Reuters has a story on the CounterCom system—about two weeks after Space News.
The story has some good reporting, based on e-mails with AFSPC personnel. It commits one significant factual error:
The device appears to have been put into service considerably earlier than had been projected by the Air Force as recently as February. At that time, a long-range planning document, dubbed the Transformation Flight Plan, said such a system would let the United States by 2010 “deny and disrupt an adversary’s space-based communications and early warning” of attack.”
The first CounterCom system was originally scheduled for delivery in the 1Q of 2004 (i.e. October – December 2003). It appears to have been late, not early. The second and third systems, scheduled for 1Q 2005 (OCT-DEC 2004), appear to have arrived on time.
The Transformation Flight Plan merely divides systems into near- (before 2010), medium- (2010-2015) and long- (after 2015) term programs.