Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Irene Klotz
NASA plans to try again on March 18 to fire up the four Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines on the Space Launch System core stage for a critical integrated test ahead of the booster’s debut flight in late 2021 or early 2022.
Space

By Graham Warwick
LiquidPiston is to study the application of its rotary diesel engine technology to hybrid-electric propulsion systems for unmanned aircraft and advanced air mobility vehicles under a contract from the U.S. Air Force’s AFWERX innovation unit.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The delivery begins a series of government testing on the supersonic strategic bomber, which is now powered by Kuznetsov NK-30-2 turbofan engines, Rostec said.
Aircraft & Propulsion

A request for information published on March 10 by the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center asked industry for a modernized airborne executive processor that can support a communications gateway system.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Mark Carreau
Nanoracks has proclaimed its benchmark Bishop airlock, which was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in December, “open for business” and ready to commercially support science experiments, spacewalks and equipment transfers on the exterior of the orbiting science lab.
Space

By Tony Osborne
The Netherlands is temporarily taking over Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) air-policing duties for Belgium following the grounding of that country’s F-16 fighter fleet.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
NASA has contracted with Axiom Space to acquire a seat aboard Russia’s Soyuz MS-18 for a NASA astronaut to launch to the orbiting science lab on April 9.
Space

By Graham Warwick
German aviation engineering services specialist Apus Group has begun construction of a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered four-seat aircraft which it plans to fly in mid-2023 and hopes to have on the market by 2025.
Sustainability

By Graham Warwick
Archer has committed to launching an urban air mobility network in Miami by 2024 which will see Southern Florida join Los Angeles as a flagship market for the startup’s planned air taxi services.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Jen DiMascio
The U.S. Space Force and the National Reconnaissance Office on March 9 awarded task orders worth a total of $385 million to SpaceX and United Launch Alliance (ULA) for four upcoming launches, Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) said in a statement.
Space

By Graham Warwick
Startup Jump Aero is to study the use of an electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicle to calibrate navigation aids, as an alternative to a costly fixed-wing platform.
Aircraft & Propulsion

The Multi-Role Enforcement Aircraft are based on the Beechcraft King Air 350/360 series, with a mission suite that includes active and passive sensors, and satellite communications.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

The ELM program chose the V-22’s brownout problem as an early test case for the complex, multicellular organisms that can “grow on-site, self-repair and respond predictably to their environment."
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Belgium is halting operations with its F-16 fleet to undertake urgent modifications to its engines.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The unnamed suitors are proposing to purchase the two companies—Piaggio Aviation and Piaggio Aero Industries—which form Villanova d’Albenga-based Piaggio Aerospace.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Rolls-Royce has been selected to provide the electrical propulsion system for Vertical Aerospace’s gull-wing VA-X4 urban air mobility aircraft.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Molly McMillin
Two industry trade groups are concerned that general aviation and business aircraft operators continue to deal with issues related to the intentional jamming of Global Positioning Systems for defense exercises and have asked the Department of Defense and the FAA for a briefing.
Safety, Ops & Regulation

The 552nd Air Control Wing issued the Facebook plea a week after two senior Air Force generals called for replacing the E-3G immediately with the E-7, due to reliability problems with the unit’s 1970s-vintage 707s.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Craig Caffrey
The Chinese defense budget is officially projected to increase by 6.8%, going from CNY1,268 billion ($195 billion) to CNY1,355 billion ($209 billion), China announced on the sidelines of a meeting of the National People’s Congress.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Guy Norris
In response to higher power requirements for the emerging autonomous air cargo and urban air mobility markets, Honeywell is developing a 1-megawatt turbogenerator based on the company’s HGT1700 auxiliary power unit.
Sustainability

By Michael Bruno
Privately held PCX Aerosystems, a Newington, Connecticut, aerospace supplier, will buy Senior Aerospace Connecticut (SAC) in Enfield from Tier 2 supplier Senior for $74 million.
Supply Chain

By Irene Klotz
NASA on March 5 released a solicitation for launch services to send its Europa Clipper spacecraft on its way to the water-rich moon of Jupiter, a ride once earmarked for the agency’s own Space Launch System rocket.
Space

By Irene Klotz
NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance has made an initial 21-ft. test drive in its Jezero Crater landing site as flight controllers continue instrument checkouts and scout a location for a flight demonstration by a companion miniature helicopter.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Comet impacts during the Solar System’s planet-forming period about 4.5 billion years ago may have delivered the carbon essential for life to the rocky planets in the Sun’s habitable zone, according to a new study of the comet Catalina.
Space

By Steve Trimble
Destroying enemy fighters has emerged as the initial focus of the U.S. Air Force's nearly year-old MQ-Next program, which seeks to field a replacement for the MQ-9 by the end of the decade.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare