Ending an era in American rocketry, United Launch Alliance fired its 16th and final triple-core Delta 4 Heavy Tuesday, launching a secret spy satellite in the last hurray of a legendary rocket family dating back to the beginning of the space age. The Heavy’s three hydrogen-powered RS-68A first stage engines ignited with a stream of … Read more
The space company will reportedly build hundreds of satellites with Earth imaging capabilities that can operate as a swarm in low orbits – Cheney Orr/Reuters SpaceX is reportedly building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a secret contract with a U.S. intelligence agency, in a sign of deepening ties between billionaire entrepreneur Elon … Read more
Concept image of the proposed United States Air Force Manned Orbiting Laboratory.Heritage Space/Heritage Images via Getty Images The Manned Orbiting Laboratory was an American proposal to send a manned spy satellite into space in the 1960s. It would obtain high-resolution photographic images of American adversaries, such as the Soviet Union. The top-secret program has faced … Read more