Industry News

Aviation Today reports that Rolls-Royce announced Tuesday that it is building an electric propulsion system for Vertical Aerospace’s VA-X4 electrical vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The system will include the Rolls-Royce 100kw-class lift-and-push electrical propulsion units and its power distribution and monitoring system. The VA-X4 will conduct a flight test this year and start

CNET News reports that on March 3, SpaceX “appeared to make a soft landing of” its Starship SN10 prototype, but several minutes after the landing, the rocket “exploded on the landing pad.” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said Tuesday that the landing was not as soft as it appeared, and that the prototype’s legs and part

SPACE reports that NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope “went into a protective ‘safe mode’ early Sunday morning (March 7), but its handlers seem confident it will bounce back in relatively short order.” Hubble team members said on NASA’s Twitter account Sunday, “At ~4:00 a.m. EST [0900 GMT] on Sunday, the Hubble Space Telescope went into safe

FlightGlobal reports that the US Air Force is seeking air-to-air combat technologies for its family of next-generation UAVs. Initial focus areas are air domain awareness technologies, including “airborne moving target indication sensors and equipment for high-value airborne asset protection, it says in a request for information posted online on 8 March.” The Space Force said

Spaceflight Now reported that NASA and SpaceX are targeting April 22 for the launch date of the next Crew Dragon mission to the ISS. The Crew Dragon spacecraft “is scheduled to blast off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The launch time April 22 is set for 6:11

FlightGlobal reported that General Atomics Aeronautical Systems received an experimental certificate from the FAA for a second Avenger Extended Range UAV. The certificate “will allow the company-owned aircraft to operate within the US National Airspace System, the company said on 3 March.” General Atomics senior director of quick-action programs Pete Latta said, “This [Experimental Certificate] will

SPACE reports that NASA officials gave an update from the Mars Perseverance Rover’s Twitter account Wednesday, which tweeted, “This week I’ve been doing lots of health checkouts, getting ready to get to work. … I’ve checked many tasks off my list, including instrument tests, imaging, and getting my arm moving. Warming up for a marathon of

Aviation Today reports that the US Air Force is “investing in LiquidPiston’s X-Engine technology to create a hybrid-electric propulsion system to power emerging technologies like unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and orbs, the company announced on March 4.” The technology would use fuel to power a generator and charge the aircraft’s batteries, which would extend its flight

CBS News reports that an unpiloted SpaceX prototype launched from Texas on Wednesday and climbed to an altitude of six miles before tipping “over on its side as planned” and plunging “back to Earth in a high-altitude swan dive, flipping back vertical and then successfully landing near the launch pad.”  The launch marked the company’s

Reuters reports that Aerion “said on Wednesday Berkshire Hathaway’s private aircraft firm, NetJets, has obtained purchase rights for 20 of its AS2 business jets.” The AS2 “will be powered by engineered synthetic fuel and can reach supersonic speeds of up to Mach 1.4, or about 1,000 miles (1,610 km) per hour, which is 150% faster

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,

FlightGlobal reports that the FAA plans to begin testing of UAV detect-and-avoid systems before the end of this year. The tests “will run through 2023 and will occur at five US commercial airports – those in Atlantic City (New Jersey), Columbus (Ohio), Huntsville (Alabama), Seattle-Tacoma (Washington) and Syracuse (New York), the FAA says on 2

CNET News reports that on Monday, SpaceX delayed the launch of 60 Starlink satellites atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The launch is now set for Tuesday at 7:53 p.m. EST from Kennedy Space Center. For the launch, SpaceX will attempt a “booster landing on a droneship, as well as the attempted recovery of both halves

Reuters reports that The Boeing Company “will use a pilotless, fighter-like jet developed in Australia as the basis for its U.S. Air Force Skyborg prototype, an executive at the plane maker said on Tuesday.” The company conducted its first flight of the “Loyal Wingman” on Saturday, with a Boeing test pilot monitoring “from a ground control

Reuters reports that the Saudi civil aviation authority (GACA) “announced on Sunday that Boeing 737 Max planes will be allowed to return to service to and from the kingdom after meeting safety requirements.” Full Story (Reuters)

Space News reported that Lockheed Martin “is redesigning the bus used for Global Positioning System satellites so they can be upgraded with new hardware on orbit, a company executive said Feb. 25.” The company’s Senior Director of Military Space Mission Strategy Eric Brown said that the move is significant because the prominent thought today is

SPACE reports that the NASA Parker Solar Probe completed its fourth swing past Venus on February 20. The probe is on a mission to fly closer to the sun than any previous spacecraft, but needs to “whiz past Venus a total of seven times, with each pass pulling the spacecraft closer to the sun.” The Parker

Reuters reports that Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority lifted its grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX on Friday, becoming the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to clear the jet to fly. Authority head Graeme Crawford said, “We…are confident that the aircraft are safe.” While no Australian airline flies the 737 MAX, Singapore Airlines and Fiji

Florida Today reports that SpaceX is aiming to launch 60 Starlink satellites atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 8:37 p.m EST Sunday. SpaceX set the date after completing a static fire test Wednesday. Full Story (Florida Today)

Aviation International News reports that General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) reported Wednesday that business jet deliveries decreased by 20.4% in 2020. Relative to the year prior, Bombardier saw deliveries decrease by 28 units, Gulfstream by 20, Dassault by six, Embraer by 23, Textron Aviation by 74, and Honda Aircraft by one. Full Story (Aviation International News)

Space News reports that a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster “failed to land after its most recent launch Feb. 15 because of ‘heat damage’ it sustained.” During the 47th Spaceport Summit on Tuesday, SpaceX senior adviser for build and flight reliability Hans Koenigsmann “said the failed landing during an otherwise successful launch of Starlink satellites remains under

Aviation Today reports that NASA’s Ingenuity “will be the first aircraft to attempt controlled flight on another planet.” Ingenuity will attempt test flights on Mars in the spring and will “remain within a 0.6-mile (1-kilometer) radius of Perseverance so it can communicate wirelessly with the rover.” The Perseverance rover will communicate with relay orbiters around Mars

ABC News reports that NASA “released stunning new video for the first time Monday from its Perseverance rover’s audacious landing on Mars last week.” The video, “shot from multiple cameras, captures the rover’s entry, descent and landing on the red planet’s Jezero Crater.” NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Director Michael Watkins said, “This is the first

Air Force Times reports that the Air Force issued a request for information (RFI) Thursday, which stated that it is looking for industry assistance in transitioning the C-130 software to a DevSecOps approach. The RFI stated, “The end goal is to establish a lean, user-centered approach that will ultimately redefine how capability is delivered to the

Reuters reported that on Friday, NASA scientists “presented striking early images from the picture-perfect landing of the Mars rover Perseverance, including a selfie of the six-wheeled vehicle dangling just above the surface of the Red Planet moments before touchdown.” The “color photograph, likely to become an instant classic among memorable images from the history of spaceflight,

Bloomberg reported that the FAA “is using a network of satellites” to follow all Boeing 737 Max “flights around the world,” as the agency monitors “the plane after its 20-month grounding.” The network, “provided by Virginia-based Aireon LLC,” is “capable of tracking planes in even the most remote regions as if they were under surveillance

Space News reports that NASA and The Boeing Company said Wednesday that the second uncrewed Boeing CST-100 Starliner flight test will be pushed from March 25 to no earlier than April 2. The test was delayed in order “to replace hardware damaged during processing of the spacecraft.” The announcement “comes after Boeing recently replaced avionics units

Air Force Times reports that the US Air Force began the process of retiring its B-1 Lancer Wednesday, “as the ‘Bone’ bomber flew to the Air Force’s boneyard where divested aircraft are kept in storage.” The Air Force plans to retire 17 of its 62 B-1 aircraft. According to the service, divesting its most battered

ABC News reports that after a tense, seven-minute descent Thursday afternoon, NASA’s Perseverance rover successfully landed on Mars. After a “seven-month journey through the cosmos,” Perseverance touched down on the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater at 3:55 p.m. ET. Shortly after landing, “the rover, nicknamed ‘Percy,’ sent its first image back to Earth.“ Thursday’s landing was

Reuters reports that on Wednesday, the FAA “issued an airworthiness directive for certain Boeing Co 787 airplanes, asking for inspection of the jets following reports of torn decompression panels in the bilge area.” The FAA “estimates that the directive affects 222 787 airplanes that are part of the U.S. registry.” Full Story (Reuters)

Florida Today reports that NASA has scheduled the landing of its Mars Perseverance Rover on Mars’ Jezero Crater for 3:55 p.m. EST Thursday. During what is “known as the ‘Seven Minutes of Terror,’ Perseverance will enter the Martian atmosphere, shed its head shield, deploy parachute, slow to a speed of 1.7 miles per hour, drop

SPACE reports that the Russian Progress MS-16 cargo ship docked safely at the International Space Station Wednesday, bringing “new research experiments, crew supplies (such as clothing and food), fresh water, nitrogen gas and propellant for the station’s Zvezda service module propulsion system,” among other cargo. When it leaves the station, Progress “will remain connected to Pirs

Aviation International News reports Gulfstream Aerospace’s G700 is “on track for market entry in late 2022,” with its flight-test program having accumulated 1,100 flight hours in the last year and completing most of its development testing in preparation for certification flight trials. Gulfstream Senior VP of Innovation, Engineering, and Flight Colin Miller said that the

CNET News reports that for the first time in a year, “SpaceX appears to have missed the landing of its Falcon 9 first stage booster.” CNET adds that “it seems very likely” that the Falcon 9 used in the launch of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband satellites on Monday “crashed in the ocean.” Meanwhile, the next set

Aviation Week ran an article responding to a reader question asking whether the Boeing 767 is likely to remain in service for the next 10 years. “The short answer: absolutely. For starters, Boeing is still delivering the aircraft,” having made its 1,000th delivery on February 2. “Aviation Week’s 202 Civil Aviation Fleet and MRO Forecast

SPACE reports that the Spacecraft Fire Safety Experiment-V (Saffire-V), “which occurred after a Northrop Grumman Cygnus spacecraft departed the International Space Station on Jan. 6, is the latest in a series of fire studies to protect astronauts on long-term missions.” Saffire-V “lasted 26 hours, then the Cygnus spacecraft, which was filled with trash, burned up

Bloomberg reports that a “turboprop design is gaining momentum within Airbus SE as the solution to its challenge of developing a hydrogen jet by 2035, according to people familiar with the matter.” The “propeller plane would carry around 100 passengers for about 1,000 nautical miles.” The “other two designs are for a 200-seat blended wing,

Bloomberg reports that United Airlines is scheduled to resume flights on the Boeing 737 MAX…

ExecutiveGov reports that Ball Aerospace “has been selected to support a NASA small satellite technology demonstration, Solar Cruiser, the company reported on Wednesday.” The company “will perform several mission-critical functions, including the integration and test of the satellite bus with the solar sail system that will form the completed Sailcraft.” Ball Aerospace’s “efforts will inform

The Denver Post reports that on Monday, Sierra Nevada Space Systems announced that the Cape Canaveral Spaceport Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida has been granted a license by federal authorities to be used as a re-entry site for commercial spacecraft. As Sierra Nevada prepares the Dream Chaser commercial spacecraft “for a planned 2022 flight to the

Aviation International News reports that The Boeing Company “has flown the first KC-46A tanker for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.” The aircraft conducted “its maiden flight from Paine Field in Everett, Washington on February 8. The aircraft is due for delivery later this year.” Japan has four KC-46As on order, “with at least another two

Bloomberg reports that the Boeing 737 MAX “will resume flights in Europe after a near two-year grounding following two fatal crashes, with Czech leisure airline SmartWings AS planning to bring back its seven-plane fleet.” SmartWings “will restart operations this month and aims to return all of the aircraft to service by the summer, it said

The AP reports that Millie Hughes-Fulford, “a trailblazing astronaut and scientist who became the first female payload specialist to fly in space for NASA, died following a yearslong battle with cancer, her family said. She was 75.” Hughes-Fulford “was selected by NASA for its astronaut program in 1983 and five years later, in June 1991, spent

Space News  reports that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is seeking input from the space industry “about their capabilities to manufacture large structures on the moon” for a new project, which was announced Friday, called, “Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials and Mass-efficient Design.” DARPA Defense Sciences Office Program Manager Bill Carter said in

The Wall Street Journal reported that the decrease in international air travel related to the pandemic has put The Boeing Company’s 777X program in doubt, as the jetliner was designed for long-haul routes with hundreds of passengers. Boeing plans for the first 777X to be delivered in 2023, which is about three years behind schedule and

Breaking Defense reports that Air Force Research Lab Director Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle said that the “high-priority Skyborg program to develop low-cost, autonomous drones able to team with piloted aircraft could reach initial operating capability by 2023.” Pringle told the Mitchell Institute Thursday, “We’re really excited about that December demo because it was a first-ever kind

India EducationDiary reports that AIAA and NASA “will host a moderated webinar to discuss technology innovations with NASA’s Mars Perseverance rover during a virtual event at 10 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 10.” The event “will livestream on NASA’s website and on YouTube through AIAA’s event landing page.” During the event, NASA “science, technology, and engineering experts

The Houston Chronicle reports that on Tuesday, Nanoracks’ Bishop Airlock, which was attached to the ISS on December 19, powered on for the first time since its attachment to the station. The airlock is the ISS’ “first commercial airlock,” and “is the station’s first permanent, complex element to be owned and operated by a commercial company.”

FlightGlobal reports that last October, the US Army conducted crewed-uncrewed teaming between the Boeing AH-64 Apache helicopter, a Textron Shadow RQ-7BV2 Block 3 tactical UAV, and a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-1C Gray Eagle Extended Range UAV. The teaming test “is meant to demonstrate part of the US Army’s version of Joint All-Domain Command & Control.”

CNET News reports that SpaceX has scheduled the launch of a Starlink mission for Thursday at 1:19 a.m. EST. Another Starlink mission, whose Monday launch date was delayed, is now scheduled to launch Thursday at 5:36 a.m. EST. The two missions, scheduled within five hours of each other, would “represent the 18th and 19th Starlink launches