Aerospace & Defense Roundup: October 26

A new unmanned aircraft system (UAS) now being designed by Kratos will feature conventional landing gear, breaking from the company’s jet-assisted takeoff and parachute recovery for the XQ-58A Valkyrie, a company official says. Credit: USAF

A Boeing F-15EX completed the first operational test mission with F-15Cs and F-15Es at Nellis AFB, Nevada, the U.S. Air Force said on Oct. 26. Credit: USAF

Australia’s New South Wales Police Force (NSWPF) Aviation Command has commissioned three new Bell 429 helicopters as the unit transits into a Bell fleet. NSWPF plans to retire an Airbus Helicopters AS350 and AS355, both operational since the 1990s, and an EC135. Credit: New South Wales Police Force

The four Crew-3 astronauts arrived at Kennedy Space Center as scheduled Oct. 26, expressing confidence an assessment of a toilet issue aboard their SpaceX Crew-3 Dragon Endurance and the Crew-2 Dragon Endeavour currently docked to the International Space Station (ISS) will be resolved in time to support their planned liftoff. Credit: NASA

Wing is expanding its drone delivery operations from smaller towns into more complex urban areas with plans to begin on-demand store-to-door deliveries in metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth. Credit: Wing

Pratt & Whitney will start altitude tests on its experimental XA101 engine in early 2022, though the CEO of parent company Raytheon Technologies warns it would be a difficult and expensive effort to install it on F-35As as some lawmakers are calling for and the U.S. Air Force is exploring. Credit: USAF

NASA and SpaceX this week will focus on closing out an assessment of changes made to the toilet aboard the Crew-3 Dragon spacecraft prior to its scheduled Oct. 31 launch to the International Space Station (ISS). Credit: NASA

Embraer subsidiary Eve Air Mobility will launch a month-long simulated urban air mobility (UAM) trial on Nov. 8, connecting the affluent coastal suburb of Barra de Tijuca with Rio de Janiero’s Galeao International Airport. Credit: Embraer

Vertiport

Japan successfully launched the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket on the morning of Oct. 26 local time from Tanegashima Space Center. The 53-m-long (173.8-ft.) rocket was carrying the Quasi-Zenith Satellite (QZS)-1R GPS satellite, which will replace the QZS-1 launched in 2010. Credit: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

The UK and U.S. have agreed to extend the support arrangements to maintain the operation of the Royal Air Force’s Boeing RC-135 Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft through 2035. Through a newly signed memorandum of understanding between the two governments, the UK has committed to spending £970 million ($1.34 billion) to maintain the Rivet Joint program for the next 14 years, to the UK’s planned out-of-service date. Credit: Royal Air Force

In July 2019, research and development center Tecnalia in Spain’s Basque region conducted tethered indoor test flights of the prototype of an unusual “drone of drones” design for an autonomous air taxi. Credit: Umiles

U.S. Capitol