to getting this satellite on orbit,” added Col. Roger Teague, who heads the Air Force’s infrared space systems directorate. An Air Force C-5 transport flew the satellite from Sunnyvale, Calif., site of Lockheed’s SBIRS production facility, to Florida. (See also Los Angeles release)
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.
