Defense and Space

By Jen DiMascio
Virgin Orbit’s Dutch customer; MDA awards sensor development contracts; BAE to demo PHASA-35; and Spacecom HQ location in flux?
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Lee Hudson
Three new directorates are devoted to precision navigation and timing; space control; and launch and space logistics.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
Greece’s recent order for 18 Dassault Rafale fighters will comprise a mix of six new single and two seaters, while France’s order for 12 new Rafales—replacements for the secondhand ones it is selling to Greece—is imminent.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
After an early, productive start to a 7-hr. spacewalk, two NASA astronauts encountered difficulties installing a Ka band antenna outside the International Space Station on Jan. 27.
Space

By Steve Trimble
Boeing blamed the latest quarterly charge on “production inefficiencies, including impacts of COVID-19 disruption.”
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The first of 27 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters ordered by Denmark has been rolled out of Lockheed Martin’s plant in Fort Worth.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The Eurofighter, Gripen and Rafale compete fiercely but will benefit from one another’s technology as Europe develops replacements.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Sikorsky-Boeing Takes Wraps Off Defiant X Design For U.S. Army’s FLRAA
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Michael Bruno
Lockheed Martin, the Pentagon’s leading contractor by sales, will prove its “culture of cash” for shareholders in the coming years after returning almost $4 billion in dividends and share buybacks in 2020 despite the COVID-19 crisis, tempered F-35 deliveries and slowing space work near term.
Supply Chain

CASCADE AEROSPACE, BC received first USMC KC-130J for maintenance under 10-year US Navy contract.
Defense and Space

KARMAN MISSILE & SPACE SYSTEMS was formed by Aerospace Engineering (AEC) and AMRO Fabricating in partnership with Trive Capital to manufacture complex
Defense and Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA plans to delay departure of the Osiris-Rex spacecraft from the asteroid Bennu from March 3 to May 10, with a May 24 backup, which will provide an early April opportunity for a final flyby.
Space

By Lee Hudson
President Joe Biden may opt to reassess the headquarters location of U.S. Space Command, which was previously selected during the waning days of the Trump administration.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Joining former NASA astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and Israeli entrepreneur Eytan Stibbe on the first privately financed U.S. mission to the International Space Station (ISS) will be real estate and technology investor Larry Connor of Ohio and Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist Mark Pathy, Axiom Space said on Jan. 26.
Commercial Space

SIEMENS was selected by USAF to provide Teamcenter software to support digital acquisition and sustainment strategy for critical systems/technologies.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
Airbus Helicopters CEO Seeks Euro Cooperation On Military Rotorcraft Tony Osborne, [email protected] Airbus Helicopters CEO Bruno Even has called on Europe’s rotorcraft industry to cooperate on a future military rotorcraft program, as NATO countries begin considering their medium-lift needs for the 2030s and beyond.
Defense and Space

By Steve Trimble
The requests for enhanced white papers show the U.S. Army’s plans for the next iteration of a portfolio of Long Range Precision Fires programs, which includes the Precision Strike Missile and the Mid-Range Missile Capability.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
Three F/A-18E/Fs have already been delivered from an SLM line in St. Louis, Missouri. But the fourth SLM-updated F/A-18E/F delivered to the Navy emerged from Boeing’s facility at Kelly Field.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Maxim Pyadushkin
Russia has pushed back the expansion of its segment of the International Space Station (ISS).
Space

By Byron Callan
Consensus is that spending will be flat in the first term of the Biden administration, but analysts are not clear on what this means.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Bill Carey
Satellite operator Inmarsat announced on Jan. 25 that it will provide satellite communications for a UK government initiative to create a zero-carbon emissions regional air transportation network.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Army recently established a joint systems integration laboratory to test new technologies and determine whether they are a fit for Project Convergence ’21, according to the head of Army Futures Command.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Tony Osborne
BAE Systems will conduct a demonstration flight of its PHASA-35 high-altitude pseudo-satellite in the U.S. this year for potential Defense Department customers.
Space

By Steve Trimble
AFWERX has launched a six-week market research phase to understand the bourgeoning field of startup companies seeking to build supersonic and hypersonic transports.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
The Greek government on Jan. 25 formally ordered 18 Rafale fighters from Dassault Aviation after an agreement was reached with the French Ministry of Armed Forces.
Aircraft & Propulsion