The Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia launched the NFIRE satellite yesterday. The NFIRE satellite is designed to watch ground based missiles. The acronym stands for Near Field Infared Experiment and will be studying images of plumes from missile launches. Supporters of the program (Missile Defense Agency, Defense Department) claim that the project is only for research and testing purposes. Critics (Russia, China, Helen Caldicott) says that the testing is part of the missile defense shield project and an irrevocable step towards the militarization of space.

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