Aerospace & Defense Roundup: July 14

Building on its concessions to manage highways, railways and tunnels in several countries, Spain’s Globalvia is expanding into urban air mobility (UAM) through a strategic alliance with Chinese autonomous passenger and cargo air vehicle developer EHang. Credit: EHang

Boeing is to invest in the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in the U.S. under a partnership with supply chain developer SkyNRG. The deal follows Boeing’s January commitment that all its commercial aircraft will be certified to use 100% sustainable fuel by 2030. Credit: Alaska Airlines

Russia’s Roscosmos is testing the elements of a single-orbit flightpath to the International Space Station (ISS). The change will reduce the flight time to the station from the current 3 hr. to 90-120 min. Credit: NASA

Aimed at enabling single-aisle airliners to burn carbon-free hydrogen in turbine engines, GKN Aerospace is leading a two-year Swedish-funded research project, H2JET, to develop technologies for hydrogen combustion engines. Credit: GKN Aerospace

Carbon-free propulsion startup Universal Hydrogen has signed agreements with Icelandair, Air Nostrum and Ravn Alaska to retrofit ATR 72 and de Havilland Canada Dash 8 regional turboprops with hydrogen fuel-cell power trains. Credit: Universal Hydrogen

Masten Space Systems will demonstrate a prototype of a GPS-like positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) system on the Moon for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the Mojave, California-based company announced on July 13. Credit: Masten Space Systems

The House Appropriations Committee has passed a bill to provide $706 billion for national security in fiscal 2022, amid debate about whether that amount is enough to defend the nation. Credit: Raytheon

NASA is making progress in the development of a new spacesuit design to return human explorers to the Moon’s surface and outfit a wide range of male and female astronauts. The agency hopes to accommodate astronauts who are scaling a crater wall at the lunar south pole or working outside the International Space Station (ISS) or a future commercial free-flying successor. Credit: NASA