Hundreds of aerospace executives, engineers, scientists, and academics are gathering in London this week for Aerospace Systems and Technology Conference (ASTC) 2018 from SAE International in Warrendale, Pennsylvania. Discussions during the three-day industry event center on the theme of innovating air mobility. Aerospace thought leaders are at ASTC discussing current challenges, the latest enabling technologies, and future opportunities, including those related to urban air mobility (UAM) and supersonic aircraft.
To enable the tests required for development work to be performed with maximum efficiency, the Zwick Roell Group (ZwickRoell) – a global supplier of materials testing machines based out of Ulm, Germany – developed a materials testing machine that can be equipped with both a temperature chamber and a high-temperature furnace.
Technicians and engineers from Lockheed Martin, NASA, and supporting contractors meticulously assembled the capsule into its finished state, including installing the capsule's avionic computers, harnesses, propulsion system and its 12 engines, 11 parachutes, its large 16-foot-diameter heat shield, and forward bay cover.
Four companies – Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems, SpaceX, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) – recently submitted proposals for the U.S. Air Force's Phase 2 Launch Services Procurement (LSP) competition. Two of those companies will be awarded with up to 34 launches over a five-year period under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program.
Tactile Mobility specializes in tactile sensing, which the company argues is required to meet and even surpass human driving capabilities. The company's software collects "first order" data using a vehicle's embedded, non-visual sensors for data like wheel speed, wheel angle, engine revolutions per minute, and gear position.
Argus, a global leader in automotive cybersecurity, has upgraded its stand-alone Fleet Protection backend platform and is now providing continuous live monitoring of both automotive and commercial aircraft fleets.
Dragonfly, which might be called a rotorcraft lander, is under development by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and has the appearance of an Earth-bound vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) or drone.
The Raytheon Company is testing a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool developed to help determine when the multi-mode radar installed on U.S. Air Force CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft is in need of service.
Through the membership, Audi will give Audi access to SEMI’s core competencies in developing international standards and harmonizing technology roadmaps, while enabling the automaker to leverage the global SEMI platform to promote industry alignment across supply-chain segments, particularly in semiconductors and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).
The shift towards commercialization runs parallel to the agency’s Artemis program goals of landing a woman on the Moon by 2024 – which will also involve significant support from traditional and New Space companies.
Airbus has entered into an agreement with New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to develop capability in the country’s emerging unmanned aircraft (UA) and space data technology sectors.
Officials at an as-yet-unnamed airline in the U.S. is assessing a new hydrophobic coating developed by GKN Aerospace materials science and engineering specialists in Garden Grove, Calif., for cockpit windows on its commercial passenger aircraft. GKN Aerospace debuted the new materials science technology, which Airbus engineers are also flight-trialing on the airframe manufacturer’s flight-test aircraft, during Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, England, in July 2018.
Northrop Grumman Corporation of Falls Church, Va. received a Launch Services Agreement (LSA) worth approximately $792 million of government investment from the United States Air Force (USAF) Space and Missile Systems Center to continue development of its OmegA rocket for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program. The agreement runs through 2024 and includes certification flights of OmegA’s intermediate variant in 2021 and its heavy variant in 2024.