The Air Force and its industry partners scrubbed Thursday’s attempt to launch the second Advanced Extremely High Frequency communications satellite into orbit from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and intend to try again on Friday, May 4. “Lack of helium flow” from the ground support equipment to a compartment on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket caused the delay, according to a ULA release. Friday’s launch window opens at 2:42 p.m. East Coast time and extends until 4:42 p.m., according to ULA.
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…