Last month, AeroVironment, Inc. began accepting orders for their new Puma 3 UAS. As an “all environment” UAS, Pumas have operated effectively in some of the harshest climates on Earth.
Test pilots began flying the Sierra Nevada-Embraer A-29 Super Tucano and Textron Aviation AT-6B Wolverine, kicking off phase two of the USAF Light Attack Experiment.
Virgin Galactic’s spaceplane, SpaceShipTwo or “VSS Unity,” made its fifth powered test flight and second space flight late last week with three individuals on board. In addition to pilots Dave Mackay and Mike Masucci, Virgin Galactic’s first non-pilot passenger and the world’s first female commercial spacefarer – Beth Moses – also qualified for commercial astronaut wings from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Cedar Park, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, Inc. has reached an agreement with Space Florida – the state’s aerospace economic development agency – to establish a facility at Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Through the agreement, Firefly, a spacecraft and launch vehicle developer and provider of launch and in-space services, will conduct launch operations at Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 20 (SLC-20) and create manufacturing facilities at Exploration Park, Florida.
An updated version of GE Aviation’s T901-GE-900 turboprop engine used in the AH-64 Apache attack and UH-60 Black Hawk utility helicopters successfully completed the preliminary design review for the U.S. Army’s Improved Turbine Engine Program.
In March, a new demonstrator engine by Rolls-Royce, featuring a cutting-edge lean-burn and low-emissions combustion system for future jet engine programs, began icing tests at the Global Aerospace Centre for Icing and Environmental Research in Manitoba, Canada.
The United States Air Force’s 412th Test Wing’s Emerging Technologies (ET) Combined Test Force (CTF) completed the first flight test of Johns Hopkins University’s Testing of Autonomy in Complex Environments (TACE) system. As “middleware,” TACE serves as an “autonomy watchdog,” monitoring commands sent to an aircraft’s autopilot software from its autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) computer and transmitting autopilot information such as position, speed, and orientation back to the AI.
Milwaukee-based Astronautics Corporation of America will update the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency’s Air and Marine Operations fleet of Lockheed Martin P-3 Orion turboprop maritime surveillance aircraft with new primary flight and navigation displays.
Orbex, a developer of small satellite (smallsat) launch vehicles based in Forres, Scotland, has unveiled its “Prime” launch vehicle. The rocket utilizes several novel technologies, including the world’s largest metal rocket engine produced as a single piece through additive manufacturing (AM).
The long-range, “high subsonic” aircraft is part of AFRL’s Low Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology (LCAAT) portfolio, which was established to break the escalating cost trajectory of tactically relevant aircraft and provide an unmanned escort or wingmate aircraft for Lockheed Martin F-35 Lighting II and Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fifth-generation fighter aircraft.
Looking to expand its offerings for urban air mobility solutions, Honeywell International, Inc. of Charlotte, North Carolina has developed a new hybrid-electric turbogenerator prototype based on its existing HTS900 turboshaft engine.
Paris-based Safran SA and Munich-based MTU Aero Engines AG will partner to develop, produce, and support a new turbofan engine for “New Generation Fighter” (NGF) aircraft being developed by Airbus SE and Dassault Aviation SA. The NGF is a manned, sixth-generation fighter and a component of the future Franco-German Future Combat Air System (FCAS) architecture.
Newer, more capable fifth-generation aircraft platforms and systems are outgrowing even the largest U.S. Air Force training ranges – and the service believes modern simulators and virtual reality may be the answer.
In order to help the next generation of entrepreneurs enter that market, Boulder, Colorado-based Techstars and Paris-based Starburst Aerospace have joined forces to start a new Los Angeles-based business accelerator for space technology companies.
Officials at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corp. in Tokyo have taken a first step toward collaborating on international space exploration, having agreed to accelerate their ongoing joint study of a manned, pressurized rover powered by fuel cell technologies to enable lunar mobility.
In the “What’s Next for Aerospace and Defense: A Vision for 2050” study, AIA, New York City-based McKinsey & Company, and other industry partners reveal a comprehensive 30-year, Industry 4.0 forecast of air travel and spaceflight based on improvements in automation and digitization, next-generation materials, alternative energy sources and storage, and increased data throughput.
The aging Lockheed C-130 Hercules military transport platform is used by numerous countries for military and government logistics. The aircraft first flew in 1954, and in order to stay relevant, Collins Aerospace has developed a Flight2 aftermarket avionic solution to upgrade communications, navigation, surveillance, and air traffic management (CNS/ATM) capabilities. Collins’ latest customer, the Portuguese Air Force, will use Flight2 to upgrade avionics and enable their fleet of C-130H aircraft to communicate in next generation airspace.
Curtiss-Wright Corporation’s Fortress line of combined cockpit voice recorders (CVRs) and flight data recorders (FDRs) are now have European Technical Standard Order (ETSO) approval. The devices, commonly referred to as “black boxes,” will surpass the requirements of an upcoming 2021 European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) mandate that requires CVRs are capable of recording for up to 25 hours per flight.
Curtiss-Wright Corporation and Honeywell International, Inc. will co-develop a next generation “black box” device with real-time data streaming and cloud-upload capabilities. The new flight recorders device will meet an upcoming 2021 European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) mandate requiring aircraft to store a minimum of 25 hours of voice recordings.