Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

President Donald Trump wants to hike the Pentagon’s budget by 50% to $1.5 trillion in fiscal 2027.

President Donald Trump attacked the share buyback and executive pay practices of leading large U.S. aerospace and defense prime contractors.

Japan’s Ministry of Defense has awarded Astroscale a contract to develop “a general gripping mechanism system” to grab “national satellites.”

One week into 2026, United Launch Alliance is preparing for its first mission of the year.

The number of orbital launch attempts worldwide last year surpassed the record 2024 flight rate by 25%.

UK defense engineering firm Babcock has teamed with Estonia air defense startup Frankenburg Technologies to work on providing a maritime launch system.

Dassault Aviation Falcon business jet deliveries in 2025 again missed a full-year target, while Rafale fighter shipments topped the company’s forecast.

The U.S. subsidiary of Spain’s Indra Group announced a $342 million contract under the FAA’s Radar System Replacement program.

U.S. helicopter-borne special operations and law enforcement personnel on Jan. 7 seized two oil tankers in separate hemispheres.

Bangladesh could acquire JF-17 Thunder combat aircraft from Pakistan as part of a growing cooperation pact between the air arms of the two countries.

The Ukrainian Air Force claims to have shot down around 1,000 Russian cruise missiles and one-way attack drones with its donated F-16s.

The European Union is to support research and technology efforts on the development of small turbofan engines for CCAs.

NASA’s first ISS spacewalk of 2026 is planned for Jan. 8 to prep the orbital lab for the installation of its seventh ISS Roll-Out Solar Array (IROSA).

The Pentagon and Lockheed Martin have agreed to more than triple the annual output of Patriot PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors.

Startup Array Labs plans to launch its first formation-flying cluster comprised of four radar satellites in the middle of 2027.

An advocacy group is surprised by the recent expansion of the FCC's Covered List of prohibited equipment and services to include all foreign-made drones.

NASA plans to resume the search for a wayward Mars science spacecraft that has not been heard from since early December.

Aerospace and defense electronics company Teledyne RISI has agreed to pay $1.5 million to the U.S. for providing nonconforming aircraft parts to the military.

NASA is on track to roll out its second SLS rocket to the launchpad within about 10 days, a key step toward the first crewed flight of an Orion spacecraft.

The Pentagon says it has agreed to boost output of Patriot PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptors to 2,000 missiles per year.

Israel plans to set up a national space laboratory to support local startups and academia with an eye on taking payloads to Mars.

Deliveries of the F 35A are expected to begin in 2031, with Full Operational Capability targeted for 2035. The service’s Gripen lease has been extended to 2035 to cover the gap.

The insatiable energy demand of artificial intelligence datacenters continues to drive surprising new developments in the aeroderivative gas turbine business.

ReElement Technologies has secured a $200 million investment from Transition Equity Partners to ramp up critical minerals production in Marion, Indiana.

Momentus has 3D printed a metal spacecraft propellant tank that it plans to test on an upcoming mission of its Vigoride-7 orbital service vehicle.