Industry News

FlightGlobal reports that Bell “recently demonstrated its Autonomous Pod Transport 70 (APT 70) cargo drone autonomously delivering a package over a 4mi (6.44km) preprogrammed route in north Texas.” The demonstration “took place on an undisclosed date at the AllianceTexas Mobility Innovation Zone, a region that’s agreed to allow testing of and experimentation with novel ground

Aviation International News reports that Rolls-Royce “has successfully conducted its first tests on a business jet engine using 100 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), it announced” Monday. The “latest experiment used a Pearl 700 engine that’s under development for the new Gulfstream G700 and confirmed that the company’s current commercial and business jet powerplants ‘can

SPACE reports that tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman “has chartered a trip to Earth orbit with” SpaceX on a mission that he will command. The Inspiration4 mission will see a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule “spend an estimated two to four days circling Earth and then come back down for an ocean splashdown.” The mission will have four

The Daily Mail (UK)  reported that Dr. Fatima Ebrahimi, a physicist at the Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, “has invented a new fusion rocket [concept] that could one day take humans to Mars.” The spacecraft would use “magnetic fields to shoot plasma particles from the back of the rocket and propel the craft through

The Washington Post reports that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk criticized the FAA after the agency canceled the launch of SpaceX’s Starship test flight Thursday. Musk wrote in a tweet, “Unlike its aircraft division, which is fine, the FAA space division has a fundamentally broken regulatory structure. … Their rules are meant for a handful of expendable launches

Aviation International News reports that Bell delivered 57 helicopters in the fourth quarter of 2020, down from 76 deliveries in the same period a year prior. Bell reported “revenue of $871 million,” which “was down from $961 million in the fourth quarter of 2019, while profit declined by $8 million to $110 million.” Backlog “was $5.3

Florida Today reports that forecasters from the US Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron said Wednesday that they expect 90% “go” weather conditions for SpaceX’s Saturday launch of 60 Starlink satellites atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The mission is scheduled to launch “during a 10-minute window that opens at” 7:24 a.m. EST. Conditions “in the Atlantic

Reuters reports that General Dynamics’s Gulfstream Aerospace reported 40 business jet deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2020, which was down from 44 in 2019. The aerospace unit “posted a 16.9% fall to $2.44 billion. Total revenue fell 2.7% to $10.48 billion.” However, “the broader business jet market saw an order boost late in 2020 as

The Houston Chronicle reports that NASA announced Tuesday that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will leave asteroid Bennu on May 10. OSIRIS-REx Deputy Project Manager Michael Moreau said, “Leaving Bennu’s vicinity in May puts us in the ‘sweet spot,’ when the departure maneuver will consume the least amount of the spacecraft’s onboard fuel.” The departure date “could also

The AP reports that the Boeing 737 MAX “has been approved to resume flights in Europe, following nearly two years of reviews after the aircraft was involved in two deadly crashes that saw the planes grounded worldwide, the European aviation safety agency said Wednesday.” Changes made to the aircraft mandated by the EASA “include a package of

CNBC reports that “private investment in space companies last year set a new annual record,” according to a new Space Capital report. Space Capital managing partner Chad Anderson wrote in the report, “With another $2.9 billion invested in Q4, 2020 was a record year for [space infrastructure companies] with $8.9 billion invested. … Despite expectations that

Aviation Today reports that Rolls-Royce Germany will leverage “artificial intelligence (AI) in a new partnership with Altair for its engineering, testing, and design of aerospace engines to reduce and accelerate certification and design iterations, reduce extensive physical testing, and improve product quality.” Sam Mahalingam, Chief Technical Officer at Altair, told Aviation Today, “Successful proof of

Aviation International News reported that Airbus Helicopters “started in-flight tests onboard the European aerospace group’s rotary-wing Flightlab facility.” The Flightlab facility is “exclusively dedicated to maturing new technologies for the company’s current helicopters and future fixed-wing and eVTOL aircraft designs,” and “will be used to test hybrid and electric propulsion, autonomy, noise reduction, and improved maintenance

SPACE reported that data from NASA’s Cassini mission revealed that lake Kraken Mare on Saturn’s moon Titan “is more than 1,000 feet (300 meters) deep.” The data showed that Kraken Mare “contains a mix of methane and ethane, which differed from previous models suggesting ethane would prevail due to the lake’s size and geographical position

Florida Today reports that SpaceX is targeting no earlier than 9:40 a.m. EST Saturday for the launch of a rideshare mission. The weather conditions for the mission are expected to be 60% “go.” The rocket will carry “dozens of payloads owned by organizations ranging from SpaceX itself to the Department of Defense to NASA.” The Falcon

ExecutiveGov  reports that The Boeing Company has won a $2.1 billion contract from the US Air Force to deliver 15 KC-46A tankers. The KC-46 “will connect air forces to data needed to maintain the decision advantage and increase success rate on the battlefield.” Boeing “is now on contract for 94 KC-46A tankers.” Full Story (ExecutiveGov)

Space News reports that at 8:02 a.m. Wednesday, SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The rocket launched from KSC’s Launch Complex 39A, and deployed the satellites 65 minutes after liftoff. The rocket’s “first stage, making its eighth flight, landed on a droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.” The launch “was the first time

Air Force Times reports that the F-35 joint strike fighter’s mission capable rate figures are well below the military’s target, according to DoD’s former acquisition chief Ellen Lord. The F-35’s mission capable rate is currently 69%, short of the “military’s longstanding 80 percent goal, said Ellen Lord.” She added that, when looking at fully mission capable

SPACE reports that the NASA Parker Solar Probe spacecraft made another close approach to the sun on Sunday. The spacecraft will “conduct a total of four close approaches to the sun, plus two Venus flybys” this year. On Sunday, the Parker Solar Probe “made its closest approach to the sun at 12:39 p.m. EST,” at which

Aviation International News reports that The Boeing Company has received a firm order for six 737-800 converted freighters from BBAM Limited Partnership. The order also comes with the option for six additionalaircraft. The order “brings BBAM’s 737-800BCF orders and commitment total to 15 and reflects the relative strength of the e-commerce and express cargo market during

Reuters reports that Transport Canada announced that it would end the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX on January 20. The regulator “also said in a release that it had issued an airworthiness directive to aircraft owners, aircraft maintenance engineers and foreign civil aviation authorities, along with an interim order that outlines requirements for airlines on

Spaceflight Now reports that The Boeing Company said Monday that it re-qualified the software for its Starliner crew capsule. Kennedy Space Center technicians “connected the crew and service modules for the next unpiloted Starliner test flight to the International Space Station in March.” This comes “after programming errors cut short the spacecraft’s first orbital test flight

CNN reports that Qatar Airways “has confirmed it will be retiring half of its fleet of 10 Airbus A380s, which have already been grounded since March last year.” Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Bakar said Wednesday, “The A380, I think, is one of the worst aircraft when it comes to emissions that is flying around

CNET News reports that on Wednesday, SpaceX conducted a series of static test fires on its Starship SN9 prototype. The tests “are part of a series of checks leading up to a launch that could come as soon as Friday[,] but appears more likely to take place next week,” based on airspace restrictions and road

Space News reports that Blue Origin is preparing for the next test flight of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle, which could be launched as soon as Thursday. The FAA published temporary flight restrictions Tuesday, which will “close airspace above Blue Origin’s West Texas test site from Jan. 14 through Jan. 17, from 9:45 a.m. to 4

IHS Jane’s 360 reports that the US Air Force has awarded The Boeing Company $1.7 billion “for Lot 6 production of the KC-46A Pegasus tanker-transport aircraft.” According to DOD, “the contract covers 12 aircraft and will be complete by 30 April 2023.” Boeing is “now under contract for 79 of the 179 tankers included in the

SPACE reports that at 9:05 a.m EST Tuesday, a SpaceX Cargo Dragon capsule conducted “its first-ever autonomous undocking from” the ISS. It “will take about 36 hours for the SpaceX Dragon to return to Earth. The spacecraft is expected to splash down in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday (Jan. 13), though NASA and SpaceX will

Air Force Times reports that Northrop Grumman “announced an Air Force award to complete a project for the electronic warfare suite for the F-16 fighter jet.” The “goal of the prototyping is to protect pilots from increasing radio frequency-guided weapons by detecting, identifying and defeating them, a Jan. 11 announcement from Northrop said.” The company’s “system

Aviation Today reports that the final rules for uncrewed aircraft system Remote Identification have been released, but “include a major change from the proposed rules: the exclusion of network Remote ID.” The FAA “cited security issues, privacy concerns, connectivity issues, and regulatory challenges as reasons for not adopting network Remote ID[,] while companies and organizations who

Space News reports that NOAA’s National Satellite, Data and Information Service “is recommending flying three satellites over the United States in the satellite constellation that will follow the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R Series (GOES-R).” NOAA recommends operating two of the satellites “in orbits similar to those of the current GOES East and GOES West satellites.”

CNET News reported that NASA said Friday that it has extended the missions of the Juno spacecraft and the Mars InSight lander. Juno, “which launched in 2011, was scheduled to end its mission by deorbiting into Jupiter in July 2021.” The spacecraft will “now continue its work studying the gas giant until September 2025 or the

Reuters reported that Airbus posted deliveries of 566 jets in 2020, making it the world’s largest planemaker. Deliveries “fell by 34% from a record posted a year earlier, when travel demand was riding high on the increasing mobility of consumers in fast-growing markets across Asia.” However, the total exceeds “estimates earlier in the year when the coronavirus

The AP reports that Virgin Galactic “said Thursday it has completed analysis of why its spacecraft’s rocket failed to ignite during a test flight over New Mexico last month and work to fix the problem has begun.” The company said in a statement, “Once the corrective work has been implemented and verified, we will confirm our pre-flight

Reuters reports that Ryanair “plans to begin deploying its Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in the United Kingdom following its first deliveries in the coming months, CEO Eddie Wilson said on Thursday.” The airline “has said it expects to receive around 30 of the MAX aircraft, which were ungrounded in the United States late last year after

SPACE reports that SpaceX Starship SN9 prototype’s “three engines lit up for about one second today (Jan. 6) at 5:07 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) during a static-fire test at SpaceX’s South Texas facilities.” SpaceX “is prepping the vehicle for a test flight that’s expected to be similar” to that of its predecessor – the SN8. On

Bloomberg reports that on Wednesday, the FAA announced that it will ease the requirements for companies to receive permission to conduct supersonic test flights, which are currently prohibited over land. Several companies, such as Aerion Corp. and Boom Technologies, plan to develop jets capable of supersonic flight, “but concerns remain over sonic booms and other environmental

Space News reports that Virgin Orbit is planning the second flight of its LauncherOne rocket on January 10 between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. EST. The rocket “will be carried aloft by a modified Boeing 747 aircraft taking off from Mojave Air and Space Port, which will release [the rocket] off the coast of Southern California.”

The Seattle Times reports that Boeing managers told employees “that in the next four to six months the facility, known as the Advanced Developmental Composites (ADC) center, will be shuttered.” Even though “relatively few people work at the facility right at this point, its symbolism will add to worry about the future of the jetmaker in this

NASA Space Flight reports that SpaceX’s Starship SN9 prototype “is set to complete an accelerated pad flow with a Static Fire test and launch this coming week. A triple Raptor Static Fire test is tracking early this week.” Additionally, the Starship SN10 “is now an integrated stack inside the High Bay, ready to roll to the

Aviation International News reports that NASA now expects the X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) demonstrator to make its first flight in 2022, and the agency said that construction of the demonstrator was halfway complete as of the end of 2020. NASA “said assembly of the Mach 1.4 aircraft ‘made great strides’ in 2020 as work progressed

BBC News reported that the Solar Orbiter, a joint mission between NASA and the European Space Agency, made its closest approach to Venus on December 27, coming within 4,700 miles of Venus’ atmosphere. The Solar Orbiter “will use some of its tools to record the magnetic and particle environment around the planet.” The “next close approach

Bloomberg reported that Airbus “was close to delivering 560 planes to customers as of Dec. 31, approaching the top end of its internal target in a year marred by the pandemic-induced collapse of air travel, according to people familiar with the matter.” The total is “short of the record 863 aircraft that Airbus handed over

Space News reports that The Boeing Company announced Monday that the Exploration Upper Stage of the Space Launch System completed a critical design review with NASA that “confirmed the design of the EUS, allowing Boeing to proceed with development of the stage, including hardware fabrication.” The EUS, which has larger tanks and uses four Aerojet

Reuters reports that Airbus “is set to beat The Boeing Company to be the world’s largest jetmaker for the second year in a row, ending 2020 by resuming deliveries of its A380 superjumbo to Emirates, though its final deliveries are likely to have dropped 35% from 2019 due to the pandemic.” Barring “widespread new travel upheaval,

Space News reports that at 11:37 p.m. EST Monday, China carried out the first launch of its Long March 8 rocket. The “50.3-meter-long, 356-ton Long March 8 lifted off at 11:37 p.m. Eastern Dec. 21 from the coastal Wenchang launch site carrying five satellites into Sun-synchronous orbits.” The China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT), “a

ExecutiveGov reports that Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Will Roper “said the service branch’s future sixth-generation aircraft will feature an artificial intelligence co-pilot, Breaking Defense reported Friday.” The Next-Generation Air Dominance program “will apply AI as a support platform for human pilots aboard the future aircraft.” Roper “said the service

SPACE reported that on Saturday, SpaceX launched a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) atop a Falcon 9 rocket. The satellite, dubbed NROL-108, launched from the Kennedy Space Center at 9 a.m EST. The Falcon 9’s first stage landed on the ground near Cape Canaveral Space Force Station approximately nine minutes after liftoff. The landing

Live and Let’s Fly reported that United Airlines will make its first passenger flight with a Boeing 737 MAX since the global grounding in February of 2021. After “months of preparation,” United “will base its restarted 737 MAX service out of two hubs, Denver (DEN) and Houston (IAH).” In a message to employees, the airline

Spaceflight Now reports that on Thursday, SpaceX scrubbed the launch of a Falcon 9 rocket “to evaluate a ‘slightly high’ pressure reading in the rocket’s upper stage liquid oxygen tank.” A “sensor reading on the Falcon 9’s upper stage triggered an ‘auto-abort’ at T-minus 1 minute, 53 seconds, as SpaceX counted down to a planned liftoff

Aviation International News reports that the Kansas DOT and the FAA signed an agreement to establish the Kansas Supersonic Transportation Corridor (SSTC), which will allow for testing of aircraft at Mach 3 speeds. The agreement “comes as the FAA has taken a multi-faceted approach to facilitate the emergence of supersonic transport while still meeting environmental