A United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket lifted off from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Wednesday carrying a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload into space, according to Air Force and industry officials. The launch occurred at 11:03 a.m. local time from Space Launch Complex-6, according to the 30th Space Wing’s Facebook page. The Aug. 28 mission, designated NROL-65, was in support of national defense. This was the second-ever Delta IV Heavy launch from Vandenberg, said the officials The first took place in January 2011. (See also ULA release.)
The Pentagon's research labs are ramping up their search for munitions that can be mass-produced—an effort likely to be buoyed by billions of dollars in the department's new fiscal 2027 budget request and tens of billions in the upcoming years. While the topline information shared about the President’s defense budget…