Defense and Space

Muon’s small satellites will focus on dense, scientific-grade measurements of the atmosphere, ocean, and land processes.

Texas took the top spot in the consultancy’s annual Aerospace Manufacturing Index rankings thanks to union-leading scores in subcategories including industry, economy and tax policy.

What can Kabul teach the military about evacuation missions?

Boeing on Oct. 6 handed over the 48th KC-46 to the U.S. Air Force, the latest delivery in a year that has seen several missed deadlines due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a lingering problem of foreign object debris inside the tankers.

NASA has reassigned astronauts that were to have flown on the first crewed flight test and first planned operational flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner to the International Space Station (ISS) as the company continues to work through a propellant valve issue that delayed a second attempt at an uncrewed test flight.

Russia’s Zircon missile; Japan tests F-35B on carrier; U.S. Air Force looks for next-gen protections; and F-35A drops B61 test bomb.

Lockheed Martin has delivered a 60-kW-class, high-energy laser prototype for an upcoming demonstration on board an AC-130J gunship, a company official said on Oct. 6.

The U.S. Air Force will have a shortage of Pratt & Whitney F100-220 and F100-229 engines that power F-15s and F-16s through at least April 2024 as the service focuses sustainment resources on higher priority problems with the F-15 Eagle fleet, a new report says.

Estonia has become the first customer of the Proteus Advanced Systems’ Blue Spear anti-ship missile, opting for the land-based variant.

Switzerland’s defense minister has warned that an initiative by political opponents to prevent the country from buying the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could leave the country without a fighter jet capability.

The upgrades should help prevent issues encountered during previous flights, including a debris strike that damaged a drogue parachute used during the descent of the Crew-1 mission in May.

The United Arab Emirates plans to follow its ongoing Mars mission with a second spacecraft, slated to launch in 2028, to explore seven asteroids in the main asteroid belt, culminating with a landing attempt in 2033.

The Air Force Research Laboratory will meet this month with industry on Project Kaiju, its recently announced effort to develop new, high-tech countermeasures to protect high-value aircraft in contested environments.

Turkey’s Roketsan has revealed the development of a guided, small-diameter, air-to-ground missile designed to be fitted to multicopter unmanned aircraft systems and operated by frontline troops.

Oren Poleg to President and Chief Executive Officer of IAI North America, Herndon, VA.

The U.S. has expressed growing concern about the increasing number of Chinese military aircraft incursions near Taiwan.

The Czech Republic has contracted with the Israeli government for four batteries of the Rafael Spyder ground-based air defense system.

Russia’s Soyuz MS-19 sprinted from launch to docking with the International Space Station early Oct. 5, delivering film actress Yulia Peresild, producer Klim Shipenko and veteran cosmonaut commander Anton Shkaplerov in the latest of a rapid-fire sequence of missions exposing nonprofessionals to the opportunities and challenges of human spaceflight.

The test marked the first time since the end of World War II that a fixed-wing aircraft has operated from a Japanese warship.

The stratospheric balloon operator is jumping into the space tourism industry, announcing Oct. 4 it is accepting $500 deposits for its “edge-of-space” trips to an altitude of 100,000 ft.

The face of A&D long has been seen as “pale, stale and male.” To save the future, that might finally have to change.

Boeing has received another $1.1 billion to extend production of the active seeker for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile system, the company announced Oct. 4.

Command of the seven-person International Space Station transitioned on Oct. 4 from Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet.

The Russian Orbital Service Station, one of several low Earth orbiting outposts being planned to succeed the International Space Station (ISS), will feature six modules, including an inflatable unit with artificial gravity and a jig module to assembly components for future travel to the Moon, Roscosmos said.

The U.S. Air Force’s F-35A is one step closer to becoming dual capable after two Lightning IIs dropped B61-12 test gravity bombs to finish the nuclear design certification process in September.