Technicians fired the solid rocket motors of a Minuteman III first stage at contractor Alliant Techsystems’ test complex in Promontory, Utah, announced Minuteman prime contractor Northrop Grumman. The quality-assurance test, which is part of USAF’s Minuteman solid rocket motor warm line initiative, “provides one more point of assurance of the integrity and reliability of the ICBM weapon system today and the solid rocket motor industrial base for the years to come,” said Tony Spehar, Northrop’s missile system vice president. Under SRMWL, ATK will manufacture up to 10 MM III motor sets over two years. An example of each Minuteman stage is tested under the program each year. This summer, MM III second- and third-stage tests took place in an altitude chamber at Arnold AFB, Tenn. ATK has produced a total of 4,000 Minuteman motors and recently completed a 10-year program to recondition a total of 1,800 of them.
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
