Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

UK Space Command is looking to be on contract next year for a cluster of synthetic aperture radar satellites.

Startup propulsion company Ursa Major has begun assembly of the first Draper engine for a new-generation, air-launched hypersonic target vehicle.

Defense Department efforts to electrify its systems and secure its supply base for batteries have taken a step forward.

The Space Rapid Capabilities Office is tasked with meeting critical needs in space.

The U.S. Space Force is preparing for a dramatic increase in its acquisition of military satellite communications and position, navigation and timing systems.

A coalition of nations led by France is beginning to firm up plans for the creation of a NATO-compatible ground-based air defense system to protect Ukraine.

GE Aerospace and its Italian business Avio Aero have secured the first study contract associated with NATO’s Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability.

Perseverance is preparing for the fourth and perhaps most ambitious phase of its exploration of Jezero Crater.

The potential overhaul springs from a review led by service secretary Frank Kendall.

News in brief.

SES Space & Defense to provide global satcom services, AeroVironment to provide U.S. Navy video analytics and computer vision research, Albers Aerospace wins $15m U.S. Army contract for Mission Systems Flying Test Bed.

The timely availability of UAS due to fleet maintenance issues has come into question–possibly jeopardizing mission objectives.

Finnish Air Force - In Service Fleet by Key Aircraft Families, Future In-Service Fleet by Mission - 2033 and Current In-Service Fleet by Aircraft Prime - 2033

True Anomaly, a startup developing spacecraft for space domain awareness missions, has raised $100 million in a Series B round of funding.

L3Harris highlights the potential for the acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne to help the defense contractor become a larger player in space and missile systems.

The F-35 Joint Program Office head says he still cannot predict when a software issue that has halted deliveries from Lockheed Martin will be corrected.

United Launch Alliance conducted a practice launch countdown, including fueling, of its new Vulcan-Centaur rocket on Dec. 12.

More than 15 months after a New Shepard booster failed, Blue Origin plans to resume flights of its reusable suborbital vehicle, with liftoff set for Dec. 18.

Satellite technology company Quasar is targeting the U.S. military market with a new, ground-based steerable phased array radar for space domain awareness.

The Pentagon has reshuffled how it presents its space-focused forces to combatant commands, modifying a scheme to have a broader goal of improving readiness.

The UK government is preparing to publish its Space Sector Plan in early 2024, laying out its national space capabilities ambitions.

Kosiniak-Kamysz will replace Mariusz Błaszczak, who led Poland through a radical equipment modernization program prompted by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Boeing on Dec. 11 received another $271 million contract to build six MH-47G Block II helicopters for U.S. Special Operations Command.

Orbit Fab and ispace have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on developing rocket propellants from lunar resources.

The Missile Defense Agency on Dec. 11 successfully tested an upgraded Ground-Based Interceptor.