The first advanced extremely high frequency satellite is set to launch on Saturday from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., according to officials with the 45th Space Wing there. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket will carry AEHF-1, a military communications satellite, into orbit. Lockheed Martin, the satellite’s maker, announced Tuesday that AEHF-1 has been encapsulated in the rocket’s nose cone fairing for the upcoming launch. AEHF spacecraft will supplant the current Milstar constellation to provide survivable, global, and jam resistant communications to US and allied military personnel. Earlier this month, Lockheed announced that the AEHF ground control segment is now operational. (Cape Canaveral release)
GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney received matching $3.5 billion contracts to prototype their versions of the Next-Generation Adaptive Propulsion engine this week, and the CEO of Pratt’s parent company, RTX, said things are looking up for the military engine business, even if the platform that could use NGAP is…