McDonnell Douglas’s Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X) subscale single-stage-to-orbit prototype makes a 60-second first flight at the White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The 42-foot-tall vehicle takes off vertically, hovers at about 150 feet, moves laterally approximately 350 feet, and lands tail down.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
