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.
NASA Boss: Race to Moon Has National Security Stakes
Sept. 15, 2026
NASA is pushing hard to get astronauts back to the moon by 2028—and the urgency is driven in no small part by the national security implications of doing so before China does, Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sept. 15.
