Aerospace

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

FAA okay to re-start deliveries ends a long saga, but now Boeing has a new problem to worry about. Listen in as our specialists break down the situation—and the numbers.

To list an event, send information in calendar format to Carole Rickard Hedden at [email protected].

Zipline has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to help implement “m:N operations” in which a small number of humans manage many autonomous drones or air taxis in U.S. airspace.

Since advanced air mobility initiatives took shape with the first Uber Elevate Summit, among the distinctions has been pressure for fast-paced development and certification, with promises of air taxis transporting Summer Olympics attendees as early as 2024 in Paris.

Blue Canyon Technologies has opened a new cubesat factory in Boulder, Colorado, that will increase its annual production capacity from 50 to 85 satellites.

Xona Space Systems has received an undisclosed investment from Lockheed Martin Ventures to fund development of a private low Earth orbit global navigation satellite system.

Proposed new federal legislation would renew the legal authorities already granted to U.S. agencies to protect critical infrastructure and events against rogue drones and empower the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to “proactively” prevent drone incursions at airports.

HOWMET AEROSPACE had $147m net income on $1.4b sales in 2Q22 vs $74m on $1.2b in 2Q21.

VELO3D has Starhagen order for additive manufacturing technology solution, including Sapphire printer calibrated to print in Inconel 625.

DUCOMMUN had $4.1m net income on $174.2m revenues in 2Q22 and ended quarter with record $976m backlog.

Nathan Dickstein to Managing Director and Head of Aerospace Opportunities Fund of AE Industrial Partners, Boca Raton, FL.

AGILITY acquired UK-based MENZIES AVIATION (aviation services) for £763m and will combine company with NATIONAL AVIATION SERVICES.

EMBRAER had $74.2m net income on $1b revenues in 2Q22 vs $87.9m net income on $1.1b in 2Q21 and ended quarter with $17.8b backlog (up 12% vs a year

ROLLS-ROYCE CIVIL AEROSPACE earned £256m on £2.3b revenues in 1H22 vs £380m on £2.2b in 1H21; it delivered 149 engines vs 148 a year ago and says its

TRM EQUITY II acquired WELLMAN DYNAMICS, IA (large scale, complex magnesium and aluminum castings).

PROTOTEK HOLDINGS acquired PROTOTYPE SOLUTIONS GROUP (PSG), WI, which provides quick-turn prototyping in CNC, additive and cast manufacturing.

Blue Origin’s sixth crewed New Shepard suborbital mission took off early Aug. 4 from the company’s flight operations center in West Texas.

The engine-maker reported a net loss for the first half of 2022.

Southwest says it does not expect any 737-7 deliveries until next year, raising questions about the model’s certification progress.

Spirit AeroSystems says it has solved one of the problems limiting the Pentagon’s ability to scale-up hypersonic weapon production.

Airlines are angry about an FAA proposal to address the risk of interference from new 5G wireless towers in the U.S.

Autonomous advanced air mobility vehicles offer a solution to minimizing the environmental impact of wildfires, panelists told a White House-sponsored AAM conference Aug. 3.

Momentus’s Vigoride-3 deployed four additional satellites to low Earth orbit in July as the company works through anomalies discovered shortly after launching the space tug in May.

The EU’s push for advanced air mobility has given rise to AiRMOUR, a project designed to develop tools that will help urban planners, cities, first responders, airports and ground services, and AAM vehicle operators establish emergency medical services.