SPACE reports that China is ratcheting up its space capabilities at an impressive clip, with an eye toward potentially ending the United States’ long-held space supremacy, U.S. officials say. “Since 2018, China has more than tripled their on-orbit intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance satellites,” said Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command, on Tuesday at the 39th Space Symposium.
Full Story (SPACE)
Tag: engineering
Army Orders Additional Safety Training as Helicopter Crashes Rise
Defense News reports, “The Army has ordered an aviation “safety stand up,” with additional aviation training across the force following a dozen mishaps that have resulted in 10 fatalities in only the first six months of the fiscal year. By comparison, the Army had 10 mishaps and 14 fatalities for all fiscal 2023.”
Full Story (Defense News)
Delta Rocket Makes Final Flight
Ars Technica reports, “The final flight of United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV Heavy rocket took off Tuesday from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with a classified spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. The Delta IV Heavy, one of the world’s most powerful rockets, launched for the 16th and final time Tuesday. It was the 45th and last flight of a Delta IV launcher and the final rocket named Delta to ever launch, ending a string of 389 missions dating back to 1960.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)
Videos
Delta IV Heavy launches for final time with secret US spy satellite, 9 April 2024
(VideoFromSpace; YouTube)
Navy Eyes First Test Flight of MQ-25 In Spring 2025
Defense Daily reports, “After Boeing delivered the first MQ-25 Stingray to the Navy in February for testing, a lead official said Monday the service is on schedule for the first flight test with that platform in spring 2025.”
Full Story (Defense News – Subscription Publication)
Russian Space Officials Abort Planned Test Launch of New Heavy-lift Rocket
The Associated Press reports that a Russian Angara-A5 rocket was set to launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome at 5:00 AM ET Tuesday, but the launch was scrubbed just two minutes before liftoff. “Yuri Borisov, head of Roscosmos state space corporation, said the automatic safety system canceled the launch after registering a flaw in the oxidizer tank pressurization system.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
The 2024 Total Solar Eclipse is Happening Today
SPACE reports, “Today (April 8) a total solar eclipse will sweep across North America from Mexico, through 15 U.S. States and up through Canada. For viewers inside the path of totality, the moon will completely cover the sun, darkening the sky and revealing our star’s hidden outer atmosphere.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
Watch Total Solar Eclipse 2024 Live
(VideoFromSpace; YouTube)
EHang Receives Production Certificate for Its eVTOL Aircraft
Aviation International News reports, “The Civil Administration of China (CAAC) has issued a production certificate to EHang, clearing the way for the company to start large-scale series production of its EH216-S autonomous eVTOL aircraft. The approval, which was announced at an event in Guangzhou on Sunday, was granted just under six months after EHang became the first eVTOL manufacturer in the world to achieve type certification—on October 13.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Flying Magazine Takes a First Look at Joby’s eVOTL Future
Flying Magazine reports, “Today, Joby is a roughly $4 billion-cap enterprise on the cusp of its type certification for-credit testing with the FAA on an evolution of the very vehicle [JoeBen] Bevirt envisioned would lift him from that dusty bus stop into the peaceful meadow near his parents’ forest home.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)
NASA Set to Launch Multiple Rockets During April 8 Total Solar Eclipse
SPACE reports, “NASA’s Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) mission — named for the Egyptian god of darkness and enemy of the sun god, Ra — will launch the three sounding rockets back into the moon’s shadow during the April 8 total solar eclipse. The goal is to study potential disturbances in the ionosphere during a solar eclipse.” Launch is scheduled between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. ET from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Full Story (SPACE)
ULA Vulcan Unlikely to Launch Again Until Fall
Ars Technica reports, “After the impressive debut of the Vulcan rocket in January, it is unclear when the heavy lift vehicle will fly again. The uncertainty is due to a couple of factors, including the rocket’s readiness and, perhaps more critically, what will fly on top of it.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)