
The first of 12 planned prototype tactical communications spacecraft for the Space Development Agency (SDA) was successfully launched and deployed to low Earth orbit (LEO) Monday evening, York Space Systems said. The demonstration satellite, dubbed Dragoon by York, was launched at 2:25 p.m. PDT from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as part of the Transporter-14 rideshare mission that lifted 70 payloads into LEO. York delivered the first satellite ahead of schedule to meet an…