Defense and Space

By Steve Trimble, Guy Norris
A newly opened factory on the Skunk Works complex heralds a new era and a return to series manufacturing by Lockheed Martin's 78-year-old advanced development programs business unit.
Defense and Space

By Mark Carreau
One of the James Webb Space Telescope’s early science tasks, called COSMOS-Webb, will be a wide and deep mapping of the 13.7 billion-year-old universe.
Space

By Chen Chuanren
A sea-based Aegis missile defense system could be the next program to be abandoned by Tokyo.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
A U.S. Navy E-2D Hawkeye on Aug. 18 became the second aircraft since June 4 to be refueled by the Boeing-owned MQ-25 Stingray test aircraft.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Richard Aboulafia
Is there a flying aircraft, and who is the prime contractor? What about timing and numbers procured?
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
Lockheed Martin’s approach attempts to achieve automotive-style industrial speed for low-volume, high-performance aerospace applications.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Jen DiMascio
Adding brains to the Reaper; Japan tests KC-46; BlackSky, Palantir team up; and U.S. Air Force hires Red 6 for T-38 synthetic training.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
A Raytheon-designed laser weapon prototype will be fielded to four mobile, short-range air defense platoons by the end of fiscal 2022, U.S. Army officials said on Aug. 18.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Mark Carreau
Blue Origin’s next New Shepard flight will test the upgraded lidar and descent landing computer NASA is developing to enable lunar landings at sites that were considered too challenging during the Apollo era.
Commercial Space

By Jen DiMascio
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa signed an agreement Aug. 18 to share remote sensing data.
Space

By Steve Trimble
DARPA is interested in WIG vehicle designs that can take off, land and operate in waves up to 4 ft. high, carry a payload of more than 100 tons and cost little to manufacture.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
NASA’s nine-year-old Mars Curiosity rover is climbing out of a region rich in clay minerals that likely formed in a warmer, wet era on the now cold and dry red planet to a region dominated by salty minerals called sulfates, the agency said on Aug. 17.
Space

By Michael Bruno
Savi Technology, an asset-tracking specialist once spotlighted by the Pentagon and bought by Lockheed Martin before being spun out, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Jen DiMascio
Microsoft will provide the use of its cloud and be a customer to SES for its O3b mPower satellite constellation, which will dramatically improve connectivity for governments and military customers, according to the CEO of SES.
Connected Aerospace

By Steve Trimble
A U.S. Defense Department agency is shopping for a computing system powerful and efficient enough to process and interpret hundreds of terraflops of imagery data from systems on board manned and unmanned aircraft.
Program Management

By Michael Bruno
Big data analytics disruptor Palantir Technologies and BlackSky, a startup with a burgeoning constellation of imaging satellites and its own data analytics service, are partnering to offer their combined services for allied government customers.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is reviewing the circumstances of a Boeing C-17 take-off in Afghanistan that resulted in several deaths of civilians who rushed the aircraft.
Defense and Space

By Michael Bruno
Small-rocket mass-manufacturing startup Phantom Space has acquired Micro Aerospace Solutions, a 21-year-old Melbourne, Florida, provider of small satellite thruster, communications and data capabilities, the companies announced Aug. 17.
Commercial Space

L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES was selected by US Navy to supply WESCAM MX-20 EO/IR airborne sensors for P-8As for delivery by end of 2022.
Defense and Space

By Steve Trimble
The only flying prototype of a new light transport in development by United Aircraft Corp. crashed near a Moscow suburb on a test flight after the right engine caught fire, killing all three crewmembers, the Russian manufacturer said on Aug. 17.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Mark Carreau
Blue Origin has turned to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to challenge NASA’s award of a single $2.94 billion contract to SpaceX for development of a lunar Human Landing System.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
A flurry of headlines makes it seem the middle of the A&D industry is going to dwindle to just a few companies.
Manufacturing & Supply Chain

By Steve Trimble, Graham Warwick
The Glide Breaker program is working on a new divert and attitude control system to counter hypersonic glide vehicles.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Graham Warwick
Rocket Lab is to launch a cubesat to test water-based propulsion and plasma braking for maneuvering and deorbiting satellites.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
A Japanese KC-46A has completed an inflight refueling test, paving the way for Boeing to deliver the first tanker later this year, the company said on Aug. 16.
Aircraft & Propulsion