Military Aerospace reports, “Archer Aviation Inc. in Salinas, Calif., announced that its Midnight aircraft completed its highest altitude flight to date, reaching 7,000 feet as part of ongoing envelope expansion testing.”
Full Story (Military Aerospace)
Tag: Milestone
Soviet Venus Lander Kosmos 482 Crashes Into Sea After 53 Years in Orbit
SPACE reports, “A failed Soviet Venus lander’s long space odyssey has come to an end. The Kosmos 482 probe crashed to Earth today (May 10) after circling our planet for more than five decades. Reentry occurred at 2:24 a.m. ET (0624 GMT or 9:24 a.m. Moscow time) over the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta, Indonesia, according to Russia’s space agency Roscosmos. Kosmos 482 appears to have fallen harmlessly into the sea.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Sierra Space Marks Third Testing Milestone on Resilient GPS (R-GPS) Technology for USSF
Inside GNSS reports, “Sierra Space, a leading commercial space company and defense tech prime announced today another successful demonstration of the company’s Resilient GPS (R-GPS) technology for the U.S. Space Force (USSF). In this third milestone, Sierra Space demonstrated an early integration of the R-GPS satellite technology through FlatSat flight software and hardware subsystem testing, in addition to successful communication with ground software.”
Full Story (Inside GNSS)
General Atomics Gray Eagle STOL Performs First Ship-to-Land Flight
Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), in collaboration with South Korea’s Hanwha Aerospace, has achieved a significant milestone with the Gray Eagle STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). On November 12, 2024, the Gray Eagle STOL successfully launched from the South Korean Navy’s amphibious landing ship Dokdo and completed its flight with a smooth landing at Pohang Navy Airfield.”
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Technology)
Rocket Lab Marks Milestone with 50th Electron Rocket Launch
Spaceflight Now reports, “Rocket Lab successfully reached a milestone that few commercial rockets achieved and at a pace that outperformed its competition. The company launched its 50th Electron rocket to date just seven years after the vehicle’s debut in May 2017 … Onboard the rocket were five satellites on behalf of France-based internet of things company, Kinéis … All five on this flight were successfully deployed.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Videos
RocketLab 50th Electron Launch
(The Launch Pad; YouTube)
F-35 Achieves Long-Delayed Full-Rate Production Milestone
Aviation Week reports, “The Lockheed Martin F-35 has been approved for full-rate production by the U.S. Defense Department in a long-delayed decision that comes after the program has delivered more than 990 aircraft globally.” The aircraft is now cleared “to advance toward peak production levels.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Rolls-Royce Pearl 10X Engine Passes 2,000 Hour Milestone
Aviation International News reports that Rolls-Royce’s Pearl 10X engine “has now passed the 2,000-hour milestone in ground-testing.” Rated at “more than 18,000 pounds of thrust, the engine met its thrust objectives on its first run and testing has run smoothly to date.” The first flight trials engine “has been delivered from Rolls-Royce’s Dahlewitz factory near Berlin to L3Harris in Waco, Texas, for installation on the company’s Boeing 747 testbed, with a first flight expected before the end of the year.” Flight trials will be “conducted at the Rolls-Royce’s test site in Tucson, Arizona.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Video
Rolls-Royce’s Most Powerful Pearl 10X Engine Getting Ready for First Flight
(Global Update; YouTube)