In Pictures: Top Aerospace & Defense Stories, Oct. 02 2023

Credit: U.S. Air Force.

The U.S. Air Force has released the first glimpse of the Raytheon Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM).

Credit: Astroscale.

Astroscale Japan has received an $80 million grant from the Japanese government to “image and diagnose” a large, defunct satellite.

Credit: NASA.

NASA is seeking comment from U.S. companies on requirements for the end-to-end development of commercial low Earth orbit destinations available to NASA for research and technology development once the International Space Station (ISS) is retired.

Credit: NASA.

Financing issues are delaying development of a new Russian space station in low Earth orbit and prompting  a search for international partners, the head of the Russian State Space Corp., Roscosmos, said on Oct. 2.

Credit: Paramount Group.

The commander of U.S. military forces in the Indo-Pacific region, Adm. John Aquilino, wants thousands of weaponized drones to realize his new "Hellscape" operating concept. Kath Hicks, the deputy secretary of defense, has announced the Replicator initiative to field such systems at scale within 18-24 months, but so far has released no specifics.

Credit: Flock.

Even if, as an innovative startup active in the advanced air mobility (AAM) sector, your company has solved all the challenges around power, propulsion, aerodynamics, logistics and production, there is still one other element which could make or break your project.

Credit: FlyV.

“Disruption” is often assumed to be a characteristic limited to companies that develop or implement digital or other advanced technology products.

Credit: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

NASA plans to extend its New Horizons mission, the first to conduct a close flyby of distant Pluto and its moons, until the end of the decade with a focus on gathering data on solar activity and its influences across the Solar System.

Credit: Arianespace.

The need to redesign the Vega-C light- to medium-lift launcher’s second-stage nozzle is causing another delay for the fledgling program, with return to flight now planned for the fourth quarter of 2024.