Industry News

Politico reported that Steve Isakowitz, the CEO of government-funded think tank The Aerospace Corp., is warning that “war is coming to outer space, and the Pentagon…is not yet ready, following years of underinvesting while the military focused on a host of threats on Earth.” In an interview, Isakowitz said that the US is “approaching a point

The New York Times reports that the Hubble Space Telescope, “NASA’s jewel of the skies, is temporarily out of service.” The telescope “stood down from observing” and entered into a “safe mode” Friday after one of its gyroscopes failed. NASA has “appointed a review board to investigate the gyroscope problem.” Hubble carries six gyroscopes in total, “but

FlightGlobal reports Boeing Phantom Works’ MQ-25 unmanned aerial vehicle prototype “is powered by a single, 9,000lb-thrust Rolls-Royce AE3007N turbofan, Boeing disclosed on 5 April.” Boeing “said the engine has powered its prototype on tarmac manoeuvres meant to simulate the sort of taxiing the drone would be expected to perform on an aircraft carrier deck, such as

SPACE reports Virgin Galactic successfully tested its SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity suborbital vehicle Thursday. It “was the company’s first powered flight in nearly 3.5 years, following the tragic loss of SpaceShipTwo VSS Enterprise on Oct 31, 2014.” More Info (SPACE)

ExecutiveGov reports that the US Air Force will deploy five CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft to Yokota Air Base in Japan “earlier than previously anticipated” as part of the service’s “efforts to help address regional security concerns within the Pacific Command’s area of responsibility and comply with the 2018 National Defense Strategy.” The Air Force originally planned

The AP reports that a SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying 6,000 pounds of “food, experiments and other goods for NASA has arrived at the International Space Station after a two-day journey.” The refurbished Dragon spacecraft visited the ISS two years ago, and remained attached to the space station “for about a month, returning to Earth in May.” More

Bloomberg News reported that due to the design of their communication systems, the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II fighters “have a difficult time communicating with each other” – despite the fact that they “both function as airborne shepherds of America’s flock of older combat aircraft.” The F-22’s Intra-Flight Data Link (IFDL) is “much

SPACE reports that a “flying, amphibious robot” called Shapeshifter designed to “cruise through Titan’s atmosphere, go spelunking in caves or dive into the moon’s many seas” is among the 25 “early-stage technology proposals selected in the 2018 round of NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase 1 concepts.” Other concepts proposed include “space telescope swarms and meteoroid

Bloomberg Government reports that NASA is seeking flight directors to “lead manned spaceflight missions to the International Space Station, including the return of American-made commercial crew spacecraft,” as well as the unmanned Orion lunar missions. Interested persons can apply through April 17, and final selections are expected by mid-year. More Info (Bloomberg Government)

TIME reports that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched Monday carrying supplies for the ISS as well as “an experimental system known as RemoveDEBRIS, which scientists hope will help clean up Earth’s space junk-littered upper atmosphere, CBS reports.” The spacecraft was co-funded by the European Commission and developed by Britain’s University of Surrey Space Center (SSC),

Aerospace America reported that automated industrial devices “can damage assembly lines if infected by malware, say US cybersecurity analysts.” Some experts are worried about what they see as a “lax cybersecurity culture in the manufacturing sector that includes insufficient sharing of information about malware.” Because, according to former National Security Agency (NSA) cybersecurity analyst Jake Williams,

USA Today reports that launch teams are “ready to kick off a busy month for the Space Coast with the Monday afternoon liftoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral with supplies destined for the International Space Station.” According to the US Air Force’s 45th Weather Squadron, conditions should be 80 percent “go” during

FlightGlobal reported that the US Navy “demonstrated for the first time the ability to remotely take control of an aircraft and land it on an aircraft carrier’s deck.” Officers aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln landed an F/A-18 Super Hornet using the aircraft terminal approach remote inceptor system “developed at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland by Naval Air

The Financial Times reports that the risk posed by space debris is increasing as companies plan to launch record numbers of satellites in coming years. More Info (Financial Times)

Airforce Technology reported that AeroVironment has upgraded its Puma 3 “all-environment” UAV to be “operational in more challenging radio frequency (RF) environments.” The upgraded version supports the effective operation of the UAV’s “i45 electro-optical / infrared (EO / IR) sensor suite with signals intelligence (SIGINT) payloads in harsh and demanding environments.” The UAV also received “security

Aviation Today reports that the first F-35 Lightning II fighter produced for South Korea’s order of 40 fighters “was unveiled Wednesday morning at a joint ceremony between manufacturer Lockheed Martin, the Korean Air Force and the US government.” South Korea is the ninth country to take possession of the F-35. The jet will be delivered to

Public Radio International reported on the possible privatization of the ISS due to the fact that President Donald Trump has “hinted at the possibility of the US ending its part in the funding of the ISS by 2025.” Former NASA astronaut and AIAA Executive Director Emeritus Sandra Magnus is quoted, and “says it is important to