Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Irene Klotz
Legislators’ first draft of a fiscal 2021 budget for NASA scales back the Trump administration’s requested 12% increase to current spending levels of $22.6 billion, which would moot a 2024 crewed landing on Moon.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Austria is to phase out its aging Saab 105 jet trainers without a replacement as ministers attempt to figure out the country’s future airspace surveillance plans.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Bradley Perrett
The Japanese defense ministry proposes to fly the first prototype of the Next Generation Fighter (NGF) in 2028 and begin deliveries to the air force seven years later.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
With plans to operate as well as produce its electric air taxis, German startup Lilium has unveiled its thinking on modular vertiports that could start small, but scale up quickly as the market takes off.
Emerging Technologies

By Graham Warwick
German aerospace center DLR is founding four new research institutes focused on synthetic fuels, low-emission propulsion and electric aviation.
Emerging Technologies

By Mark Carreau
The sponsors of a global student contest to virtually design small lunar race cars have chosen four winners.
Space

By Bradley Perrett, Kim Minseok
Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has published the first photograph of the first KF-X airframe.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
Completed structures will be delivered to the Saab final assembly line in Linköping, Sweden.
Aircraft & Propulsion

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.
Defense and Space

Brazilian workers in São Bernardo do Campo on July 7 started assembling the first major structures of Saab F-39E/F Gripen fighters ordered by the
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
France has been approved by the U.S. State Department to purchase three E-2D Hawkeye carrier-borne airborne early warning aircraft.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
A potential sale of Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks to Lithuania has been approved by the U.S. State Department.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Mark Carreau
NASA hopes to have the Artemis Accords ready for signature by year’s end, according to Mike Gold, NASA’s acting administrator for the agency’s Office of International and Interagency Agreements.
Space

By Bill Carey
Inmarsat is developing a “smart pipe” satellite communications (satcom) infrastructure for the Boeing 777X that independently allocates bandwidth for multiple, disparate applications.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
Michael Griffin, U.S. defense undersecretary for Research and Engineering, leaves behind a new model for advanced technology development in the Pentagon that seeks to deliver capabilities years faster than the system he inherited.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Lee Hudson
U.S. Navy instructor pilots have begun learning to fly the TH-73A helicopter trainer at Leonardo’s facility in Philadelphia.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
In response to a request by Indonesia of a potential sale, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress on July 6 that Indonesia is eligible to import the U.S. Marine Corps version of the twin-engine tiltrotor.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
The Serbian government has lifted the lid on its new armed unmanned air systems sourced from China, the first nation in the Balkans to acquire such a capability.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
NASA astronaut and cancer researcher Kate Rubins, the first person to sequence DNA from space, is hopeful for a resurgence in science and technology activities aboard the International Station when she returns to the ISS in October.
Space

By Steve Trimble
The 48-month engineering and manufacturing development phase will include production of up to 318 Precision Strike Missiles as the first tranche of a Lockheed Martin production run of 2,422.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Graham Warwick
Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences is the first company to receive a contract under a new DARPA program to build an X-plane designed around active flow control.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
Although named Ofek 16, the spacecraft launched early on July 6 represents the 12th acknowledged platform in the Ofek series, with the last being the Ofek 11 in 2016. The Ofek series has previously been described as a light, agile spy satellite with a mass up to 815 lb. (369 kg) and an unclassified resolution of about 19 in. (50 cm).
Space

Selected U.S. military contracts from the past week.
Defense and Space

News in brief
Defense and Space

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.
Defense and Space