Air Force and industry officials will likely require until at least mid August to resolve a software issue associated with the Minotaur IV rocket design that has delayed the launch of the space based space surveillance satellite, according to press reports. Air Force officials scrubbed the July 8 launch mission from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., after tests of a Minotaur IV intended for a different mission showed a timing flaw in its flight software. While the chances were considered miniscule that the software issue would have impacted the Minotaur IV being used for the SBSS’ placement into low Earth orbit, Air Force officials decided to take no chances and opted to have a software patch created, reports the Lompoc Record. (See also Spaceflight Now report)
The Space Development Agency wants to wrap up its Tranche 1 launch campaign by the end of spring 2027, flying six more batches of satellites to build out its tracking and data transport constellations, according to Director Gurpartap Sandhoo.
