Industry News

Additive manufacturing — a hot topic for the past several years — is transforming processes and business models for aerospace manufacturers, a panel of experts said July 11 during the “Additive Manufacturing” session at the 2018 AIAA Propulsion and Energy Forum in Cincinnati. Christine Furstoss, vice president of engineering and technology at GE Additive, shared one example. “Additive can disrupt

Aviation Today reports that AeroVironment announced it will collaborate with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to “build the agency’s Mars Helicopter planned to fly on Mars.” The helicopter will be part of NASA’s next Mars rover mission, planned for July 2020 to “demonstrate the viability and potential of heavier-than-air vehicles on the red planet.” AeroVironment displayed

Space News reports that NASA has called for proposals to construct a “second mobile launch platform that will be used by an upgraded version of the Space Launch System [SLS] rocket starting in the early 2020s.” The NASA solicitation was issued June 29 for Mobile Launcher 2 (ML2), which will go through a “two-step process, starting

The AP reported that Aerojet Rocketdyne test-fired its experimental AR-22 rocket engine Monday at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The engine is designed to be part of a “reusable spacecraft that can launch into space repeatedly with a quick turnaround time.” The Phantom Express spacecraft is a “collaboration between the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Boeing

Aviation Week reported that the US Army plans to acquire “multiple off-the-shelf air vehicles for operational demonstrations to inform requirements for the planned Future Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (FTUAS) program.” A request for proposals (RFP) released July 2 details the Army’s intent to award multiple contracts with an estimated ceiling value of $78 million “following a

Aerospace America interviews Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems head Mark Sirangelo at the company’s Colorado production facility about the development of the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft. The Dream Chaser Cargo System is “about to be built on a brand-new manufacturing floor side by side with SNC’s pitch for the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway.” Full Story (Aerospace America, by

FlightGlobal reports on the announcement that a Bell-Boeing joint venture has been awarded a $4.2 billion US Navy contract to produce 78 V-22 Osprey helicopters, the “third multiyear purchase of the VTOL aircraft.” The contract pays for 39 CMV-22B aircraft for the Navy, “34 MV-22B aircraft for the Marine Corps; 1 CV-22B for the Air Force;

Aerospace America reported that in August, Airbus’ A3 plans to transition a “full-scale prototype” of its unmanned Vahana aircraft from vertical to horizontal flight “for the first time.” The Alpha One prototype will accomplish this by “tilting its wings, which have electrically driven propellers distributed across them.” According to A3 CEO Rodin Lyasoff, A3 envisions Vahana

Aerospace America reported that NASA officials are preparing to submit funding and schedule commitments for its X-59 supersonic demonstrator aircraft to Congress in October. Agency officials expect to need “around $500 million to pay for construction and test flights” for the aircraft, and the spending commitment will “apply to future budgets needed to complete the project.”

Space News reports that the US Army may contribute personnel to the White House’s newly announced Space Force. Although it is expected that the new branch’s “ranks would be dominated by airmen,” Army soldiers “also would have a role” in the Space Force “by virtue of much they rely on military satellites in peacetime or in

Aviation Today reports that Lockheed Martin Advanced Development Programs – also known as “Skunk Works” – head Jeff Babione spoke at the AIAA AVIATION Forum Tuesday on the F-35’s “controversial two-decade history and its path going forward.” Babione led the F-35 program until recently. One of the “most immediate upgrades coming to the F-35 is an

Homeland Preparedness News reports that the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) is looking to equip UAVs “with different sensors other than cameras that may be useful in search-and-rescue, surveillance, active shooter response, hostage situations, and other scenarios.” The directorate has “launched a program” to acquire commercially available sensors, which will be

Aviation Week reports that NASA has moved to a new phase of small UAV “detect-and-avoid testing” in which the agency’s Ikhana UAV will fly within the National Airspace System (NAS) without a chase aircraft following. A two-and-a-half-hour flight on June 12 “validated initial FAA standards for detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems developed by NASA and industry and extensively

Florida Today reported that SpaceX and NASA are “still proceeding toward an early morning Friday launch from Cape Canaveral” of a Falcon 9 rocket to “deliver supplies, cargo and science to the ISS.” Launch teams are targeting a 5:42 a.m. EDT liftoff from Launch Complex 40, “which should arrive at the ISS around 5:30 a.m. on

Space News reports that according to Blue Origin Senior Vice President Rob Meyerson, the company expects to begin New Shepard orbital flights “soon” and plans to begin selling tickets for commercial flights next year. Speaking at the Amazon Web Services Public Sector Summit here, Meyerson announced Blue Origin’s plans to “start flying our first test passengers

Aviation Week reports that NASA has moved to a new phase of small UAV “detect-and-avoid testing” in which the agency’s Ikhana UAV will fly within the National Airspace System (NAS) without a chase aircraft following. A two-and-a-half-hour flight on June 12 “validated initial FAA standards for detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems developed by NASA and industry and extensively

Space News reports that China has lowered the orbit of its “Tiangong-2 space lab, likely in preparation for deorbiting the orbital facility and thus averting a similar scenario to the uncontrolled re-entry of Tiangong-1 earlier this year.” The Tiangong-2 was launched in September 2016 to test “advanced life support and refueling and resupply capabilities” in preparation

FlightGlobal reports that both Airbus Helicopters and Bell have expressed interest in participating in Tokyo’s “emerging AH-X attack helicopter contest.” Japan issued a request for information (RFI) in mid-May as it “begins the process of replacing” the country’s Bell AH-1S Cobra fleet. According to Flight Fleets Analyzer, 71 of the aircraft are still in service. Airbus

ExecutiveGov reports that NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has affirmed his agency’s support for the White House’s move to “enforce a new directive that seeks to increase the security and safety of US space systems.” According to Bridenstine’s statement, released Tuesday, Space Policy Directive-3 “builds on our continued progress implementing SPD-1, which is galvanizing American space leadership

Aviation Week reports that around 140 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft have been delivered to “almost 30 operators since its commercial debut 13 months ago,” and that the jet is “quickly setting an industry record for the fastest introduction ever of a new jet transport.” The “swiftly expanding fleet is easing into operation” with a “relatively trouble-free

Aviation Week reports that NASA is analyzing noise data from “recently completed flight trials of a modified Gulfstream III at Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.” The tests ending in late April completed a “four-year program that initially investigated the aerodynamic efficiency of a shape-changing flexible flap.” The technology could “pave the way” for new noise-reduction

Bloomberg News reports that Airbus is considering options to “extend the range of its A321 narrowbody” ahead of a decision by The Boeing Company on “whether to push ahead with a competing model, according to a person familiar with the matter.” The A321 already has a “long-range variant” able to fly 4,000 nautical miles, and may

Aerospace America reports that President Donald Trump on Monday opened the third meeting of his administration’s National Space Council, this one in the ornate East Room of the White House, telling the assembled U.S. space luminaries about his vision for cutting regulations and creating a U.S. Space Force “separate but equal” from the U.S. Air Force,

The AP reported that Peggy Whitson, “NASA’s record-breaking astronaut,” retired Friday “less than a year after returning from her last and longest spaceflight.” Whitson has spent more time in space “than any other American: 665 days over three space station missions.” Whitson completed 10 spacewalks during her tenure, the most of any American; was the “first woman

Aviation Week reported that deliveries of CFM International’s Leap-1 engines “are about to overtake those of the CFM56 for the first time.” The development is a “watershed moment” for the GE Aviation-Safran Aircraft Engines joint venture, and “comes as combined deliveries of the two engine families remain on course to reach between 2,000 and 2,250 for

Reuters reports that Airbus “inaugurated a new production line” for its A320 jet with “robots Luise and Renate joining human workers as it turns to new automation to help it deal with an eight-year order backlog.” Airbus hopes that digital technology “will enable higher production and trigger a significant shift in research and development spending toward

The Hill reports that lawmakers at a congressional hearing Thursday “scolded NASA officials over a recent report that found the space agency’s major projects are running over-budget and over-schedule.” A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found that NASA’s four “highest-profile programs” – the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion Spacecraft, Commercial Crew Program, and James Webb Space

The Guardian (UK) reports that a majority of European Union (EU) member states have “turned against” the United Kingdom and voted in favor of “pushing forward on the next round of contracts for the £8bn” Galileo satellite program, “despite requests for a delay to allow negotiations over British involvement to progress.” British companies are barred from

Aviation International News reports that Pratt & Whitney (P&W) has changed its “proposed upgrade path for the F135 engine powering the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter,” and now offers two stages of “improvements over a four-year period, compared with the three-stage, 10-year plan ending with a completely new engine that it revealed a year ago.” The

CNET News reports that NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) “captured a view of Mars showing an impact crater and its unusual aftermath.” The crater itself is shown as a “fuzzy, round area with a slash of dark material leading away from it” due to an avalanche triggered by the impact. The MRO took the image in

The AP reports that NASA flew a “large, remotely piloted aircraft equipped with detect-and-avoid technologies through the national airspace system for the first time without a safety chase plane following it.” According to NASA, Tuesday’s flight over California moves the US closer to allowing unmanned aircraft operation within the US national airspace. NASA’s Ikhana, a “non-military version

Space News reports that Orbital ATK’s SpaceLogistics subsidiary plans to offer customers a “wide range of products and services, beginning with its Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV) and progressing to in-orbit spacecraft assembly, repair and cis-lunar transportation.” Orbital ATK Vice President Jim Armor called the MEV a “baby step” toward satellite servicing, and according to SpaceLogistics Vice

The AP reports that scientists advising the federal government believe that “safety regulators should do more to speed the integration of commercial drones into the nation’s airspace.” The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine in a report Monday accused the FAA of making “overly conservative risk assessments” that focus on the potential downsides “instead of a

Florida Today reported that according to a draft environmental review recently published by Kennedy Space Center (KSC), “SpaceX will undertake a major expansion of its facilities at the space center sometime in the not-too-distant future.” The new proposed Launch and Landing Control Center at Kennedy Space Center would include a “world-class, architecturally distinctive” tower up to

The Wichita Eagle reported that new FAA requirements are stretching the certification date for Textron Aviation’s new Cessna Citation Longitude business jet “farther than the company planned.” Certification has been a “moving target” for the jet, which Textron originally hoped to enter into service in 2017. According to Textron Aviation Senior Vice President of Engineering Brad Thress,

Aviation Week reports that the FAA has instituted the “latest in a series of no-drone zones over federal facilities” on June 7 as news “surfaced separately that the Defense Department has ordered its units to stop buying commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) until the Pentagon develops a cybersecurity strategy.” The FAA named 19 US prisons overseen

Aviation Week reports that the FAA has instituted the “latest in a series of no-drone zones over federal facilities” on June 7 as news “surfaced separately that the Defense Department has ordered its units to stop buying commercial unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) until the Pentagon develops a cybersecurity strategy.” The FAA named 19 US prisons overseen

The New York Times reports that NASA is working on plans to “commercialize the International Space Station, which currently costs up to $4 billion a year to maintain.” According to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, the agency will consider “a range of options” to allow for private operation of the station. He added that under some options, “the

Writing for CNN , Deputy Assistant to the President on Technology Policy Michael Kratsios argues that UAVs are the future of US aviation. Kratsios forecasts that UAVs will “create countless American jobs within and around the aviation industry, transform the delivery of household goods, improve the safety of dangerous occupations and expand access to life-saving medical supplies.”

USA Today reports in a video that NASA plans to make a major announcement Thursday about a new science discovery by the agency’s Mars Curiosity rover. More Info (USA Today)

USA Today reports in a video that NASA plans to make a major announcement Thursday about a new science discovery by the agency’s Mars Curiosity rover. More Info (USA Today)

Bloomberg News reports that China Aircraft Leasing Group Holdings (CALC) is in talks with Airbus and The Boeing Company to “order as many as 200 planes as the state-backed lessor seeks to meet surging demand from Asian carriers.” The lessor is looking at both narrow-body and wide-body jets, according to CEO Mike Poon, and is considering

USA Today hosts video of Monday’s early morning launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying an SES communications satellite. More Info (USA Today)

FlightGlobal reported that Airbus Helicopters won a $643 million contract to supply 55 helicopters “to Ukraine’s interior ministry, including a number of second-hand units.” The order will include a mix of “H125 light-singles, H145 medium-twins and H225 heavy-twins,” with the first four aircraft to be delivered this year. According to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, at least

SPACE hosts a two-and-a-half-minute video of the successful test flight of Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity space plane. The video “chronicles” the test flight “over California’s Mojave Desert from takeoff to landing.” The video features “gorgeous shots of Unity rocketing upward atop a tail of bright-orange flame,” as well as footage “inside the cockpit.” More Info (SPACE)

The Orlando (FL) Sentinel reports that this week’s SpaceX Falcon 9 launch attempt “could happen just after midnight in the wee hours of Friday morning, from 12:29 a.m. to 2:57 a.m.” SpaceX has not officially announced its launch window, but the preliminary times were drawn from the US Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron. Weather conditions “could be

The Daily Mail (UK) reports that a British police UAV operator had to steer his unmanned aircraft “away from the path of an F-15 fighter jet travelling at nearly 520mph.” The Devon and Cornwall officer “was convinced there would be a collision” when the fighter “came into view and then banked right above Throwleigh, Devon” on January

The Press Association (UK) reports that according to Lockheed Martin F-35 International Business Development Director Steve Over, the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is likely one of the “most cyber tested weapons systems that exists in US Department of Defence inventory.” According to Over, the aircraft has “passed every cyber test that has been applied against

Aviation Today reported that as part of a “new spirit of outreach to industry,” the US Army “wants to know what the private sector can do to better team drones with manned aircraft.” Manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) has been a recent “focus” for the Army, which is working to determine what “products, research, operational concepts and mission

Reuters reports that a “shrinking supply” of cobalt as well as “robust demand from traditional sectors such as jet engine makers are helping fuel a price rally that shows no signs of fading.” Cobalt is used in the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries as well as “superalloys, valued for their resistance to high temperatures and corrosion” in