Defense

A test of the Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply capsule’s ability to raise the orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) while docked to it was aborted quickly June 20.

Canada will spend CAN$4.9 billion ($3.8 billion) over the next six years to upgrade the radar system that defends North America.

The U.S. Air Force has announced it wants to rapidly build and begin flying Boeing’s E-7A Wedgetail to replace its beleaguered E-3 Sentry AWACS fleet,

Globalstar’s FM-15 spare satellite successfully reached low-Earth orbit after launching aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

The U.S. Air Force is close to selecting a new helmet for its fixed-wing aircrew, based on studies that have identified problems with injuries and the integration of new technology on the current 1980s-designed model.

Boeing has redesigned components of the T-7A Red Hawk trainer aircraft after tests showed how a bird strike against the cockpit canopy would endanger the pilot.

China’s People’s Liberation Army has performed a ballistic-missile defense test, hitting a missile in its mid-course phase.

Space remains popular. But everything moves faster in a vacuum, including cash burn.

Trials will measure ability to handle applications such as a long-range artillery shell and a Mach 4 air-launched missile.

SpaceX kicked off a trio of launches planned for June 17-19 by sending another bank of Starlink satellites into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 booster making its13th flight, a new company record.

Three months after emerging from so-called stealth mode, Impulse Space Propulsion, an in-orbit transfer services company founded by SpaceX co-founder Tom Mueller, has added $10 million to its initial fundraising. Lux Capital, a venture capital firm focused on emerging science and technology ventures that is familiar to aerospace startups, is investing in Impulse, bringing the latter’s total raised to date to $30 million.

Velo3D has unveiled the Sapphire XC 1MZ, a 3D printer that can make aerospace parts up to 1 m in height.

SpaceX is to loft the first of three new synthetic aperture radar satellites into orbit for the German Defense Ministry on June 18.

The International Space Station (ISS) executed a June 16 debris avoidance maneuver prompted by the predicted close approach of a fragment from last year’s Russian anti-satellite (ASAT) test.

NASA has reassigned astronaut Sunita Williams to the upcoming Crew Flight Test (CFT) of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, replacing Michael Fincke.

Slovakia has revealed the donation of helicopters to Ukraine as part of a new round of arms transfers.

The highly anticipated event took place on June 17 at Jiangnan Shipyard near Shanghai.

The flight, which marked the first time Roc had flown at altitudes required for effective launch trajectories of Stratolaunch’s Talon-A hypersonic test vehicle, lasted just over three hours.

U.S. Air Force pilots could return to the electronic attack mission under a unique plan proposed by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has recommended adding $45 billion to President Biden’s request of $813 billion for national defense in its 2023 defense policy bill to speed implementation of the National Defense Strategy and account for rising inflation.

Romania’s government has approved a draft law that paves the way for the expansion of the country’s fleet of F-16 combat aircraft.

Sceye’s high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) airship recently reached the stratosphere and demonstrated the ability “to stay over an area of operation and maintain a constant float altitude.”

Jordan has signed an agreement with the U.S. government to buy eight GE Aviation F110-powered Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70s, the company said June 16.

Boeing has been fielding increasing interest abroad in its KC-46A tanker, although several nations are inquiring about the aircraft’s ability to carry cargo, not fuel.

A collaboration between Astrobotic and WiBotic has successfully advanced a wireless charging system capable of providing power throughout a simulated 14-day lunar night with its thermal and other environmental extremes.