Defense and Space

The U.S. military’s top test facilities for hypersonic weapons are facing issues with equipment reliability and parts obsolescence.

Momentus’ Vigoride-5 space tug has raised its orbit using its microwave electrothermal thruster, a propulsion system that uses distilled water as a propellant.

President Vladimir Putin described the Kinzhal as the “most important” of the six modern weapon systems he revealed in a Kremlin speech on March 1, 2018.

While much of NASA’s future human exploration focus falls toward deep space, the agency is not turning its back on low Earth orbit.

Transcend Air has partnered with Israel Aerospace Industries’ North American operation to develop military applications for its planned Vy family of VTOLs.

Virgin Galactic plans to return to space later this month with a fully crewed test flight of the refurbished SpaceShipTwo spaceplane VSS Unity.

The first Airbus C295 destined for the Indian Air Force has conducted its first flight over Seville, Spain.

China’s secretive “reusable test spacecraft” returned to Earth on May 8 after 276 days in orbit, state media Xinhua has reported.

Polish defense prime Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa is eager to participate in South Korea’s KF-21 fighter program.

The rocket-engine-maker mulls next-gen propulsion plans as certification tests of the new-build RS-25 reach the halfway point.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon switched ISS docking ports May 6 to make room for Axiom Space’s second private astronaut mission and a later a SpaceX cargo mission.

The first intercept of a hypersonic Kinzhal comes less than three weeks after the first donated German Patriot battery was delivered to Ukraine.

Lockheed Martin Space will reorganize itself around 3 focus areas: commercial civil space, national security space and strategic and missile defense systems.

European missile manufacturer MBDA has conducted the first Common Anti-Air Modular Missile-Extended Range (CAMM-ER) missile firings.

Test and development of smaller Bantam engines has been underway for around a decade.

Satellite launch startup Orbex has begun construction of its spaceport on the north coast of mainland Scotland.

Singapore has confirmed that it will be equipping its upgraded stealth frigates with the Proteus Blue Spear surface-to-surface missile.

Solid demand in the company’s aerospace & defense and commercial markets helped new orders climb 13% to $718 million.

Korea Aerospace Industries has unveiled two new series of autonomous uncrewed aircraft systems at the Republic of Korea Air Force Aerospace Conference in Seoul.

The first all-new RS-25 built in over 15 years incorporates improvements Aerojet introduced into the refurbished former space shuttle RS-25s for SLS flights.

As the Army considers the CH-47F Block II production plan, Boeing expects more congressional additions and pitches more upgrades.

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

The aircraft, named Kaan by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is one of the centerpieces of an ongoing effort to make the country a major defense exporter.

A rare tour of GE’s test chamber for adaptive engines highlights the reality of the new technologies as the company tries to save the program from cancellation.

Saab unveiled a modified version of the GlobalEye AEW aircraft, at the South Korean Air Force’s Aerospace Conference 2023 on May 2.