This week’s Washington Outlook: Virginia statesman praises Clinton; debate on reorganizing military space; and FAA probes Santa Monica’s airport closure plan.
There is growing interest in the idea of a “Moon village” on the lunar surface, and the FAA is willing to act as a sort of virtual cooperative for potential lunar villagers.
Sierra Nevada Corp. and the UN have signed an agreement to develop an unmanned mission to take experiments supplied by developing nations to orbit on the company’s Dream Chaser spacecraft.
A Philippines tender for light attack aircraft, covering an initial six units, is expected soon. Another batch of six to 12 aircraft should follow delivery of the first batch.
Lockheed Martin and European missile manufacturer MBDA have submitted their proposal to use the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) to meet the needs of Germany’s TLVS program.
An upgrade program for six Leonardo-Finmeccanica Super Lynx helicopters of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) is emerging as a likely alternative to a stalled program to buy six new anti-submarine rotorcraft.
The goal is to network the combat air forces so that F-35s and F-22s can rapidly share information with fourth-generation jets. But the stovepiped communications architecture of days past complicates this picture.
AeroVironment’s Blackwing lets a submarine control unmanned underwater vehicles; Lockheed Martin’s Vector Hawk launches from a UUV; and General Atomics’ Predator flies pod that extends data-link networks—UAS show potential to bridge combat domains.
The U.S. Navy’s MIDS-JTRS terminal and tactical targeting networking technology waveform could equally support the Air Force’s future airborne networking architecture, defense companies believe.
In this week’s roundup, the U.S. Navy awards the first of two MQ-25 Stingray contracts; Europe takes another step toward a combat UAV; UK Defense Ministry backs space-based manufacturing; and Draken International helps the Japanese test a surface-to-air missile.
NASA is contemplating more long-duration visits to the International Space Station, including some by women, to collect data for eventual human missions to Mars.
Training systems for Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, which the aerospace giant plans to use to launch International Space Station crews, are coming together at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Facing an increasingly contested battlespace, Air Mobility Command is looking for follow-on tankers—even stealthy ones—and wants a survivable new tanker to escort fighters and bombers into conflicts.
While everything still hinges on the precooler technology of Reaction Engines’ Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE), the Air Force Research Laboratory sees huge potential for the propulsion concept
As fifth-generation aircraft like the F-35 begin to come online, bringing with them advanced sensors and data fusion capability, the U.S. Air Force is struggling to build a battlefield communications network that will allow fighter jets of different generations to share a common picture.
India is working toward building an SCE-200 semi-cryogenic liquid oxygen/kerosene engine to power advanced mega space launchers aimed at significantly lowering the cost of its space missions.
The FAA is studying with other government agencies and the U.S. Strategic Command the potential launch of a “pilot program” to take over aspects of space traffic management duties which have been performed solely by the military since the start of the Space Age.
NASA’s Osiris-Rex asteroid sample return mission spacecraft has successfully concluded a week-long checkout of a half dozen primary science and navigational instruments.
