Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

Russia has reassessed how long it plans to remain a partner on the International Space Station program and now is eyeing a 2028 departure.

The French Navy has taken delivery of its first Airbus H160 helicopter.

The U.S. Air Force AFWerX Agility Prime initiative has added Mayman Aerospace to the list of companies receiving support to develop new-generation vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.

NASA on Sept. 21 released a picture of distant Neptune, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, that reveals a system of rings not seen since NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft flew by in 1989.

Just as they did on Sept. 3, NASA’s Artemis I Launch Control Team members encountered hydrogen leaks while initiating a Space Launch System (SLS) propellant loading demonstration test on Sept. 21.

Advanced air mobility startup Kittyhawk has ceased operations.

The proposal to truncate the U.S. Air Force’s buy of Boeing F-15EXs could mean the Air National Guard does not have enough new aircraft to replace its aging F-15C/Ds that need to be replaced.

De Havilland Aircraft has unveiled plans for a massive aircraft production and aftermarket support facility near Calgary.

Airbus has been testing a loading system that could enable air transport of outsized military equipment on the company’s A300-600-based BelugaST airlifters.

Bulgaria’s government has given the green light for the purchase of eight more Lockheed Martin Block 70 F-16s, enabling a fleet of 16 aircraft.

Dawn Aerospace plans to start test flights of its rocket-powered spaceplane technology demonstrator before year-end.

Personnel at the Russian defense conglomerate are working overtime to meet demand.

Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 soared into a two-orbit launch to docking with the International Space Station on Sept. 21.

European regulators are showing support and using a new approach to rulemaking as they prepare for the emergence of urban air mobility.

The South Africa-based Paramount Group says deliveries of its Mwari light attack aircraft are underway to an undisclosed customer as part of new

Pratt & Whitney has shown the first concept image of an air vehicle powered by the proposed, high-supersonic Metacomet engine.

Airbus and Ecocopter of Chile sign memorandum of understanding to explore and define launch scenarios for air mobility operations.

Wisk envisions one “multivehicle supervisor” managing three air taxis at once from a remote location by 2030.

Regent’s seaglider technology demonstrator completed its first successful series of flights in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, on Sept. 19, utilizing all three modes of maritime operation—floating, foiling and flying.

The European Commission has chosen Thales Alenia Space to lead the next phase of the European Robotic Orbital Support Services program, slated to culminate with an in-orbit demonstration in 2026 and potentially follow on with commercial missions.

SpinLaunch, a startup looking to commercialize a centrifuge-based mass accelerator for space access, said Sept. 20 it has closed $71 million in a Series B round of venture-capital funding.

The U.S. and NATO are looking at a new approach to fighter deployments in Eastern Europe.

The U.S. Air Force plans to call on a collection of African nations to pool funds to buy a small number of Lockheed Martin C-130s to comprise a new, shared fleet to help with humanitarian missions.

Russian Helicopters has delivered the first Ansat light-twin rotorcraft to Zimbabwe.

Europe and the U.S. are pursuing a powerful pair of infrared telescopes that, taken together, could help provide rapid warning of an asteroid hitting the planet.