Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Jul. 01

July 02, 2021

Richard Branson Books His Ride On SpaceShipTwo

Credit: Virgin Galactic



Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson’s 17-year wait for a ride on SpaceShipTwo is coming to an end, with the billionaire entrepreneur due to launch on July 11 as part of a shakedown crew ahead of the company’s commercial debut. 



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Eviation Redesigns Alice All-Electric Regional Aircraft

Credit: Eviation Aircraft



Eviation aircraft has redesigned its Alice nine-passenger electric regional aircraft, dispensing with some of the original design’s most noteworthy features.



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NASA's Hazardous Asteroid Hunter Given Mission Extension

Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech



NASA has extended the life of the Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) mission for two years until June 2023.



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China Publicly Debuts Z-8L Heavy-Lift Helicopter

Credit: China Central Television



China has debuted its latest heavy-lift helicopter with the public appearance of the Changhe Aircraft Industries Corporation Z-8L in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on July 1. 



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Aviation Pioneer Wally Funk To Fly With Bezos

Credit: Blue Origin



Wally Funk, one of 13 women recruited as potential astronauts for NASA’s 1960s Mercury program but sidelined due to gender, will fly as a guest of Blue Origin on the company’s first crewed flight, targeted for July 20. 



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Korean Air To Compete In Airborne Sigint Contest

Credit: KAL-ASD



Korean Air’s Aerospace Division (KAL-ASD) has said it will compete in a South Korean tender to deliver a fleet of signals intelligence (Sigint) platforms for the country’s air force.



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Ingenuity To Attempt Scouting Mission For Rover


NASA’s Mars Ingenuity helicopter will attempt to overfly a region of key interest to scientists on the Perseverance rover mission, pushing ongoing flight demonstrations into the realm of operational mission support. 



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Credit: OneWeb

Embraer’s UAM Spinoff Will Use Beacon Maintenance Platform

Credit: EmbraerX



Eve Urban Air Mobility has confirmed plans to use EmbraerX’s Beacon maintenance platform for aftermarket coordination of its eVTOL aircraft.



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Raytheon Receives $2 Billion For Nuclear LRSO Development

Credit: Airman 1st Class Jacob B. Wrightsman/U.S. Air Force



Raytheon received a $2 billion contract on July 1 to develop the nuclear Long Range Standoff (LRSO) cruise missile, the U.S. Air Force announced. 



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USMC Declares First F-35C Squadron Fully Capable

Credit: USMC



The U.S. Marine Corps now has its first fully equipped squadron of Lockheed Martin F-35Cs to augment the U.S. Navy’s carrier-based strike fighter force. 



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U.S. Space Force Anticipates Release Of Force Design By Year’s End

Credit: U.S. Space Force
U.S. Space Force logo.

U.S. Space Force anticipates release of force design by year’s end, Embraer’s UAM spinoff will use Beacon maintenance platform, China publicly debuts Z-8L heavy-lift helicopter and more. A roundup of aerospace, space, and defense news powered by Aerospace Daily & Defense Report. 

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