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Magazine Issue

Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, March 18, 2025

VOL. 291 NO. 52 March 18, 2025
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The Debrief

pentagon
article

Debrief: DOD Wins Spending Reprieve With Relatively Generous CR

Mar 17, 2025
In many ways, Pentagon leaders might be pleased by the terms embedded in the stopgap spending law signed by President Donald Trump on March 15.

Daily Briefs

In Brief

Business

mbda display at farnborough 2024
article

MBDA Doubling Missile Output Compared To 2023

Mar 17, 2025
MBDA says it expects to double missile production output this year compared with 2023 and is exploring cooperation with the car industry to accelerate this.

Programs

F-35 Joint Strike Fighter "Lightning II" Contributor: Starfighter3 / Alamy Stock Photo
article

Canada Reviews F-35 Order As Trump Backlash Grows

Mar 15, 2025
Canada selected the F-35A to replace its aging Boeing CF-18 fleet in 2022 after a lengthy, circuitous competition.
F135 engine undergoes altitude testing at the Arnold Engineering Development Center. Contributor: XM Collection / Alamy Stock Photo
article

Building Begins In Finnish F135 Assembly, Maintenance Facilities

Mar 17, 2025
Finnish defense infrastructure agency Defense Properties is building the Pratt & Whitney F135 assembly and maintenance facilities in Linnavuori near Nokia.
SR5 at Zhuhai Airshow Photo credit : State media Global Times
article

China Completes Development Of Rocket-Launched Loitering Munition

Mar 14, 2025
FL-60A was developed by state-owned armed manufacturer Norinco and has an estimated range of 100 km (62.1 mi).
Northrop Grumman concept for the Evolved Strategic Satcom program. Credit: Northrop Grumman
article

U.S. Space Force To Award 2 Satcom Programs No Earlier Than Mid-2025

Mar 17, 2025
Boeing and Northrop Grumman are vying for both contracts.

Operations

From its lunar south pole landing site, Firefly’s Blue Ghost captured the totality of a solar eclipse on March 14. Credit: Firefly Aerospace
article

With Onset Of Lunar Night, Firefly’s Blue Ghost Signs Off

Mar 17, 2025
Launched by SpaceX Jan. 15, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander made a soft touchdown at 3:34 a.m. EST March 2 in Mare Crisium.
Flight operations on the USS Harry S. Truman on March 16, 2025. Credit: U.S. Navy
article

Pentagon Starts New Campaign Of Strikes On Houthi Targets

Mar 17, 2025
The new campaign began March 15 at the direction of President Donald Trump, with more than 30 targets across multiple locations struck by aircraft.
Spectrum rocket at Andoya spaceport
article

Isar Aerospace Sets Inaugural Launch Date

Mar 17, 2025
Isar Aerospace on March 17 said the Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority has given the company approval for launch operations.
Crew-9 astronauts
article

NASA, SpaceX Accelerate Plans for Crew-9 Dragon Splashdown

Mar 17, 2025
Undocking would be followed by splashdown and recovery in the Gulf waters off the Florida peninsula planned for approximately 5:57 p.m. EDT Tuesday.
SpaceX successfully launched its Transporter-13 missions March 15 on a Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: SpaceX
article

Transporter-13 Mission Includes NRO, Varda Space Payloads

Mar 17, 2025
The demonstrator consists of two 6U cubesats designed by NRO’s advanced systems and tech directorate to support an “experimental technology research mission.”

Technology

planet
article

Planet To Use Anthropic’s Language Model To Analyze Satellite Imagery

Mar 06, 2025
Planet aims to use Claude’s reasoning and pattern recognition abilities to analyze its daily scan of Earth, the company said on March 6.

Contracts