Boeing shipped the sixth Wideband Global Satellite Communications spacecraft from the company’s manufacturing plant in El Segundo, Calif., to the Kennedy Space Center on the central Florida coast in preparation for its launch into space later this year, announced the company. The satellite left El Segundo on May 16 and arrived the next day in Florida, Boeing spokeswoman Cassaundra Bantly told the Daily Report on Monday. WGS-6 will undergo tests, fueling, and integration at Astrotech’s facility in Titusville before its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, states the company’s release. The arrival of WGS-6 comes as the Air Force and its industry partners undertake final steps for Wednesday’s scheduled launch of WGS-5 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral.
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department needs to upgrade its electronic warfare capability and its EW training ranges; just as his predecessor said at his own confirmation hearing.