Tag: April 2025

Pentagon May Look to SpaceX to Launch Military Satellites

The Washington Post reports, “SpaceX could significantly expand its share of military business as the Pentagon, faced with Trump administration budget constraints, considers overhauling a program to deploy hundreds of missile-tracking satellites. In a Capitol Hill hearing last month, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) said he’s worried the Pentagon will restructure the Space Force satellite program, which was designed to have multiple contractors, and rely on SpaceX for a significant portion of the work.”
Full Story (Washington Post)

RTX’s Pratty & Whitney Implements Additive Manufacturing to Reduce Engine Repair Time

Reuters reports, “RTX said on Tuesday its enine making subsidiary Pratt & Whitney has developed an additive manufacturing repair process for its geared turbofan (GTF) engine components, which would reduce process time by more than 60%. The unit is currently navigating an issue with the GTF engines and is conducting an inspection drive for potentially flawed components, which has led to the grounding of hundreds of planes in recent months.”
Full Story (Reuters)

EVA Air Orders Six A350-1000s and Three A321neo Aircraft

Aerotime reports, “Taiwanese carrier EVA Air has finalized an order for six long-range A350-1000s and three single-aisle A321neo aircraft, completing a deal first revealed by the airline in March 2025. With these new orders, EVA Air’s total aircraft backlog will now include 24 A350-1000s and 18 A321neo aircraft, Airbus announced in a statement on April 7, 2025.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

NASA Demonstrates Its Electric Moon Dust Shield Works on Lunar Surface

SPACE reports, “New shielding technology from NASA that protects against damaging lunar dust just passed a trial run on the moon’s surface, marking an important milestone in the agency’s lunar aspirations. The Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) flew aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, the first privately funded lunar lander to make a fully successful touchdown on the moon.”
Full Story (SPACE)

US Space Force Selects Rocket Lab and Stoke Space to Compete for Future National Security Launches

SPACE reports, “Private launch companies Rocket Lab and Stoke Space have been selected to compete for future U.S. national security space launches. The two launch companies were awarded ‘National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 3 Lane 1 contracts’ by the U.S. Space Force on March 27, broadening the military branch’s launch options and strengthening access to space.”
Full Story (SPACE)

NASA’s SPHEREx Space Telescope Captures Its First Cosmic Images

SPACE reports, “On April 1, NASA announced its brand new infrared space telescope, SPHEREx, has officially opened its eyes to the cosmos as well. This first light, as it’s called, shows that all of the spacecraft’s systems are working just as expected. ‘Based on the images we are seeing, we can now say that the instrument team nailed it,’ Jamie Bock, SPHEREx’s principal investigator at Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said in a statement.”
Full Story (SPACE)

NASA’s X-59 Supersonic Jet Passes Key ‘Cruise Control’ Test Ahead of First Flight

SPACE reports, “NASA’s new X-59 supersonic jet is a step closer to flight after passing an important ground test in March. Known as “engine speed hold,” the test ensured that the X-59 can maintain a specific speed when it flies for the first time later this year. “Engine speed hold is essentially the aircraft’s version of cruise control,” Paul Dees, NASA’s X-59 deputy propulsion lead at Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, said in a statement. “The pilot engages speed hold at their current speed, then can adjust it incrementally up or down as needed.”
Full Story (SPACE)