US defense officials approved the first Operationally Responsive Space satellite, ORS-1, for shipment to NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia for integration with its Minotaur 1 launch vehicle. The satellite is currently scheduled for launch in mid June. “This team has just accomplished the impossible by building an operationally relevant satellite in a mere 30 months,” said Col. Carol Welsch, acting director of the Air Force’s Space Development and Test Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M., in a release. “We’re excited to field this important capability to meet a [US Central Command] urgent need.” The satellite features the SYERS-2 electro-optical/infrared sensor—the primary camera on the U-2 reconnaissance airplane—and will provide battlespace awareness to troops in Southwest Asia. ORS-1 still needs to complete launch-site testing, vehicle checkout, and launch vehicle integration and closeout at Wallops before launch. (See also ORS-1 Nears Launch from the Daily Report archives)
The U.S. thwarted a drone attack on U.S. forces at Al Asad air base in western Iraq on April 22, marking the first time that American troops have been targeted since February, U.S. officials said. “We can confirm it was an attack on Al Asad,” a defense official told Air & Space…