Aviation Week & Space Technology

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

International planning group envisions human missions to the Moon’s Aitkin Basin, supported by NASA’s Deep Space Gateway.

Beijing could add two or three modules to the planned three-node station if enough countries express interest.

In this week's Washington Outlook: Rand report looks at ways to stop proliferation of the world’s fastest weapons; filling top civilian jobs at Pentagon taking longer; Boeing under pressure.

Orbital ATK’s sale to Northrop Grumman may—or may not—be the end of an era, but it definitely is for one person.

Electronics miniaturization coupled with propulsion and airframe upgrades are making smaller unmanned aircraft increasing capable in a widening range of roles.

China’s commercial aircraft builder, Comac, was obviously not ready for flight testing when it flew the C919 for the first time in May.

How many ARJ21s will finally be built remains a matter of speculation, although the manufacturer is planning to deliver the 67th unit by the end of 2020.

DARPA taps Reaction Engines to conduct high-temperature testing of the precooler technology for its proposed hypersonic air-breathing, Sabre rocket concept.

Beyond the KX-46A’s boom unexpectedly extending while fuel is flowing, it could scratch the receiver aircraft; high-frequency radios are also sparking concern.

Erickson has hired Doug Kitani as chief executive officer/director. Christopher J. Davis has been named president of Raytheon International.

Congress may push back on Trump’s Air Force One cost-cutting plan, the Kiowa Warrior’s last flight for the U.S. Army, Raytheon radar clears third test, and Indonesia takes delivery of Airbus helicopters.

From U.S. Air Force generals to Chinese civil authorities, the push is on to find more pilots. Aviation Week editors discuss.

The service asks airmen to take on more responsibility in an unconventional fight.

Its satellites can connect from spot-beam to spot-beam and deliver full-motion video to small UAVs.

Airbus believes its aggressive industrial strategy in China helps with aircraft sales. Others are taking a different approach.

The Israeli defense ministry’s advanced technology department is developing wide-area surveillance UAVs, new ways to pick targets out of a crowd and a system of a thousand scattered sensors.

General Electric’s advanced inverter could be a precursor to viable hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion.

Boeing thinks the answer is a “win-win” for both its capacity-pressed production system and its airline customers in China.

Russia probably won't detach new module from ISS to form part of new space station.

Prime, OEM and Tier 1 aerospace and defense players are buying major rivals, answering the question of how they will grow in the near- and mid-term.

Air Canada and WestJet Airlines to prepare for new peers planning to offer unbundled products.

Development has taken longer than expected, but engine testing is an important milestone in realizing Paul Allen’s new space vision.

The service considers contracting out initial pilot training to universities and private companies.

In this week’s Washington Outlook: Continued delays could impact precision weapons buys, T-X contract award, new nominees to the Export-Import Bank and the fate of the Space Corps.