Industry News

28 August 2019 ExecutiveGov reports that “a transport helicopter built by Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky subsidiary to replace the aging Marine One presidential aircraft is on track to achieve [initial] operational capability next year, National Defense Magazine reported Monday.” The Sikorsky VH-92A helicopter, a twin-engine “based on the company’s S-92A commercial aircraft,” is meant “to succeed

28 August 2019 SPACE reports that NASA’s Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC) mission team confirmed August 23 that the clock has been activated successfully. The mercury-ion atomic clock, launched in June, “is now in orbit around Earth and ready to begin a year-long tech demo.” The DSAC, “developed at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory,” is meant to

27 August 2019 Aviation Week reports that UAS manufacturer AeroVironment “said it has donated 87 Quantix hybrid drones and supporting data analytics systems to agricultural departments at 35 U.S. universities.” The Quantix, introduced in 2016, is “designed for automated ‘crop-scouting’ of agricultural tracts.” The UAS “lifts off and lands vertically using four small rotors, then transitions

27 August 2019 SPACE reports that at 6:43 a.m. ET Monday, the U.S. Air Force’s X-37B space plane surpassed its spaceflight-duration record “of 717 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes, which was set by the previous mission, known as Orbital Test Vehicle 4 (OTV-4).” The current campaign, which is classified, “began on Sept. 7, 2017,

26 August 2019 Fleet Owner reported that UPS, which “flew the first Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-sanctioned commercial drone delivery earlier this year,” is now “seeking exemption from FAA regulations to allow its UPS Flight Forward (UPS FF) division to expand, according to its application, published Aug. 22 in the Federal Register.” UPS has been working

26 August 2019 CNET News reported that when NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine “addressed engineering students at the University of Colorado Boulder on Friday,” a student asked via livestream “near the end of the Q&A if NASA had considered sending an all-female crew for the Artemis mission.” Bridenstine answered, “Have we considered it? Yes, and it wouldn’t

22 August 2019 Florida Today reports that on Thursday, “teams are looking to launch” a ULA Delta IV rocket “no earlier than 9 a.m. from Launch Complex 37,” in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The weather forecast for the 27-minute launch window opening is favorable, with 80 percent “go” conditions, but “in the event of a delay,

22 August 2019 Aviation Week reports that on August 21, NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Drew Morgan equipped the ISS “with a second set of hardware to accommodate two simultaneous U.S. segment dockings during a…spacewalk.” (Image: Nick Hague (top) and Andrew Morgan conduct a spacewalk Wednesday to install the International Docking Adapter (IDA-3) to the

21 August 2019 Aviation Week reported that “NASA has issued a request for proposals (RFP) from U.S. companies capable of carrying out up to $7 billion in re-supply missions to its planned lunar-orbiting, human-tended Gateway.” The RFP “asks for a service similar to how multiple commercial providers deliver pressurized and unpressurized cargo to and from”

21 August 2019 Reuters reports that The Boeing Company “said on Tuesday it plans to add extra staff and hire ‘a few hundred’ temporary employees at” Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington. Boeing also “said the workers will assist with aircraft maintenance and customer delivery preparations.” The hiring plans are “a key step” in

20 August 2019 Spaceflight Now reports that “weather forecasters expect a 70 percent chance of favorable conditions at Cape Canaveral for liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket Thursday with a GPS navigation satellite.” A weather outlook issued Monday by the U.S. Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron predicts “a typical summertime weather pattern over

20 August 2019 The Puget Sound (WA) Business Journal reports that The Boeing Company “has paused development of the ultra-long-range version of its 777X passenger jet, though the company said Friday the decision was not related to ongoing work to return its 737 [MAX] to service.” Boeing spokesman Paul Bergman said, “We reviewed our development program schedule

19 August 2019 SPACE  reported that last week, SpaceX had “hop[ed] to launch Starhopper, an early test prototype of the company’s Mars-colonizing Starship vehicle, to an altitude of about 650 feet…from its facility in Boca Chica, Texas.” However, officials in Cameron County, Texas, “announced Friday (Aug. 16) that Boca Chica Beach and part of State

16 August 2019 Aviation Week reported that DARPA has formally begun “a program to build and fly an X-plane designed around active flow control (AFC), potentially eliminating the need for moving control surfaces.” On August 12, “a broad agency announcement (BAA) was released…for the first two of four planned phases of the Control of Revolutionary Aircraft

16 August 2019 Florida Today reports that next week’s launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket will be the last ever featuring the “single stick” medium-lift variant. Space Florida Chief of Strategic Alliances Dale Ketcham said, “Delta IV was an awesome beast that put a lot of heavy, extremely important payloads into space.”

15 August 2019 The AP reports that on Thursday, Virgin Galactic “officials will offer the first glimpse” of “the once-empty hangar that anchors the taxpayer-financed launch and landing facility…where Virgin Galactic will run its commercial flight operations.” The company “posted on social media earlier this week that its carrier plane had landed in New Mexico and

15 August 2019 Aviation International News reports that “the first-ever beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) drone operation using only onboard detect-and-avoid systems in the U.S. will be conducted in Kansas following just-received FAA approval, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) announced” Wednesday. The operation, “a collaboration between Kansas State University Polytechnic Campus, electric utility Westar Energy, Iris Automation, and

14 August 2019 Aviation Week reports that “using experiments and digital simulations, Siemens’ eAircraft said it has proved the feasibility of a high power-density superconducting generator that could be used in a hybrid-electric propulsion system for future short-haul commercial aircraft.” Siemens is performing “laboratory tests of the 2-megawatt SP2000 conventional, non-superconducting electric motor that will

13 August 2019 SPACE reports that SpaceX “aims to get Starhopper, an early test prototype of the company’s Mars-colonizing Starship vehicle, about 650 feet (200 meters) off the ground this weekend, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said via Twitter on Friday.” In response to the question “Starhopper 200m on Aug 16-18?” by another Twitter

13 August 2019 Air Force Times reports that the U.S. Air Force’s Air Mobility Command (AMC) “has returned 74 C-130s to service as of Aug. 9, AMC spokeswoman Alexandra Soika said…Monday.” The Air Force temporarily grounded the C-130s “after finding cracks in the lower center wing joint, or ‘rainbow fitting,’ of a C-130 during scheduled depot

12 August 2019 WFMY-TV Greensboro, NC reports that the city of Greensboro is hosting “the 2019 North Carolina Drone Summit and Flight Expo through Tuesday.” The event is being coordinated by the North Carolina Department of Transportation in collaboration with “partners including Crown Consulting, Inc.” Among the keynote speakers are “leadership from the Federal Aviation Administration,

12 August 2019 Xinhua News Agency (CHN) reports that “NASA’s Mars Cube One (MarCO), the first briefcase-sized satellites to journey to another planet, has been honored ‘Small Satellite Mission of the Year’ by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, according to a latest release of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.” (Image: Cubesat – MarCO | JPL-NASA)

8 August 2019 Aviation Week reports that “the U.S. Army and Air Force successfully demonstrated using Lockheed Martin F-35 track data with the Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense (AIAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) during the Orange Flag exercise in Palmdale, California, and Ft. Bliss, Texas.” (Image: F-35. Credit: U.S. Air Force photo by Master

6 August 2019 Spaceflight Now reports that “U.S. Air Force officials signed off Monday on a plan for SpaceX and United Launch Alliance, rivals in the launch services market, to fire off Falcon 9 and Atlas 5 rockets from neighboring launch pads at Cape Canaveral on Tuesday evening and Thursday morning.” SpaceX has a launch window

6 August 2019 CNBC reports that The Boeing Company CEO Dennis Muilenburg said Monday that Boeing has conducted nearly 500 test flights of the 737 MAX with the new software update installed. In remarks during an interview at the Global Business Travel Association conference, he added, “We know that trust has been damaged over the

5 August 2019 The Guardian (UK) reported that FCC documents indicate that the US military “is conducting wide-area surveillance tests across six midwest states using experimental high-altitude balloons.” As many as “25 unmanned solar-powered balloons are being launched from rural South Dakota and drifting 250 miles through an area spanning portions of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin

2 August 2019 CNET News reports that the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch planned for August 3 “appears to be in jeopardy, after Elon Musk’s spaceflight company announced it would perform a second static fire test after replacing a ‘suspect valve.’” SpaceX did not provide an updated date for the launch. (Image: SpaceX Falcon 9 on

2 August 2019 FlightGlobal reports that “Airbus has determined that the A320neo is potentially vulnerable to an angle-of-attack protection weakness which could result in excessive pitch attitude under certain circumstances.” The EASA said that the condition differs from the excessive-pitch anomaly found in an evaluation of the A321neo, despite a superficial similarity to “the discovery

1 August 2019 The AP reports that the Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing Wednesday with FAA officials on the approvals process for the Boeing 737 MAX. FAA Associate Administrator for Aviation Safety Ali Bahrami “said an FAA flight standardization board, which included pilots, compared the [MAX] to older 737s and determined that the computer-based training

1 August 2019 NBC News reports that on Friday, Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden “led a tour group along roads that offered views not only of alligators and eagles’ nests but also of the past, present and future of America’s space program” at Kennedy Space Center. Worden “recalled the hard work and isolation but also the

31 July 2019 The AP reports that on Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued “a security alert…for small planes, warning that modern flight systems are vulnerable to hacking if someone manages to gain physical access to the aircraft.” The alert “recommends that plane owners ensure they restrict unauthorized physical access to their aircraft until

31 July 2019 CNET News reports that NASA “appears to have wiped the August schedule” for The Boeing Company to “send its first Starliner to the International Space Station,” and instead “replaced it with a message that Boeing and SpaceX flight test dates for the Commercial Crew Program are now ‘under review.’” NASA said in

30 July 2019 Aviation Week reports that “Virgin Atlantic plans to end its Airbus A340 operations by the end of 2019, a spokeswoman told Aviation Daily July 29.” The four-engine aircraft “has been instrumental in creating the company’s long-haul network.” Virgin Atlantic will phase out its “six A340-600s in service…as the A350-1000 enters service.” (Image:

30 July 2019 Spaceflight Now reports that on Sunday, “the Russian Progress MS-12 supply ship and its Soyuz booster arrived at a launch pad…at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan” ahead of the planned launch “at 1210:46 GMT (8:10:46 a.m. EDT; 5:10:46 p.m. Baikonur time) Wednesday.” The automated supply carrier will deliver “more than 2,600 pounds (1.2

29 July 2019 The AP reported that the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation “has begun an online survey to gather comment about” UAS from state residents. According to Division of Aviation UAS Program Manager Basil Yap, the department seeks to incorporate public comments when formulating UAS policy. The online survey “asks for comments

29 July 2019 CBS News reported that “a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship caught up with the International Space Station on Saturday, bringing 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies to the outpost including a new docking mechanism that will provide a second port for commercial crew ships being built by Boeing and SpaceX.” The uncrewed Dragon

26 July 2019 Reuters reports that on Thursday, the FAA “distanced itself…from suggestions by Boeing that its grounded 737 MAX could resume flying passengers in October.” FAA Acting Administrator Dan Elwell told reporters at the EAA AirVenture air show, “We don’t have a timeline. Don’t have October. Don’t have August. Don’t have 2021.” Elwell asserted, “We

25 July 2019 The Houston Chronicle reports that Apollo 11 “computress” Mary Ellen Shirley on Wednesday joined a group of visitors to Space Center Houston “celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 crew’s return to Earth.” At the event, Shirley “clapped along with a Beatles tribute band, while those around her danced and twirled tiny

24 July 2019 SPACE reports that “the 49 lbs. (22 kilograms) of moon rocks and lunar dust returned to Earth by the Apollo 11 mission provided a treasure trove of material that opened the door to insights about another world.” Researchers “have continued to glean new information from the ancient moon rocks” as techniques have grown

23 July 2019 Mashable reported that the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) contributed to NASA’s lunar landing 50 years ago despite having “less than 80 kilobytes of memory.” The AGC “was revolutionary for its time,” because “in the 1950s, when the prototype was conceived for a hypothetical mission to Mars, there weren’t many tech companies NASA

22 July 2019 SPACE reported that “the next SpaceX launch is just days away as the California-based rocket builder is targeting Wednesday, July 24, for the launch of its next robotic resupply mission to the” ISS. NASA officials “said that Dragon will also be carrying 2,500 lbs. (1,135 kilograms) of science gear, which will enable

22 July 2019 SPACE reported that NASA astronaut Drew Morgan, Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Skvortsov, and ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano launched Saturday “for the International Space Station, where they plan, in part, to contribute to research supporting the return of humans to the moon in the near future.” The Soyuz MS-13 crew’s liftoff occurred “50 years to

19 July 2019 SPACE reports that NASA “has finally released footage of researchers examining…lunar samples for signs of life” after the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Chemists and biologists at NASA’s Ames Research Center “carefully analyzed samples of moon rocks and soil,” and they “worked in a specially designed clean room, using the most sophisticated

19 July 2019 Florida Today reports that Vice President Pence “is slated to visit Kennedy Space Center on Saturday, where he’ll commemorate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s landing on the moon.” Pence “will speak at 1 p.m. about the legacy of Apollo and future of NASA’s Artemis program at the famous Neil Armstrong Operations

18 July 2019 Reuters reports that a study by Teal Group determined that the $4.9 billion commercial UAV market will grow to $14.3 billion over the next 10 years as the FAA allows the operation of more types of UAV flights. The study says Chinese UAV manufacturers account for about three-quarters of the commercial and consumer

18 July 2019 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that July 20 “marks the 50-year anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission that saw three astronauts, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins travel to where no man had gone before.” Apart from the “obvious reason the historic Apollo 11 mission was so important, there are other reasons the

17 July 2019 CBS News reports, “Fifty years after the Apollo 11 launch, NASA is setting its sights on a trip back to the moon. The goal is to return to the lunar surface by 2024, in a mission described as ‘Apollo on steroids’ – but some critics argue that’s unrealistic amid budget concerns and already-missed

17 July 2019 Reuters reports that “Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins returned to the launch pad Tuesday at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida where he flew to the moon 50 years ago along with the late Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. ‘Wonderful feeling to be back at launch pad 39A,’ Collins, the command module pilot

16 July 2019 Florida Today reports that “fifty years ago, a Saturn V rocket pierced the horizon above Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, vaulting NASA’s Apollo 11 mission to the moon and expanding humanity’s reach beyond the sky.” But “today, not only is the United States years away from a return to our crater-ridden neighbor, but

16 July 2019 USA Today reports that “fifty years ago, men were launched to the moon on a Saturn V rocket. Only three of this type of rocket still exist, and none has ever been to D.C. Until now.” Tuesday night, “Americans will have a chance to experience the Apollo 11 rocket launch and moon landing