Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Jan. 11

Adverse weather on Jan. 11 prompted SpaceX to delay an attempt by NASA-contracted commercial International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission to return to Earth for an Atlantic Ocean splashdown off Florida’s east coast with a 5,200-lb. cargo that includes science experiments. Credit: NASA TV

Countering small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) poses a puzzling challenge for the Pentagon. Nobody doubts the disruptively destructive potential of small UAS. In the last two years, a small UAS packed with explosives penetrated a soccer stadium where the Venezuelan president was speaking before getting shot down. Small UAS also featured prominently in a 2019 attack allegedly by Iran on a Saudi Arabian oil refinery facility, slipping past defenses set up to counter ballistic missiles instead of explosive-laden small aircraft sent on a one-way mission. Credit: BT

MHI is forming an F-X development team at its Aichi plant, several unnamed Japanese government sources tell the Kyodo newswire. The F-X development team includes engineers from KHI and IHI, with the number of engineers to peak at about 500, the report said. Credit: By 防衛省 - https://www.mod.go.jp/j/yosan/yosan_gaiyo/2020/yosan_191220.pdf

The first set of six new solar arrays for the International Space Station (ISS) is being prepared for launch in May, setting the stage for a 20-30% jump in power generation for commercial and research activities aboard the orbital outpost. Credit: Boeing

A new round of intercept tests of railgun-fired hypersonic projectiles against airborne targets will take place in 2021 under a new U.S. Army contract award to General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS). Credit: U.S. Army

NASA’s Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, or SPHEREx, space telescope has completed its Phase C preliminary design review (PDR), clearing the way for detailed design work as well as hardware and software development. Credit: JPL/NASA