Air Force Times reports that The Boeing Company “expects to start delivering the Air Force’s first field-ready MH-139A Grey Wolf helicopters later this year.” In a Friday release, Boeing “said it finished construction on the first low-rate initial production Grey Wolf in late December.” That helicopter “also started its flight testing at Italian aerospace firm Leonardo’s facility in Philadelphia, the company said.” Boeing “said the MH-130 is continuing the Federal Aviation Administration’s certification testing process.” The Air Force “plans to buy up to 80 MH-139s to replace its fleet of 63 UH-1N Huey helicopters.” Security forces airmen “will use them to patrol the service’s nuclear missile fields, and the service also plans to use these helicopters to transport senior military officials.”
Full Story (Air Force Times)
Tag: engineering
SpaceX Launches its 1st Northrop Grumman Capsule on Space Station Cargo Run
The Orlando Sentinel reports that SpaceX has once again lent a hand providing launch services for one of its competitors as a Falcon 9 rocket took up a Northrop Grumman spacecraft on a…
Full Story (Orlando Sentinel – Subscription Publication)
Video
Official NASA Broadcast
(NASA; YouTube)
SLIM Moon Lander Powers Back on
Space News reports that Japan’s SLIM moon lander “has resumed operations more than a week after its imperfect yet historic lunar landing.” The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) “confirmed contact had been reestablished with the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) spacecraft late Jan. 28.” The development “comes just days ahead of a likely mission-ending sunset.” The large SUV-sized spacecraft “was forced to power down just two over hours after landing Jan. 19 due to its solar cell not generating electricity.” SLIM finally “powered up again as the position of the sun in the sky changed, finally illuminated SLIM’s solar cell.”
Full Story (Space News)
Virgin Galactic Launches First Suborbital Mission of 2024
Space News reported that Virgin Galactic “conducted its first suborbital mission of 2024 on Jan. 26 as the company prepares end flights of its current spaceplane.” The VSS Unity spaceplane, “attached the VMS Eve mothership aircraft, took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 12 p.m. Eastern.” Unity “separated about 45 minutes later, igniting its hybrid rocket engine.” The flight “carried four customers for the first time, along with its two pilots.
Full Story (Space News)
Video
#Galactic06 Recap
(Virgin Galactic; YouTube)
NASA’s Ingenuity Has Taken Its Last Flight on Mars
The Washington Post reports that the four-pound drone completed 72 flights before damaging its rotors during a landing last week.
Full Story (Washington Post – Subscription Publication)
JAXA’s ‘Moon Sniper’ Missed its Mark
CNN reports that Japan’s space agency “said Thursday that its ‘moon sniper’ robotic explorer landed 55 meters (165 feet) from its target on the lunar surface last week, calling it a ‘significant achievement’ despite problems during the landing that put the mission in jeopardy.” The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission “reached the moon’s surface just after 10:20 a.m. ET (12:20 a.m. Saturday Japan Standard Time) on January 19, according to data shared by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.” During its descent, the spacecraft experienced “some kind of anomaly” at a “distance of around 50 meters (165 feet) above the surface, JAXA officials said in a news conference.” The thrust from “one of the main engines was lost as a result, forcing the spacecraft to land on its nose with its ‘main engine facing upward and in an almost vertical position.’”
Full Story (CNN)
Gulfstream Plans to Deliver G700s in First Quarter This Year
FlightGlobal reports that Gulfstream “is hoping that deliveries of its G700 can begin in the current quarter after slower than anticipated certification of the ultra-long-range business jet by the Federal Aviation Administration caused revenue and profit to fall below expectations for 2023.” US type approval “for the Rolls-Royce Pearl 700-powered G700 was anticipated in the fourth quarter, enabling 15 deliveries by year end.” However, that “did not happen, causing Gulfstream’s parent General Dynamics to miss out on around $1 billion in revenue and $250 million in earnings for the three-month period.” General Dynamics CEO Phebe Novakovic “said Gulfstream has told the first customers for the jet to ‘schedule their pre-delivery inspections contemplating delivery this quarter.’” Gulfstream expects to “deliver 50 G700s this year, a large proportion of the 160 jets it expects to hand over in 2024.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)
Blue Origin Receives USSF Funding for Integration Studies Related to New Glenn Launch Vehicle
Space News reports that Blue Origin “has secured a contract with the U.S. Space Force for integration studies related to its New Glenn launch vehicle.” The new agreement “marks a significant step in Blue Origin’s potential participation in the National Security Space Launch Phase 3 program, a multi-billion dollar procurement of launch services for national security satellites.” The Space Force “awarded Blue Origin nearly $18 million for ‘National Security Space Launch Phase 3 Lane 2 early integration studies to assess launch vehicle trajectory and mission design, coupled launch loads, and integrated thermal environments to inform compatibility between launch vehicles and space vehicles for missions planned in fiscal years 2025 and 2026.’”
Full Story (Space News)
NASA’s X-59 Moves Past Delays Towards First Flight This Year
Aviation Week reports that despite problems “that delayed the X-59 Low-Boom Flight Demonstration program from its scheduled flight debut in 2021, no obvious obstacles stand in the way of the aircraft flying for the first time in the late spring or early summer.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Blue Origin, SpaceX Competition Boosts Supply Chain Companies’ Bottom Lines
Bloomberg reports that as private space firms “like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin step up rocket production and development and more nations race to the moon, mid-size manufacturers that provide their equipment and supplies are reaping the benefits.” Companies including “satellite builder MDA Ltd, heat-transfer manufacturer Graham Corp, and aluminum maker Constellium SE all saw share gains of two-thirds or more in 2023, driven in part by the billions of dollars in private and government funding for space exploration and the creation of large-scale satellite networks.”
Full Story (Bloomberg – Subscription Publication)