Aerospace & Defense Roundup: April. 26

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket lifted off from Vandenberg AFB in California on April 26 to put a classified payload into orbit for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO.) ULA webcast

Operating a Lockheed Martin F-35A for 1 hr. cost the U.S. Air Force an average of $33,000 in fiscal 2020, said Lt. Gen. Eric Fick, the head of the Joint Program Office (JPO), in congressional testimony on April 22.  So why does the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), keep insisting that the Air Force’s latest stealth fighter costs more than $38,000 per hour to operate?  The answer to that question—in fact, they are both right!—offers a revealing hint about the complexity of the escalating F-35 sustainment cost challenge, which now poses the greatest risk to aircraft and Pratt & Whitney F135 engine production volumes in the near-term by the U.S. Defense Department.  Credit: US Air Force

The USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) has completed its Combat Systems Ship’s Qualification Trials (CSSQT), marking the end of the post-delivery test and trials phase, and is the U.S. Navy is now focused on the aircraft carrier moving toward full ship shock trials this summer. Credit: U.S. Navy

Over the next 12 months, the U.S. Marine Corps intends to develop options for the commandant on whether the reserve forces should operate the MQ-9 or an unmanned logistics long-haul aircraft to better compete with China and Russia in the 2030s. Credit: USAF

Blue Origin on April 26 filed a protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) over NASA’s $2.9 billion award to rival SpaceX for a human lunar landing system demonstration mission. “NASA has executed a flawed acquisition for the Human Landing System (HLS) program and moved the goalposts at the last minute,” Blue Origin said in a statement emailed to Aerospace DAILY. Credit: Blue Origin Concept

Keeping the International Space Station’s (ISS) U.S. segment steadily staffed at five astronauts is continuing to significantly contribute to the research and technology demonstrations underway aboard the orbiting science laboratory, says NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, whose second voyage to the outpost concludes at midweek. Credit: NASA

Arianespace launched the latest batch of 36 OneWeb satellites into low Earth orbit on April 25. The launch, at 6:15 p.m. EDT from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia, was One Web’s sixth overall and brings the communication constellation’s total to 182 spacecraft. Credit: Arianespace