After a perplexing delay of nearly two years, NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) spacecraft is poised to launch late Oct. 9 on a Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (NGIS) Pegasus XL rocket carried aloft by the company’s L-1011 Stargazer aircraft from Cape Canaveral.
House Dem Warns Against U.S. Open Skies Withdrawal
Credit: Rep. Eliot Engel: U.S. Congress
A senior House Democrat has warned that U.S. withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty would only benefit Russia and be harmful to allies, partners and national security interests.
The UK government appears to be moving toward a goal of exiting the European Union (EU) without an agreement on Oct. 31. A no-deal exit has been described as a potential nightmare scenario for aerospace and British industry in general.
In a ceremony at Dassault Aviation’s Bordeaux, France, factory, the government of India on Oct. 8 officially received the first of 36 Rafale fighters it ordered from France under a 2016 intergovernmental agreement.
Finland Caps Future Fighter Procurement Budget At €10B
Finland has capped the procurement budget for its HX future fighter program at €10 billion ($10.95 billion) and will allow tenders to offer fewer than the specified 64 aircraft.
Elbit Systems Ltd. has been awarded a $153 million contract to supply battlefield and medium-altitude drones to “an Army of a country in Southeast Asia,” possibly Vietnam.
Spanish defense electronics firm Indra has taken the lead in a European project to develop technologies for the traffic management of unmanned air systems.
Swiss helicopter manufacturer Kopter says it has restarted flight tests of its third prototype SH09 single-engine light helicopter with a new, improved gearbox.
