Orbital Science Corp.’s Cygnus resupply capsule will loiter in orbit until at least Sept. 28, permitting Russia to proceed with an upcoming three-man Soyuz crew transport mission to the International Space Station, before making a second attempt at a NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems (COTS) program rendezvous and grapple demonstration, NASA and the Dulles, Va., based company announced Sept. 23.
Aviation Week 2013 Military Fleet & MRO Forecast! The MRO Fleet, Forecasts and Data you need to accurately plan and strategize for the future. See for yourself with a free demonstration: AviationWeek.com/FleetMRO Aviation Week Intelligence Network Click here to view the pdf
Electric propulsion is already here, albeit on a small scale, and now NASA is looking ahead to the technology that would be required to power a regional aircraft in 10-20 years or a narrowbody airliner in 30-40 years. But the agency plans to start small, with tests to first understand, then model the behavior and efficiency of electric propulsion system components. These will feed into ground, and potentially flight, tests of a distributed propulsion system that would be closely integrated with the airframe.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) will provide the majority of the manning for the U.K.’s future carrier strike capability. As the U.K. gears up to buy its first squadron of F-35B Lightning IIs later this year and with the first of the two new Queen Elizabeth-class carriers nearing completion, the U.K. defense ministry has put the RAF in command of the new Joint Lightning Force, with squadrons manned by both air force and navy personnel.
An Australian research team hoping to conduct a free flight Mach 8 test of a novel inlet-fueled scramjet is investigating what prevented the hypersonic flight experiment from reaching the correct test conditions.
While NASA’s engineers plot the next steps in human spaceflight and Congress struggles with the cost, the 100 Year Starship nonprofit is focused on an aggressive interstellar journey with the best humanity has to offer. Launched with a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency in early 2012, the group, led by former NASA astronaut and physician Mae Jemison, is now reaching out on its own with a cultural and socially inclusive vision of human daring that echoes the themes that Star Trek and Star Wars sounded generations ago.
A replacement for the E-8C Joint Stars and the aging T-38 trainer are the next priorities under the sacred top three – the F-35 fighter, KC-46 tanker and next-generation bomber – for the U.S. Air Force, according to its top officer. Gen. Mark Welsh, chief of staff of the service, said a next-generation ground moving target indicator (GMTI) fleet and T-X would fall just under the top three – in that order – if funding is available in the forthcoming fiscal 2015 budget.
France has taken delivery of the first copy in the fourth tranche of Rafale production aircraft, French defense procurement agency DGA has announced. All 60 of the Dassault-built fighters are equipped with updated sensors, including RBE2 active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, next-generation missile launch detector capability and an identification and telemetry optronics suite. Rafale is the first European combat aircraft in service to incorporate the Thales-built AESA radar technology, offering considerably improved detection range.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) plans to seek industry interest next month in an Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) which will be capable of delivering a payload up to 5,000 lb. to space for less than $5 million per launch.
Aerospace & Defense Programs November 13-14, 2013 Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Ariz. Strategic Priorities in a Sequestration Era. Learn which programs are being affected and where government is likely to place its bets. Register Today www.aviationweek.com/events/adp Click here to view the pdf
India is likely to sign a deal to purchase six additional C-130J air lifters from the U.S. in the current financial year, which ends March 31, 2014. The Defense Acquisition Council, under the Ministry of Defense, has cleared the purchase of the Lockheed Martin-built medium transport aircraft under a government-to-government foreign military sale agreement worth more than $1 billion.
Measurements of methane in the Martian atmosphere made by the Tunable Laser Spectrometer aboard NASA’s Curiosity rover since the August 2012 landing in Gale Crater find surface concentrations of the gaseous hydrocarbon much too low to support subsurface biological activity as a source.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) sept. 24-26 — Marine Military Expos, Modern Day Marine, Marine Corps Base, Quantico, Va. For more information go to www.marinemilitaryexpos.com/marine-west.shtml sept. 24-26 — Aviation Week MRO Europe 2013. ExCel, London, U.K. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events
Navy officials are expected to report back to Congress by the end of this month on a plan for their strategy to address requirements for a next-generation anti-ship missile. At issue is whether and how the service will proceed with buying a new anti-ship missile capable of operating inside enemy ship defenses and without cues from the GPS system.
Research Fellows: The National Space Biomedical Research Institute has announced five First Award Fellowship recipients, competitively selected two-year opportunities to study significant health issues associated with long-duration human spaceflight. The 2013-15 recipients and their areas of research focus are Dr. Alix C. Deymier-Black, Washington University, St. Louis, musculoskeletal changes; Julianna C. Simon, University of Washington, Seattle, smart medical systems and technology; Dr. Torin K.
BAE Systems’ Digital Electronic Warfare System (DEWS) has been installed on a Boeing F-15SA Strike Eagle, and flight tests should start shortly, BAE says. DEWS is the first new U.S.-developed EW system to be installed on the F-15 since the program started, replacing the Northrop Grumman ALQ-135. It is being developed for Saudi Arabia and is part of Boeing’s Silent Eagle package on offer to South Korea.
Aviation Week A&D Programs Aerospace & Defense Programs November 13-14, 2013 Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa, Phoenix, Ariz. Strategic Priorities in a Sequestration Era. Learn which programs are being affected and where government is likely to place its bets. Register Today www.aviationweek.com/events/adp
The U.S. Air Force is considering the premature retirement of the KC-10 tanker, C-5A strategic transports and some C-130s from its mobility fleet as officials search for ways to reduce spending in accordance with the Budget Act. The only cargo and transport platforms not under scrutiny for reductions are the C-17, the last of which was delivered last week, and the upgraded C-5M, says Gen. Paul Selva, who heads Air Mobility Command.
