All 18 segments of the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) large primary mirror have gathered their first photons from a target star, a major milestone in the months-long process of aligning the light-gathering elements of the space observatory to begin its mission of studying the first stars and galaxies.
Officials with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration expect that a data repository of satellites will be operational by 2024, providing U.S. government agencies and commercial space companies with a resource to prevent potential collisions as the number of spacecraft in orbit grows exponentially.
NASA has selected a pair of heliophysics missions for development that are intended to provide a better understanding of solar dynamics, the Sun/Earth connection and the changing space environment.
Finland has taken the first steps toward its procurement of the Lockheed Martin F-35 with the signing of agreements for the Foreign Military Sale (FMS) and industrial participation.
Another shoe has dropped in the competition to supply the U.S. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA), with Sikorsky and Boeing selecting Honeywell’s 7,500-shp HTS7500 engine to power their contender, the Defiant X coaxial rigid-rotor compound helicopter.
GKN Aerospace announced Feb. 10 that it will shut down its St. Louis manufacturing center in 2023, shuttering the home of one of the area’s largest manufacturing sites and a sizable supplier to nearby Boeing.
Karem Aircraft is studying a version of its optimum speed tiltrotor concept aimed at providing a common solution to both U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Future Vertical requirements, although both continue to evolve.
