CNBC reports that investment in the space sector “bounced back last year, rebounding closer to the record high of 2021, according to a report Tuesday by New York-based Space Capital.” The firm’s fourth-quarter report “found that space infrastructure companies brought in $2.6 billion of private investment during the period. That brought the sector to $12.5 billion in total investment for 2023, well above last year’s $9.3 billion raised but still below the $15.3 billion brought in during 2021.” Top raises during the “fourth quarter included funds announced by space companies Firefly Aerospace, Ursa Major, D-Orbit, Stoke Space and True Anomaly.” Anderson told the outlet “we expect to see even more” merger and acquisition activity in 2024.
Full Story (CNBC)
Tag: first
Elliott Aviation Delivers First King Air Upgrade
Aviation International News reports that Elliott Aviation “has performed its first completion and delivery of the Garmin Autoland upgrade in a King Air B200.” Designed as a safety measure, the Autoland system “in an emergency situation can take control of an aircraft and autonomously land itself at the nearest suitable airport.” According to Elliott, the modification “represents the next chapter in the evolution of the Garmin G1000 NXI package for the King Air family.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Dassault’s First Falcon 6X Business Jet Enters Service
Aviation International News reports Dassault announced that on November 30, the company’s “Falcon 6X began flying for its new owner. … Dassault did not reveal the identity or location of the 6X launch customer.” The 6X, with a maximum range of 5,500 nm, was launched in February 2018 “after the 5X program was canceled due to problems with the in-development Safran Silvercrest engine. The 6X is 20 inches longer than the 5X, to accommodate the 6X’s more powerful Pratt & Whitney PW812D engines.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Overair Working to Complete First Air Taxi Prototype
An article in Aerospace America describes Overair’s facility and examines the eVTOL aircraft the company is producing and the differences from its competitors. Company Co-Founder and CEO Ben Tigner believes the company’s rotor design and proprietary technology will be what drives Overair’s success in a competitive market. Overair’s aircraft will use large rotors, and therefore require less than competitors like Joby, Archer, and Volocopter – using only four rotors while others use as many as 18. The rotors are large, but lightweight due to their utilization of carbon fiber composite.
Full Story (Aerospace America)
USAF Begins Testing of Joby Electric Air Taxi
Aerospace America reports that on Monday, the US Air Force (USAF) held a ceremony to formally introduce personnel “to the first electric air taxi to be stationed at an American military base: a Joby Aviation S4 tiltrotor.” The S4 will be operated at Edwards Air Force Base by the USAF, Joby, and NASA in order to test its ability to carry personnel and supplies. Edwards Air Force Base 412th Test Wing Commander Col. Douglas Wickert said, “We’re literally standing on the threshold here of a new era in aviation. There’s no doubt that the electrification of aviation is going to be a critical piece in the broader energy transition toward a sustainable future for humanity, and I’m proud that we get to the opportunity to contribute to that. There’s a transformative vertical lift industry that’s emerging, and we need to be partners in it.” The S4 at the ceremony is the first one delivered to the USAF under a $131 million contract between Joby and the Air Force Research Laboratory’s innovation arm AFWERX. The USAF will not officially own the aircraft, but the contract allows the USAF and partners to fly it.
Full Story (Aerospace America)
USAF Receives First Electric Passenger Aircraft Capable of Taking Off, Landing Vertically
The New York Times reports the US Air Force announced Monday that it had “received its first electric passenger aircraft capable of taking off and landing vertically, a milestone for the companies that hope to one day sell thousands of such vehicles to serve as air taxis. Joby Aviation, an air taxi start-up, delivered the aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California … , Air taxis are typically powered by batteries and designed to lift off and land like helicopters, but include wings to fly like airplanes.” Joby “said that its electric aircraft is substantially quieter than helicopters or planes. Each can carry one pilot and four passengers and travel as fast as 200 miles per hour and as far as 100 miles, according to the company.”
Full Story (New York Times)
L3Harris, BAE Systems Deliver First EC-37B Compass Call to US Air Force
FlightGlobal reports L3Harris and BAE Systems have delivered the first EC-37B Compass Call electronic warfare aircraft to the US Air Force. The article mentions that while the previous EC-130H Compass Call “was based on the Lockheed Martin turboprop transport,” the EC-37B is built on the Gulfstream G550 platform. BAE Systems “oversaw the production of the electronic attack package, while L3Harris was the prime contractor for integrating those mission systems into the Gulfstream jet.” BAE Systems “says the new aircraft will deliver much needed electronic attack capability to the USAF, which is in the process of reorienting its forces to survive in well-defended airspace contested by a modern adversary.”
Full Story (FlightGlobal)
USAF Completes First Uncrewed Test Flight Utilizing AI
Bloomberg Government reported that the US Air Force “has completed its first flight with an uncrewed combat aircraft using artificial intelligence, according to the Department of Defense.” The XQ-58A Valkyrie combat aircraft by Kratos Defense and Security Solutions “led a three-hour simulated combat mission at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio on July 25.” The AI-led flight “was a product of an Air Force Research Laboratory effort, the Skyborg Vanguard program, which uses an autonomous aircraft teaming architecture and integrates multiple technology components.” Skyborg is “building a system that is portable and modular – fitting into multiple aircraft platforms.”
Full Story (Bloomberg Government)
Vulcan Rolled Out to Launchpad for Final Series of Tests Ahead of its Debut Launch
Aviation Week (5/11) reports that a “United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan-Centaur rocket was rolled out to its launchpad on May 11 for a final series of tests ahead of its debut launch, targeted for this summer.” Space News reports ULA said on Thursday that the “Vulcan is in position atop SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to undergo a full launch day rehearsal tomorrow and flight readiness firing test of its main engines planned for next week.” ULA CEO Tory Bruno tweeted on Wednesday that the “Vulcan was returning to tanking tests although the investigation of a Centaur upper-stage testing anomaly that occurred on March 29 has not yet been completed.” Bruno said that “ULA plans to livestream the flight-readiness test firing of the BE-4 main engines. The test fire is expected to last about six seconds, he said. ‘A short burn, but a very long time to be on the pad.’”
Full Story (Aviation Week); More Info (Space News)
Comlux Delivers First Completed ACJ TwoTwenty to Five Hotels
Aviation International News reports that Comlux delivered the first completed ACJ TwoTwenty to launch customer Five Hotels and Resorts. Airbus Corporate Jets partnered with Comlux in 2020 “to bring the executive variant of the Airbus 220 single-aisle airliner to the business aviation market.” Comlux is “designing and installing the interiors on the first 16 of the TwoTwenty; at least 10 have been ordered to date.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)