Daily Report posted items Friday on Thursday’s two launches: 1) the Boeing-built reusable X-37B orbital test vehicle aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V in its trimmed down 501 configuration (see X-37B Boosted into Space); and 2) first launch of an Orbital Sciences Corp. suborbital Minotaur IV Lite, boosting DARPA’s HTV-2 into the upper atmosphere for its planned 30-minute, 13,000 mph streak over the Pacific (see Minotaur IV Lite Boosts Hypersonic Vehicle).
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.