Defense

By Graham Warwick
Australia’s fledgling space industry is attracting investment, with on-orbit inspection startup HEO Robotics completing a seed funding round led by British billionaire David Harding, founder and CEO of investment management company Winton Group.
Commercial Space

By Tony Osborne
Nigeria has signed up to purchase Fighter Attack versions of the Leonardo M-346 jet trainer, an official with the country’s air force confirmed in a TV interview.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Tony Osborne
More European countries have ended their evacuation airlift operations from Afghanistan that were helping thousands of nationals and Afghan citizens flee the Taliban.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Chen Chuanren
Asia-Pacific air forces are finalizing their Afghanistan evacuation operations ahead of an Aug. 31 deadline set by the Taliban for foreign troops to leave the country.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aerospace

By Steve Trimble, Tony Osborne
The Taliban’s seizure of Afghanistan on Aug. 15 triggered the largest military air evacuation in history, but it may still be not enough.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Bill Carey
The FAA and U.S. Defense Department (DOD) are seeking solutions from industry to display certain special-use airspace areas to comply with congressional direction to make that information available to pilots in real time.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Jen DiMascio
Two experimental satellites built for the Space Development Agency are “tumbling” in orbit, the agency director said.
Space

By Jen DiMascio, Irene Klotz, Guy Norris
NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion are big-government programs trying to keep pace in a marketplace increasingly dominated by commercial industry, meanwhile, the U.S. military is looking to build bridges to international partners, that same commercial industry and to the intelligence community.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A furious air evacuation from Kabul, Afghanistan, continued hours after a bomb and rifle attack by suspected terrorists killed 12 U.S. service members and scores of Afghan civilians, U.S. Central Command’s top officer said on Aug. 26.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
Finalists in a U.S. Air Force challenge to identify potential high-speed vertical-takeoff-and-landing concepts for special operation missions are expected to be announced by the end of September.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Guy Norris
Sierra Space is in discussions with the European Space Agency and German aerospace center DLR to extend existing partnerships covering crew access to the International Space Station to include new commercial vehicles.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
A second stage motor for a hypersonic missile in development by the U.S. Army and Navy has completed a ground test, Lockheed Martin said on Aug. 26.
Missile Defense & Weapons

UAC

UAC says its Be-200 amphibious aircraft successfully completed firefighting operation in Greece, making >60 flights and dropping >5,000 tons of water
Defense

By Graham Warwick
Startup Dawn Aerospace has completed initial test flights of a reusable suborbital spaceplane demonstrator in New Zealand.
Commercial Space

BOMBARDIER delivered its fifth Global business jet to SAAB for conversion to GlobalEye AEW&C configuration; aircraft was delivered from its Toronto
Business Aviation

By Tony Osborne
The Royal Norwegian Air Force is preparing to equip a third search-and-rescue base with the Leonardo AW101 SAR Queen helicopter.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Several European countries have ended their Afghan evacuation operations ahead of the planned U.S. withdrawal from Kabul’s airport on Aug. 31.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Mark Carreau
Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard suborbital rocket successfully boosted 19 experiments to the fringes of space on Aug. 26.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Navy has approved Northrop Grumman to launch production of the AGM-88G Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile - Extended Range (AARGM-ER) for Boeing F/A-18E/Fs, EA-18Gs and Lockheed Martin F-35B/Cs.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Jen DiMascio
U.S. Space Force, Space Command and the National Reconnaissance Office have signed a “protected defense” strategic framework to align their space warfighting efforts.
Space

By Chen Chuanren
Japanese military aircraft intercepted the Tengoen Technology TB-001 Scorpion medium-altitude, long-endurance platform on Aug. 24 as it flew over the East China Sea, and almost halfway to Japan’s Ryukyu Islands.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Chen Chuanren
Russia has said that deliveries of Pantsir ground-based air defense systems to Myanmar are on track despite February’s military coup in the Southeast Asian country.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
The Qatar Emiri Air Force named the Boeing F-15QA “Ababil” during a closed roll-out ceremony on Aug. 25 in St. Louis, the manufacturer announced.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Aircraft and satellites are being used in a research campaign to measure methane being released as the permafrost thaws in regions north of the Arctic Circle.
Space