Defense and Space

The Royal Netherlands Air Force has resumed flights with its Lockheed Martin F-35s a day after a temporary grounding prompted by concerns over engine wear.

The Pentagon has directed a “strategic pause” on transitioning the F-35’s autonomic logistics information system to a new, cloud-based network because of funding cuts.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center an hour before dawn on April 23, sending a Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts on a one-day journey to the International Space Station (ISS.)

From replacing the Tornado fighter to buying new unmanned aircraft systems, a look at potential deliveries.

“This is the first powered flight on another planet. Let that blow your mind for a minute.”

There are mixed opinions among the services on how to make the fifth-generation fighter affordable.

The Netherlands has temporarily halted operations with its Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet over concerns about engine wear.

The first MH-60R helicopter for the Indian Navy flew for the first time in Owego, New York, where Sikorsky is producing the aircraft, U.S. Naval Air Systems Command said in a tweet.

Turkey’s Roketsan has developed a new glide bomb to be used with the Baykar Makina’s Akinci twin-engine medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system.

The F-35 program is facing 3% cost growth of the F135 engine in Lot 15 because of Turkey’s ouster from the program.

Satellite manufacturer Airbus Defense and Space has committed to one launch and an undisclosed number of optional launches with Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum micro-launcher.

NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter added 51.9 sec. of flight time during a second demonstration of controlled powered flight on Mars.

Qatar’s air force is to become the second military customer for Pilatus’ PC-24 business jet, the Swiss manufacturer has revealed.

Space situational awareness startup LeoLabs has declared its fourth space radar site fully operational in Costa Rica.

UK startup Satellite Vu has raised £3.6 million ($5 million) in seed funding to begin building a thermal-imaging satellite constellation that will be able to measure the energy efficiency of any building in the world from low Earth orbit.

Celebrated as the first person to sequence DNA in space, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins returned from her second voyage to the International Space Station (ISS) April 17 having helped to advance the far-reaching technology and eager to see it become part of future human expeditions to the Moon and Mars.

The U.S. military has pushed launch of the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) into fiscal 2023 at the request of a rideshare partner.

General warns of Chinese space prototype; U.S. Army wants FVL upgrades; Singapore’s new operational tanker; and T-7 aft fuselage arrives.

European industry is finally within reach of beginning development on a MALE UAS to compete with offerings from U.S. and Israel.

Bill Nelson, a former Democratic senator from Florida, soared through a hearing on his nomination to become the next NASA administrator before a Senate committee he once helped to lead.

Virgin Orbit has signed a six-flight contract to deliver a constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites being developed by Qinetiq and HyperSat into low Earth orbit.

While it supports NASA’s ongoing Mars helicopter test campaign, the rover Perseverance on April 20 completed its first run of another technology demonstration, successfully converting some of the planet’s carbon dioxide atmosphere into oxygen.

Airbus’ OneSat new-generation satellite program is ready to enter the production phase, says Francois Gaullier, head of Airbus Telecom Systems.

As the U.S. Space Force plans to establish a Space Systems Command this summer, service leadership is already rallying Congress to alter the new command’s reporting structure for two important offices—the Space Development Agency and the Space Rapid Capabilities Office.

Technicians have removed the Space Launch System core stage from its test stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi in preparation for a weeklong trip to Kennedy Space Center, NASA said on April 21.