The Eastern Range, operated by the 45th Space Wing, Patrick AFB, Fla., is the beneficiary of a $40 million communications upgrade, courtesy of the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif. The new Post Detection Telemetry Subsystem digitizes, manages, and transports critical range safety and range user telemetry data to the Range Operations Control Center and to payload and launch vehicle customers, say SMC officials. The effort required two years of work, but officials say it transformed the once rigid legacy system into one that is customizable that “greatly reduces bandwidth requirements” and operational costs.
The Air Force’s nascent KC-Z program, aimed at developing a next-generation family of systems for aerial refueling, will look to launch its analysis-of-alternatives study in 2024, years earlier than originally planned. Originally, the analysis of alternatives for KC-Z was set for “maybe in the 2030s,” Paul Waugh, program executive officer…