In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Mar 23, 2022

Viasat Still Restoring Internet After Russian Cyberattack, CISA Warns Of More

Credit: Astrium

Viasat is still working to restore internet to some of its users after a suspected Russian cyberattack took thousands of KA-SAT satellite terminals in Europe offline starting Feb. 24. The company has “a very good understanding of exactly what happened,” said Mark Dankberg, executive chairman of Viasat, at the Satellite 2022 show in Washington on March 22.

Suzuki To Explore eVTOL Air Taxis With SkyDrive

Credit: SkyDrive

Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor is looking at adding electric air taxis to its lineup of compact cars and motorcycles and targeting markets such as India through a partnership with Tokyo-based startup SkyDrive. SkyDrive and Suzuki have announced a partnership under which they will evaluate collaboration on technology development, manufacturing planning and mass production, and the development of overseas markets with an initial focus on India–which is Suzuki’s largest market globally.

Volocopter Begins Noise Test Flight Campaign

Credit: Angus Batey/AW&ST

Volocopter has taken another step toward its goal of operating a commercial electric air taxi service during the 2024 Paris Olympics by conducting a series of test flights in France to measure its aircraft’s acoustic signature. Flights began at Pontoise Aerodrome, 25 mi. outside Paris, on March 21 with the company’s head of flight test Paul Stone at the controls of the Volocopter 2X prototype.

Forty GOP Lawmakers Seek 5% Pentagon Budget Hike

U.S. governmentU.S. Capitol

NASA Has Not Turned Its Back On Artificial Gravity

Credit: NASA

NASA has not given up on the idea of creating artificial gravity for astronauts on long-duration space missions despite the many technical challenges associated with it, according to the agency’s space operations chief. Missions to Mars spanning two to three years pose a long-recognized challenge for the human body, which struggles to maintain muscular/skeletal, heart, immune system and visual function in the absence of the Earth’s gravity.

Skyports’ Vertiport Plans Get Funding Boost

Credit: Skyports

UK vertiport development and drone delivery startup Skyports has raised $23 million in the first close of its Series B funding round. The capital will be used to expand the company’s drone services and develop vertiport infrastructure in key launch markets for advanced air mobility (AAM).

NASA To Extend SpaceX HLS Contract, Add 2nd Lunar Transportation Provider

Credit: NASA

NASA plans to extend its Human Landing System (HLS) contract with SpaceX to cover a second crewed landing on the Moon and launch a parallel procurement leading to a second commercial provider for crewed transportation services to and from lunar orbit and the lunar surface. “Competition is the key to our success,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told reporters on a conference call March 23. “Additional landers will help increase the cadence of the missions in which we’re able to land astronauts on the surface of the Moon.”

Turkey Rejects Proposal To Trade S-400s For F-35s

Credit: Sergey Malgavko/Sputnik

A spokesman for Turkey’s government on March 23 called a proposal for sending the NATO country’s S-400 systems to Ukraine “quite unrealistic today.” Instead, NATO should normalize ties with Turkey by re-instating the country’s 100-aircraft order of Lockheed Martin F-35s and delivering Patriot anti-missile systems, says Fahrettin Altun, a spokesman for Turkish president Recep Erdogan, in a letter to the editor to the Wall Street Journal.

ISS Spacewalkers Focus On Maintenance, Upgrades

Credit: NASA

Maintenance and upgrades were the focus of a nearly 7-hr. spacewalk conducted by two astronauts outside the International Space Station (ISS) on March 23. NASA astronaut Raja Chari and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Matthias Maurer concentrated on almost every major U.S. segment element of the ISS.

Ursa Major Delivers Engines For Space Launch, Hypersonic Test

Credit: Ursa Major

Propulsion startup Ursa Major on March 23 announced the delivery of its Handley engine to two separate customers for two different uses. The 5,000-lb. thrust oxygen-rich staged combustion engine is being delivered to Stratolaunch to power its hypersonic testbed and to Phantom Space to power its two-stage expendable rocket. The reusable, liquid oxygen/kerosene-powered engine is also being used for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s X-60A hypersonic testbed.

GE Delivers First T901 To Testing Ahead Of FARA Trials

GE AviationT901

USAF Probes Latest F-22 Mishap At Eglin AFB

The U.S. Air Force has launched an investigation after a Lockheed Martin F-22 crash-landed at Eglin AFB, Florida, on March 22. The 325th Fighter Wing pilot involved in the mishap is in good condition after being released from the hospital, the unit says in a statement. An internal incident report posted on a popular social media site for airmen attributed the accident to a collapse of the left main landing gear, which forced the F-22 into the grass off Runway 19 near Taxiway Juliet.

From news that Viasat is still working to restore internet to some of its users after a suspected Russian cyberattack, to Suzuki Motor looking at adding electric air taxis to its lineup of compact cars and motorcycles. Take a look at these and more in our daily roundup of aerospace & defense news. 

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