Defense and Space

By Mark Carreau
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has selected Gilbert, Arizona-based Atlas Space Operations, Inc. for the installation of remote global satellite tracking stations for the Cosmic-2 network in support of future hurricane analysis and prediction.
Defense and Space

By Thierry Dubois
The Airbus-built Sentinel-2B satellite, to be shipped this week to Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana for a March launch, will contribute to unprecedented optical imaging performance, the European Space Agency (ESA) says.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
The French and Jordanian air forces and Britain’s Empire Test Pilots School have ordered 21 Pilatus PC-21 turboprop trainers.
Defense and Space

By Jay Menon
India has conducted the last developmental test-firing of its homegrown Agni-V intercontinental ballistic missile.
Defense and Space

By Mark Carreau
Baltimore’s Space Telescope Science Institute is host to the world’s largest digital sky survey.
Defense and Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA’s Mars Odyssey is expected to resume science observations this week, following a Dec. 26 safe mode incident.
Defense and Space

The U.S. Air Force’s six-year development of a guidance kit for the 1968-vintage B61 thermonuclear bomb has entered the final stretch, with qualification flight testing due to begin in March followed by a developmental test and an evaluation series in August.
Defense and Space

By Mark Carreau
Japan’s STAR-C tethered CubeSat duo departed the International Space Station as 2016 drew to a close.
Defense and Space

By Thierry Dubois
The board of French space agency CNES earlier this month green-lighted its contribution to the Franco-Chinese Space-based Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) mission to study gamma-ray bursts.
Defense and Space

By Marhalim Abas
Indonesia has canceled a mysterious order for a Leonardo AW101 helicopter, with President Joko Widodo raising the possibility that the contract’s signing was improper.
Defense and Space

By Mark Carreau
The first U.S. mission to attempt the collection of a sample from an asteroid and return the material to Earth, NASA’s $1 billion Osiris Rex mission, is on a trajectory for a late September 2017 Earth flyby.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
Leonardo-Finmeccanica has completed the first flight of its M345 High Efficiency Trainer (HET).
Defense and Space

By Thierry Dubois
The European Space Agency (ESA) is reviewing its plans for the series of maneuvers that the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) will perform soon to circularize its orbit around Mars with minimum fuel consumption.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
The British government has launched a consultation concerning the safety and privacy of unmanned aerial systems as it looks to widen their use in society.
Defense and Space

By Bradley Perrett
China is researching heavy-lift launchers and plans to send a probe to Mars in 2020, according to a new government white paper.
Defense and Space

By Mark Carreau
An emerging U.S. commercial space sector stands to benefit if the Trump administration can decide sooner rather than later whether NASA is to continue with efforts to transition its human spaceflight pursuits from low Earth orbit to deep space.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
After decades of underinvestment, the coffers of Europe’s defense budgets are beginning to swell once again, driven by the perceived threat from Russia.
Defense and Space

By Maxim Pyadushkin
Russia’s defense spending will begin to decrease for the first time in a decade, but the drop-off is coming at a time when its forces are showcasing their strength.
Defense and Space

In 2017, China can be expected to roll out new military capabilities and increase spending.
Defense and Space

By Bradley Perrett
Japan’s fiscal 2017 defense budget request asks for a 2.3% increase over 2016’s, continuing the upward trajectory that began when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took power in December 2012.
Defense and Space

By Bradley Perrett, Kim Minseok
The South Korean parliament has refused a defense ministry request to spend 30% more on Lockheed Martin F-35 acquisition in 2017 than originally planned.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
Britain’s decision to leave the EU has had some tangible effects on the plans set out by the 2015 Strategic Defense and Security Review.
Defense and Space

By Graham Warwick
Gyroplane specialist Groen Aeronautics has begun development of an optionally piloted autogyro aimed at the market for a simple, low-cost and high-payload vertical-takeoff-and-landing unmanned aircraft. &
Defense and Space

The U.S. Air Force has launched its highly-anticipated T-X next-generation trainer competition, issuing a request for proposals on Dec. 30 that will likely be answered by five or six industry team already vying for the $16.3 billion contract opportunity.
Defense and Space

By Tony Osborne
Turkish Aerospace Industries will market its indigenous clean-sheet twin-engine utility helicopter under the designation T-625, company officials have confirmed.
Aircraft & Propulsion