An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III ICBM launches during an operation test on February 23, 2021, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (US Space Force)
A protester flashes victory signs as traffic slows during demonstrations in Hamedan, Iran, on January 1, 2026. The demonstrations erupted after shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar shut their businesses to protest the sharp fall of Iran’s currency and worsening economic conditions. (Getty Images)
An Air Force Global Strike Command unarmed Minuteman III ICBM launches during an operation test on February 23, 2021, at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. (US Space Force)
Sailors assigned to Assault Craft Unit Four operate landing craft air cushions during recovery efforts of a high-altitude balloon in the Atlantic Ocean, on February 8, 2023. (US Navy Photo by Ryan Seelbach)
Protesters holding up a banner outside the West Kowloon Magistrates Court before the trial against 47 pro-democracy activists on February 6, 2023, in Hong Kong. (Vernon Yuen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A sailor assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 conducts a search for debris with an underwater vehicle during recovery efforts of a high-altitude balloon in the Atlantic Ocean on February 7, 2023. (US Navy Photo by Ryan Seelbach)
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken holds a joint press availability with Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Park Jin at the Department of State in Washington, DC, on February 3, 2023, hours after cancelling his state visit to China in light of the surveillance balloon controversy. (State Department photo by Ronny Przysucha)
A People's Liberation Army Air Force WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance drone in Guangdong, China, on September 27, 2021. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)
A US Air Force pilot takes off in an F-22 Raptor as part of the mission to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon that crossed into US airspace at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia on February 4, 2023. (US Air Force photo by Mikaela Smith)