Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

A disrupted acquisition of Welding Metallurgy Inc. by CPI Aerostructures will move forward and could close as soon as this year after a court-ordered arrangement with seller Air Industries.

Verification of the LE-9 main engine of Japan’s forthcoming H3 space launcher will move into so-called battleship testing in December.

GERMAN AIR FORCE (Luftwaffe) held official handover ceremony Sept. 21 to formally induct one Airbus A321-200 into service as VIP transport platform.

Moon Express has raised $10 million of a planned $20 million Series B round of financing, as well as $2.5 million in bridge financing, the company said Oct. 1.

Boeing’s efforts to develop the core stage of the SLS are in step with efforts to prepare the Orion crew module for an unpiloted multiweek test launch around the Moon by mid-2020.

Sikorsky’s industry-funded S-97 Raider has exceeded 200 kt. in flight testing as the company prepares to offer the high-speed helicopter for the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA).

Under the FARA competitive prototype program, also dubbed FVL Light or Capability Set 1, the U.S. Army anticipates awarding four to six initial contracts in June 2019

A 2.1-lb. DJI Phantom 2 quadcopter drone tore a hole in the leading edge of a light aircraft wing in a simulated 238-mph midair collision in ground tests.

The European-built power and propulsion module for NASA’s Exploration Mission-1 is scheduled to leave the Airbus Defense and Space manufacturing facility in Bremen, Germany, on Oct. 29 for Kennedy Space Center.

Bell has teamed with Garmin International to develop the autonomous vehicle management computer for its on-demand mobility vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft.

Air traffic management communications provider Frequentis announced a contract from the U.S. Defense Department to supply remote-tower technology

The UK has finally confirmed that it has begun talks with Boeing over the potential purchase of the E-7 aircraft to replace the E-3 Sentry fleet.

“We’re working hard to get this done this year," a SpaceX official says. "At this time the Falcon might be ready, but we might still have some paperwork on the certification side."

The U.S. Navy is close to awarding Boeing a contract to deliver a redesigned cockpit for the Block III version of the F/A-18E/F and EA-18G aircraft.

General Atomics has performed the first flight of its second prototype MQ-9B SkyGuardian medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system.

Chinese state company Leobit plans to have all 80 satellites of its planned L-band communications constellation in orbit by about 2022.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has done it for a third time—successfully delivering a small lander spacecraft to the surface of an asteroid.

GE AVIATION SYSTEMS has $19.6m U.S. Air Force contract for C-130J R391 Propeller Depot Activation.

On Wednesday Japan’s Hayabusa 2 asteroid probe is due to deploy its third lander to the surface of the asteroid Ryugu—the German/French Mascot hopper/rover.

Lockheed Martin Corp., Littleton, Colorado, has been awarded a $1,362,089,314 contract for GPS IIIF Space Vehicles 11 and 12.

Bell’s experience with V-22 Osprey and V-280 Valor tiltrotor aircraft position the company well for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Group 5 UAS competition.

Industry may have won this round of defense acquisition reform for now after the Pentagon on Oct. 1 shelved a pay-for-performance scheme.

NASA and the NOAA have convened a mishap investigation board to seek the root or proximate cause of a cooling system anomaly aboard the GOES-17 satellite.

The latest 10-year, $33 billion U.S. Foreign Military Financing (FMF) agreement with Israel that took effect on Oct. 1 is worrisome to some in Israeli industry.

Italy, Sweden and the U.S. have submitted proposals to meet a much-delayed Bulgarian requirement for new fighters to replace Sofia’s aging Soviet-era fleet.