Air Force

President Trump says space dominance is vital to national security. He wants the Department of Defense to establish a new branch of the military - a Space Force. What would a Space Force look like and what would its mission be? With more countries eyeing space for resources and strategic interests - is the call for a Space Force coming at the right time? Joining us on to talk about the possibility of Space Force is Roger Handberg, Laura Forcyk and Brendan Byrne.

SpaceX was awarded an $82 million contract to launch an Air Force GPS satellite. The deal ends the almost decade-long military-launch monopoly held by United Launch Alliance.

An Atlas V rocket launch from Cape Canaveral is a success. The rocket launched experiments for NASA and also a secret space plane.

The U.S. Air Force just released a strategy for the future, involving hypersonics and unmanned systems. NPR's Linda Wertheimer talks about the plan with Air Force Gen. David Allvin.