Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Steve Trimble
A day after awarding Kratos a similar deal, the Air Force Research Laboratory signed a $17.8 million contract with General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems Inc. to spend the next 12 months designing and developing an Off-Board Sensing Station aircraft.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble
A new satellite launched by China on Oct. 24 will be used mostly for testing an unspecified space debris mitigation technology, state-owned news media and government agencies say.
Space

By Graham Warwick
Wing is expanding its drone delivery operations from smaller towns into more complex urban areas with plans to begin on-demand store-to-door deliveries in metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
Embraer subsidiary Eve Air Mobility will launch a month-long simulated urban-air-mobility (UAM) trial in Brazil on Nov. 8, connecting the affluent coastal suburb of Barra de Tijuca with Rio de Janeiro’s Galeão International Airport.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Brian Everstine
Pratt & Whitney will start altitude tests on its experimental XA101 engine in early 2022, though the CEO of parent company Raytheon Technologies warns it would be a difficult and expensive effort to install it on F-35As as some lawmakers are calling for and the U.S. Air Force is exploring.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
The four Crew-3 astronauts arrived at Kennedy Space Center as scheduled Oct. 26, expressing confidence an assessment of a toilet issue aboard their SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon Endurance and the Crew-2 Dragon Endeavour currently docked to the International Space Station (ISS) will be resolved in time to support their planned liftoff.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A Boeing F-15EX completed the first operational test mission with F-15Cs and F-15Es at Nellis AFB, Nevada, the U.S. Air Force said on Oct. 26.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A new unmanned aircraft system (UAS) now being designed by Kratos will feature conventional landing gear, breaking from the company’s jet-assisted
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Brian Everstine
U.S. officials are in advanced discussions with Pakistan for a permanent agreement to use that country’s air space for counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan, and are still talking with other nearby nations such as Tajikistan and Uzbekistan for potential basing, a top Pentagon official told lawmakers.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
In July 2019, research and development center Tecnalia in Spain’s Basque region conducted tethered indoor test flights of the prototype of an unusual “drone of drones” design for an autonomous air taxi. Now Spanish unmanned aircraft services provider Umiles has acquired the design from Tecnalia with the goal of producing the first 100% domestically developed electric-vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicle.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
Italian and French airport operators have formed a company, Urban Blue, with international ambitions to design, build and manage the vertiport infrastructure for urban air mobility.
Airports & Networks

By Tony Osborne
The UK and U.S. have agreed to extend the support arrangements to maintain the operation of the Royal Air Force’s Boeing RC-135 Rivet Joint signals-intelligence aircraft through 2035.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Mark Carreau
NASA and SpaceX this week will focus on closing out an assessment of changes made to the toilet aboard the Crew-3 Dragon spacecraft prior to its scheduled Oct. 31 launch to the International Space Station.
Space

By Chen Chuanren
Australia’s New South Wales Police Force Aviation Command has commissioned three new Bell 429 helicopters as the unit transits into a Bell fleet.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Chen Chuanren
Japan successfully launched the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket on the morning of Oct. 26 local time from the Tanegashima Space Center.
Space

By Steve Trimble
Kratos has received a $17.7 million contract to build and fly an Off-Board Sensor Station for the Air Force Research Laboratory within a year, the Defense Department said on Oct. 25.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force’s potential Advanced Tactical Trainer, recently announced in a request for information, is expected to serve as a bridge for pilots graduating from initial training in a T-38, or eventually a Boeing-Saab T-7, before entering the cockpit of an operational fighter.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force has started to claw back from an engine shortage in its F-35 fleet that has grounded dozens of the aircraft, as Pratt & Whitney and the service’s depot have changed some processes and sped up production.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
A team of heritage and new space companies headed by Blue Origin and Sierra Space plan to build, launch and operate an International Space Station-class commercial outpost in low Earth orbit that can be tailored and expanded to accommodate a broad array of scientific, technological, business, entertainment and other pursuits.
Commercial Space

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Air Force’s potential Advanced Tactical Trainer, recently announced in a request for information, is expected to serve as a bridge for pilots graduating from initial training in a T-38, or eventually a Boeing-Saab T-7, before entering the cockpit for an operational fighter.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Startup ZeroAvia has partnered with Mitsubishi’s CRJ support division, MHI RJ Aviation, to develop hydrogen-electric propulsion for regional jets, aiming for market availability in 2028.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
After conducting four crewed spaceflights, including a commercial mission without NASA oversight, SpaceX has won Russia’s backing to fly cosmonauts on its Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Space

By Steve Trimble
Twenty years after winning the Joint Strike Fighter contract, Rick Rezabek still remembers a mistake Lockheed Martin made at the beginning of the design for the X-35.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The commander of the United Arab Emirates Air Force has visited Israel for the first time, as defense relations between the two countries warm following the normalization of diplomatic relations.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
Bell has begun handing over AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters to the U.S. Navy’s Naval Air Systems Command in preparation for delivery to export customer Bahrain.
Aircraft & Propulsion