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SBIRS
After lengthy delays, the Air Force has begun orbiting a new generation of heat-detecting satellites designed to provide early warning of hostile missile launches anywhere on the Earth's surface. The program, called the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS), pairs scanning and staring sensors on
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Date:
5/23/2012
Last month the U.S. Air Force successfully orbited the first geosynchronous satellite in the nation's future missile-warning system. This is a very big deal for two reasons. First, nuclear deterrence won't work if you don't know when you're under attack. Second, the last time the U.S. successfully
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Date:
6/20/2011
One thing's for sure about nuclear deterrence: it isn't likely to work if you don't know you're being attacked. That's why Lockheed Martin's disclosure on May 24 that the first Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellite has reached geosynchronous orbit was so important: because without it, the
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Date:
5/24/2011
I was feeling pretty good about authoring the lead opinion piece in Space News this week concerning why a manned landing on Mars must become the goal of NASA's human spaceflight program. The title of the essay was "Mars is the Only Destination That Matters," because in my view a mission
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Date:
10/22/2010

