The Air Force and its industry partners launched AEHF-3, the third Advanced Extremely High Frequency communication satellite, into orbit on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. An Atlas V rocket carried the satellite aloft, lifting off from Space Launch Complex 41 at 4:10 a.m., according to the Facebook page of the Space and Missile Systems Center.
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.