A Minotaur I rocket on late Wednesday carried ORS-1, the Defense Department’s first Operationally Responsive Space satellite into space from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s eastern shore. The rocket lifted off at 11:09 p.m. US East Coast time. ORS-1 is designed to provide overhead imagery to commanders in Southwest Asia, enhancing battlespace awareness. It carries a customized version of the SYERS-2 sensor resident on U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.
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.