Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Mark Carreau
Katherine Calvin has been named NASA’s chief scientist and senior climate advisor, Administrator Bill Nelson has announced.
Space

By Tony Osborne
The first UK military air traffic control facility to be modernized under the defense ministry’s £1.5 billion ($2.03 billion) Project Marshall has become operational.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
France’s Gendarmerie is set to become the first law enforcement operator of the new Airbus H160 twin-engine medium helicopter.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Spanish testing specialist Applus has been funded to develop the means for cryogenic testing of hydrogen tanks for aircraft, in support of Airbus’ initiative to field a zero-emissions airliner by the mid-2030s.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover has encountered another “small” obstacle in its campaign to collect and cache samples of rocky materials from the floor of the red planet.
Space

By Brian Everstine
The plan to fix the KC-46’s troubled Remote Vision System (RVS) is delayed as the U.S. Air Force and Boeing try to work through a longstanding issue with the aircraft’s panoramic visual system.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Chen Chuanren, Kim Minseok
The South Korean defense ministry has played down Pyongyang’s claim that it successfully tested a hypersonic missile on Jan. 5, saying that North Korea had instead launched a Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Michael Bruno
Shares in Momentus have fallen 60% since the space-tug startup went public in August 2021.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
Two weeks after the JWST was launched into orbit, the final segment of its 21-ft.-dia. primary mirror—the largest mirror ever flown on a space observatory—was rotated into position, completing NASA’s risky and most technically complicated series of in-space deployments.
Space

By Guy Norris
Following the revelation in December that the U.S. Air Force plans to launch two new unmanned combat air vehicle programs, the service’s chief scientist says tactical autonomy and the use of manned-unmanned teaming “will become the next step in the evolution of the Department of the Air Force.”
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Irene Klotz
Flight controllers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore are closing in on the final steps to reconfigure the James Webb Space Telescope, with the first of two primary mirror wing panels extended and latched into place on Jan. 7.
Space

By Brian Everstine
The Space Force’s two launch ranges have a shortage of spare parts for critical systems, which could impact future launches as the service projects a vast increase in missions, a new Pentagon report says.
Space

By Irene Klotz
After contributing 31 flights to a global record 146 orbital launches in 2021, SpaceX kicked off the new year by adding another 49 new satellites to its growing Starlink broadband network.
Commercial Space

NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei’s trek toward a new U.S. record for human spaceflight marches on.
Space

By Bill Carey
The operator of an FAA-designated test site for unmanned aircraft systems said the agency has authorized it to fly drones beyond an operator’s vision within a 50-mi. airspace corridor in New York State.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Tony Osborne
Turkish Aerospace (TAI) has opened a wave of new facilities as the company prepares for the development and production of an indigenous combat aircraft.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Bill Carey
Gogo Business Aviation says it remains on track to complete a 150-tower 5G air-to-ground network serving the contiguous U.S. by the second half of 2022.
Interiors & Connectivity

By Thierry Dubois
Arianespace may perform up to 17 launches in 2022 with its family of Ariane, Soyuz and Vega rockets, according to CEO Stephane Israel.
Space

By Chen Chuanren
Bangladesh appears set to purchase Russian Mil Mi-28NE attack helicopters ahead of Boeing AH-64E Apache.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Finalizing aircraft certification plans and filling out the mobility ecosystem are priorities for 2022.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
China’s eVTOL leader shifts strategy from aircraft sales to mobility service.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
The time to wait and see is over, with Airbus, Embraer and others stepping up their commitment to the AAM market.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Mark Carreau
Paragon Space Development Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Final Frontier Design as part of a joint financial effort to enhance future private spacesuit development for NASA and other spaceflight customers.
Space

The Defense Department organization that oversees global military sales has a new leader.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Michael Bruno
Share prices of publicly traded A&D companies in 2021 were up from catastrophic 2020, but still down from pre-pandemic heights.
Manufacturing & Supply Chain