Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Jun. 30

Another problem has arisen while preparing the Mars 2020 rover for launch, triggering an additional eight-day delay to July 30, NASA said June 30. A troubled liquid oxygen sensor surfaced during a wet dress rehearsal for launch of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket, which is slated to send the rover, named Perseverance, on its way to Mars for NASA’s first life-detection mission since the 1970s-era Viking campaign.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.)

In an effort to adapt to declining demand for its commercial aircraft amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Airbus is expediting decisions to cut 15,000 positions—around 11% of its entire workforce and the deepest restructuring the company has ever endeavoured.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, on June 30 to deliver the third spacecraft in the U.S. Space Force’s GPS III constellation. The 229-ft. (70-m) booster lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 4:10 p.m. EDT, marking the 88th launch since the Falcon 9’s debut in June 2010 and the 11th mission this year.

The South Korean defense ministry has ordered a second batch of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) TA-50s, reportedly totaling 20 aircraft, as lead-in fighter trainers.

The Pentagon has determined there will only be two launch providers for the second phase of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) competition, but the House Armed Services Committee does not want the losers to feel discouraged.

Sierra Nevada has completed an upgrade of a ground surveillance radar-equipped aircraft prototype for the U.S. Army, the service announced June 26.

The Pentagon has finalized the U.S. Space Force’s organizational structure for echelons below the headquarters level, and has announced sweeping changes for the space acquisition structure.

Some—but perhaps not all—of the U.S. military’s hypersonic weapon prototypes will be ready to enter large-scale production by the second half of the decade, one of the Pentagon’s top scientists said June 30.

The first Airbus A330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) destined for the Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Unit (MMU) has arrived at its home base in the Netherlands.

While Wisk moves closer to beginning passenger flights with its Cora self-flying air taxi in rural New Zealand, the Boeing/Kitty Hawk joint venture has its sights firmly set on launching urban air mobility services in the U.S.