Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Irene Klotz
NASA on March 5 released a solicitation for launch services to send its Europa Clipper spacecraft on its way to the water-rich moon of Jupiter, a ride once earmarked for the agency’s own Space Launch System rocket.
Space

By Irene Klotz
NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance has made an initial 21-ft. test drive in its Jezero Crater landing site as flight controllers continue instrument checkouts and scout a location for a flight demonstration by a companion miniature helicopter.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Comet impacts during the Solar System’s planet-forming period about 4.5 billion years ago may have delivered the carbon essential for life to the rocky planets in the Sun’s habitable zone, according to a new study of the comet Catalina.
Space

By Steve Trimble
Destroying enemy fighters has emerged as the initial focus of the U.S. Air Force's nearly year-old MQ-Next program, which seeks to field a replacement for the MQ-9 by the end of the decade.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble
An Aermacchi MB-326 Impala jet trainer crashed about 10 mi. northwest of Edwards AFB, California, around 10:10 a.m. on March 5, the National Test
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Kim Minseok
Korea Aerospace Industries plans to roll out its first KF-X 001 fighter prototype in April, the company said.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
U.S. and Japanese spacewalking astronauts Kate Rubins and Soichi Noguchi joined outside the International Space Station on March 5 to complete modifications to two of six solar power channels on the orbital science lab’s long support truss due to be equipped with new ISS Roll Out Solar Arrays over the coming year.
Space

By Steve Trimble
The status of the short-lived Screaming Arrow program changed with no official explanation, but a source familiar with the issue told Aviation Week the cancellation may be temporary.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Lee Hudson
The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee believes it is time for Congress and the Pentagon to “cut our losses” on the F-35 program and begin to debate a future fighter mix that does not depend as heavily on the Joint Strike Fighter.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
The difficulties of the Future Combat Air System program not only hinge on intellectual property issues, but also on work sharing between its French, German and Spanish partners, Dassault Aviation Chairman and CEO Eric Trappier says.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
India has carried out a successful launch and flight test of a solid-fuel ducted ramjet missile demonstrator, technology the country’s defense ministry hopes can be integrated onto long-range air-to-air missiles.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Tony Osborne
Ukraine’s state-owned arms manufacturer says it plans to build Bell’s UH-1 Iroquois helicopter in Odessa.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Bill Carey
The FAA plans to launch a public outreach effort to replenish its drone registration system, which this year has experienced a 50% decline in the number of people who have registered or renewed registrations of their aircraft.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Tony Osborne
The French Air Force has declared the MBDA Meteor beyond-visual range air-to-air missile operational on the Dassault Rafale.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Guy Norris
Boom Supersonic has secured a strategic investment from the venture capital arm of American Express which will support development of the Denver, Colorado-based aerospace company’s Mach 2-plus 88-seat Overture airliner project.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A second airbreathing, hypersonic cruise missile program may give the U.S. Navy multiple options for a carrier-compliant, F/A-18E/F-compatible weapon.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
The ER GMLRS is designed to more than double the 70 km.-range of the baseline GMLRS, but the first flight met test objectives with an 80 km. flight.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Irene Klotz
NASA has awarded Northrop Grumman a sole-source contract worth up to $84.5 million to provide the two-stage ascent vehicle needed to launch samples from the surface of Mars into Mars orbit, where they can be retrieved by a return ship and flown back to Earth.
Space

By Irene Klotz
NASA is bumping the upcoming reflight of Boeing’s uncrewed CST-100 Starliner spacecraft until sometime after the arrival of four astronauts aboard SpaceX’s second operational Crew Dragon taxi flight to the International Space Station.
Space

By Steve Trimble
One of five RCAF C-150s, a military derivative of the A310, rejoined the fleet, the RCAF announced in a March 4 Tweet. The aircraft, which also is used as a VIP transport, was damaged in 2019 while being towed into a hangar.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
The bipartisan task force will review the industrial base supply chain to identify threats and vulnerabilities.
Supply Chain

By Michael Bruno
Red 6, a California startup aiming to provide air combat training with augmented reality technology, has landed $7 million in new funding and signed former U.S. Air Force acquisition chief Will Roper to its advisory board.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Irene Klotz
Nine hours after a SpaceX team in Texas landed a full-scale Starship prototype for the first time, colleagues in Florida launched a Falcon 9 rocket with 60 more satellites for the company’s high-speed internet service system.
Commercial Space

By Tony Osborne
Belgian politicians are set to question the country’s need to buy the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter after the chief of the U.S. Air Force announced plans for studies into its future force mix and a potential clean-sheet fighter design to replace the F-16.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Joe Anselmo
Kelly Ortberg’s quiet departure from the executive ranks of Raytheon Technologies was a jolt to some veterans in the aerospace business community, where he has long been regarded as an exceptional talent in the prime of his career.
Aircraft & Propulsion