Defense

Another lunar buggy contender is emerging, this time with an autonomous explorer angle: Lunar Outpost on May 24 unveiled a $12 million seed round, promising a new class of autonomous Moon rovers.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station secured hatches between Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner and the seven-person orbital laboratory May 24, preparing the uncrewed capsule for departure and a return to Earth at White Sands, New Mexico, weather permitting.

The U.S. Navy will select a mission integrator in fiscal 2023 to convert the Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 airlifter into the next Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO) platform.

The U.S. Space Force’s Space Rapid Capabilities Office has awarded BlueHalo a $1.4 billion contract to increase the capacity of the Satellite Control Network as the service projects an increase in demand.

BRAZILIAN AIR FORCE is expected to further reduce its KC-390 order from 22 to 15; original order was for 28.

A potential electronic warfare add-on for the Lockheed Martin F-35 could originate from the Saab Gripen fighter.

There are three broad scenarios for Russia’s future and supply chain considerations for the West.

France and Spain have committed to an upgrade that will keep Airbus’ Tiger relevant until the 2050s. However, Germany has yet to follow.

The Outpost Mars Demo-1 payload, an on-orbit metal cutting robotic arm, is being prepared to launch aboard SpaceX’s Transporter 5 rideshare flight on May 25.

Kaman is to acquire the aircraft wheel and brake business of Parker Hannifin, enabling Parker to proceed with its acquisition of UK-based Meggitt.

Opening a window into internal decision-making over the final requirements for a new interceptor against hypersonic missiles, the head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has cited the significance of, in fact, an actual window.

Boeing’s automated Orbital Flight Test-2 (OFT-2) Starliner has delivered some NASA spacesuit water absorption pads to the International Space Station to help address a worrisome helmet leak experienced by European Space Agency astronaut Matthais Maurer at the conclusion of a March 23 spacewalk.

More than 20 nations announced new packages of military aid for Ukraine following a meeting of more than 40 countries on May 23, the Pentagon announced.

Honeywell is developing a suite of alternative navigation technologies to combat increasing disruption of GPS signals, intentional and unintentional, with the first products planned to be on the market in 2023.

The EU is concerned that member states are not coordinating their procurements, leading to further fragmentation of the defense industry.

Airbus has received a U.S. Army contract worth potentially more than $1.5 billion to provide logistics support to the UH-72A/B Lakota fleet over the next 5 years, the company said on May 23.

The crew of the International Space Station (ISS) continues to check out Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner following its suspenseful rendezvous and docking on May 20.

NEXT experiments could create path for military service follow-on constellations.

Boeing’s uncrewed CST-100 Starliner executed a successful autonomous docking to the U.S. segment of the International Space Station (ISS) as scheduled on May 20.

The U.S. Navy has revealed interest in developing a new air-launched mine.

The U.S. Air Force’s first F-35A wing in the Pacific reached its full complement of aircraft this week, as the second U.S. Marine Corps F-35B squadron reached full operational capability in Japan.

GE Aviation will need to build up to 467 T901 engines during the first years of production.

A spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev outside the International Space Station (ISS) that was planned for May 19 has been postponed due to issues with the European Robotic Arm.

Airbus Helicopters plans to produce three prototypes to support development of the Tiger attack helicopter mid-life upgrade.

Russian Helicopters is preparing to replace Western-made engines on its products, with plans to test domestic powerplants on the Kamov Ka-226 and Ka-62 and Kazan Ansat as soon as 2023.