Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Mar. 19
March 20, 2020![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/aeronautical_repair_station_association_photo_source_arsa._jpg_0.jpg?itok=M5_gw3Hq)
Small U.S. Suppliers Seek Pandemic-Related Financial Relief
Credit: ARSA
Representatives of smaller aviation suppliers are pushing for COVID-19 pandemic-related financial relief and prompting eligible companies to tap into newly available government programs, such as Small Business Administration (SBA) loans.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/boeing-c-17-globemaster-iii-boeing.jpg?itok=WZouSp5x)
USAF Delivers C-17 Scheduling App
Credit: Boeing
C-17
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/aegisashore_0.jpg?itok=wL9a2zWc)
Credit: Missile Defense Agency
Aegis Ashore
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/c2_0.jpg?itok=wY_e9i6F)
Japan Evaluates C-2’S Rough-Field Performance
Credit: KHI
Japan is evaluating the rough-field characteristics of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) C-2, exploring a capability for which the airlifter was not designed.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/e2dbiggie.jpg.crop_display.jpg?itok=hROX1XgG)
Credit: U.S. Navy
E-2D
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/cassidybetter_0.jpg?itok=XexeiXZJ)
NASA’s Cassidy Confident ISS Can Deal With Adversities
NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy is confident in the well-being of the International Space Station (ISS) and ongoing efforts to soon resume full staffing of the 15-nation orbiting science lab with launches from U.S. soil.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/isf35appspromolockheedmartin.jpg?itok=pRqesxJ9)
Credit: U.S. Air Force
F-35A
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/mars2020rover_0.jpg?itok=fSwvCufc)
NASA Persevering Toward Launch Of Mars 2020 In July
Credit: NASA
Launching the Mars 2020 rover, recently named Perseverance, this summer remains among NASA’s highest priorities, despite agency-wide shutdowns of its facilities due to health concerns over the coronavirus disease COVID-19.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/nasa_astronauts_bob_behnken_left_and_doug_hurley-nasa_0.jpg?itok=SCCBnd01)
NASA Targets May For SpaceX Crew Flight Test
Credit: NASA
NASA and SpaceX are working toward a mid- to late May launch of astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley on a Crew Dragon flight test to the International Space Station (ISS), the agency said March 18.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/facetmobile_1.jpg?itok=3WU-cCs4)
Startup Developing Lifting-Body UAV For Precision Cargo Delivery
Credit: ThereCraft
U.S. startup ThereCraft is developing an unmanned aircraft that can deliver urgent cargo to remote locations with the accuracy of a helicopter but without the need to land or use parachutes.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/nikkihaley_0.jpg?itok=L5yIG8fZ)
Nikki Haley Resigns From Boeing Board Over Bailout
Former Trump administration UN Ambassador Nikki Haley has resigned from aerospace and defense giant Boeing’s board of directors in opposition to the company’s $60 billion bailout bid, the company said March 19.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/orion-spacecraft-for-artemis-i-prepared-for-thermal-test-at-nasas-plum-brook-station-copyrightnasa_1.jpg?itok=Ca-CiFm8)
NASA Exploration Ground Systems Making Progress, Audit Shows
Credit: NASA
NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) program, which provides ground processing and launch facilities for the integrated Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft, is in better shape now than when the program was last audited in 2016, but the agency needs to improve cross-program integration and testing, the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) said March 19.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/ry_0.jpg?itok=hRM_s34U)
Primitive Asteroid Ryugu A Porous Rubble Pile
Credit: JAXA
New research based on the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return mission has revealed the surface of the asteroid Ryugu is composed of a sand-like, cohesionless material, making it essentially a “rubble pile” in space.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/pentagon_0.jpg?itok=xW84NrX3)
Credit: U.S. Defense Department
The Pentagon
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/tornado.jpg?itok=YYL6uVu-)
Unions Step Into German Tornado Replacement
Credit: UK defense ministry
German unions have stepped into the ongoing discussion over Germany’s plan to replace its Panavia Tornado fighter bomber fleet.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2020-03/sls_0.jpg?itok=LThTwXto)
NASA Suspends Work On SLS, Orion
Credit: NASA
NASA is temporarily halting work on the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft as it closes the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi due to a mounting number of cases of the coronavirus COVID-19 disease in the communities and a confirmed case at Stennis, Administrator Jim Bridenstine said March 19.
NASA suspends work on SLS Orion, Boeing board resignation over bailout, progress in exploration ground systems, COVID-19 impacts including responses to escalated health threats, U.S. defense industry groups appealing for relief and more. A roundup of aerospace, space and defense news powered by Aerospace Daily & Defense Report.