Air Force Space Command declares the Operationally Responsive Satellite-1 satellite has reached final operational capability. Reaching orbit in June 2011, ORS-1 has provided additional situational awareness for troops in Afghanistan, employing a modified electro-optical/infrared imagery sensor similar to that on the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.
Pentagon leaders, eager to move fast and avoid pitfalls that have plagued defense acquisition in the past, are handing authorities and oversight for some of their biggest programs to officers outside the traditional structure. But the Air Force and Space Force four-stars given those responsibilities say they don’t intend their jobs to be a permanent change to the system.
