Capt. Pamela A. Melroy and Capt. John B. Norton, along with McDonnell Douglas pilots William R. Casey and Charles N. Walls, set a number of recognized altitude records with payload (for two different subclasses of jet aircraft) in a C-17A at Edwards AFB, Calif. A class record for greatest load (133,422 pounds) carried to 6,600 feet is also set on the flight.
The Space Force’s work to establish a pool of at-the-ready commercial satellite capacity during a crisis is moving out of the pilot phase as the service prepares to award its next batch of contracts in 2026.
