The launch of the first space based infrared satellite, GEO-1, may slip again, this time beyond 2010. When we inquired about this, the SBIRS Wing at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., a unit of the Space and Missile Systems Center, offered no specific timelines, but did tell the Daily Report that there are two issues affecting GEO-1’s delivery schedule—and its subsequent launch. We asked because a release earlier this month on the successful completion of a flight software subsystem for GEO-1 noted that the satellite was scheduled for “a spring 2011 delivery.” Continue
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
