The Missile Defense Agency called its planned long-range missile defense system test from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., a “no test” because the target vehicle “failed to reach the defended area,” states an MDA release. MDA chief, Air Force Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, said that the target “did not reach sufficient height to be deemed a threat, so the ballistic missile defense system did not engage it, as designed.” He added that such a situation is always “a risk” since the program is “flying old intercontinental ballistic missile motors in our targets.” Obering also said that MDA has planned a target modernization program “within our existing budget. The agency expects to repeat this test later this summer.
The Space Force expects to award $905 million in contracts over the next five years through a new Maneuverable GEO program, which aims to form a commercial fleet of mobile communication satellites in geosynchronous orbit.
