China’s test of a fractional orbital bombardment system and a hypersonic glide vehicle over the summer should have created more of a sense of urgency within the Pentagon, but that has not happened, the No. 2 military officer says.
Russia’s Nov. 15 test of a direct ascent anti-satellite missile, which destroyed a satellite and created a new field of debris, shows the U.S. needs to change its approach to space situational awareness away from simply tracking what debris is already in orbit to actively looking for what might be trying to evade detection and new threats, top U.S. space officials said.
Japan’s finance ministry is questioning the affordability of the F-X, a large twin-engine fighter to be developed by Mitsubishi with help from Lockheed Martin.
NASA has assigned Jessica Watkins to its Crew-4 mission, a planned April launch by Commercial Crew Program contractor SpaceX of four U.S. and European astronauts to the International Space Station for a six-month tour of duty.
The U.S. Air Force wants to help the Japan Air Self-Defense Force with the development of its F-X fighter, to ensure it can be an active part of an effective defense network to protect against China.
A U.K. Lockheed Martin F-35B became the first foreign airframe to be lost Nov. 17 when the aircraft crashed and the pilot ejected into the Mediterranean Sea after takeoff from the carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, the Ministry of Defense said.
The ability to deliver whole blood by unmanned aircraft over long distances to medics treating traumatic injuries in the field has been demonstrated by L3Harris and Near Earth Autonomy.
Xtend, an Israeli-linked UAV operator system startup that aims to use artificial intelligence to help extend the use and range of unmanned vehicles, has raised $20 million in Series A funding, the company announced Nov. 16.
Los Angeles-based Inversion, a space startup focusing on the return-to-Earth side of operations, has closed its $10 million seed round, the company announced Nov. 16.
When there are space-related accidents on Earth, which there will be as the space economy grows, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board wants to be ready with codified procedures for investigating, according to a new announcement from officials.
The U.S. Air Force’s future refueling aircraft, beyond the KC-46 and upcoming bridge tanker, should get smaller, focus solely on refueling and rely more on automation to be more effective in a high-end, Pacific war scenario, a new think tank report argues.
The Air Force Research Laboratory recently awarded its largest-ever contract for space-related technology development, providing up to $1 billion to Utah State University’s Space Dynamics Laboratory.
NASA has awarded the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy a sole-source, $215 million contract extension for operational support of the Hubble Space Telescope. Meanwhile, the agency is also working to recover the orbital observatory’s full science operations.
Satellite servicing startup Astroscale has unveiled a docking plate it hopes will become standard on all future low Earth orbit satellites to enable their capture and removal from orbit.
While defense spending in recent years has been increasing, the share of it going to research and development is not nearly enough to keep the defense industrial base healthy and, most importantly, allow companies to innovate, the head of Northrop Grumman says.
