Tag: Aerospace

Textron to Provide Drone-Enabled ISR Support for US Navy’s 5th and 6th Fleets

The Defense Post reports, “The US Navy has awarded Textron Systems $64 million in contracts to provide drone-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) services for ships of the 5th and 6th fleets. The contractor-owned, contractor-operated (COCO) deals stipulate the deployment of the firm’s Aerosonde small expeditionary unmanned aerial system (UAS) with enhanced mission payloads as well as skilled personnel to aid a variety of the vessels’ maritime ISR tasks.”
Full Story (The Defense Post)

AIAA Statement on Sixth SpaceX Starship Test Flight

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 20, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA CEO Clay Mowry:

“Congratulations to the SpaceX team on its sixth test flight of Starship. We’re following with anticipation SpaceX’s progress through its rapid, iterative testing of this new launch vehicle. The engineering advances demonstrated by the SpaceX team are accelerating our return to the moon and traveling to Mars. We know the team is learning valuable lessons from the engineering data gathered during this sixth test flight.

AIAA recognizes the countless industry professionals who have helped design, build, and test Starship. We applaud AIAA Corporate Member SpaceX for taking this step forward in shaping the future of aerospace.”

Media contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org or follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

SpaceX Launches Super Heavy-Starship on Sixth Test Flight

Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched the world’s most powerful rocket on its sixth test flight Tuesday, an up-and-down trip to space by a gargantuan Super Heavy-Starship to evaluate a variety of safety and performance upgrades. Shattering the afternoon calm with an ear-splitting roar, the huge 30-foot-wide, 397-foot-tall rocket blasted off from Musk’s sprawling Boca Chica, Texas, manufacturing and test facility on the Gulf Coast near Brownsville at 5 p.m. EST, the opening of a 30-minute launch window.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

 

Video

SpaceX launches Starship on 6th test flight, November 19, 2024 (Launch at 1:29:33 mark)
(Spaceflight Now; YouTube)

General Atomics Gray Eagle STOL Performs First Ship-to-Land Flight

Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), in collaboration with South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, has achieved a significant milestone with the Gray Eagle STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). On November 12, 2024, the Gray Eagle STOL successfully launched from the South Korean Navy’s amphibious landing ship Dokdo and completed its flight with a smooth landing at Pohang Navy Airfield.”
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Technology)

Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab Searching for New Director

SpacePolicyOnline.com reports, “The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is seeking a new director to succeed Ralph Semmel who will retire next summer. JHUAPL encompasses four sectors:  Air and Missile Defense, Asymmetric Operations, Force Projection, and Space.  The space sector has built and operated many spacecraft for DOD and NASA with more on the way including Dragonfly, an octocopter that will fly over the dunes of Saturn’s moon Titan.”
Full Story (SpacePolicyOnline.com)

2025 AIAA Durand Lectureship for Public Service Awarded to The Boeing Company’s Kevin G. Bowcutt

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lecture Set for 6 January During 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum

November 18, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the 2025 AIAA Durand Lectureship for Public Service is awarded to Kevin G. Bowcutt, Principal Senior Technical Fellow and Chief Scientist of Hypersonics for The Boeing Company, Huntington Beach, Calif.

 

Bowcutt will deliver his lecture, “The Evolution of Hypersonic Flight Over Seven Decades and the Technical Breakthroughs that Got Us Here,” on Monday, 6 January, 3:30 p.m. ET, during the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum, Orlando, Florida. 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum registration is available now. Journalists can request a Press Pass here.

Bowcutt is a Principal Senior Technical Fellow & Chief Scientist of Hypersonics for Boeing with 42 years of experience. He is an AIAA Fellow, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. In 2021 he was selected by Texas A&M to be a Fellow of the Hagler Institute of Advanced Study. He holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland. Bowcutt is an internationally recognized expert in hypersonic aerodynamics, propulsion integration, and vehicle design and optimization, and leads Boeing’s hypersonic vehicle advanced design and technology development efforts.

Bowcutt’s lecture will chronicle the major milestones that have enabled air-breathing hypersonic flight, bringing future promise to current capability, and leading to worldwide pursuit of hypersonic capabilities and leadership. Hypersonic flight has the potential to dramatically impact national defense, and significantly improve the speed of global travel and the frequency and cost of space access. For more than 50 years following the first hypersonic flight in 1949, expendable rocket propulsion was the only available means of accelerating vehicles to hypersonic speed, limiting applications to costly expendable spaceflight and military missiles. Although it took more than 40 years of dedicated R&D, the idea conceived in 1957 of a more efficient air-breathing engine employing supersonic combustion, the scramjet, was finally proven viable in 2004 by flying on NASA’s X-43A. Almost 10 years later, in 2013, hypersonic air-breathing propulsion was proven practical by flying a dual-mode ramjet on the USAF/DARPA X-51 Scramjet Engine Demonstrator. These achievements were enabled by continuous advancements in high-temperature materials; test facilities, test techniques, and test campaigns; scramjet technologies, such as air intakes, isolators, injectors, mixers, flame holders, combustion chemistry, and nozzles; fluid dynamic and thermostructural simulation; and multidisciplinary design analysis and optimization.

The Durand Lectureship for Public Service, named in honor of William F. Durand, Ph.D., is presented for notable achievements by a scientific or technical leader whose contributions have led directly to the understanding and application of the science and technology of aeronautics and astronautics for the betterment of humanity. Durand was a United States naval officer and a pioneer in mechanical engineering. During his remarkable 99-year life, Durand contributed significantly to the development of aircraft propellers. He was the first civilian chair of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the forerunner of NASA.

The Institute’s Public Policy Committee takes pride in selecting accomplished leaders in aeronautics and astronautics for this honor who can share their knowledge through the Durand Lecture for Public Service. For more information about the AIAA Honors and Awards program, contact Patricia A. Carr at [email protected].

Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, APR, [email protected], 804.397.5270 (cell)

About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Japan Clears V-22 Osprey Fleet to Resume Flights

Flying Magazine reports, “The Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) has cleared its V-22 Osprey fleet to return to flight after determining pilot error was the cause of an October accident on Yonaguni Island. The incident occurred during a joint exercise with U.S. military where the V-22 Osprey tilted and hit the ground as it was taking off, though no injuries were reported among the 16 on board.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)