Global Hawk Hits 5K: 
An Air Force’s RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle recently surpassed the 5,000 combat flying hour mark while flying a mission in the global war on terror, says Northrop Grumman. The UAV began flying combat missions in 2001, accumulating more than 233 missions to its credit. A single RQ-4 has flown 157 of those sorties.
The Space Development Agency is set to launch 21 Tranche 1 data transport satellites on Oct. 5—its fourth Tranche 1 mission since last fall and the first to carry Northrop Grumman-built satellites.