Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Jen DiMascio
Microsoft will provide the use of its cloud and be a customer to SES for its O3b mPower satellite constellation, which will dramatically improve connectivity for governments and military customers, according to the CEO of SES.
Connected Aerospace

By Steve Trimble
A U.S. Defense Department agency is shopping for a computing system powerful and efficient enough to process and interpret hundreds of terraflops of imagery data from systems on board manned and unmanned aircraft.
Program Management

By Michael Bruno
Big data analytics disruptor Palantir Technologies and BlackSky, a startup with a burgeoning constellation of imaging satellites and its own data analytics service, are partnering to offer their combined services for allied government customers.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is reviewing the circumstances of a Boeing C-17 take-off in Afghanistan that resulted in several deaths of civilians who rushed the aircraft.
Defense

By Graham Warwick
A Norwegian startup has unveiled plans to develop a nine-passenger electric seaplane and provide a regional aviation service connecting towns along the coast and in the fjords with flights over water.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Michael Bruno
Small-rocket mass-manufacturing startup Phantom Space has acquired Micro Aerospace Solutions, a 21-year-old Melbourne, Florida, provider of small satellite thruster, communications and data capabilities, the companies announced Aug. 17.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
The only flying prototype of a new light transport in development by United Aircraft Corp. crashed near a Moscow suburb on a test flight after the right engine caught fire, killing all three crewmembers, the Russian manufacturer said on Aug. 17.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Mark Carreau
Blue Origin has turned to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to challenge NASA’s award of a single $2.94 billion contract to SpaceX for development of a lunar Human Landing System.
Commercial Space

By Graham Warwick
Behind the $600 million in letters of interest signed by electric-aircraft startup Airflow is a shift in its strategy for market entry away from a focus on express logistics toward replacing fleets of older aircraft now used for regional passenger and cargo flights.
Emerging Technologies

By Graham Warwick
Rocket Lab is to launch a cubesat to test water-based propulsion and plasma braking for maneuvering and deorbiting satellites.
Commercial Space

By Graham Warwick
As it prepares to launch its third and final phase, the UK’s Future Flight Challenge has unveiled its vision for air travel in 2030 and ambitious targets for real-world demonstrations to be completed in 2024.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Steve Trimble
A Japanese KC-46A has completed an inflight refueling test, paving the way for Boeing to deliver the first tanker later this year, the company said on Aug. 16.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble, Jen DiMascio
A key test for the U.S. Army’s Long Range Hypersonic Weapon has been postponed for several months, adding a new wrinkle to the tightly choreographed plan to introduce the land-based missile in fiscal 2023, program officials say.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Bill Carey
Honeywell said its Aspire 150 and 350 satellite communications systems designed to use Iridium’s new Certus high-speed L-band service should be certified this year.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
Privately held British defense company Cobham and UK defense electronics specialist Ultra Electronics said Aug. 16 that they had reached an agreement for Cobham to buy Ultra for almost £2.6 billion ($3.6 billion).
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Graham Warwick
Companies in Hong Kong and India have unveiled their plans to develop electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing air taxis.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Guy Norris
The contract could pave the way for follow-on integration of the system into more advanced combat and aggressor training aircraft such as the Lockheed Martin F-16.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Michael Bruno
While urban air mobility SPACs have generated many headlines in recent months, due in part to their eye-watering sums, the SPAC phenomenon has featured more new new-space public candidates by end-market.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
Boeing and NASA’s Commercial Crew Program believe the launch of the uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) to the International Space Station could be delayed until late this year and possibly into 2022.
Space

By Steve Trimble
Space Systems Command, which was formally activated during an outdoor ceremony on Aug. 13, received an urgent call by its new commander to expect more change as the U.S. military adjusts to a warfighting posture in the space domain.
Space

By Maxim Pyadushkin
Russia’s Roscosmos and Tunisian telecommunication company Telnet Holding signed a memorandum of understanding on Aug. 13 in Moscow calling for the preparation of Tunisia’s first person to travel into space, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said.
Space

By Jen DiMascio
Contractors vying to develop the future system that would defend the U.S. against intercontinental ballistic missiles say they can meet the aggressive schedule being pushed by military leaders.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Michael Bruno
Slingshot Aerospace, an Austin, Texas, startup focusing on space traffic-control products and services, has acquired another startup, Stellatus Solutions, which was building a platform for competing satellite operators to communicate among themselves.
Commercial Space

By Graham Warwick
It was a week of ups and downs for the urban air mobility (UAM) industry, illustrating the turbulence roiling the nascent market as companies jockey for leading positions.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
UK startup Electric Aircraft Group (EAG) has secured an investment from Irish regional airline CityJet to advance its plans to develop a hydrogen-electric 90-seat regional aircraft for entry into service in 2030.
Aircraft & Propulsion