Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Jay Menon
In its heaviest-ever commercial launch mission, India successfully put into orbit five U.K. satellites aboard a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle XL variant (PSLV-XL) on July 10, giving a boost to the country’s commercial launch capabilities.

Members of the mission’s science team say features resolving on the surface of Charon could be impact craters, and if they are, it could provide them with a keyhole into the moon’s interior.

By Mark Carreau
Chris Cassidy, a U.S. Navy captain and former SEAL team member with 182 days in Earth orbit, will serve as NASA’s new chief astronaut.

By Bradley Perrett
BAE Systems’ program to build two 27,500-ton assault ships for Australia is running close to the timetable set eight years ago, with the company saying the second ship should be delivered in September.

The recent nuclear agreement between the U.S. and South Korea is vital for continued nuclear trade between the two countries, a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report says.

By Graham Warwick
A different way to enter a planet’s atmosphere is behind Northrop Grumman’s concept for a flying “rover” able to coast through the clouds of Venus for up to a year collecting atmospheric data.

By Tony Osborne
Lockheed could convert the U.K. Royal Air Force’s existing fleet of C-130J airlifters into SC-130Js, reducing procurement costs and technical risks, company officials told Aviation Week on the eve of the RNAS Yeovilton Air Day.
Defense

AIRBUS GROUP appointed Jean-Pierre Talamoni EVP for marketing & sales for Airbus Defense and Space, replacing Christian Scherer, who takes over

/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2015/07/asd_07_09_2015_specs1.pdf P-8A Specifications (See pp. 7-9 for full P-8A Program Dossier)

/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2015/07/asd_07_09_2015_dossier1.pdf Definition: The P-8A Poseidon is a U.S. maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) based on the 737 airliner. It is produced by Boeing.

By Mark Carreau
Four NASA astronauts, all veterans with experience aboard the International Space Station, space shuttle or Russian Soyuz spacecraft, have been named to train to fly aboard the first U.S. commercial crew missions, tentatively planned for 2016-17.
Space

Service development programs in the Pentagon are – on average – taking about 40% longer than the planned five years expected to mature into the production stage, largely due to problems with software, Air Force procurement chief William LaPlante says.

By Jen DiMascio
The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee thinks so.

Under a contract signed July 9 in Oxford at the opening of ESA’s new Harwell satellite facility, Eutelsat Quantum will be led by Airbus Defense and Space U.K. and will be based on Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd.’s new small geostationary satellite platform.

By Guy Norris
Investigations into the failure of HF7, one of the most ambitious flights yet attempted in the joint Australian-U.S. Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (Hifire) program, have pinpointed a thermal problem with a transmitter as the most likely cause.

Future network-based warfare is likely to follow a historical pattern where competitions first accelerate and then undergo abrupt qualitative changes, according to a new study from the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.

The U.S., China and India could find common ground in creating better cybersecurity, says Shivshankar Menon, a Brookings Institution analyst of the region, but there is little evidence of a triangle relationship for now.

By Bradley Perrett
Australia has scrapped plans to purchase F-35B, the Joint Strike Fighter's short takeoff and vertical landing variant, according to a defense source.
Defense

U.K. ROYAL AIR FORCE took delivery of latest AIRBUS DEFENSE & SPACE A400M Atlas airlifter at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire July 6, following 2.5-hr

/site-files/aviationweek.com/files/uploads/2015/07/asd_07_08_2015_cht11.pdf

By Bradley Perrett
BEIJING – The U.S. will withhold sensor-integration technology from the Korea Aerospace Industries’ KF-X program, confirming expectations that South Korea will have to contract with advanced European or Israeli suppliers to equip the fighter.

Aerojet Rocketdyne still sees a way to get into the U.S. Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.

By Guy Norris
Details of the critical technology at the core of an innovative hybrid hypersonic propulsion system for air and space systems have been unveiled for the first time by its British-based developer, Reaction Engines.
Space

By Mark Carreau
The global space economy climbed to $330 billion in 2014, rising 9% over the previous 12 months and nearly doubling over the past decade, according to the latest findings compiled by the nonprofit Space Foundation.

By Tony Osborne
Pilots from Bulgaria, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy have been evaluating Textron Airland’s Scorpion light attack and reconnaissance aircraft following the type’s appearance at the Paris air show.