Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Sep. 28

The first production example of the Protector derivative of General Atomics’ SkyGuardian medium altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system has made its first flight. Protector UK1, which is ultimately destined for the UK Royal Air Force (RAF), took to the air from General Atomics’ (GA) facility in El Mirage, California, on Sept. 25. Credit: Ted Carlson/General Atomics

SH09, now AW09.

For a second time, the International Space Station’s (ISS) three crewmembers sequestered themselves in the orbiting science lab’s Russian segment this past weekend to help ground teams search for a small air leak. NASA has stressed that the leak poses no danger to the astronauts and cosmonauts onboard. Credit: NASA

A new assessment of radar data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express orbiter affirms a likely presence of subglacial liquid water with a hyper saline concentration at the Martian south pole.Credit: NASA

NATO’s Multinational Multirole Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF) is to receive a ninth Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) after Luxembourg increased its participation in the initiative. Credit: European Defence Agency

NASA seeks to spark the growth of commercial low Earth economic activity as well as test out a new toilet customized for future deep-space exploration with the planned launch of the 14th Northrop Grumman resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Credit: NASA

The Czech Republic has selected Rafael’s Spyder air defense system to meet the country’s short-medium range ground-based air defense requirement. Announcing the selection of the Israeli system on Sept. 25, Prague says it has begun negotiations with Israel for the procurement of the system, which has a budget of CZK10 billion ($430 million). Credit: Ereshkigal1

Airbus’ second attempt at flying its Zephyr solar-powered high-altitude pseudo satellite from its test site in Wyndham, Western Australia, ended in failure after encountering turbulent air and breaking up, an Australian accident probe has concluded. Credit: Airbus

If you could design a new fighter force, what would it be like? Answering that question is basically the job description right now for Will Roper, the assistant secretary of the U.S. Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics. For the first time since the late 1990s, the U.S. Air Force is dreaming up a new fighter capability, and the dreamer-in-chief at the moment is Roper, who has a somewhat incongruent background as an Oxford-trained string theory physicist. Credit: U.S. Air Force