Air Force space officials announced Wednesday that they and their industry partners have achieved a major milestone in the assembly of the second Space Based Infrared Systems early warning satellite, which is known as GEO-2. Over a period of 34 days that concluded on Oct. 6, they completed the integration of the satellite’s two equipment panels onto the spacecraft core module at prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s facility in Sunnyvale, Calif. The equipment panels hold the electronics components that govern functions like the satellite’s communications, attitude control, power distribution, and payload data processing. “The team has worked tirelessly, meeting each challenge head on,” said Lt. Col. Jack Allen, SBIRS Space Squadron commander at Los Angeles AFB, Calif. In fact, they finished this integration nine days ahead of schedule. GEO-2 is scheduled for launch in 2012, following GEO-1, which is slated for launch in 2011.
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…