Satellite developer Cloud Constellation has formally selected Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket to deploy the first 12 spacecraft forming its initial SpaceBelt constellation of space-based cloud storage data centers.
Just months before the U.S. Air Force is slated to choose an industry team to begin developing a new aircraft to replace its existing battlefield command-and-control and surveillance fleet, the service appears to be considering scrapping the program altogether.
Sierra Nevada Corp. has filed a bid protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office over the U.S. Army’s cancellation of the Fixed-wing Utility Aircraft competition.
British concept work into rotary-wing unmanned air systems could result in the development of a production platform for use by the British Army and Royal Navy, Leonardo officials say.
Saab has lifted the veil on a specialized red-air aggressor version of its Gripen fighter in a bid to grab a share of the burgeoning air combat training market.
AIRBUS DEFENSE AND SPACE completed first flight of first A330 MRTT Multi Role Tanker Transport for France Sept. 7 in Madrid. First delivery due next year. BOEING is one of six companies sharing a $499m U.S. Air Force contract for the Aerospace Systems Air Platform Technology Research program. UK DEFENSE MINISTRY announced competition for Royal Navy Type 31e frigates, with price cap of £250m ($330m) each for the first batch of five.
Brazil’s defense budget—the largest in Latin America—is set to grow this year, following several years in which it failed to keep pace with inflation, according to Forecast International. “Brazil continues to make progress on a number of major acquisition programs, such as the FX-2 and KC-390,” the consultancy says. “However, with budgets declining, future purchases will be limited.” This year, the country’s defense ministry is set to receive a 13.3% increase, to BRL93.3 billion ($29.3 billion).
AVIATION WEEK NETWORK forecasts that over the next ten years, demand for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services generated by Western-designed maritime helicopters will total $47.3 billion. Over this period, annual demand will grow 7%, from $4.5 billion to $4.8 billion.
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NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took a final swing around Titan Sept. 11, taking advantage of the giant moon’s gravity to slingshot itself onto a dead-end path into Saturn’s atmosphere.
Bahrain looks set to provide a lifeline to Lockheed Martin’s F-16 production line after making a formal request to purchase 19 F-16Vs and upgrade 20 of its existing fighters to the F-16V standard.
Veteran NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is hopeful her recent extended mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will help medical experts better understand the physical and mental challenges sure to accompany missions spanning months or years to Mars and other deep-space destinations.
Sikorsky has begun prepping its second S-97 Raider prototype for flight in 2018, taking over from aircraft No. 1 that was badly damaged in a hard landing on Aug. 2.
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will remain closed until at least Sept. 13, pending damage assessments from Hurricane Irma, which sideswiped the oceanside spaceport from Sept. 10 through early Sept. 11.
A Sept. 5 accident at the Nevada Test and Training Range that killed a U.S. Air Force test pilot appears to have involved a foreign aircraft type operated by the service’s secretive Red Hat unit.
Britain is in talks with the U.S. government about the potential purchase of MH-47G special operations Chinook helicopters as part of a drive to build closer fleet commonality with the U.S. Army.
