Industry News

BBC News Online reports that as part of its plans to reduce carbon emissions, Norway plans for “all short-haul flights leaving its airports to be on aircraft powered by electricity.” The plan is one of the “most far-reaching promises yet to cut down on aviation’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions,” but to become feasible, the electric

FlightGlobal reports that LATAM Airlines Group expects to return its “entire Boeing 787 fleet” back to service “by year-end, after it was forced to ground more than half its 787s in the second quarter due to engine issues.” The carrier currently has six 787s grounded, down from a peak of 13 aircraft in June, according to

Reuters reports that NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine detailed his vision for renewed and “sustainable” human exploration of the Moon in an interview Tuesday, citing the discovery of water on the lunar surface as a promising development. Bridenstine hopes that the US can make the coming generation of lunar exploration a “sustainable enterprise” through the use of

Reuters reports that NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine detailed his vision for renewed and “sustainable” human exploration of the Moon in an interview Tuesday, citing the discovery of water on the lunar surface as a promising development. Bridenstine hopes that the US can make the coming generation of lunar exploration a “sustainable enterprise” through the use of

The Houston Chronicle reports that the agency plans to test the structural integrity of its Orion space capsule at the Glenn Research Center in Ohio on Friday. Personnel at the center will perform an “acoustic test for the space capsule, designed to ensure that it is structurally sound” before being launched from Cape Canaveral in April 2019

Space News reports that an annual Department of Defense report on China’s military capabilities found that the country’s military strategists see space-based systems, and the denial of access to such systems, as “central to modern warfare.” Despite its public statements to the contrary, China is “stepping up the militarization of space.” According to the report, China

ExecutiveGov reports that NASA Director of Advanced Exploration Systems Jason Crusan, speaking on “Federal Drive with Tom Temin,” stated the agency’s aim for the proposed Deep Space Gateway space station to serve as an “outpost” for future deep space exploration missions. According to Crusan, the gateway should be thought of as a “kind of a space

Spaceflight Now reports that United Launch Alliance (ULA) released new video of the predawn liftoff of the company’s Delta IV Heavy rocket on August 12 “from the perspective of a downward-facing camera, capturing dazzling views of the fiery takeoff and the dramatic separation of the launcher’s two hydrogen-fueled boosters.” The nearly six-minute video “shows the shutdown

ABC News reported that last week, federal officials “warned police around the country that drones are posing an ever-growing threat to safety and security.” In new intelligence bulletin, the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and the National Counterterrorism Center warned that an attack “could be conducted by one person or several people using a commercially available,

Aerospace America reports that the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), known for purchasing large observation satellites, “is learning to think small for some of its needs.” At a talk at the Space Symposium, NRO Director Betty Sapp told an audience that the agency wants to “explore what the tiny rocket marketplace can provide for us.” On April

Space News (Subscription Publication) reports that NASA has called Monday’s test of the Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engine for its Space Launch System (SLS) a success despite an unspecified “facility issue” that brought the test to an early end. The first in a series of static-fire tests was conducted on the A-1 stand at Stennis Space Center

Space News (Subscription Publication) reports that NASA has called Monday’s test of the Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engine for its Space Launch System (SLS) a success despite an unspecified “facility issue” that brought the test to an early end. The first in a series of static-fire tests was conducted on the A-1 stand at Stennis Space Center

Space News (Subscription Publication) reports that although Arianespace’s new Ariane 6 rocket is nearing completion, the company’s “competitive landscape isn’t getting any easier” due to new rockets being developed in the US by Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance, and abroad by Russia, India, Japan, and China. In the “midst of these changes,” the ESA is

Spaceflight Now hosts video of Sunday’s launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 37. More Info (Spaceflight Now)

The Washington Post reports that as the White House promotes its push to create a “Space Force as a sixth military branch and the first new service since the Air Force was created in 1947, a group of government contractors sees a chance to profit.” According to Capital Alpha Partners analyst Byron Callan, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman

The Houston Chronicle reports that a test module of NASA’s Orion spacecraft passed a “mass and center of gravity test” at NASA Johnson Space Center in “one of the most important” tests prior to an “April 2019 launch to test Orion’s primary safety feature: the launch abort system.” The module is being built “specifically to test this

The  Aerospace America reports on the launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, which has now deployed its solar arrays. The article reports that the “spacecraft is operating on its own power.” NASA engineers worked “for a decade designing heat shielding” for the probe that would be “lightweight, reflective and durable enough for the spacecraft” to pass into

The Wall Street Journal  reported that local and state officials across the US are working to develop spaceports in order to take advantage of a maturing space industry and increased private investment in commercial spaceports. There are currently 10 licensed commercial spaceports in the US, twice the amount that were operating in 2004. The proposed Spaceport Camden

The  Daily Mail (UK) reports that the Orbital Reflector “space sculpture” will be launched into orbit for three weeks this fall aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg AFB in October. Orbital Reflector, an installation “co-produced and presented by the Nevada Museum of Art,” is the length of a football field in the “shape of an

Spaceflight Now reports that NASA has approved a SpaceX proposal to “strap in astronauts atop Falcon 9 rockets, then fuel the launchers in the final hour of the countdown as the company does for its uncrewed missions.” The company’s “load-and-go” procedure, “in which an automatic countdown sequencer commands chilled kerosene and cryogenic liquid oxygen to flow

ExecutiveGov reports that a DARPA official recently suggested that small launch vehicles such as the Northrop Grumman Pegasus or Rocket Lab Electron “could contribute to the survivability of U.S. military assets in space, Space News reported Tuesday.” DARPA Tactical Technology Office Program Adviser Todd Master, speaking at last month’s Small Payload Rideshare Symposium, cited the growing

ExecutiveGov reports that a DARPA official recently suggested that small launch vehicles such as the Northrop Grumman Pegasus or Rocket Lab Electron “could contribute to the survivability of U.S. military assets in space, Space News reported Tuesday.” DARPA Tactical Technology Office Program Adviser Todd Master, speaking at last month’s Small Payload Rideshare Symposium, cited the growing

SPACE reports that NASA astronauts recently tested a “superfast” emergency evacuation system for The Boeing Company’s new CST-100 Starliner crew capsule. Photographers captured the test in “captivating imagery for NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.” More Info (SPACE)

The Roanoke Times reports that Wing, an Alphabet subsidiary, conducted its first UAV package delivery Tuesday. Jackson Smith, a 2-year-old from Montgomery County, Virginia “became the recipient of the most advanced drone package delivery to ever occur in the United States, according to those who conducted the Tuesday’s operation.” Until now, “Wing…hasn’t been allowed to fly long

Florida Today reports that SpaceX crews are preparing for the first launch early Tuesday of a re-used Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket. The US Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron expects 80 percent “go conditions” for the two-hour launch window opening at 3:18 a.m. EDT. SpaceX is expected to carry out “considerably more flights for the vehicle

SPACE reported that NASA’s Kepler space telescope “woke up from a four-week hibernation yesterday (Aug. 2) and has begun beaming data home, just as planned, NASA officials announced today.” Kepler has been in a state of hibernation “in an attempt to save thruster fuel” and to “make sure the spacecraft had enough propellant left to orient

Aviation Today reported that Boeing’s KC-46A Pegasus “has completed more than 3,300 flight testing hours,” and Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, during the company’s second-quarter earnings call, said they “recently completed all flight tests required to deliver the first aircraft, which is expected to be in October of this year, as now agreed upon with the U.S.

GovCon Wire reports that AIAA [Immediate Past President] Jim Maser has been named senior vice president of Aerojet Rocketdyne’s space business unit effective August 13. Maser “will report directly to President and CEO Eileen Drake and oversee the unit’s work with NASA, defense and commercial launch systems; space and launch strategy and in-space propulsion systems.” Maser

SPACE reports that NASA’s New Horizons team is “gearing up for one last shadow-chasing adventure.” This Saturday, the 2014 MU69 space object will pass in front of a distant star, “casting a dim shadow on two slivers of Earth in Senegal and Colombia.” There, New Horizons team members will study the occulation to “give us hints

In a multi-media feature titled “All the Things Satellites Can Now See From Space,”  Bloomberg News  (7/26) reports that increasing numbers of satellites and the data that they generate are being put to a variety of uses, including in-flight weather forecasting, detection of airborne particulate matter, and more. More Info (Bloomberg News)

Houston Chronicle   reports that Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness Chairman Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a new bill Thursday that would extend US operation of the ISS to 2030, and called the White House’s plan to end federal funding for the station by 2025 “foolish.” The Space Frontier Act, Cruz wrote in a

Aviation Week reports that United Launch Alliance (ULA) has completed work on its “first dual-engine Centaur upper stage for an Atlas V rocket, a vehicle configuration purchased by Boeing for upcoming CST-100 Starliner flight tests and crew rotation missions to the International Space Station.” More Info (Aviation Week)

CNET News reports that Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson believes that the company is “on the verge” of reaching its goals to reach space. During an interview, Branson admitted, “Before the end of the year I hope to be sitting in a Virgin Galactic spaceship, going to space.” More Info (CNET News)

CNET News  reports that three days after its last launch from Florida, SpaceX is preparing to launch its second Block 5 Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenburg AFB in California early Wednesday. The rocket will carry a set of 10 satellites for Iridium, the “seventh of eight planned SpaceX launches to upgrade Iridium’s satellite constellation.” In addition

The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports that NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission is “facing yet another delay, this time until Aug. 11 because of a small strip of foam found inside the spacecraft’s nose cone.” The mission had previously been delayed for two days to August 6 due to a “technical problem during encapsulation.” According to a NASA

The Los Angeles Times  reports on an “anomaly” suffered by The Boeing Company’s astronaut test capsule “during an engine test fire last month, which analysts said is likely to delay the Chicago aerospace giant’s first flight of astronauts from US soil even further.” The issue happened when a test version of the integrated service module underwent a

The Dallas Morning News  reports that on Monday, Lockheed Martin announced plans to hire 400 additional “technicians, mechanics and assemblers” to help support the company’s F-35 program in Fort Worth, Texas. The company will begin interviewing candidates in a July 30 hiring event. In particular, Lockheed hopes to hire “in several roles: avionics technician; milling machinist; low

Reuters  reports that the Lockheed Martin F-35 is arriving in “growing numbers in Europe,” and is “poised to play a much broader role in missile defense and other warfare plans than conventional fighters, according to US and European officials.” According to US Air Force and NATO air forces Commander Gen. Tod Wolters, the fighter’s advanced sensors

Reuters  reported that NASA is preparing to send its Parker Solar probe “closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft has ventured, enduring wicked heat while zooming through the solar corona to study this outermost part of the stellar atmosphere that gives rise to the solar wind.” The probe is scheduled for an August 6 launch

Florida Today reports that meteorologists with the US Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron believe that early-morning clouds above Cape Canaveral may threaten the planned launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Telstar 19 VANTAGE communications satellite early Sunday morning. Due to the likely presence of cumulus and thick clouds during the launch window, forecasters

The Washington Post reports that Blue Origin successfully completed the ninth flight of its “New Shepard rocket Wednesday, wrapping up another test of the vehicle’s escape system as the company works toward its first human space flight as soon as this year.” The booster and spacecraft launched from the company’s test site in West Texas around 11

Aviation Week reports that NASA has “laid out a three-phase program to collect data on public acceptance of reduced sonic booms” from the X-59A QueSST low-boom demonstrator aircraft designed by Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works. Community data “gathered by the Low Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD) program will be provided to the FAA and International Civil Aviation Organization

The Wall Street Journal reports that Airbus anticipates long-term benefits and potential Pentagon contracts as the result of implementing a new high-volume automated production system for small satellites. According to Airbus Defence and Space CEO Dirk Hoke, production and quality control changes made as part of the company’s joint venture with OneWeb will position the company to

Cryptovest reports that The Boeing Company has announced a partnership with artificial intelligence company SparkCognition to “develop AI and blockchain-based solutions for tracking of unmanned air crafts and air traffic control.” The two companies plan to use artificial intelligence and blockchain technology to develop solutions to track unmanned aircraft and manage traffic, and “also plan to

Space News reports that space industry executives at the Farnborough Airshow “reacted enthusiastically to the news on Monday that the United Kingdom will invest in domestic spaceports.” The news is “especially good news for the burgeoning” small satellite industry, as more launch sites and vehicle choices will make it “possible to set up new constellations in

In an article titled “Military Spending Is Up, But Aerospace And Defense Workers Are Scarce,” the New York Times reports that the “aviation and defense industries in Europe, Asia and the Americas” are “struggling to fill new positions created by increased military budgets.” The topic is cited as a likely source of discussion at this week’s Farnborough

Florida Today reported that according to the newest US Air Force launch schedules, SpaceX plans to launch a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Station between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. EDT on Sunday, July 22. The rocket will carry the “Telstar 19 VANTAGE satellite for Canada-based Telesat from Launch Complex 40, though a precise

Aviation International News reports that Airbus Defence and Space has “demonstrated automatic air-to-air refueling” of its A310 tanker prototype with a Royal Australian Air Force Airbus A330 transport. Airbus has previously demonstrated “automatic refueling of a fighter aircraft.” According to Airbus, the system requires no additional receiver equipment, and is intended to improve safety, reduce the

Aviation International News reports that Airbus Defence and Space has “demonstrated automatic air-to-air refueling” of its A310 tanker prototype with a Royal Australian Air Force Airbus A330 transport. Airbus has previously demonstrated “automatic refueling of a fighter aircraft.” According to Airbus, the system requires no additional receiver equipment, and is intended to improve safety, reduce the

Exponential digital technologies are delivering increased value at less cost and rapidly revolutionizing the aviation industry, said Colin Parris, vice president for software research at GE Global Research, July 11 during the “Digital Transformation in Aviation Services” session at the 2018 AIAA Propulsion and Energy Forum in Cincinnati. Parris said exponential characteristics exhibited by digital technology are helping