Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Mark Carreau
The current MSR mission cost estimate of $5.9 billion with a 2027 launch of the initial multiple mission elements will likely rise to $8-$11 billion.
Space

By Steve Trimble
The unsealed indictment accuses Menendez of secretly helping to release hundreds of millions of dollars of arms deals to the Egyptian government.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Guy Norris
Lockheed Martin says the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return spacecraft is healthy and on track for a pinpoint atmospheric Earth reentry over Utah on Sept. 24.
Space

By Chen Chuanren
Singapore Armed Forces' new Digital and Intelligence Service, which is participating for the first time in Exercise Forging Saber, has helped advance the CCIS.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Irene Klotz
The agency plans to make a single award for a U.S. Deorbit Vehicle on April 18, 2024, a solicitation posted on NASA's procurement website shows.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A $19 million contract launches the Flyer One program, with the goal of dramatically accelerating the airworthiness approval process for new aircraft designs.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Senate on Sept. 21 confirmed the appointments of two more senior military leaders with individual votes.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
The UK’s Empire Test Pilots school has launched an uncrewed air systems (UAS) test pilot course, reflecting growing market needs.
Maintenance & Training

By Steve Trimble
A sources sought notice published on Sept. 19 calls for responses for a Long Range Attack Munition that can be purchased in fiscal 2025 and fielded in 2027.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Mark Carreau
The Spaceflight Framework Agreement was signed by Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign affairs and trade minister, and Mike Suffredini, Axiom Space’s CEO.
Space

By Tony Osborne
British Eurofighter Typhoons and Norwegian Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters have performed their first landings and takeoffs from road runways.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Poland has halted arms shipments to Ukraine over an apparent diplomatic spat about grain exports.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Chen Chuanren
The Singapore Armed Forces is working with swarm UAS and AI-driven command-and-control systems as well as flying its upgraded F-16C/D Block 52 jets in Idaho.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The Senate on Sept. 20 confirmed U.S. Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Mark Carreau
NASA’s $1.2 billion Psyche mission is being prepared for launch to explore a metal-rich, main belt asteroid.
Space

By Garrett Reim
Space Systems Command has awarded Astroscale U.S. a $25.5 million contract to deliver by 2026 a prototype spacecraft that can refuel other satellites in space.
Space

By Steve Trimble
The series of tests by the 40th Flight Test Squadron is being used to inform how the U.S. Air Force tests and applies the synthetic decision-making technology.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Graham Warwick
Netherlands-based hydrogen-electric propulsion startup Conscious Aerospace plans to open a hangar at Rotterdam The Hague Airport on Oct. 12.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Ben Goldstein
Chinese air taxi startup EHang has announced a strategic investment and partnership with Inx, a developer of solid-state lithium-metal batteries.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
UK high-performance electric motor developer Helix has completed a project to demonstrate a direct-drive electric propulsion unit for aircraft.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Tony Osborne
Sweden is planning to accelerate the acquisition of new tactical transport aircraft to replace the country’s aging Lockheed C-130 Hercules fleet.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
Austria has become the latest European nation to adopt Embraer’s C-390, choosing the airlifter over Lockheed Martin’s C-130J.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Guy Norris
For burst testing, a scaled LIFE inflatable habitat was filled with air until it ruptured as Sierra works to deploy a full-scale version to low Earth Orbit.
Space

By Guy Norris
Boom Supersonic has sized the facility to produce up to 33 Overture aircraft per year and expects to start rolling out its Mach 1.7 airliner from 2026.
Manufacturing & Supply Chain

By Graham Warwick
The Embraer spinoff originally planned to pursue simultaneous triple certification of its eVTOL in Brazil, Europe and the U.S.
Advanced Air Mobility