Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

For the first time, Virgin Galactic flew paying passengers without a company employee in the SpaceShipTwo crew cabin.

Japan reestablished communications with its toppled Moon probe, which successfully touched down—in an unplanned orientation—last week.

U.S. bases in the Middle East are reassessing their air defense systems following a fatal attack on an outpost in Jordan by a one-way UAS.

The missile attack on Tuapse highlights Ukraine’s small but growing arsenal of homegrown, long-range strike capabilities.

Space Systems Command (SSC) has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to start development of a refueling space tanker.

The Czech Republic has formally joined the growing list of European nations to acquire the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

Lilium has signed an agreement with parts and repairs provider AJW Group to provide global spares distribution for the Lilium Jet eVTOL.

Embraer spinoff Eve Air Mobility has selected Austria’s FACC to provide the horizontal and vertical tail for its eVTOL air taxi.

Beta Technologies has concluded the first deployment of its Alia electric aircraft to a U.S. military base.

The architecture may help keep the engine’s power to the minimum specification, as opposed to oversizing the engine to cope with marginal phases of working.

The uncrewed aerial system attack on a remote U.S. outpost in Jordan on the Syrian border is a significant escalation by Iranian-backed groups in the region.

The congressional notification released on Jan. 26 by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency clears Croatia to move forward with the $500 million purchase.

MightyFly has unveiled the third generation of its Centro hybrid electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing cargo aircraft.

L3Harris’s revenue jumped 17% annually in the fourth quarter to $5.3 billion, while adjusted earnings per share of $3.35 were about 1% ahead of consensus estimates.

The AESA radar would be able to generate synthetic aperture radar maps and “Cat 1” targeting data.

The latest annual report by NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel’s (ASAP) was released Jan. 25.

Assembly of the single-engine light helicopter in India could position the H125 into a relatively untapped market for commercial rotorcraft.

A diminutive helicopter sent to Mars to demonstrate the first powered flight beyond Earth completed an unexpectedly long mission on Jan. 25, with 72 sorties.

The aerospace and defense sector could experience modest mergers and acquisitions activity this year.

Andre Stein, the founder and former Co-CEO of Embraer spinoff Eve Air Mobility, has joined Eviation, the Washington-based startup developing an all-electric nine-passenger airplane called the Alice.

The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office is gearing up for its annual emerging tech development program and has shared some of its priorities for this year.

Operators of the Bell Boeing V-22 have been replacing the input quill assembly (IQA) on the aircraft’s proprotor gearbox regularly.

The Aurora Flight Sciences team is competing with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) during phase 1B of the Liberty Lifter program.

Northrop Grumman's estimates show that B-21 production costs through fiscal 2027 totals $17.4 billion, including a $1.56 billion charge revealed on Jan. 25.

At the heart of the system will be the Diehl IRIS-T surface-launched medium-range missile fire units,.