Industry News

CNET News reports that a Tuesday tweet by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk contained “new images of the receiver that SpaceX is refining for use with its Starlink satellite broadband, which is expected to [begin] offering service in the northern US and Canada later this year.” Musk said in the tweet, “Starlink terminal has motors to self-orient

Spaceflight Now reports that “four clandestine payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office [NRO] are awaiting liftoff Wednesday from Wallops Island, Virginia, on a Minotaur 4 rocket powered by Cold War-era missile stages stored for more than 30 years until their conversion into a satellite launcher.” Northrop Grumman’s Minotaur 4 is scheduled to launch on Wednesday during

Aviation International News reports that Delta CEO Ed Bastian “said on a Tuesday earnings call that the airline will retire its Boeing 737-700s this year, in addition to the previously announced retirements of its MD-88, MD-90, and Boeing 777s.” At “last count, Delta’s mainline fleet included 10 Boeing 737-700s.” Delta “also has begun ‘working’ with

Aviation Today reports that the FAA’s NextGen office “recently published its V1.0 Concept of Operations for urban air mobility, developed in collaboration with” NASA and the UAM industry. The document, “an initial communication after discussions with [the] industry last fall, lays the foundation for how high-volume cargo and passenger air taxis will begin to operate within

Space News reports that NASA “has signed an agreement with the Japanese government that brings the agencies closer to finalizing Japan’s roles in the Artemis program.” NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Japan’s Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Koichi Hagiuda signed the Joint Exploration Declaration of Intent on Thursday during a virtual meeting.

SPACE reports that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket “ignited its nine first-stage Merlin engines briefly in a so-called static fire test at” Space Launch Complex-40 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The test “clears the way for the planned launch of the Anasis-II military communications satellite for the South Korean government on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

The AP reported that American Airlines may cancel a number of overdue Boeing 737 MAX orders unless The Boeing Company “helps line up new financing for the jets, according to people familiar with the discussions.” This occurs “as airlines are finding financing increasingly difficult and expensive as the coronavirus pandemic has crippled their operations.” American “wants Boeing

Aviation International News reports that compared to last year, “business aviation traffic in the U.S. was down only 7 percent over the extended Independence Day holiday weekend (July 1 to July 5), according to data released today by WingX Advance.” The company “said this illustrates that the segment’s recovery in the world’s key market is

Spaceflight Now reports that on Tuesday, NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover was “hoisted on top of its United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral…passing a major pre-launch milestone after teams repaired a small leak on the launch vehicle and overcame delays caused by coronavirus cases among staff working on the mission.” Perseverance Mission Launch Director

CNET News reports that SpaceX delayed Wednesday’s scheduled launch of its Falcon 9 rocket due to weather concerns. Ten minutes before the scheduled launch time, SpaceX tweeted, “Standing down from today’s mission due to weather; proceeding through the countdown until T-1 minute for data collection. Will announce a new target launch date once confirmed on the

Information Today reports that the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics “partnered with ScienceOpen to bring aerospace-related research from four AIAA journals to the ScienceOpen platform.” The AIAA Journal, the Journal of Aerospace Information Systems, the Journal of Propulsion and Power, and the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets will be added to the platform. Full Story

The AP reports that NASA “has added more safety fixes for The Boeing Company’s space capsule before it can fly astronauts following a pair of close calls during last year’s test flight.” In “closing out the seven-month investigation, NASA officials said Tuesday they have now identified 80 corrective actions, mostly involving software and testing, that must be

HelpNetSecurity reports that researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) “have determined how to pinpoint the location of a drone operator who may be operating maliciously or harmfully near airports or protected airspace by analyzing the flight path of the drone.” Lead Researcher Eliyahu Mashhadi said, “Currently, drone operators are located using RF techniques and

Florida Today reports that SpaceX is planning to launch a Falcon 9 rocket – carrying 57 Starlink satellites and two BlackSky Global satellites – from the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday at 11:59 a.m. The mission, “which will boost the Starlink internet constellation’s size to nearly 600, has been delayed several times due to technical

The Hill reports that statistics released by the Transportation Security Administration show that air travel over the July 4 weekend fell by 73 percent compared to last year. Air travel “has somewhat bounced back” since the peak of the pandemic, but it “still remains a shadow of prepandemic numbers and has forced the industry to shed

Space News reported that NASA “plans to issue multiple contracts in the coming months for smallsat launch services in the second phase of a program intended to support the emerging small launch vehicle industry.” NASA’s Launch Services Program “released a draft request for proposals July 1 for its proposed Venture Class Launch Service (VCLS) Demonstration 2

Reuters reported that The Boeing Company “is pulling the plug on its 747 jumbo jet, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.” The final aircraft is going to “roll out of a Seattle area factory in about two years, according to the Bloomberg report.” Major US airlines such as Delta have already retired the aircraft.’ Full Story (Reuters)

The AP reports that NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken “completed their second spacewalk in under a week Wednesday to replace old batteries outside the International Space Station.” During the six-hour spacewalk, the astronauts “installed another new battery, the third one in this latest series of spacewalks that began last Friday,” and “had enough time to

Space News reports that this week, Blue Origin “delivered a BE-4 rocket engine to” United Launch Alliance, which plans to use two of those engines “in the main stage of its future” Vulcan Centaur rocket. A Blue Origin spokesperson said, “The engine delivered is the first pathfinder engine to be mated with the Vulcan Centaur and

Defense News reports that Air Force Research Laboratory’s Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) program manager Jeff Heggemeier said that the service’s “long-planned test of an airborne laser weapon aboard a fighter jet has been delayed until 2023 due to technical challenges and complications spurred by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.” Defense News explains that “SHiELD is

CBS News reports that NASA announced Tuesday that the agency and United Launch Alliance has delayed the launch of the Mars 2020 mission to no earlier than July 30. In a NASA “blog post, the latest delay was blamed on ‘a liquid oxygen sensor line’ that showed ‘off-nominal data’ during a dress-rehearsal countdown June 22

Florida Today reports that on Tuesday, SpaceX is scheduled to launch a Falcon 9 rocket, carrying “the third GPS III satellite part of a constellation of 10 improved satellites for the military,” from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. SpaceX will have a launch window of 15 minutes starting at 3:56 p.m.

Aviation International News reports that Airbus has “completed two years of flight testing for its” Autonomous Taxi, Take-Off, and Landing (ATTOL) project, which “culminated in a fully automatic, vision-based flight of an A350-1000 widebody airliner.” The flight was “achieved through the use of on-board image recognition technology, which the manufacturer described as a world-first in a

SPACE reported that on Friday, NASA astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken completed a spacewalk outside the ISS that lasted for 6 hours and 7 minutes. The walk concluded at 1:39 p.m. EDT, after the astronauts successfully “swapped out three aging nickel-hydrogen batteries for two more efficient lithium-ion batteries” in the “first of four excursions to

Reuters reports that in an email to Congress on Sunday, the FAA confirmed that its Type Inspection Authorization Board has finished a review of the Boeing 737 MAX, “clearing the way for flight certification testing to begin. Flights with FAA test pilots could begin as early as [Monday], evaluating The Boeing Company’s proposed changes to the

FlightGlobal reports that General Atomics Aeronautical Systems “has demonstrated three new automatic take-off and landing capabilities for its” MQ-9A Reaper UAV. The updates are a part of a contract with the US Air Force, and allow the UAV “to divert to another airfield, fly in stronger crosswinds and land with greater maximum weight, the company

Space News reports that on Thursday, Virgin Galactic “conducted its second test flight of its” SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle from Spaceport America in New Mexico, “and now says it is ready to resume powered flights of the spacecraft.” The company said that during the “high speed” test, the spacecraft reached speeds of Mach 0.85. Full Story

The Washington Post reports that NASA “will name its headquarters building Mary W. Jackson, [after] the first female African American engineer at the space agency, who as one of the ‘Hidden Figures’ overcame rampant racial discrimination and gender bias to help propel the agency at the dawn of the Space Age, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced Wednesday.”

Aviation International News reports that on June 22, F-35 Joint Program Office released photographs that show the US Air Force’s F-35A “has been undergoing Dual Capable Aircraft (DCA) tests,” which allow the aircraft to deliver conventional and nuclear weapons. The F-35A “is expected to introduce its DCA capability in early 2023 with the Block 4 software

Space News reports that NASA “announced June 23 it has created an office with the commercial crew program, called Suborbital Crew or SubC, that will develop a process for NASA personnel to fly on vehicles such as Blue Origin’s New Shepard and Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo.” NASA will focus on developing “‘system qualification’ of commercial suborbital

Airline Geeks reports that according to industry data, “private jet travel has sharply increased in the month of May and into early June[,] with future booking outlook looking strong.” The FAA’s monthly Business Jet report indicated that there was a dramatic rise “in business jet departures” during May, with 190,000 departures having occurred, which was roughly

Air Force Times reports that the US Air Force is expanding its RPA Training Next program to include “advanced, artificial intelligence-infused pilot training” for UAV pilots and sensor operators. In a June 1 interview, Program Director Maj. Adam Smith “said this new, high-tech system of learning has the potential to teach new remotely piloted aircraft aircrew

Florida Today reports that the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket scheduled for Tuesday has been moved to Thursday at 4:39 p.m. from the Kennedy Space Center. The “delay moves the launch closer to worsening weather,” as the 45th Space Wing Weather Squadron “predicts a 40% ‘go’ for Thursday.” For the launch, the rocket will

Space News reports that Virgin Galactic “announced June 22 it has signed an agreement with NASA to support development of a program to train and potentially procure rides for private individuals seeking to fly to the International Space Station.” The company “said it signed a Space Act Agreement with the Johnson Space Center to develop a

Aviation International News reported that Baird Equity Research Senior Research Analyst Peter Arment “is seeing a U-shaped recovery in business aviation shifting to a V-shaped one, according to his note to investors.” Arment said, “Flights are continuing on the path to recovery in June, now representing a 21 percent decline [month-to-date] versus 2019 after May activity

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,

Aerospace America reports that according to Chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s committee on enhancing air mobility Nick Lappos, US lawmakers should make advanced aerial mobility (AAM) a national priority. Lappos said Thursday during the 2020 AIAA AVIATION Forum, “If the United States doesn’t get together and help establish the rules and

Space News reports that the Mars 2020 mission is scheduled to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on July 20 from Cape Canaveral. Processing of the rover “is on schedule, project officials said during a June 17 online briefing about the mission. The spacecraft will soon be encapsulated inside the rocket’s payload fairing,

FlightGlobal reports that Gulfstream “is halting production of the G550, ending a 17-year run for the long-range business jet.” In a statement made on Wednesday, the US airframer “says it has sold the final commercially available unit, which will be delivered to its owner in 2021.” Cirium “fleets data records 50 shipments in 2011 at [the

Space News reports that NASA modified the Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract it has with SpaceX to allow the company “to reuse [the] Crew Dragon spacecraft and the Falcon 9 first stages” for launches as early as next year. SpaceX will be able to reuse the spacecraft and first stages for “the second operational mission of

FlightGlobal reports that in a June 9 flight test, the Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 Defiant co-axial helicopter “passed 200kt for the first time while flying at Sikorsky’s West Palm Beach Development Flight Test Center in Florida, The Boeing Company and Sikorsky announced on 16 June.” The helicopter topped out at 205kt (380 km/hr), but the Sikorsky-Boeing team “is

FlightGlobal reports that HAPSMobile “plans to flight test its high-altitude, pseudo satellite, the HAWK30, at New Mexico’s Spaceport of America.” The UAV “is solar-powered and designed to stay aloft for six months” while transmitting “cellular data over an area of about 3.1 million ha (7.8 million acres).” The UAV “is being pitched as an alternative

Aviation International News reports that Siemens Smart Infrastructure USA “is now offering UV light systems that it claims provide an effective way to disinfect aircraft cabins or buildings.” The system “delivers a broad spectrum of UV-C, UV-B, UV-A and violet-blue light that it says will quickly kill germs.” In “tests conducted on a Boeing 757 airliner,

CNN reports that NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, using “its unique vantage point 4.3 billion miles from Earth,” has “captured images of nearby stars – and the stars appear to be in different positions than where we see them from Earth.” The images represent the first time the “‘parallax effect’ has been captured using a spacecraft.”

FlightGlobal reports that airlines are increasing the amount of flights and destinations it is offering as the industry begins to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting slowdown in travel. Analysts “still suspect the industry will not fully recover for several years – possibly not until 2023 – and a second wave of Covid-19 infections

CNET News reports that on Saturday, SpaceX is scheduled to “perform its first Starlink ride-share, carrying 58 of its own broadband satellites along with three Earth observing spacecraft for Planet Labs.” According to a SpaceX tweet, the company is aiming to launch the mission at 5:21 a.m. EDT on Saturday. The company will utilize a Falcon

The Associated Press reports that travelers are starting to fly again after the airline industry had “essentially been grounded for months” due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Airlines were “among the hardest hit companies” by the pandemic, and analysts “don’t expect passenger traffic to get back to 2019 levels anytime soon.” Citi analyst Stephen Trent wrote in a

Reuters reports that according to two unnamed sources, The Boeing Company told airlines that it is targeting late June for a certification test flight of its 737 MAX. Boeing “said late Wednesday it had won approval from the Federal Aviation Administration for a service bulletin that details the modifications required for 737 MAX wiring.” The company

3DPrint reports that Aerojet Rocketdyne “will be building a total of 24 RS-25 rocket engines” for NASA “to support as many as six” Space Launch Systems (SLS) “flights for a total contract value of almost $3.5 billion.” Six “new expendable RS-25 engines are already being assembled using advanced manufacturing techniques, including 3D printing,” that reduce “both

Spaceflight Now reports that SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft “will likely return to Earth in August to wrap up a test flight to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, a senior space agency official said Tuesday.” The “exact schedule for Hurley and Behnken’s return to Earth will hinge on several