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Air Force’s first payload hosted aboard a commercial satellite successfully reached space from a launch pad at Kourou, French Guiana. Mounted on the SES-2 communications satellite, the Air Force’s experimental Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload, or CHIRP, blasted off for geosynchronous orbit on Wednesday atop an Ariane V rocket. The “CHIRP launch marks not only the first-ever commercially hosted payload for the Air Force, but also the first-ever wide-field-of-view infrared staring payload in space,” said Col. Scott Beidleman, development planning director at the Space and Missile Systems Center. Technical concerns postponed the scheduled launch in early September; a labor dispute with an Arianespace subcontractor subsequently scrubbed last weekend’s planned mission, reported Spaceflight Now. “We overcame many challenges on the way to today’s launch,” summed Beidleman after lift-off. CHIRP will power up to begin on-orbit experimentation next month. (Includes Los Angeles release)
When Airmen eject, the mission is clear: America leaves no warrior behind. Airmen are trained to survive, evade, resist, and escape the enemy, and everyone from ground crew to rescue personnel and commanders are committed to doing everything necessary—and possible—to bring downed Airmen home.