NASA did not violate any procurement regulations in awarding a $2.9 billion, solo contract to SpaceX to demonstrate a human lunar lander, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) said on July 30.
The European Space Agency has awarded a €118.8 million ($143 million) contract to launcher manufacturer Avio for the development of the Vega E upgraded light rocket.
The single-stage booster separated from the Boeing B-52 on the second test but failed to ignite over the Point Mugu Sea Range off the California coast.
NASA and Roscosmos are investigating the inadvertent thruster firings of the newly arrived Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module, which temporarily moved the International Space Station station out of orientation.
An exchange during a think-tank event in Washington on July 29 may offer an explanation for the absence of a promised U.S. Air Force hypersonic flight test in July.
The UK’s aviation regulator and its air accident investigation organization have had their purview extended into orbit after legislation for space launch was given final approval.
Textron’s business aircraft and helicopter segments saw revenues grow in the second quarter of 2021 based on increased sales of Cessna Citation jets and Caravan turboprops, Beechcraft King Air turboprops and Bell helicopters.
With the successful launch of an experimental cubesat for the U.S. Space Force, Rocket Lab returned its Electron small satellite launcher into commercial service on July 29, with about six more missions on its manifest for the year.
The company, which is also currently pursuing Part 23 type certification of the S4 eVTOL aircraft as well as production certification of the assembly line which will manufacture it, is targeting air carrier approval in 2022.
The U.S. Air Force has retired the first Kratos XQ-58A to become a new exhibit at the National Museum of the Air Force after the pioneering unmanned aircraft system logged a total of four flight hours on three flights in 2019.
Boeing could accept more risk with its supply chain as it seeks to ramp up 737 MAX narrowbody production quickly in 2022, and it will hold its own workforce at roughly 140,000 employees, company leaders said.
Regional air mobility startup Electra is teaming under a NASA contract with researchers at the University of Southern California to mature blown lift technologies for electric short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft.
German satellite launch startup Isar Aerospace has secured $75 million from investors which include Porsche, the majority owner of the Volkswagen automobile company.
