The South Korean defense ministry has played down Pyongyang’s claim that it successfully tested a hypersonic missile on Jan. 5, saying that North Korea had instead launched a Maneuverable Reentry Vehicle.
Two weeks after the JWST was launched into orbit, the final segment of its 21-ft.-dia. primary mirror—the largest mirror ever flown on a space observatory—was rotated into position, completing NASA’s risky and most technically complicated series of in-space deployments.
Following the revelation in December that the U.S. Air Force plans to launch two new unmanned combat air vehicle programs, the service’s chief scientist says tactical autonomy and the use of manned-unmanned teaming “will become the next step in the evolution of the Department of the Air Force.”
Flight controllers at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore are closing in on the final steps to reconfigure the James Webb Space Telescope, with the first of two primary mirror wing panels extended and latched into place on Jan. 7.
The Space Force’s two launch ranges have a shortage of spare parts for critical systems, which could impact future launches as the service projects a vast increase in missions, a new Pentagon report says.
After contributing 31 flights to a global record 146 orbital launches in 2021, SpaceX kicked off the new year by adding another 49 new satellites to its growing Starlink broadband network.
The operator of an FAA-designated test site for unmanned aircraft systems said the agency has authorized it to fly drones beyond an operator’s vision within a 50-mi. airspace corridor in New York State.
Turkish Aerospace (TAI) has opened a wave of new facilities as the company prepares for the development and production of an indigenous combat aircraft.
Gogo Business Aviation says it remains on track to complete a 150-tower 5G air-to-ground network serving the contiguous U.S. by the second half of 2022.
Paragon Space Development Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Final Frontier Design as part of a joint financial effort to enhance future private spacesuit development for NASA and other spaceflight customers.
President Joe Biden has nominated Lt. Gen. Michael Kurilla to lead U.S. Central Command as the Pentagon looks to shift away from constant operations in that command’s area of responsibility to threats in the Pacific.
Joby Aviation has formally added a second preproduction prototype to the test program for its S4 tiltprop electric vertical takeoff and landing air taxi.
The Netherlands is sending its new MQ-9 Reaper medium-altitude, long-endurance platforms to the Caribbean as part of a shakedown and evaluation of the new aircraft.
