Days after President Donald Trump told cabinet members to propose spending cuts of 5%, the Pentagon says it is premature to speculate on fiscal 2020 budget issues.
Safran and Zodiac Aerospace last week signed an agreement for the merger of Zodiac Aerospace into Safran, eight months after the success of the initial tender offer.
Microsatellite launch upstart Vector has landed $70 million in new venture capital as it strives to transition from years of research and development to flight operations.
ABOARD A U.S. AIR FORCE C-40 -- Ahead of an Oct. 23 meeting at which the National Space Council will vote on recommendations to the president on Space Force, a senior Pentagon official outlined his themes for the meeting. The thesis builds on information outlined a previously released document, the Section 1601 report, required by Congress, Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan told Aviation Week Oct. 19, en route to Washington. Aviation Week was invited to accompany senior Pentagon officials on an F-35 trip around the western U.S.
The government has not finalized cost for the new plan, “but we are very close to that,” Pentagon acquisition executive Ellen Lord told Aviation Week Oct. 19 en route to Luke AFB, Arizona.
A pair of European- and Japanese-built orbiters are headed to Mercury for a flagship science mission to learn more about the Solar System’s innermost and least-explored terrestrial planet.
Blue Origin decided that to reach all the orbits needed for by the Pentagon and the intelligence community, “we needed something with more performance and capability,” a company official says.
Details of the potential sale suggest it is probably for the MH-47G, the special forces version of the Chinook operated by the U.S. Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
Kratos Defense and Security Solutions will deliver six unmanned air systems of an undisclosed type for an unnamed, “national security” customer, the company said.
Iridium Communications is targeting Dec. 30 for the eighth and final Iridium Next launch, which would complete the new constellation of satellites supporting space-based tracking of aircraft and flight deck broadband connectivity.
Sprayt Robotics, of Sacramento, California, seeks to fly the Aerofex AG1 vertical takeoff and landing UAS for spraying crops over private farmland in the Salinas Valley, in the state’s central coast region.
