United 
Launch Alliance has cleared the next launch of an Air Force X-37B reusable spaceplane to occur this week at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., after concluding that it has sufficiently mitigated the chances of a booster anomaly repeating itself from a previous satellite launch. A ULA Atlas V rocket is now scheduled to carry the X-37 orbital test vehicle into space on Dec 11, states the company’s Dec. 7 release. This mission, dubbed OTV-3, will be the third space flight of the two-vehicle X-37 fleet. Back in early October, a ULA Delta IV rocket experienced an upper-stage engine malfunction during a GPS IIF satellite launch. The Atlas V utilizes a different version of this same engine, but the Air Force and ULA delayed the X-37 launch until they understood better what happened. ULA’s investigation of the Delta IV anomaly “concluded that a fuel leak occurred” and that the leak “started during the first engine start sequence,” states the release. While the anomaly investigation continues, “all credible crossover implications” for the Atlas V “have been thoroughly addressed and mitigated,” clearing the way for the OTV-3 launch, states the release.
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.