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.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…