A team of Air Force researchers and industry engineers have completed a major system-level test of the interfaces between the first space based infrared systems satellite and the satellite’s ground segment. The Air Force anticipates launching this SBIRS satellite, designated GEO-1, in early 2011. This test successfully demonstrated that the SBIRS ground segment will be able to command and control GEO-1 using a modem called the tri-band antenna/modem suite, said officials in the SBIRS program office at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., in a July 29 release. Among the additional test objectives achieved, the team demonstrated the ability to transmit and receive data between GEO-1 and the ground systems using rapidly changing frequencies, a process known as “frequency hopping,” they said. This test took place over two days.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.