Defense

By Garrett Reim
SpaceX joins race to connect mobile phones via low-Earth-orbit satellites.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
NASA has added five more missions to SpaceX’s crew transportation services contract, bringing the total value for 14 flights to $4.9 billion.
Commercial Space

By Tony Osborne
The Portuguese Air Force is acquiring six used Black Hawk helicopters to boost the country’s firefighting capability.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Mark Carreau
NASA and Axiom Space have signed a mission order for a second four-person private astronaut mission to the International Space Station (ISS), planned for the second quarter of 2023.
Commercial Space

By Garrett Reim
Royal Caribbean Group plans to start installing SpaceX’s Starlink satellite dishes aboard its cruise ships.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
Satellite-based hyperspectral imagery and data provider Pixxel expects to launch its first “commercial-phase” satellites in early 2023, followed by more later that year, representatives said in August while revealing the startup’s latest strategic backer, Accenture.
Commercial Space

By Garrett Reim
Sierra Space has signed a deal to use its Dream Chaser spaceplane in 2024 to deliver to the International Space Station a life sciences incubator made by German biotech company Yuri.
Space

By Steve Trimble
Saab will launch production of aft fuselage systems for a Boeing advanced trainer at a newly opened plant in West Lafayette, Indiana, under a $71.2 million contract, the Swedish manufacturer said on Aug. 31.
Aerospace

By Steve Trimble
The U.S. Air Force wants to set a new target for the annual operating costs of the Lockheed Martin F-35A.
Aircraft & Propulsion

Asia Pacific Staff
The Japanese Defense Ministry is asking for at least 5.59 trillion yen ($40.3 billion) in a budget request for 2023 announced Aug. 31.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Army has grounded its Boeing H-47 Chinook fleet following a small number of engine fires that OEM Honeywell says is connected with the installation of problematic O-rings during service-performed depot maintenance.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Jen DiMascio
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Ursa Major a $3.6 million contract to develop a rocket engine for the booster and upper stages of satellite launches to low Earth orbit by year’s end. The U.S. Air Force Tactical Funding Increase program to boost relationships with startup companies was seeking a flight-qualified 5,000-lb. oxygen-rich staged-combustion engine.
Space

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Ursa Major a $3.6 million contract to develop a rocket engine for the booster and upper stages of satellite launches to low Earth orbit by year’s end. The U.S. Air Force Tactical Funding Increase program to boost relationships with startup companies was seeking a flight-qualified 5,000-lb. oxygen-rich staged-combustion engine.
Space

By Chen Chuanren
The Republic of Singapore Air Force Next Generation Fighter Office says despite the fact that it has already ordered an initial batch of four F-35Bs with an option for eight more, the service has not ruled out the possibility of purchasing F-35As as well.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Chen Chuanren
This is Germany’s first overseas fighter deployment to the region following a shift in focus to the Indo-Asia Pacific by Berlin.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Chen Chuanren
A number of UK Royal Air Force, U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy crewmembers are currently attached to the Royal Australian Air Force’s Boeing E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning aircraft unit, as the two air forces await delivery of their own E-7s.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Garrett Reim
Outpost Technologies has raised a $7.1 million seed round to develop satellite re-entry and recovery technology.
Commercial Space

By Tony Osborne
Plans for a third round of flight testing to support F-35 operations from the UK’s two new aircraft carriers are facing delays after the HMS Prince of Wales developed technical problems shortly after leaving port.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Steve Trimble
BAE Systems has started upgrading the mission crew stations on three Boeing P-8A Poseidons under a U.S. Navy contract.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Tony Osborne
Saab has carried out the first firing of an MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile from its Gripen E combat aircraft as the type moves toward service entry.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Sweden has moved to the margins of the UK-led Tempest Future Combat Air System as it waits to better understand how the other partners will establish the program, Saab CEO Micael Johansson says.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Saab CEO Micael Johansson says the company’s Gripen fighter has faced an uphill struggle against security politics as it attempts to regain a foothold in the international fighter market.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The Air Combat Command Federal Laboratory installed and flew a new application on the F-22 within 60 days of writing the first software line of code.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Tony Osborne
Ukrainian Air Force footage shows AGM-88 missiles fitted to one of its MiG-29s.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Tony Osborne
The arrangement frees up Slovak MiG-29 for potential transfer to Ukraine.
Aircraft & Propulsion