Air Force Space Command assumes control of TacSat-3 from the Air Force Research Lab’s Space Vehicles Directorate, following nearly 13 months of drills since its launch in May 2009. In that time, its primary payload an imaging spectrometer (dubbed ARTEMIS) responded to combatant commander taskings, including providing overhead imagery of earthquake relief efforts in Chile and Haiti.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.
