GEO-1, the Air Force’s first Space Based Infrared Systems early warning satellite passed final exams and is cleared for launch aboard an Atlas V rocket this spring, prime contractor Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday. Confidence testing at Lockheed’s plant in Sunnydale, Calif., was the last milestone following installation of the satellite’s final sub-assemblies. Lockheed is now preparing to ship the satellite to Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., for its placement in orbit. “GEO-1 will usher in a new era of critical missile warning capabilities vital to our national security. As we progress toward launch, the entire government/industry team is laser focused on delivering mission success,” said Col. Roger Teague, USAF’s infrared space systems director. GEO-1 will join two SBIRS payloads already in orbit aboard classified intelligence satellites.
Small one-way attack drones widely used on the frontlines of Ukraine and against U.S. outposts in the Middle East have fundamentally altered the definition of air superiority, Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife said April 24. "Our traditional conception of what things like…