The Electron rocket’s kick stage that dispatched a small satellite into orbit for on Aug. 31 has become a free-flying demonstration of Rocket Lab’s Photon satellite platform, the company disclosed Sept. 3.
The launch was shared among 21 customers. Applications for the spacecraft range from Earth observation to telecommunications to science, technology and education.
The European Common Radar System (ECRS) Mk. 2 will provide the UK Typhoon fleet with electronic attack and warfare capabilities beyond the ECRS Mk. 1 sensor for the German and Spanish air forces.
SpaceX sent a batch of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit on Sept. 3 as the company looks toward public beta rollout of high-speed internet service this year.
SOCOM officials have warned the program will be unaffordable if the Army sticks to its plan to defer upgrades for about 540 CH-47F Block 1s for five years.
The latest version of the Northrop Grumman solid rocket motor assigned to NASA’s Space Launch System Moon rocket roared to life Sept. 2 for a full-duration, 2-min. ground test firing at company facilities in Promontory, Utah.
Industry was anticipating an award for the Minuteman III replacement in August, but a Pentagon official said a contract announcement should occur before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30.
The 28th Test and Evaluation Squadron dropped 10 BLU-136 Next Generation Area Attack Weapons (NGAAWs) Increment II from Lockheed Martin F-16Cs on the Nellis Test and Training Range from July 8-24.
Three Mars mission launches in July kicked off a promising and challenging decade for the exploration of the red planet, one potentially setting the stage for a global human exploration campaign in the 2030s.
Tokyo’s Metropolitan Government is studying whether Leonardo’s AW609 commercial tiltrotor could be used to link the city with a remote island archipelago.
The U.S. Air Force wants Congress to create a “global fight” account in the budget to pay for efforts like International Space Pitch Day in which the U.S. and UK intend to invest $1 million for cutting-edge space innovations.
The first of two aircraft fitted with a modular hybrid-electric propulsion system developed under a European research program is expected to fly in September.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) and Spain’s Sener Aerospacial are developing an underwing pod that will enable European customers of the MQ-9 Reaper and SkyGuardian to fit sovereign sensors to the unmanned air system.
