Air Force Mystery Spaceplane Comes Home

The X-37B, the Air Force’s top secret spacefaring drone, has come home. The Air Force announced today that the unmanned space system had landed safely at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Although it had been expected to land sometime this week, just when it would occur was a bit of a mystery — fitting, because the…

A Visual Look Inside DoD’s 2015 Budget Proposal

Deciphering the Pentagon’s 2015 spending proposal has been difficult, but Defense News has some charts the could serve as a decoder ring. Out friends at VisualDoD helped us compile data from the Defense Department’s spending plan to create these detailed graphics, which tell a story on their own. First, the chart at the top of…

Friday Video: A Rocket Launch, Seen From On High

Friday blues got you down? We here at Intercepts have the answer. Below the fold is video of SpaceX’s experimental Grasshopper rocket hitting a new record height, 744 meters up into the sky. What differentiates this from most rocket launch video is the angle. SpaceX had a remote controlled camera hovering above the rocket, giving…

Virgin Galactic Takes you to Space (Video)

Monday blues got you down? Intercepts is here to start your week off on a good note. Below you’ll find video from Virgin Galactic, the space-based arm of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin empire. The company has been testing out its SpaceShipTwo, which will take civilian “space tourists” for a jaunt into space. During a recent test…

NASA Releases Trailer for Asteroid Mission (Video)

As part of President Obama’s FY 2014 budget, NASA will receive funding for a manned spacecraft to intercept an asteroid, redirect it, and then study it to find out more about the universe. It’s not quite Bruce Willis territory, but it’s still pretty ambitious. And yesterday NASA released a new “trailer” for the mission, detailing…

Rep. Forbes: What Did China Launch? When Did Obama Admin. Know It?

What did China really launch into space, and when did Obama administration officials know it? That’s what GOP House Armed Services Committee member Randy Forbes of Virginia wants to know. And he’s pressing President Obama’s hand-picked defense secretary for some answers. The early May Chinese “launch of a missile ‘nearly to geosynchronous orbit’ requires additional answers…

HASC Subcommittees to Kick Off 2014 NDAA Sausage-Making

It’s that time again: National defense authorization act season. (Just loosen your tie and take a deep breath, nervous defense wonk, Intercepts is mildly confident your program is going to survive. Probably.) Following long-held custom, the House Armed Services Committee kicks things off this week with a series of subcommittee mark ups as the panel…