Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Mar. 25
March 26, 2021![](/sites/default/files/styles/crop_freeform/public/2021-03/b1bye2.png?itok=AOhJ8UfJ)
Congress Ensures Four B-1s Are Regeneration Candidates
The U.S. Air Force is beginning a lengthy process to warehouse four aging B-1 aircraft for future spare parts, storing them in a state in which they cannot immediately get up to a flying standard if the U.S. goes to war. The decision to allow the Air Force to retire B-1 aircraft became law via the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The law states the service will preserve four B-1 aircraft in Type 2000 recallable storage or better. Credit: U.S. Air Force
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CAA, UK Police Join Forces To Highlight Drone Code Enforcement
A campaign to highlight enforcement of the UK’s laws on flights by small unmanned aircraft—and to emphasize the penalties that will be imposed when they are broken—has been launched this week by the nation’s airspace regulator, police force and government. Operation Foreverwing finds the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) partnering with the Home Office and the police to stress the actions that will be taken against those who fly drones illegally. Credit: Skycatch
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Sabca To Support USAF F-16s In Europe
Belgian MRO firm Sabca has secured a contract with the U.S. Air Force to maintain its Europe-based F-16s. Sabca will perform maintenance activities on 80 U.S. Air Force F-16s for the next five years after renewing contracts with the service, the company announced earlier this month. Credit: USAF
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OneWeb Kicks Off 2021 Launch Campaign From Vostochny
OneWeb added another 36 satellites to its orbital broadband constellation on March 25, bringing the network to 146 spacecraft. The new batch reached orbit aboard a Russian Soyuz 2.1b launch vehicle, which lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the country’s Far East, marking the fifth orbital launch from Russia this year. Credit: Roscosmos
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Space Acquirer Redwire To Go Public In SPAC Merger
Another month, another big announcement from private equity-founded Redwire: this time that the new-space roll up will become a publicly traded company in a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) known to be hunting for aerospace and defense assets. Credit: Redwire
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SBIRS-5 Arrives At Cape Canaveral
The fifth Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) satellite has arrived at the processing facility at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, ahead of its anticipated launch from a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket on May 17. The satellite traveled in a C-5 transport from the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Center satellite integration facility in Sunnyvale, California, to Florida. Credit: Lockheed Martin
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ESA Funds Another Two Microlauncher Projects
The European Space Agency (ESA) has allotted a combined €10.45 million ($12.5 million) to two UK companies developing microlaunchers for small satellites: Orbex and Skyrora. Orbex and its two partners for guidance, navigation and control–Deimos Engenheria in Portugal and Deimos Space in the UK–have received €7.45 million. Orbex Prime will be a 19-m-long (62 ft.), two-stage launcher, powered by liquid oxygen and bio-propane. It will support launches to low Earth orbit (LEO) for payloads up to 150 kg (330 lb.). Credit: Orbex
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Insitu To Fly Hydrogen-Electric ScanEagle3
Insitu is preparing to fly a version of its ScanEagle3 unmanned aircraft powered by a fuel cell and liquid hydrogen. The Boeing company has conducted a fuel-cell-powered flight and ground tested a 3D-printed liquid hydrogen tank and plans to bring the two together for flights in the late summer. Credit: Insitu
Congress ensures four B-1s are regeneration candidates, ESA funds another two microlauncher projects, Insitu to fly hydrogen-electric ScanEagle3 and more. A roundup of aerospace, space and defense news powered by Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN).
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