Industry News

AP reports that regulators are “ordering that engine software be replaced on some Airbus passenger jets because of a problem that has caused pilots to abort several takeoffs in cold weather.” The FAA and EASA order covers 82 CFM International engines on US-registered Airbus A320neo and A321neo jets. The regulators “said this week operators will have

Reuters reports that The Boeing Company’s “poor performance” in building a rocket for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) has “resulted in an $8.9 billion price tag that is double the initial budget and could further delay the launch, the U.S. space agency’s watchdog office said on Wednesday.” NASA’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) said in

Aviation Today reports that Insitu unveiled a new UAV, the Alticam-14, which has “video imaging capability high enough in quality to positively identify people from the air.” According to Insitu Director of Defense Programs Keith Hirschman, speaking Tuesday at the Association of the US Army’s annual convention, the enhanced intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities will be

The Washington Post reports that Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday, “We should be in space within weeks, not months.” Branson added that “then we will be in space with myself in months and not years.” Although Branson has previously estimated that Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin would launch persons into

CBS News reported that President Donald Trump signed the “FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018” Friday, extending FAA funding through 2023 just ahead of an October 7 deadline. ExecutiveGov reported that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristjen Nielsen “said in a statement that the recently passed FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 would increase the government’s capacity to protect U.S. citizens

Aviation Week reports that seven years after “signing a contract to supply the service module for NASA’s Orion spacecraft,” the ESA is preparing to ship its first module to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. According to ESA Exploration Development Group head Nico Dettmann, the timeframe is significantly shorter than the 12 years the agency

Space News reports that NASA expects the missions of its Dawn and Kepler spacecraft “to come to an end in the coming weeks when each exhausts their remaining hydrazine fuel.” During a talk Thursday at the 69th International Astronautical Congress, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Dawn Chief Engineer and Mission Director Marc Rayman “said current estimates had

SPACE reports that NASA’s Parker Solar Probe passed within 1,500 miles of Venus “as planned this morning (Oct. 3), getting an orbit-sculpting gravity assist, NASA officials said.” The spacecraft “remains on course” for its first “close encounter with the sun, which is scheduled to take place from Oct. 31 through Nov. 11.” More Info (SPACE)

Bloomberg News reports that The Boeing Company CEO Dennis Muilenburg anticipates the company’s prototype air taxi will take flight next year. Boeing is also “working with regulators to develop a traffic-management system for the aircraft in five years.” In an interview Wednesday, Muilenburg said that Boeing is “working on both the ecosystem – the regulatory framework

Space News reports that during a press conference Monday at the 69th International Astronautical Congress, representatives of the ESA, JAXA, and Roscosmos “said they were open to extending the station’s operations to 2028 or 2030 in order to maximize the investment they’ve made in the facility as a platform for research and preparation for exploration activities

The Space Review reports that NASA celebrated its 60th anniversary “with a variety of largely virtual events, including a recorded statement from NASA’s current administrator, Jim Bridenstine.” A recent panel at AIAA’s SPACE Forum featured six of the agency’s administrators, and “offered an opportunity to reflect how NASA has changed or sometimes hasn’t changed” over the

Flying Magazine reports that the FAA announced last week that UAVs interfering with wildfire containment crews, law enforcement efforts, or other first responders “are now more likely to face serious civil penalties, even for first-time offenses.” The action is “separate from new provisions included within the FAA Reauthorization legislation that would allow authorities to track, intercept

SPACE reports that a small, Japanese re-entry capsule, “designed to bring back experiments from space, is gearing up for its first test flight” after arriving at the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday aboard a robotic cargo ship. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s HTV Small Re-Entry Capsule (HSRC) is designed to transport experiment samples back to

Bloomberg News reports that during the Farnborough Airshow, Rolls-Royce demonstrated an “array of miniature robots designed to speed up engine overhauls by removing the need for powerplants to be detached from the aircraft during shop visits.” The swarming robots, less than half an inch across, are designed to “roam the turbine in gangs beaming pictures back

The Waitsburg Times reports that at last week’s AIAA SPACE Forum, The Boeing Company “revealed its proposed hypersonic passenger airliner, which would fly much higher and faster than the Concorde.” Boeing envisions the aircraft traveling at Mach 5, “enabling them to cross the Atlantic Ocean in just two hours and the Pacific in three while cruising at

MRO Network reports that the shift toward electric propulsion is “reshaping not only the supply chain, but also the aftermarket.” Although it is “still too early to predict the extent to which electric propulsion will change aviation,” the new technology “looks most likely to reshape the light-aircraft sector, and the promise of lower energy costs, emissions

CNN reports that the US Marine Corps’ F-35B Lightning may fly its “first combat mission within days, according to several US defense officials, who told CNN that the fifth-generation aircraft are currently aboard the USS Essex amphibious assault ship and should soon be in a position to conduct airstrikes over Afghanistan.” The Essex has already sailed

Florida Today reports that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk elaborated on the company’s plans to establish a colony on the surface of Mars in a series of recent tweets. Expanding on earlier details for the Big Falcon Rocket’s planned Mars mission, Musk “said the latest roadmap shows that a red planet base could be established as soon

Space News reports that NASA hopes to launch the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) of the agency’s planned Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway in 2022, “most likely from Cape Canaveral.” The payload will be sent into cislunar space. The component’s “boxy shape and folded-up solar arrays will make it resemble many of the commercial communications satellites launched from

Reuters reported that Russia may abandon plans to help build the Deep Space Gateway with NASA because Moscow, according to Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin, does not want to play a “second fiddle role.” Russia had agreed last year to partner with the US on plans for the space station, but speaking to Russian television, Rogozin “said

FlightGlobal reported that Airbus Helicopters is preparing for “serial production” of door components for its AS350 helicopter using additive manufacturing techniques. The company’s Donauwörth, Germany facility is in the “process of qualifying the production of titanium door latch shafts for the long-haul aircraft through additive layer manufacturing, with serial production scheduled to start in early 2019.”

Following his keynote address at the AIAA SPACE Forum, Aerospace America interviewed NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who “said the Trump administration’s goal of landing Americans on the surface of the moon and someday Mars will require companies and international partners.” According to Bridenstine, “we want to do more than even our growing budget can handle,” and as

Space News reports that although The Boeing Company and SpaceX have “been struggling to meet safety thresholds established by NASA for commercial crew vehicles,” executives from both companies speaking at the AIAA SPACE Forum “said they now believed their vehicles met that and related safety requirements.” Boeing Vice President and Commercial Crew Program Manager John Mulholland

ExecutiveGov reports that the FAA has activated the “final component of its nationwide system designed to authorize and track drones in real time.” The North Central region of Low Altitude Authorization and Notification Capability (LAANC) is now operational, “completing the activation of all six components that collectively cover 288 air traffic control stations.” LAANC supports the

Airforce Technology reports that the US Air Force “successfully completed the first automated landing and take-off” of an MQ-9 Block 5 UAV. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) is testing automatic take-off and landing capability that will increase the UAV’s suitability for Air Force missions. Development of the MQ-9’s automatic take-off and landing capability is expected to

Reuters reports that the US and Japan successfully tested Japan’s “Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense system off the coast of Hawaii on Tuesday.” During the test, a “simple, separating ballistic missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands in Kauai, Hawaii, was intercepted above the Pacific by an upgraded standard missile 3.” According to

Reuters reported that “Boeing Co’s South Carolina plant, where it assembles 787 wide-body jetliners, was set to reopen operations on Sunday night following a lifting of evacuation orders for coastal areas threatened by deadly storm Florence, a Boeing spokesperson said on Sunday.” Boeing “had suspended operations at the North Charleston plant on Tuesday and flown several

Reuters (9/16) reported that “Boeing Co’s South Carolina plant, where it assembles 787 wide-body jetliners, was set to reopen operations on Sunday night following a lifting of evacuation orders for coastal areas threatened by deadly storm Florence, a Boeing spokesperson said on Sunday.” Boeing “had suspended operations at the North Charleston plant on Tuesday and flown

The AP reported on the use of UAVs in emergency situations, saying many local EMS, firefighting departments, and others have purchased UAS as a new tool for disaster response. The AP explained that “what was once viewed as a toy has turned out to be useful in a variety of industries, from emergency agencies to real estate

ExecutiveBiz reports that United Launch Alliance (ULA) has begun preparations for Saturday’s planned launch of a “Northrop Grumman-built spacecraft via the Delta II 7420-10, marking the rocket’s last launch into space.” NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) will “monitor the changes in the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica” in order to help scientists

SPACE reports that a test version of NASA’s Orion spacecraft successfully landed Wednesday “under three parachutes, completing the final parachute test to get the vehicle ready for a journey around the moon and back.” Although the data will not be fully analyzed for several weeks, “early indications are that the test was a success.” During the

SPACE reports that NASA’s asteroid-sampling OSIRIS-REx spacecraft began studying the Bennu near-Earth asteroid Monday, according to an announcement by mission team members. According to a tweet by OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta, the spacecraft’s team planned to “start our first science observations…searching for dust plumes around Bennu.” NASA officials plan to use data collected about Bennu’s

Space News reports that SpaceX ended a “rare extended gap in launch activity Sept. 10 with the successful launch of a communications satellite for Telesat,” SpaceX’s second launch for the operator in less than two months and the company’s 16th of the year. SpaceX’s launch schedule for the remainder of the year “is backloaded, with only

Reuters reports that the US military and European operators of the F-35 have “agreed to work together more closely to help lower the cost of operating the new warplanes as growing numbers arrive in Europe.” Operating costs were a central issue raised during last week’s meeting of senior US military officials with representatives from Israel and

The AP reported that NASA plans to test new technology designed to “protect spacecraft from heat and pressure when entering a planet’s atmosphere.” NASA announced Friday that the heat shield will be installed aboard a rocket to be launched Wednesday by UP Aerospace from New Mexico’s Spaceport America. Once the rocket “reaches space, the umbrella-like shield will

Aviation Today reported on a panel discussing “cutting-edge technologies” at the “Air Traffic Control Association’s annual Blue Skies event on Thursday.” Speakers including NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Strategy Robert Pearce discussed supersonic and hypersonic technology and artificial intelligence research. According to Pearce, “Hypersonics, for commercial applications, we’re still a couple decades away.” He added that

Space News reports that Effective Space and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) announced a partnership Tuesday on Effective’s planned satellite servicing system. Under the agreement, IAI will “serve as the prime contractor for Effective Space’s Space Drone servicing vehicle, which is intended to provide satellite life extension services,” and also will help finance development. More Info (Space News)

Aviation International News reports that in his keynote address at the InterDrone conference in Las Vegas, Acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell forecast that UAVs will “do for aviation what the internet did for information,” and called upon the industry to work with the FAA on their integration into national airspace. Elwell charged industry leaders to make

Spaceflight Now reports that SpaceX delayed the planned launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a commercial communications satellite for the Asia-Pacific region “until at least Sunday night, 24 hours later than previously scheduled.” Officials delayed the launch, according to Telesat spokesperson Gerald Nagler, but did not provide a new launch date. However, the website for

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Florida’s Space Coast is in the midst of a “comeback” that has lifted the area “from the depths of an unemployment crisis at the end of the shuttle program to become one of the premier destinations for aerospace manufacturing and rocket launches in the country.” Kennedy Space Center’s shift from its role

ExecutiveGov reports that NASA plans to conduct the eighth and final test of Orion’s parachute system in October at Yuma Proving Ground. More Info (Associated Press)

Florida Today reported that the core structure or pressure vessel of NASA’s Orion spacecraft slated to take astronauts on a mission around the moon has arrived at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for final assembly. At KSC, a Lockheed Martin team will finish assembly and “integration of the EM-2 spacecraft just as they wrap up work on

Aerospace America reported that after NASA and its industry partners reduce the effect of sonic booms generated by supersonic aircraft, the “next steps toward supersonic passenger jets would be to reduce takeoff and landing noise” and to mitigate the aircrafts’ carbon emissions and the potential damage the aircraft pose to the ozone layer. The current $500

Aviation Week reports that earlier this month, The Boeing Company and NASA tested an “improved engine nacelle liner that offers lower noise as well as reduced drag.” The result comes as engine and airframe manufacturers “wrestle with growing demands for quieter aircraft operations around airports.” The initial trials were completed in early August aboard a Boeing

In an interview with USA Today , NASA Administrator James Bridenstine “all but guarantee[d] his agency will soon be back in the business of carrying humans into low-Earth orbit in 2019.” According to Bridenstine, “Without question, by the middle of next year, we’ll be flying American astronauts on American rockets from American soil. We’re so close.” The

The Orlando Sentinel reported that NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft captured its first images of the Bennu asteroid last week as part of a mission to land on the object, “collect small samples and return them to Earth.” According to OSIRIS-REx Principal Investigator Dante Lauretta, the event “really represents the beginning of the great scientific experiment that is OSIRIS-REx.”

CNET News profiled the increasing amount of companies, which include Lockheed Martin, Aerion Supersonic, Spike Aerospace, and Boom Technology, who are working to design supersonic aircraft “cheaper, quieter and friendlier to the environment than Concorde while minimizing the troublesome effects of a sonic boom.” Lockheed is working with NASA on its X-59 QueSST Low-Boom Flight Demonstrator

Reuters reports that for the last few months, Japanese farmers have been “testing a new drone that can hover above paddy fields and perform backbreaking tasks in a fraction of the time” if performed by hand. The Nilework Nile-T18 UAV can apply “pesticides and fertilizer to a rice field in about 15 minutes – a job

SPACE reports that NASA and industry researchers are “beginning to consider the use of machine learning and are looking into sharing training data sets” for future space missions. The use of deep learning technology to train computers to “recognize patterns based on training data” has been considered “too risky to use much for spacecraft decision-making,” but

GeekWire reports that on Thursday, in a talk to NASA personnel at Johnson Space, Vice President Mike Pence enthusiastically backed a plan to put American astronauts on a new space station in lunar orbit by 2024. Pence said the Trump administration is collaborating with Congress on an initiative to maneuver NASA’s Lunar Orbital Platform – Gateway