Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

News in brief.

Suborbital space tourism company Virgin Galactic has revealed new details of its long-term business model.

ROCKET LAB partners with KONGSBERG... NORTHROP funded to keep Japan’s E-2Ds on schedule... HELO TRAINING company expands in Oklahoma...

The EL-2 Goldfinch is a two-seat technology demonstrator that combines hybrid-electric propulsion with a blown-lift architecture.

If Starliner’s return is uncrewed, Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams would remain aboard the International Space Station (ISS) until February.

The SDA’s Warfighter Integration Cell conducted a series of Link-16 tests over a two-day period.

MDA’s push to speed up the program, spurred by congressional influence, includes a fielding date of 2028.

The Army has four planned increments for the long-range missile, looking for an ultimate range of more than 1,000 km (621 mi.).

The command is transitioning to the Mavan Smart System.

Although most details remain secret, the Army and Navy have started fielding the first tranche of autonomous systems under the year-old Replicator initiative.

L3 Harris has signed a contract for up to 20 launches aboard Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket.

Impulse Space has debuted a space tug program to carry satellites to geostationary orbit.

Any new vendors face a high-bar for matching the volume of GMLRS production by Lockheed and propulsion supplier Northrop Grumman.

The company has received four letters of request for price and availability for IBCS from undisclosed countries.

Constructed at Embraer’s Gavião Peixoto site in Brazil, the first Eve prototype was rolled out at a company event in July.

Beta Technologies has received FAA approval to commence dual-seat pilot training in its all-electric Alia vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft.

Near-space tourism provider Halo Space is gearing up for its next test flight over Saudi Arabia using its full-sized capsule designed for passenger flights.

Axiom Space co-founder Mike Suffredini will transition from CEO to long-term member of the company's six-person board of directors and advisor for "personal reasons."

Iraq’s Army Aviation Command has received its first batch of Bell 505 JetRanger X single-engine helicopters to be used on training duties.

Australia and the U.S. have pledged to enhance cooperation on air and missile defense and gave details on initiatives around the Lockheed Martin GMLRS and PrSM.

NASA will postpone the launch of its next crew to the ISS to allow more time to review the ongoing Boeing CST-100 Starliner mission at the orbital outpost.

Outfitted with both ultraviolet and short-wave infrared telescopes, Deep Purple is one of two instruments comprising NASA’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator, targeted to launch mid-August.

Wright Electric has received funding from the U.S. Air Force’s AFWerx innovation unit to develop high-power rechargeable thermal batteries.

Aevex manufactures loitering munitions and uncrewed surface vessels in Tampa, Florida.

Archer says it is on track to complete construction of its high rate manufacturing facility in Covington, Georgia, by year’s end.