Aviation Week Network reports, “Boeing will launch construction in Australia later this year of the company’s first final assembly facility outside of North America in a move that commits to further production of the MQ-28 Ghost Bat beyond the first 13 aircraft ordered so far by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Tag: engineering
NASA, Boeing Target May 1 for First Crewed Starliner Flight to Space Station
Spaceflight Now reports, “NASA is five weeks away from putting astronauts aboard a new commercial crew capsule. May 1 is the target launch date for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft on the Crew Flight Test-1 (CFT-1) mission the International Space Station with NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams on board.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
SpaceX Falcon 9 Marks 175th Flight from Cape Canaveral
Spaceflight Now reports “SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Monday evening with 23 Starlink satellites on board,” marking the 175th SpaceX launch “from its workhorse pad to date.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Videos
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral
(Spaceflight Now; YouTube)
Boom’s XB-1 Supersonic Demonstrator Takes Flight for First Time
Aviation Week reports, “Boom Supersonic flew its XB-1 demonstrator—the world’s first privately developed faster-than-sound civil aircraft—for the first time at Mojave Air & Space Port, California, on March 22.” The successful flight “marks a step toward the development of the company’s planned Mach 1.7 Overture airliner later this decade.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Remote ID Rule for Drone Operators in Full Effect
Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “The FAA policy, for exercising discretion in determining whether to take enforcement action for drone operators found in breach of the Remote ID Rule, ended on March 16, 2024.” Drone operators in the US “now face fines and suspension or revocation of their drone pilot certificate” if it is determined they are not in compliance with the FAA’s Remote ID Rule.
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Technology)
Russia Launches One-man, Two-woman Crew to Space Station
CBS News reports, “Two days after a rare last-second launch abort, a Russian Soyuz spacecraft blasted off Saturday on a flight to the International Space Station, carrying two short-duration crew members and a NASA astronaut bound for a six-month tour of duty.” The Soyuz is expected to catch up with the space station Monday, “moving in for docking at a port on the station’s Earth-facing Prichal module at 11:09 a.m. local time.”
Full Story (CBS News)
Eve Air Mobility Brands UATM Solution ‘Vector’
Aviation Week reports, “Eve Air Mobility has chosen the name Vector for its in-development urban air traffic management (UATM) solution, with first deliveries now planned for 2026.” The Embraer spinoff is “the only major air taxi OEM that is also developing a UATM solution, considered critical to enabling high-density operations of drones and electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicles.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
DoD Innovation Unit to Study Firefly Vehicle for Missions Beyond Earth Orbit
Space News reports, “The Defense Innovation Unit announced March 21 it has signed an agreement with Firefly Aerospace to study the potential use of the company’s Elytra orbital vehicle for missions beyond geosynchronous Earth orbit.” According to the article, once the study contract is complete, as many as two demonstration flights could occur, “in the region between GEO orbit and the moon, known as cislunar space.”
Full Story (Space News)
2024 AIAA DEFENSE Forum to Focus on Accelerating Technology Transition for Battlespace Dominance
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2024 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has announced its three-day program for the 2024 AIAA DEFENSE Forum, 16–18 April at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland. This year’s program will explore the critical role of the science and technology community in providing innovative and operationally relevant capabilities to dominate the battlespace. This Secret/NOFORN event provides the ideal venue for leaders from government, military, industry, and academia to advance and accelerate innovation. Registration for the 2024 AIAA DEFENSE Forum is open to the national security community.
“We believe it’s more important than ever for the science and technology community to gather for the 2024 AIAA DEFENSE Forum for discussion and debate on the most pressing strategic, programmatic, and technical topics and national security policy issues. The intimate, classified discussions and interaction among sectors are crucial to developing and fielding solutions for the warfighter,” said AIAA CEO Dan Dumbacher.
The speakers and panelists participating in the 2024 AIAA DEFENSE Forum are proven leaders and innovators within the industry. Confirmed speakers include:
- Angela Ambrose, GM Defense
- Samuel Bendett, CNA
- Kimberly Caldwell, Spirit AeroSystems
- Anthony Di Stasio, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment
- Jay Dryer, Strategic Capabilities Office
- Col. Edward Ferguson, USAF, U.S. Space Command
- Shawn Fetterolf, Intel Federal
- Mark Glenn, Joint Hypersonic Transition Office, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology (OASD(S&T))
- Maynard A. Holliday, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
- Marcia Holmes, U.S. Department of Defense
- George Ka’iliwai III, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command
- Aaron Kofford, DARPA
- Khoi Nguyen, U.S. Cyber Command
- Heidi C. Perry, MIT Lincoln Laboratory
- Col. Ryan Simms, USAF, Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs
- Sonny Tahiliani, RTX Ventures
- Robert Taylor, U.S. Strategic Command
- Lt. Gen. L. Neil Thurgood, USA (Ret.), Anduril Industries
The forum technical sessions will provide an in-depth discussion of technical topics, including Strategic Missile Systems; Digital Engineering; Guidance, Navigation, Control and Estimation; High-Maneuverability and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies; and Autonomy, Collaborative Engagement, Machine Intelligence, and Robotic and Uncrewed Systems.
For the most up-to-date program and registration information, visit aiaa.org/defense.
Media contact: Rebecca B. 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 Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.
Rocket Lab Launches NROL-123 Mission in 4th US Liftoff
SPACE reports, “Rocket Lab launched from the U.S. for the fourth time ever Thursday morning (March 21), sending mystery payloads aloft for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).” The NROL-123 mission, or “Live and Let Fly,” as Rocket Lab has designated it, launched at 3:25 a.m. EDT from the company’s Launch Complex 2 at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Full Story (SPACE)
Videos
RocketLab Electron 46 | NROL-123
(The Launch Pad; YouTube)