In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, June. 01 2023

Credit: Destinus.

Destinus, a Switzerland-based startup developing a zero-carbon, high-speed transport aircraft, has flown a subscale prototype configured with a hydrogen-fueled afterburner.

Credit: Wisk.

One day after President and CEO Dave Calhoun said autonomous technologies would be a key element of Boeing’s next clean-sheet airliner, the company revealed it has taken full control of self-flying air taxi developer Wisk.

Credit: Air Force Global Strike Command.

U.S. officials have started withholding data on nuclear weapons stockpiles, locations and flight test results from Russia, plus banned Russian air and ground inspections of nuclear weapon sites, the State Department said on June 1.

Credit: Boeing/John Grant.

Boeing is standing down from preparations to launch the long-awaited Crew Flight Test (CFT) of its CST-100 Starliner to address a newly discovered issue with the spacecraft’s parachute system and the realization that a flammable tape to wrap wire harnesses was used extensively throughout the vehicle.

Credit: Fortify.

Lockheed Martin Ventures and RTX Ventures, the venture capital arms of Lockheed and Raytheon Technologies, have invested undisclosed amounts into 3D printer startup Fortify as part of a $12.5 million fundraising round.

Credit: Advent Technologies Holdings.

Safran Power Units plans to cooperate with U.S. fuel cell manufacturer Advent Technologies Holdings on development of high-temperature hydrogen fuel cell technology for aerospace applications.

Credit: NASA.

NASA is eagerly awaiting a weekend launch of the agency’s 28th SpaceX resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) with a cargo that will complete a long-running upgrade to the orbital lab’s solar power generation system.

Credit: Brian Everstine.

The U.S. Air Force should return to its Cold War-era practice of flying a nuclear command post 24/7, with a larger fleet of airborne operations centers procured in the next few years, a key lawmaker argues. 

Credit: U.S. government.

The compromise bill to increase the debt limit currently awaiting a vote in the Senate sets Pentagon spending levels for the next two years at an increase below the level of inflation, a move that some on Capitol Hill are balking at but still supporting.

Credit: Brian Everstine.

U.S. Air Force test pilots will begin flying the T-7A Red Hawk trainer this month as Boeing works through a series of changes to the aircraft’s egress system and flight control software that have delayed the program, the company says.