A United Launch Alliance Delta IV heavy lift expendable launch vehicle successfully boosted the last Defense Support Program satellite into orbit Nov. 10 at 8:50 p.m. The Northrop Grumman-built DSP separated from the booster six hours and 20 minutes later, states a company release. Slated to be replaced by the Space-based Infrared System, the DSP constellation should serve “well into the next decade” with the addition of DSP 23, said Alexis Livanos, head of Northrop’s space technology sector. The DSP system has been in service for about 40 years.
The latest round of environmental sampling for the Air Force’s Missile Community Cancer Study found trace amounts of potentially harmful chemicals called volatile organic compounds in the service’s ICBM facilities, but not at levels that would pose a health hazard, Air Force Global Strike Command announced Oct. 22.