A fuel leak fire ended the space launch of the Air Force Academy’s FalconSat-2 satellite. Launch of the SpaceX aerospace firm’s Falcon1 rocket ended seconds into its flight from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific last Friday. The launch—first for SpaceX founder Elon Musk—originally was slated for November, then December, then earlier this year. Musk told the BBC that he hoped to have another rocket ready to launch in less than six months.
The Air Force is leaning toward a less-sophisticated autonomous aircraft in the second increment of the Collaborative Combat Aircraft, the services chief futurist said. He also suggested that the next increment of CCA may be air-launched, a la the "Rapid Dragon" experiments conducted by the service in recent years.