The Air Force and Lockheed Martin reconfigured the on-orbit Milstar constellation—altering the relative positions of the five communications satellites to each other to provide better coverage. A Lockheed release says a combined team of company engineers and airmen of the 4th Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colo. conducted the reconfiguration over a seven-month period. Lockheed noted that the ability to realign operational satellites—with “no unplanned service disruptions to military forces deployed around the globe”—would be useful in the transition to the Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellites. The first AEHF sat is slated for launch in 2008.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff touted his highly unusual background for the job as an asset and reaffirmed his commitment to stay apolitical during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on April 1.