Air Force IR Sensor Delivered for Hosting on SES Satellite

SAIC has delivered an infrared sensor for Air Force use that will be integrated into and hosted on the commercial SES-2 satellite.  The SES-2 satellite is being built by Orbital Sciences and will provide commercial communications services. The short and medium wave infrared sensor gets a lower-cost ride to space than a dedicated IR satellite [...]

Revised USAF Launch Manifest Strategy

I think the new strategy–basically to match a spacecraft to a boosters six to twelve months out based on spacecraft readiness–is enabled by the studly to-orbit capabilities of the Delta IV and Atlas V EELV vehicles. I’m guessing both families of boosters have enough margin that they can wait until later in the scheduling process [...]

Defense Industry Braces For Cuts

Somebody got some ‘splainin’ to do. The WSJ reports $100 billion in defense cuts–about 90 percent in the years beyond FY12 for the purpose of getting the budget under better control. Concurrently, $50 billion of current year non-defense spending is proposed. Is it me? Regarding the proposed cuts to the defense industry, a dilemma remains excess [...]

USAF Plans For Reusable Booster

Groan.  Wasn’t the shuttle a reusable booster?  Didn’t EELV promise cost savings? Here’s the link to the Aviation Week article… When I read about savings of over 50%, I think about EELV and the cost savings it was asserted to create.  EELV was a massive ‘cost avoidance’ program, that is, by creating and using new [...]

X-37B Launch

Yes, the USAF X-37 space mission has launched.  Go Atlas, go Centaur, go X-37. Is this all supposed to coincide with Earth Day?  After all, the X-37 is a reusable vehicle…of course, in theory, so is the shuttle. Speaking of the shuttle, lost in the noise is the fact that the space shuttle Atlantis has [...]

Ground Control To Major Bomb

Feel free to laugh your guts out or at least to chuckle knowingly at this article in the CSM Air Force to launch X-37 space plane: Precursor to war in orbit? For example: “For the first time, the service will launch the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, a brand new, unmanned spacecraft to demonstrate the military’s ability [...]

Space Security Programs of Interest

Remember the golden rule of just about everything: if it ain’t funded, it ain’t.  While policy is interesting, it is actually revealed in what gets–or doesn’t get–funded. This analysis is basically appears to largely be putting a number of the budgetary requirements documents (known as r-docs) into a table and providing commentary from the respective r-docs’ word [...]

The Toyota – Air Force Nuclear Enterprise Analogy

This article originally appeared in Air University’s The Wright Stuff. The Toyota – Air Force Nuclear Enterprise Analogy By Mark Stout & Larry Chandler Although Toyota is one of the world’s premier manufacturers, they are now dealing with an intense threat to their credibility.  At the heart of the issue are concerns about the quality and safety [...]

Why Not Minot?

While Afghanistan has been described as the graveyard of empires, Minot Air Force Base has become the graveyard of military careers.  How so, you say?  Well, another wing commander has fallen at Minot but this time it’s the bomb wing commander.  If I have the count right, that’s two Minot wing commanders, a group commander, [...]

Compare and Contrast

Here are some observations I’ve made on the past, present, and possible future of the USAF’s nuclear enterprise. Here is Brigadier General Joseph D. Brown IV’s take on my take as seen in Air University’s current The Wright Stuff. Enjoy!