Tag: June 2023

First Joby EVTOL Prototype Rolls Off Assembly Line

Aviation Week reports that Joby Aviation “has rolled out the first prototype of its S4 electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft to be built on its pilot production line in Marina, California.” The aircraft has “received FAA special airworthiness certification for flight testing.”
Full Story (Aviation Today)

Boeing Partners with Aurora to Enhance KC-46A Pegasus’ Defensive Capabilities

Janes reports that The Boeing Company announced at the Paris Air Show on June 20 that it will partner with “Aurora Flight Sciences to enhance the defensive capabilities of its KC-46A Pegasus tanker-transport aircraft.” Boeing said that Aurora Flight Sciences is “leading the research and conceptual design of composite components geared at enhancing operational survivability for aerial refuelling and mobility missions. … This work will also focus on producibility and manufacturing at Aurora’s Columbus, Mississippi, manufacturing facility.” According to Boeing, the KC-46A Pegasus “already features defensive systems and data integration for multimission aerial refuelling support closer to the battlespace than existing tankers.” Boeing said, “With more data for the crew and fleet, including recent Block 1 upgrades to further enhance connectivity, the Pegasus can see and relay threat information to joint force warfighters for greater fleet survivability and mission success.”
Full Story (Janes)

NASA Astronauts Complete ISS Solar Power System Upgrade

Aviation Week reports that two NASA astronauts “installed a sixth and final planned ISS Roll Out Solar Array (iROSA) on the long solar power truss of the International Space Station (ISS) during a June 15 spacewalk.” Astronauts Woody Hoburg and Steve Bowen performed the procedure during a five-and-a-half-hour excursion.
Full Story (Aviation Week)

SpaceX Launches Bicoastal Missions Putting 124 Payloads into Orbit

CBS News reports that in a Monday doubleheader, SpaceX “launched 52 Starlink internet satellites from Florida and then fired off another Falcon 9 from California, putting 72 small payloads from multiple vendors into orbit in the company’s eighth low-cost ‘rideshare’ mission.” The Florida-based mission launched 52 Starlink satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral in a pre-dawn flight to bring the company’s satellite constellation total to 4,595. The Transporter 8 mission “took off from Vandenberg Space Force Base northwest of Los Angeles at 5:35 p.m. EDT, carrying 72 rideshare payloads provided by multiple vendors and launch brokers.” Transporter missions are “intended to provide low-cost access to space for small payloads that might otherwise have to wait for rides on missions dedicated to larger satellites.” SpaceX “charges $275,000 for a 110-pound payload, and $5,500 for each additional 2.2 pounds.”
Full Story (CBS News)

Wildfires Disrupt East Coast Flights: Incoming Planes Paused at LaGuardia, Newark and Philadelphia

Forbes reports that on Thursday morning, the FAA “paused all flights to New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, nearby Newark airport and Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday morning…after the agency reported low visibility as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to affect the Northeast.” The FAA indicated that “reduced visibility from wildfire smoke” will “impact air travel throughout the Northeast, adding it will ‘likely’ need to ‘manage the flow of traffic’ in and out of airports surrounding New York City, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Charlotte.”
Full Story (Forbes)

SpaceX’s Cargo Dragon Docks at ISS

Spaceflight Now reports that a SpaceX Dragon cargo ship “loaded with 7,000 pounds of supplies and equipment, including two add-on roll-out solar blankets, caught up with the International Space Station early Tuesday and moved in for a problem-free docking.” The Dragon was launched Monday from the Kennedy Space Center. The space station “is equipped with four primary solar array wings, two on each side of the power truss.” Solar cells “degrade over time and NASA is adding six IROSAs, at a cost of $103 million, to the existing power system.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

Boeing CEO Says Progress Fixing Supply Chain Issues is Very Slow

Reuters reported that The Boeing Company CEO Dave Calhoun says that progress on resolving supply chain issues has been “frustratingly slow,” though he added that the company has seen improvements in certain areas of the supply chain, such as engine forgings and castings. Calhoun added that the ability of Boeing and Airbus to satisfy customer demand for aircraft will still be constrained “five years from now.”
Full Story (Reuters)

Boeing Increases 787 Dreamliner Production

Reuters (5/30) reports that The Boeing Company has increased production of its 787 Dreamliner up to four planes per month from three as it prepares to ramp up to five per month by the end of 2023, as well as add a second production line at the company’s South Carolina facilities to help complete work this year on inventory 787s that are being modified to meet the standards of the Federal Aviation Administration.
Full Story (Reuters)

KC-135R Completes First Commercial Aerial Refueling of USAF Aircraft

Aviation Week reports that a privately owned Boeing KC-135R “refueled two U.S. Air Force aircraft in late June, marking the service’s first air-to-air refueling from a commercial service provider.” The Metrea Strategic Mobility-owned tanker “offloaded nearly 90,000 lb. of fuel during 13 boom contacts with an RC-135 and E-3 during Exercise Resolute Hunter between June 23-29.” Metrea’s Air and Space Group head Ty Thomas said, “We look forward to supporting more U.S. Air Force refueling requirements as well as increasing demand from allies and partners.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)