Aerospace & Defense Roundup: April. 07

UPS announced on April 7 that it plans to purchase up to 150 Beta Technologies’ Alia electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to augment package deliveries in small and midsize markets. The package carrier said it will also use Beta’s Rapid Charging System to recharge both the battery-powered aircraft and UPS electric ground vehicles. It expects delivery of the first 10 Alias beginning in 2024, with others being optional. Credit: UPS

Siding with nearly 50 years of tradition, the U.S. Air Force on April 7 named the newly-delivered Boeing F-15EX as the Eagle II in a ceremony at Eglin AFB, Florida. The announcement was made by Lt. Gen. Duke Richardson, the military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition. It marks another milestone in the Air Force’s return to the venerable twin-jet fighter. Credit: U.S. Air Force

The U.S. Air Force has selected Collins Aerospace to design a new wheel and carbon brake system for the B-52 as part of the aircraft’s life extension program. The company, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, will construct the brake and wheel out of a proprietary carbon material, which Collins promises will reduce cost and maintenance time compared to the current steel system. The Air Force is upgrading the B-52 so that the aging aircraft will remain in service into the 2050s. Credit: Julian Herbert / Getty Images

F-35B

Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine will chair the advisory board at Voyager Space Holdings, the market’s first vertically integrated new-space holding company that recently acquired the Launch Co, Nanoracks and others. Bridenstine, the space agency’s 13th administrator and a political groundbreaker, will join Denver-based Voyager as it continues to try to build as a vertically integrated provider of commercial space capabilities which is envisaged to eventually become a publicly traded company. Credit: Philip Pacheco / AFP / Getty Images

NASA’s Osiris-Rex spacecraft completed a final 6-hr., close-up, image-gathering session over the rocky surface of the asteroid Bennu early April 7. A special focus was placed on the site that was blemished when Osiris-Rex touched down briefly on Oct. 20, 2020, to gather surface material for return to Earth. Credit: NASA

Korea Aerospace Industries plans to enter the urban air mobility (UAM) market as part of a new strategy to make the South Korean manufacturer the No. 1 aerospace company in Asia by 2030. The company has laid out a strategy to boost revenues from a projected 3 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in 2021 to 10 billion won by 2030. Of that growth, 3 trillion won is projected to come from new UAM and satellite data analysis businesses. Credit: Korea Aerospace Industries concept.

Three years after first investing in Zipline, Toyota has partnered with the U.S.-based drone delivery startup to develop a national-scale medical delivery network to improve access to health care in Japan. Toyota Group’s trading company, Toyota Tsusho, has announced a strategic operational partnership with Zipline, which already provides national drone medical delivery services in Ghana and Rwanda. Credit: Zipline

PRSM

Pentagon

Privately owned TECT Aerospace of Wichita, which manufactures complex aerostructure components, parts and assemblies, filed to begin U.S. bankruptcy proceedings April 6. Chapter 11 protection was sought in federal court in Delaware and included assets around the Wichita area, as well as Tect Hypervelocity in Ashville, North Carolina, according to filing records. Credit: Stephen Brashear / Getty Images)

New details about Korean Aerospace Industries’ (KAI) proposal to develop a multipurpose military transport aircraft for South Korea have emerged. KAI CEO Ahn Hyun-ho said that the KAI’s plan to develop a transport aircraft has now been submitted to the South Korean defense ministry’s acquisition office, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), according to local news reports. DAPA is yet to confirm the development project. Credit: Paul Kane / Getty Images

SpaceX on April 7 completed its eighth mission of the year to deploy its Starlink broadband network, boosting the constellation to about 1,400 spacecraft. A Falcon 9 rocket, flying for the seventh time in 11 months, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:34 p.m., marking the company’s 10th launch of the year. Eight of those 10 missions have carried batches of 60 Starlink satellites, each weighing about 573 lb. Credit: Carleton Bailie

Agriculture is the latest market to get the electric vertical flight treatment, with crop protection startup Guardian Agriculture emerging from stealth with a $10.5 million seed funding round. Guardian has developed an autonomous electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) vehicle for precision application of fertilizer and pesticide, integrated with software to enable farmers to keep track of where and how much. Credit: Guardian Agriculture