Aerospace & Defense Roundup: Sep. 17

A400M

To better prepare to expand astronaut presence from low Earth orbit into deep space, NASA has reorganized the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and established a science definition team for the restart of lunar surface sorties. Credit: NASA

After 14 launches from New Zealand, Rocket Lab is close to staging its first Electron mission from U.S. soil, with the completion of a wet dress rehearsal at its new Wallops Island launch site, one of the final preflight milestones. Credit: Rocket Lab

Raytheon Technologies is on its way to cutting at least 15,000 employees in response to the company’s recent merger and the fallout from COVID-19, the aerospace and defense giant’s CEO told an investor conference, and likely more will occur. Credit: Raytheon Technologies

Turkish Aerospace (TUSAS) has begun weapon trials of its new twin-engine Aksungur medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system (UAS). In early September the company made public imagery of one of the Aksungur prototypes releasing a 500-lb.-class bomb fitted with a locally developed Teber guidance kit. Credit: Turkish Aerospace