Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

By Sean Broderick
The latest version of the Boeing 737 MAX master minimum equipment list (MMEL) corrects a conflict between the original MMEL’s allowances and pilot troubleshooting steps that allowed flights with no functioning autopilot, even as a checklist calls for autopilot engagement to correct flight-control issue.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Guy Norris
Updated Boeing commercial airliner figures for 2020 through March reveal dramatic order cancellations and reduced deliveries as the air transport market continues to nosedive in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
Boeing on April 13 completed the first flight of the F-15QA ordered by the Qatari Royal Air Force, passing a key milestone before a scheduled first delivery next year.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
A startup producing hydrogen propulsion systems for unmanned aircraft is targeting the urban air mobility (UAM) market with a new type of fuel cell.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Lee Hudson
The Pentagon has issued a $415 million contract for N95 critical decontamination units to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Mark Carreau
Intuitive Machines has selected the planned date and landing site for its first mission to the Moon’s surface under its NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services agreement.
Commercial Space

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.

Updated Boeing commercial airliner figures for 2020 through March reveal dramatic order cancellations and reduced deliveries as the air transport

Selected U.S. military contracts from the past week.
Defense

News in brief
Defense

Brief news items of interest to aerospace & defense professionals.
Defense

By Jen DiMascio
Citing the bankruptcy of the OneWeb satellite communications company, the U.S. government should consider adding $2.5 billion in funding for space programs, along with multiple policy proposals to maintain the military space industrial base and U.S. strategic dominance in the domain in the face of threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, an industry trade group recommends.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
CPI Aerostructures announced April 13 that it closed on a $4.8 million loan under the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) as part of the new Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in the U.S.
Program Management

By Michael Bruno
Israel-based defense contractor Elbit Systems, which has a major U.S. subsidiary, acknowledged issues in its operations on April 13 and said it started carrying out unspecified “cost-control measures to help limit the financial impact on the company.”
Supply Chain

By Steve Trimble
A Lockheed Martin employee working at the Fort Worth facility where the F-35 is assembled died several days after informing the company he felt ill with COVID-19-like symptoms, Lockheed said on April 13.
Supply Chain

By Michael Bruno
Aerospace supplier Woodward is cutting the equivalent of 15% of its full-time workforce through the year as the COVID-19 pandemic’s effects ripple through the aerospace supply chain, the company quietly disclosed April 10.
Marketplace

The USS Gerald R. Ford conducted its first-ever fleet replacement squadron carrier qualifications for sailors and Marines while underway in the Atlantic Ocean.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Bill Carey
Unmanned aircraft systems test sites in New York and Virginia will participate in the second phase of a UAS Traffic Management pilot program, the FAA announced on April 10.
Advanced Air Mobility

By Irene Klotz
A small helicopter flying as a technology demonstration with NASA’s Mars 2020 mission has been attached to the Perseverance rover in preparation for launch this summer.
Space

By Bradley Perrett
Nonignition of a third-stage engine caused the failure of a mission by a Calt Long March 3B rocket on March 9, according to a part owner of the Indonesian customer that lost its satellite.
Space

By Irene Klotz
NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, and the Katherine Johnson Independent Verification and Validation Facility in Fairmont, West Virginia, have joined the list of NASA facilities reaching Stage 4 of the agency’s Response Framework to COVID-19.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Significant changes in the oversight of the International Space Station’s (ISS) National Laboratory research and technology development operations may be imminent.
Space

By Michael Bruno
Supplier Triumph Group late April 10 announced furloughs for around 2,300 employees across its plants in the U.S. and Europe for two-four weeks to cut work along with the current suspension of all Boeing Commercial Aircraft programs, and the company is laying off up to 700 more workers.
Marketplace

By Guy Norris
Rocket company Virgin Orbit completed a major dress rehearsal of its LauncherOne vehicle launch system on April 12, marking the final test of the five-year development program and clearing the way for the first demonstration launch.
Space

By Steve Trimble
A TASS report offers the first timeline for fielding of the new weapon designed to strike maritime and land targets at up to Mach 9.
Missile Defense & Weapons