Industry News

CNN reports that on Wednesday, UK-based Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) “released the latest details of its airship, which boasts a far smaller carbon footprint than a conventional passenger plane.” The Airlander 10 aircraft “will seat up to 100 passengers and operate with 90% fewer emissions than conventional aircraft, the company said in a press release.”

TechCrunch reports that General Motors and Lockheed Martin announced Wednesday that they are “working together to develop a next-generation lunar vehicle designed to be faster and capable of traveling farther distances than its predecessor.”  NBC News reports that the lunar rover is “expected to be part of the companies’ efforts to bid on a contract under

ExecutiveGov reports that the US Navy has announced that Raytheon Technologies’ Joint Precision Approach and Landing System (JPALS) has achieved initial operational capability (IOC). The system, “designed to guide aircraft landing on naval carriers and amphibious assault ships,” and “can now help F-35C units land on nuclear aircraft carriers in any weather condition.” The IOC

The Washington Post reports that US air travel “rebounded Sunday to the highest level of the pandemic era as the Transportation Security Administration continues to bolster staffing for the busy summer travel season set to kick off this weekend, federal aviation security officials said Tuesday.” The 1.8 million passengers screened by TSA on Sunday “amounted to 90

Insider reports that Flytrex has received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration “to expand backyard drone delivery to thousands of homes in North Carolina, the company announced Tuesday, May 25.” Flytrex has been testing their UAV operations under the FAA’s ongoing pilot UAV program for months. The company “previously delivered food and beverages at a golf

GovCon Wire reports that the US Space Force “intends to release a request for proposals by June 30 to develop prototypes of deep space radar sensors that can monitor satellites and space debris in geostationary orbits, SpaceNews reported Sunday.” The Space and Missile Systems Center’s Space Enterprise Consortium “plans to select one or more vendors to

The Daily Mail (UK) reports that the US Air Force “has successfully completed an experimental program to rapidly transform cargo planes into bombers, massively enlarging its firepower capabilities should an armed conflict break out.” The program allows the C-17 Globemaster III and the C-130 Hercules to be converted into bombers. After “two years of experiments, the

Reuters reported that China’s Zhurong rover “drove down the ramp of its landing capsule on Saturday and onto the surface of Mars, making China the first nation to orbit, land and deploy a land vehicle on its inaugural mission to the Red Planet.” The rover “drove down to the surface of Mars at 10:40 a.m.

Reuters reported that The Boeing Company “has drawn up preliminary plans for a fresh sprint in 737 MAX output to as many as 42 jets a month in fall 2022, industry sources said, in a bid to extend its recovery from overlapping safety and COVID-19 crises.” The plans “would lift output beyond an early 2022

Space News reports that United Launch Alliance said Wednesday that the company will use its Atlas 5 rocket for the USSF-51 mission. The mission was supposed to be “the first national security mission for United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket,” but the Vulcan has fallen behind schedule. The USSF-51 mission was “awarded to ULA in

ExecutiveGov reports that NASA “said Wednesday it tested the Airborne Location Integrating Geospatial Navigation System in preparation for future demonstrations of the Lockheed Martin-made X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology or QueSST plane.” Before 2024 demonstrations of the aircraft intended to quiet the sonic boom that occurs during supersonic flight, NASA “has to test X-59’s quietness through

SPACE reports that on Wednesday, Blue Origin began the unsealed phase of the bidding process for a seat on a July 20 New Shepard spacecraft launch. The unsealed phase follows online sealed bidding that began May 5. Per the Blue Origin website, the leading bid for the seat as of 4:00 a.m. EDT was $2.8 million. The

Reuters reports that European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Executive Director Patrick Ky said Wednesday, “I believe that commercial use of (air) taxis can start to take place in 2024 or 2025.” The EASA “cited figures suggesting a 4.2-billion-euro UAM market in Europe by 2030, creating 90,000 jobs. Some 31% of the global market for

Space News reports that South Korea “is in last-minute negotiations with the United States to join NASA’s Artemis program, a news outlet here reported May 18, citing government sources.” The two countries are aiming to complete negotiations before a May 21 summit between President Biden and South Korea President Moon Jae-in. An unnamed South Korean official

Reuters reports that electric aircraft company Beta Technologies “said on Tuesday it had raised $368 million in a private funding round which was led by Fidelity Management and backed by Amazon’s climate-focused venture capital fund.” Beta Technologies said that the funding will be used to refine its electric propulsion systems and controls and the construction

Space News reports that NASA “announced May 17 it has assigned another astronaut to the next commercial crew mission to the International Space Station, a sign that NASA no longer expects to complete a seat barter agreement with Roscosmos in time for that flight.” NASA “said that Kayla Barron will join the Crew-3 mission, launching

National Defense Magazine reports that the US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) “will soon put five industry offerings through their paces as it searches for a new ‘Armed Overwatch’ aircraft to support commandos.” The command “wants a new platform to replace its U-28A Draco manned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance plane. On May 14, SOCOM announced that it

Air Force Magazine reported that the US Air Force “will propose about a 10 percent cut in its planned F-35 purchases in the upcoming future years defense plan, citing sustainment costs for the jet well above what was expected, and because the service prefers to wait for the more advanced Block 4 model.” Budget talking points

Space News reported that at 6:56 p.m. EDT Saturday, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, carrying 52 Starlink satellites and two rideshare payloads – a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellite from Capella Space and Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems’ Tyvak-0130 satellite. The Starlink satellites “separated from the rocket’s upper stage 1 hour and

The AP reports that China “says its Mars probe and accompanying rover are expected to land on the red planet sometime between Saturday and Wednesday Beijing time.” The China National Space Administration “said in a brief notice that the Tianwen-1 probe has collected a large amount of scientific data since entering Mars orbit on Feb. 10

Reuters reports that United Airlines, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines “said on Thursday they will quickly repair more than 60 Boeing 737 MAX planes grounded early last month over an electrical problem that could have interfered with some critical systems.” The Boeing Company “sent all affected carriers service bulletins late on Wednesday on how to

The Daily Mail (UK) reports that NASA’s Perseverance rover…

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reports that The Boeing Company has come up with a fix to strengthen engine covers similar to the one that disintegrated on a United Airlines 777 jet after it took off from Denver in February. FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in congressional testimony Wednesday that Boeing

SPACE reports that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope “has unfurled its big golden mirror for the final time on Earth ahead of its planned launch later this year.” The $9.8 billion space telescope “opened its 21.3-foot-wide (6.5 meters) primary mirror recently during a test at the Los Angeles-area facilities of its main builder, the aerospace

Reuters reports that Airbus “is asking key suppliers to get ready for a further 18% increase in A320-family jet output by the end of 2022, on top of existing targets for this year, as airlines eye a partial return to normal travel, industry sources said.” The sources said that the new plan would increase output to

Aviation International News reports that Wright Electric “has completed what it says will be a key element in its plans to develop an electric propulsion system that could potentially power a single-aisle airliner to enter commercial service by 2030.” The company “reported late last week that it has successfully demonstrated the inverter that will convert DC

Reuters reports that on Monday, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft began its trip back to Earth after its sample collection mission on asteroid Bennu. The trip “back to Earth will take about two years.” NASA “says samples will be distributed to research laboratories worldwide, but 75% of the samples will be preserved at the Johnson Space Center

The New York Times reported that on Friday, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter made its fifth flight on Mars, making “a successful one-way trip to another flat patch of Mars more than the length of a football field away. The spot where it landed will serve as its base of operations for the next month at least, beginning a

Aviation Today reported that BETA Technology’s ALIA eVTOL “has received the first airworthiness approval for manned flight in an electric aircraft from the U.S. Air Force, the Air Force announced on May 5.” The approval comes after the Air Force tested the ALIA simulator for a year. BETA and the Air Force “will sign a contract

Air Force Times reports that the US Air Force “is beginning to return B-1B bombers to the air after grounding the entire fleet last month to investigate a fuel system issue.” Some B-1B Lancers “resumed flight operations Monday, about two weeks after Air Force Global Strike Command ordered the fleet of 57 aircraft to stand

SPACE reports that The Boeing Company plans to launch its second Starliner test flight “no sooner than July 30 – slightly earlier than the previously announced target of early August. The upcoming liftoff will kick off Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2), an uncrewed mission to the International Space Station.” Boeing “last tried such a test flight in

Military.com reports that the US Air Force announced Wednesday that it “flew an artificial intelligence system onboard a subsonic autonomous drone for the first time last month.” According to an Air Force news release, the “Skyborg autonomy core system, or ACS, was loaded into a Kratos UTAP-22 ‘Mako’ drone for a 130-minute flight test at Tyndall

ABC News reports that Blue Origin “said Wednesday it has opened an online auction for one of six seats aboard the New Shepard, its suborbital vehicle designed for space tourism, for the July 20 flight.” After “completing 15 consecutive missions to space and back with New Shepard, the company said it is ready to fly

Florida Today reports that NASA has approved Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser spaceplane to land on a runway at Kennedy Space Center. The Dream Chaser “is a reusable, space utility vehicle capable of transportation services to and from low-Earth orbit and is capable of a runway landing.” Under a NASA contract, “the plane is now

Reuters reports that the FAA has “asked The Boeing Company to supply fresh analysis and documentation showing numerous 737 MAX subsystems would not be affected by electrical grounding issues first flagged in three areas of the jet in April, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.” The “electrical problems have suspended nearly a quarter of

Breaking Defense reports that the US Army is “asking industry if it can accelerate delivery of a new scout drone…to replace the aging RQ-7 shadow after a successful year of field tests of four competing prototypes, culminating in a rainy-day ‘rodeo’ at Fort Benning.” Army UAS Project Manager Col. Scott Anderson said that a formal requirements

CNET News reports that SpaceX is aiming to conduct a test flight of its Starship SN15 prototype as early as Tuesday. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk “said SN15 ‘has hundreds of design improvements across structures, avionics/software and engine,’ including, hopefully, upgrades to cover some of the problems that have prevented SpaceX from sticking the landing so far

SPACE reported that on Friday at 10:49 a.m. EDT, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter lifted off from Mars for the fourth time. Ingenuity “covered 872 feet (266 meters) of ground and reached a top speed of 8 mph (13 kph) during the 117-second jaunt, NASA officials said.” Full Story (SPACE)

The Drive reported that during a demonstration event known as Project Hydra, “five F-35A Joint Strike Fighters and a single F-22 Raptor ‘talked’ with each other using their proprietary stealthy datalinks via a U-2S Dragon Lady spy plane carrying a specialized communications gateway payload.” Skunk Works Vice President and General Manager Jeff Babione said in a statement,

Spaceflight Now reports that the first launch of Arianespace’s Vega Rocket “since an in-flight failure nearly one year ago has been postponed to no earlier than Monday night due to unfavorable upper level winds over the Vega launch base in Kourou, French Guiana.” The rocket will carry 53 small satellites for “21 customers in 13 countries,

The Wall Street Journal reports that the FAA said Thursday that it has initiated an audit into how a minor design change in the production of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft contributed to a potential electrical issue that led to the grounding of 109 737 MAX aircraft. The agency said regarding the audit that it will assess The

Space News reports that at 11:23 p.m. EDT Wednesday, China launched the Tianhe space station core module atop a Long March 5B rocket, “beginning an intense period of missions for constructing the nation’s own space station.” The core module “separated from the first stage after 490 seconds of flight. Solar array deployment occurred just over an

Martin UAV said in a press release that the US Navy has selected the company’s V-BAT “for a VTOL UAS prototyping and development effort in order to fulfill new technological requirements driven by the changing nature of threats in austere operating environments.” Martin UAV was selected after a technology demonstration at Yuma Proving Grounds, where the

The Daily Mail (UK) reports that NASA has unveiled a plan to send a spacecraft, currently named the Interstellar Probe, 1,000 astronomical units (AUs) – or approximately 92 billion miles – away from Earth in the 2030s. During the mission, the spacecraft “will examine the heliosphere, planets and more.” Probe lead Elena Provornikova said, “For the first

Aviation Today reports that Wingcopter “is debuting a new all-electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) fixed-wing drone capable of ‘triple-drop’ deliveries, according to an April 27 release from the company.” The Wingcopter 198 “has a payload of 13 pounds and a range of 47 miles, according to the release.” Wingcopter 198’s “delivery process is fully autonomous

Space News reports that US Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David Thompson said in an interview that he would prefer a civilian agency take over space management activities. Collision “warning duties are expected to transition to the Department of Commerce by 2024 but there are other issues that a civilian agency should be

FlightGlobal reports that Kaman said Monday that it has flown its uncrewed K-Max Titan helicopter for the first time April 21. The helicopter “was controlled from the ground with a safety pilot on-board during its debut flight, Kaman said.” Kaman “says the unmanned variant is intended to expand the operating envelope of the helicopter to

Reuters reported that Grupo Aeromexico “has agreed to purchase 24 of The Boeing Company’s 737-8 and B737-9 MAX planes, and four 787-9 Dreamliners, as part of a deal that should yield an estimated $2 billion in savings, the Mexican airline said on Friday.” The carrier “said that it had managed to negotiate better conditions in

The New York Times reports that on Sunday, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter flew on Mars for the third time, traveling further and faster than the previous two flights. The helicopter “perfectly executed its instructions from Earth.” The helicopter “lifted 16 feet off the ground, then flew a round-trip distance of 328 feet before landing back where it started.”

The New York Times reports that at 5:33 a.m. EDT Thursday, Ingenuity lifted off from the Jezero crater on Mars for its second flight on the Red Planet. The helicopter “reached a height of 16 feet, tilted itself by 5 degrees to move seven feet sideways, hovered and turned to point its color camera in multiple directions,