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While the pandemic continues, aerospace companies are rising to embrace new and emerging challenges at a time when there’s so much innovation. This innovation can be seen in the emergence of urban air mobility (UAM), the rebirth of supersonic flight, the drive towards a “zero emission” aircraft, and the continued use of autonomous drones for delivery, freight, search & rescue, and defense. There are exciting new developments in space as companies are developing products for commercial exploration and space tourism, and new ways to launch satellites. A new generation of engineering is also emerging in the defense sector and its development of not only aircraft, but also ships, tankers, and even flight trainers.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H-IIB Launch Vehicle No. 7 lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan at 2:54:27 Japan Standard Time (JST) on September 23, carrying the KOUNOTORI7 (HTV7) cargo transporter into orbit to start its journey to the International Space Station (ISS).

Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) in Waltham, Mass., has upped its investment in advanced manufacturing innovations, including automated and autonomous technologies, to support complex radar testing and integration. The company’s new $72 million, 30,000 square-foot facility on its Andover, Mass., campus, is now home to some of the industry's leading innovations, and a historic first, in manufacturing, officials say.

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) officials have released the first images from two unmanned rovers that landed safely on the surface of asteroid Ryugu just days ago. The compact MINERVA-II1 rovers, Rover-1A and Rover-1B, separated from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft on Sept. 21 at 13:06 Japan Standard Time (JST) and landed on Ryugu with a bounce.

Boeing officials plan to open the new Boeing Aerospace & Autonomy Center in Cambridge, Mass., in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) new mixed-use district in Kendall Square, bringing together engineering teams from Boeing and subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to accelerate development of future mobility solutions.

Aireon LLC, a global aircraft tracking and surveillance company in McLean, Va., is inviting aircraft operators, regulators, search-and-rescue organizations, and air navigation service providers (ANSPs) to pre-register for Aireon Aircraft Locating and Emergency Response Tracking (ALERT). Aireon ALERT, operated by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), is being touted as the aviation industry’s first and only free, global, real-time emergency aircraft location service, which is slated to begin service in Q1 2019.

Elektrobit Automotive GmbH (EB) will provide automotive infrastructure software for Baidu, Inc.’s Apollo Computing Unit (ACU). Baidu, China’s leading Chinese language Internet search provider, is developing the ACU under its Apollo Enterprise business as an advanced, mass production in-vehicle computing platform for autonomous driving.

The oldest Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor in the United States Air Force – tail number 91-4006 – just came out of retirement and took to the skies. It will now be used as a flight sciences aircraft, which will be an integral part of F-22 fleet modernization.

Bye Aerospace completed the first flight of its solar electric technology demonstrator prototype. The first flight – on August 20 – and subsequent flight tests occurred at Northern Colorado Regional Airport and will provide crucial flight data required for the development of Bye Aerospace’s “StratoAirNet” and “Solesa” families of medium-altitude aircraft systems.

According to officials, the USAF will select a new trainer aircraft by September 30 – before the end of the 2018 fiscal year. The aircraft will be one of the three remaining next-gen trainer candidates from the USAF’s ongoing T-X competition, either the Boeing/Saab T-X, Lockheed Martin/KAI T-50A, or Leonardo DRS T-100.

The upcoming launch of the NASA ICESat-2 will be the last liftoff for the Delta II rocket, whose reliability made it a mainstay for civil, military, and commercial space customers. The medium-lift Delta II is manufactured by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security, and features main and upper-stage engines supplied by Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, Calif.

While there are no currently available specifications or requirements that would provide insight into what an “operational” M-345 would look like, Paramount Group’s main contribution to the M-345 is the Smart Weapons Integration on Fast-Jet Trainers (SWIFT) mission system.

Northrop Grumman has successfully completed casting, or filling with solid propellant, the first live motor segment for its new OmegA rocket. The segment, developed as a part of the Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems’ Common Boost Segment (CBS) program, is specifically designed to support the needs of the OmegA intermediate- to heavy-lift rocket, soon to be the largest and most capable in the company’s line-up.

Astro Aerospace Ltd. of Dallas, Texas has been been granted a Special Flight Operations Certificate for the operation of an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) system for its passenger drone project, “Elroy.”

The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket carrying NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) spacecraft lifted off from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. on Sept. 15 at 6:02 a.m. PDT., marking the 155th launch and the final mission of the Delta II rocket, which first launched on Feb. 14, 1989.

Boeing has successfully completed the first suite of synchronized unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight tests using new onboard autonomous command and control technology developed by the company in Australia.

FLYHT Aerospace Solutions and Spectalux Avionics have teamed up to integrate FLYHT’s Automated Flight Information Reporting System (AFIRS) 228S component into Spectralux’s Envoy Future Air Navigation System (FANS) Data Link Unit (DLU). Together the systems offer a streamlined upgrade option for airlines to obtain a cost-effective, FANS-over-Iridium (FOI) solution – a requirement for flying over the world's oceanic regions.

Pratt & Whitney was awarded the contract modification by the U.S. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center for the Adaptive Engine Transition Program. Through AETP, Pratt & Whitney was tasked with designing, fabricating, integrating, and testing complete, flight-weight adaptive engines – the contract modification allocates funding for “risk reduction” activities related to adaptive engine development.

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.