Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Steve Trimble
Israel’s defense industry has achieved a global first by successfully demonstrating that a compact, airborne High Power Laser can shoot down unmanned aircraft systems.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Mark Carreau
Intuitive Machines (IM), one of NASA’s early Commercial Lunar Services Payload Services providers, announced plans on June 21 to place a communications satellite in orbit around the Moon to provide a data link to Earth as part of its second lunar mission planned for late 2022.
Space

By Tony Osborne
The UK Royal Air Force could have an electric-powered aircraft in service by 2024, a senior officer has suggested, as the air arm takes steps to reduce its environmental footprint.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Chen Chuanren
Japan is reportedly considering dropping plans to acquire Lockheed Martin’s AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile due to “ballooning costs.”
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
The prize is a contract to deliver 140-160 commercial derivative aircraft between 2029 and as late as 2042.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Graham Warwick
All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines have committed to being net-zero carbon by 2050, while Japan aims to commercialize domestically produced sustainable aviation fuels by 2030.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Volocopter conducted a remotely controlled flight of its 2X prototype at Le Bourget Airport outside Paris on June 21, the first in France by an eVTOL vehicle.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
Qarbon Aerospace, formerly Triumph Aerospace Structures, is to produce Lift Aircraft’s Hexa single-seat electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Graham Warwick
The integrated demonstrator, customized to the performance and economic requirements of commercial aircraft, will be built at a Liebherr system integration testing laboratory in Toulouse.
Emerging Technologies

By Tony Osborne
BAE Systems has flown the first three of nine Hawk jet trainers ordered by Qatar.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Tony Osborne
NATO commanders have used a surge operation to stress-test the alliance's ground-radar reconnaissance capabilities using its fleet of Northrop Grumman RQ-4D Global Hawks.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
During a 6.5-hr. spacewalk that concluded at 2:10 p.m. EDT on June 20, the European Space Agency’s Thomas Pesquet and NASA’s Shane Kimbrough overcame the hardware obstructions that had prevented them from finishing their task four days earlier.
Space

By Chen Chuanren
Airbus has bolstered its backlog for its twin-turboprop C295 airlifter, disclosing that two buyers in the Asia-Pacific region have placed orders.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Tony Osborne
Turkish Aerospace (TAI) has begun constructing a wind tunnel to support development of Turkey’s planned indigenous combat aircraft, TF-X.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Cleaner-burning sustainable fuels can reduce aircraft contrails’ cloudiness and their contribution to aviation’s climate impact, joint research by NASA and German aerospace center DLR has concluded.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Carole Rickard Hedden
Countries participating in the CORUS-XUAM project in Europe are planning to spend this year preparing for live demonstrations to be held in 2022.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Irene Klotz
Former space shuttle commander and retired U.S. Air Force Col. Pamela Melroy was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the deputy administrator of NASA, serving alongside NASA chief Bill Nelson.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A Boeing statement released late on June 17 add critical details to the initial reports based on the Congressional testimony a day earlier by Gen. Charles Brown, U.S. Air Force chief of staff, and a follow-up statement by the Air Force press desk.
Light Attack and Advanced Training

By Irene Klotz
The inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket is slipping to 2022 to allow more time for its customer, Astrobotic, to prepare its Peregrine lunar lander for launch.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A new space-based capability for tracking moving targets on the ground will use satellites owned by the intelligence community and commercial
Space

By Bill Carey
U.S. lawmakers and space industry executives support a future FAA role in managing the increasing density of space debris and satellites in orbit, suggest remarks made during a hearing of the House Transportation aviation subcommittee.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Air Force has discovered two new Category 1 deficiencies for the KC-46A.
Multi-Mission Aircraft

By Michael Bruno
Supporters of establishing a commercial spaceport in Camden, Georgia, received a minor boost June 17 when the FAA issued a final environmental impact statement that endorsed the latest slimmed-down proposal as a “preferred alternative.”
Commercial Space

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Space Force and SpaceX has launched the fifth GPS III satellite from Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral, marking the first time a national security space launch reused a booster.
Space

By Graham Warwick
Aircraft electrification pioneer MagniX has revamped its product line, introducing a pair of complete electric propulsion units as successors to its original electric motor offerings.
Aircraft & Propulsion