Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Oct, 30

A multi-disciplined space science community is making new plans and dusting off previous strategies for an accelerated human return to the Moon’s surface by 2024 in preparation for future missions to Mars.

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Pilots approaching a runway were able to see a drone encroaching in their airspace 30% of the time, according to a study by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Oklahoma State University (OSU).

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The Senate Armed Services Committee has filed a slimmed-down version of its annual defense policy legislation.

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Leading small drone manufacturer DJI has unveiled a highly capable quadcopter weighing 249 grams (0.5 lb.), which exempts it by 1 gram from registration requirements in the U.S. and other countries.

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The Missile Defense Agency has selected four companies to demo a prototype for a new space-based sensor optimized to detect and track maneuvering, hypersonic targets gliding or cruising within the atmosphere. 

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Urban air mobility startup Volocopter has launched an unmanned cargo aircraft version of its Volocopter electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) air taxi.

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Taiwan’s Parliament has approved funding to buy 66 Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 fighters, the country’s president says. 

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GKN Aerospace announced Oct. 30 that it appointed Krisstie Kondrotis as president of its defense division effective Nov. 1, marking a key executive transfer between rivals.

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