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)
The Air National Guardsman who was arrested last year for sharing hundreds of top secret and classified documents to online chatrooms was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison on Nov. 12 after pleading guilty to several charges this March.