Defense and Space

SpaceX has won its first U.S. Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) heavy-lift launch service contract, work previously awarded solely to United Launch Alliance.

Donald E. Fink, Jr., a globe-trotting aerospace reporter, pilot and editor who led Aviation Week & Space Technology’s evolution from an engineering journal into a more modern industry publication, died June 21.

The FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee apparently lost its industry chairman after Intel Corp. CEO Brian Krzanich resigned over an improper relationship.

Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft is on track for a June 27 rendezvous with Ryugu, a half-mile-wide, carbon-rich asteroid that is a potentially hazardous NEO.

NASA is moving to the next phase of detect-and-avoid testing after a capstone flight in which its Ikhana large UAS flew in the NAS without a chase aircraft.

Development of a new type of rotary diesel engine for smaller UAVs and other applications has been boosted by a $2.5 million Darpa contract.

A coalition of manned and unmanned aviation groups is lobbying U.S. senators to retain protections for model aircraft hobbyists.

Darpa is seeking payloads to be launched by competitors in its Launch Challenge, which is offering $10 million for launching small sats into LEO on short notice.

Listen in as House, Rep. Michael Rogers joins Aviation Week to explain how achieving the goal of a Space Force might unfold.

It seems that few large corporations want to be a conglomerate anymore, and the time appears ripe for selling off.

The UK’s Lightning Force is working to reach initial operating capability by year-end.

The re-engined version of the world’s heaviest helicopter—the Russian Mil Mi-26—will take off in 2023.

NASA will join the departments of Homeland Security and Energy to enhance a national strategy for detecting and responding to the threat of impacts from NEOs.

The agreement represents the next step in a saga to replace the service’s Eisenhower-era KC-135 tankers that has lasted close to two decades.

The European Union/Surrey Space Center-led RemoveDebris satellite experiment was deployed from the International Space Station early June 20.

France is taking the lead in Franco-German efforts to produce a new European fighter aircraft.

Brussels may delay a decision on its selection of a future fighter to examine proposals from France and options to upgrade its existing F-16 fleet.

The second aircraft will pick up flight testing that was halted when the first S-97 was damaged in August 2017.

Fresh off an investment infusion, MAG Aerospace said it has acquired North American Surveillance Systems and unidentified related entities.

Elbit Systems will buy state-owned IMI Systems, the weapons maker once known as Israel Military Industries, for about $495 million up front.

Chief executives of three leading “big-small” contractors discuss some essential ingredients to their success.

The U.S. Senate has voted to lay the groundwork for blocking transfers of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter to Turkey.

Bell Helicopter plans to add 360-deg. pilot’s vision capability to its V-280 Valor demonstrator this year.

Work is underway on AN-9—the first of 29 F-35As to be assembled for the Royal Netherlands Air Force—at Italy's Cameri facility.

An uptick of activity in the Pacific and in Central Command has forces seeking protective eyewear.