Three shadowy relics of the Cold War will emerge at the National Museum of the US Air Force in late January, reports the Dayton Daily News. The National Reconnaissance Office donated the recently declassified intelligence satellites, along with hundreds of historical documents, to the museum, which is located in Dayton, Ohio. Code-named Key Hole, the KH-7 Gambit 1, the KH-8 Gambit 3, and the KH-9 Hexagon satellites photographed sensitive military targets over the communist bloc from the 1960s to 1980s. The spacecraft will go on public display after a commemorative ceremony, according to the newspaper. NRO declassified the satellites in September during a ceremony at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia. (See NRO’s special webpage for access to the declassified Gambit and Hexagon records.) (See also Space Flight Now report.)
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.