Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Jul. 28

NASA Demo-2 astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley took a look back and a look ahead during July 28 interviews aboard the International Space Station (ISS), just days before their two-month Commercial Crew Program/SpaceX test flight is scheduled to end.

Switzerland’s Dufour Aerospace has completed 550 flights of a large-scale technology demonstrator in an initial phase of testing for its tilt-wing electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing air taxi. Testing of the unmanned aircraft focused on expanding the flight envelope and demonstrating stability and control, including transitions between vertical and forward flight. Performance and stability exceeded expectations, Chief Technology Officer Jasmine Kent said in a statement.

A $306 billion proposal by Senate Republicans for the fourth legislative intervention in response to COVID-19 includes $28 billion for the Defense Department, adding funding for more Lockheed Martin F-35As and C-130Js and Boeing P-8As and AH-64Es.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said he has placed a hold on the renomination of Michael O’Rielly to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over the agency’s controversial order granting Ligado Networks spectrum near GPS frequencies. Inhofe on July 28 vowed to delay unless O’Rielly, one of three Republicans serving on the five-member FCC board, commits to vote to overturn the Ligado order, which was announced in April.

Logos Technologies is to conduct proof-of-concept flight tests of a wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) sensor on the Insitu RQ-21A Blackjack small tactical unmanned aircraft system operated by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier says he does not believe there will ever be a merger of Europe’s two future combat air systems, despite calls from partners at Airbus for such a combination.

The U.S. Air Force has selected three companies to provide “red air” combat training at five bases with a mix of French- and US-built, 1960s-era fighters, Air Combat Command (ACC) confirmed July 28.

NGF concept design.

Typhoon

The failure of a high-pressure liquid-oxygen feed line triggered a premature engine shutdown during the debut flight of Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket, the company said on July 27.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.)

A new report on the space industrial base discusses the catastrophic impact the spread of the novel coronavirus has had on space companies and how the global pandemic provides a dangerous opportunity for China and Russia to challenge or surpass the U.S. in space.