Aviation Week & Space Technology

Deploying “ChipSats” could significantly alter the face of missions to seek signs of life on Jovian moon Europa—and other planetary research.

Some irate citizens of New York and New Jersey have petitioned, successfully, to curb the amount of helicopter tours that can be offered in the city.

Sales prices for Airbus A320s and Boeing 737s over the past 15 years have barely budged, even as fictional list prices have marched steadily upward.

A gear-up touch-down by severely fatigued pilots of a Sukhoi Superjet 100 during flight testing at Keflavik, Iceland, reveals numerous flaws in air and ground procedures.

Dublin is in an enviable position for airport expansion, having approvals in hand for an additional runway. But clauses tied to overnight usage could hamper overall operational growth.

AirAsia was forced onto the defensive last year, but since then its management and founders have strengthened the carrier’s financial standing and boosted market confidence.

Airbus Group and Siemens have signed a long-term collaboration agreement to develop hybrid-electric propulsion for small airliners, building on work already done on light aircraft.

Darpa contract for Northrop Grumman will develop MEMS-based miniature inertial measurement units to a level where they can replace ring-laser and fiber-optic gyros for guidance of precision weapons when GPS is denied.

Darpa spaceplane heads toward flight; Reusable hypersonic testbed needed; Carter touts faster CarterCopter; Battelle’s DroneDefender proves popular; Local Motors to crowdsource UAV for Airbus; Micro-UAS rules recommended to FAA

Ultra-long-haul flying from the point of view of customers and crew | Advocating for more artificial gravity research | Lessening supersonic overflight restrictions | Single-aisle aircraft comparison request | Miscaptioned early aircraft correction

Air Transport World’s Karen Walker and Aviation Daily’s Madhu Unnikrishnan discuss regulatory hurdles to $2.6-billion deal and whether it marks the end of U.S. airline consolidation.

Scientist and former astronaut Janet Kavandi (see photo) has been named director of the NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland. She is a veteran of thre e Space Shuttle missions and has served as NASA’s Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office.

High-speed medium-rotorcraft demonstrators are taking shape, but the budget-strapped U.S. Army has yet to make clear its plans for the way ahead.

Given the scale of the challenges for big aerospace companies, one wonders how anyone succeeds.

The preliminary design review of a U.S.-European ocean-monitoring mission has been delayed by several months as part of a risk-reduction effort following the failure of a radar instrument aboard another climate-science mission.

Alaska wanted more share on the West Coast, so it is buying Virgin America. The jury is out on whether this will work.

The carrier is primarily owned by three foreign airlines, so the potential exit of one would have major ramifications.

DEFENSE The Kuwaiti government has signed a long-delayed contract with Italy to purchase 28 Eurofighter Typhoons. Valued at $8.7 billion, the contract covers 28 Tranche 3 aircraft, the first export Typhoons with Captor-E active, electronically scanned array radars. Deliveries will begin in 2019.

Nelson points out that Pentagon controls 20% of airspace | Defense Secretary floats idea of full-fledged Cyber Command | NATO official defends the alliance

Inflation-adjusted U.S. defense spending through the end of this decade will fall off after 2016 into a sustained period of roughly level annual budgets at about $600 billion.

U.S. national security relies on forward presence in many ways big and small. Technology and defense ambassadorial outposts like DIUx are simply the latest edge of the spear.

April 18-19—11th annual Military Space Situational Awareness Conference. Holiday Inn Kensington Forum. London. See smi-online.co.uk/defence/uk/milspace April 18-20—IATA Ops Conference 2016. Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center. Copenhagen. See iata.org/events/Pages/ops-conference.aspx

The ups and downs of global defense; Alaska air base to welcome F-35As; Pakistan orders Nine Viper Helicopters.

Peru has big plans to reequip its armed forces with new and upgraded aircraft as the country’s economic growth spurt continues.

NASA and space advocacy groups seek continuity in space policy from presidential candidates to keep plans on track and international partners on board.