Defense and Space

The new facility will enable the integration of eight satellites onto Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket.

The rocket upstart recently shelved its troubled small launch vehicle to focus on developing a larger launcher.

Firefly Aerospace has recovered from the unsuccessful 2021 debut launch of its Alpha small-satellite booster with a successful follow-on flight test.

Vulcan’s debut launch, targeted for late this year or early 2023, will send a privately owned lander, carrying payloads for NASA and other customers, to the surface of the Moon.

A program aimed at identifying cost savings inadvertently led to a major performance improvement for the Lockheed Martin stealth fighter.

Russia and Belarus have finalized an agreement on joint development of a new Earth monitoring satellite that can enhance the nations’ mapping capabilities.

A joint U.S.-Australian space surveillance telescope—relocated from New Mexico to Australia to help avoid potential collisions and monitor asteroids—reached initial operational capability (IOC) on Sept. 30.

The U.S. Department of Defense has released a request for proposals for “Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Satellite-Based Services.”

For aid to Ukraine, the industry has struggled to ramp up production despite Pentagon funding.

A baseline estimate released on Sept. 30 by the F-35 Joint Program Office proposes a sharp drop in new orders for the single-engine stealth fighter in production lots beyond Lot 17.

Under an unfunded Space Act Agreement, NASA and SpaceX plan to study the feasibility of a commercial Dragon mission to raise the orbital altitude of the 32-year-old Hubble Space Telescope, potentially extending its operations into the 2030s.

The French defense budget will rise to €43.9 billion, the sixth consecutive annual increase.

Delays have slowed the gathering of experience that ArianeGroup needs for its proposed family of reusable launchers.

The sailing of the long-delayed aircraft carrier is a trial run ahead of its 2023 operational deployment.

The U.S. military services are looking for a range of autonomous aircraft—from expensive high-end aircraft to less costly lower end systems. Aviation Week editors discuss what industry is offering, particularly for mid-range attritable systems, and some of the complications involved with cultivating the new technology.

Senior U.S. Air Force leaders in recent days have weighed in on China’s advancements in its fighter force, criticizing Beijing’s technical prowess but offering some praise for its inventiveness ahead of the upcoming 20th National Congress and the Zhuhai air show.

U.S. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall says he is encouraged by recent test successes for Lockheed Martin’s Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon, despite having previously expressed concern about the program.

Iranian loitering munitions and drones may be filling in for Russian combat aircraft and guided missiles in Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

Croatia’s Ministry of the Interior has become the first European customer for the Subaru Bell 412EPX helicopter.

Swiss air ambulance operator Swiss Air Rescue-Rega has canceled an order for an advanced variant of Leonardo’s AW169 rotorcraft after the OEM declared it could not develop the aircraft to agreed specifications.

After a long period of tame increases, price spikes are returning as a fact of life in aerospace and defense.

SABENA TECHNICS has acquired HÉLI-UNION GROUP, France (military helicopter maintenance).

Czech helicopter crews have begun training flights on Bell UH-1Y and AH-1Z helicopters in preparation for first deliveries in 2023.

Three Russian cosmonauts descended safely to Earth aboard their Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft early Sept. 29, continuing an International Space Station (ISS) crew exchange process that has been extended due to Hurricane Ian’s threat to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

The Spanish Defense Ministry has awarded local industry with contracts to investigate “possible evolutions of the challenges of national defense, the air domain, and will detail possible solutions to face them.”