The Air Force handed a $1.5 billion, year-long space launch ranges support contract to Raytheon and General Dynamics with nine additional one-year options, the companies announced on Jan. 9. Under the Launch and Test Range System Integrated Support contract, the two companies will be responsible for operating and maintaining ranges at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. The joint venture, dubbed “Range Generation Next,”deliver efficiencies and economies of scale that could not be obtained under separate contracts,” said Raytheon intel and information services president Lynn Dugle. The team also will be responsible for delivering depot maintenance and infrastructure sustainment to enable space launch, missile and air-vehicle testing, and telemetry for defense and commercial space missions and ICBM test launches, according to the release.
More than 100 Guardians across the globe have started wearing the Space Force’s prototype service dress uniform three times per week as part of “wear testing”—the final stage before the uniform is produced and rolled out to Guardians everywhere in 2025.