Aerospace & Defense Roundup: September 02

Leonardo’s Osprey flat-panel active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar has been adopted for use by Canada’s National Aerial Surveillance Program (NASP) to patrol the country’s vast coastline. Credit: De Havilland Aircraft of Canada

The Japanese Ministry of Defense has requested billions of yen to study and develop both defensive and offensive capabilities in the unmanned, hypersonic, electronic warfare and space domains. The proposals are part of a record JPY5.48 trillion ($49.9 billion) defense budget and are targeted at emerging aerial and surface threats from China and North Korea. Credit: USAF Senior Airman Kyle Johnson

LG Chem, South Korea’s largest chemical company, plans to build the country’s first plant producing biodiesel and sustainable aviation fuel from vegetable oils. The plant is planned to be operational in Daesan by 2024 under a joint venture with South Korean biodiesel producer Dansuk Industrial. Credit: Korean Air

Just weeks after announcing a successful demonstration of their combined products and services for U.S. military and intelligence customers, big-data analytics disruptor Palantir Technologies said it will invest in BlackSky, a startup with a burgeoning constellation of imaging satellites and its own data analytics service. Credit: BlackSky

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and local members of Congress spoke to the crew aboard the International Space Station Sept. 2, discussing the ISS and the agency’s efforts to return to the Moon. Credit: U.S. Government

Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket exploded less than 2 min. after liftoff on Sept. 2, ending a debut flight test some 10 years in the making. The 97.6-ft.-tall Alpha booster, powered by a quartet of liquid oxygen- and kerosene-fueled Reaver engines, lifted off from Vandenberg’s Space Launch Complex-2 at 6:59 p.m. local time/9:59 p.m. EDT. An initial launch attempt 59 min. earlier was aborted less than 30 sec. before liftoff due to an unidentified technical issue. Credit: Matthew C. Hartman

Oil and gas support helicopter operator CHC says it has completed the acquisition of Babcock’s offshore helicopters business, even though the transaction is still awaiting approvals from competition watchdogs in Australia and the UK. Credit: Andy Buchanan / AFP / Getty Images

Japan’s SoftBank and its subsidiary HAPSMobile are developing new, high-capacity communications systems as they prepare to launch commercial services providing connectivity from the stratosphere using long-endurance unmanned aircraft. Credit: HAPSMobile

Hawk T2

Boeing has delivered the last of a 16-year run of F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Block II fighters, the company announced Sept. 2 on Twitter. The company delivered the fighter, bound for the Kuwait Air Force, to the U.S. Navy, which will make the final transfer to the international customer. Credit: Boeing

Spirit AeroSystems, Boeing’s largest supplier, celebrated the opening of its state-of-the-art Global Digital Logistics Center on Sept. 2, which Spirit says puts it years ahead of the competition. Credit: Spirit AeroSystems

The House Armed Services Committee has approved a bill to authorize spending $778 billion for U.S. defense efforts in fiscal 2022, increasing by about 3% the amount it had initially sought. Credit: DOD

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has restarted production of several major structural assemblies to support new Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70/72 deliveries. Credit: IAI

The Federal Aviation Administration said it is investigating a deviation in the flightpath cleared for the descent of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Unity to Spaceport America in New Mexico, following its suborbital flight with Richard Branson and five employees aboard on July 11. Credit: Virgin Galactic