Defense

By Irene Klotz, Jen DiMascio
“This is the first powered flight on another planet. Let that blow your mind for a minute.”
Space

By Lee Hudson
There are mixed opinions among the services on how to make the fifth-generation fighter affordable.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
The Netherlands has temporarily halted operations with its Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighter fleet over concerns about engine wear.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Jen DiMascio
The first MH-60R helicopter for the Indian Navy flew for the first time in Owego, New York, where Sikorsky is producing the aircraft, U.S. Naval Air Systems Command said in a tweet.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Tony Osborne
Turkey’s Roketsan has developed a new glide bomb to be used with the Baykar Makina’s Akinci twin-engine medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned air system.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Lee Hudson
The F-35 program is facing 3% cost growth of the F135 engine in Lot 15 because of Turkey’s ouster from the program.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
Satellite manufacturer Airbus Defense and Space has committed to one launch and an undisclosed number of optional launches with Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum micro-launcher.
Commercial Space

By Irene Klotz
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter added 51.9 sec. of flight time during a second demonstration of controlled powered flight on Mars.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Qatar’s air force is to become the second military customer for Pilatus’ PC-24 business jet, the Swiss manufacturer has revealed.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Space situational awareness startup LeoLabs has declared its fourth space radar site fully operational in Costa Rica.
Commercial Space

By Graham Warwick
UK startup Satellite Vu has raised £3.6 million ($5 million) in seed funding to begin building a thermal-imaging satellite constellation that will be able to measure the energy efficiency of any building in the world from low Earth orbit.
Commercial Space

By Mark Carreau
Celebrated as the first person to sequence DNA in space, NASA astronaut Kate Rubins returned from her second voyage to the International Space Station (ISS) April 17 having helped to advance the far-reaching technology and eager to see it become part of future human expeditions to the Moon and Mars.
Space

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. military has pushed launch of the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) into fiscal 2023 at the request of a rideshare partner.
Space

By Tony Osborne
European industry is finally within reach of beginning development on a MALE UAS to compete with offerings from U.S. and Israel.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Jen DiMascio
General warns of Chinese space prototype; U.S. Army wants FVL upgrades; Singapore’s new operational tanker; and T-7 aft fuselage arrives.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Jen DiMascio
Bill Nelson, a former Democratic senator from Florida, soared through a hearing on his nomination to become the next NASA administrator before a Senate committee he once helped to lead.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Virgin Orbit has signed a six-flight contract to deliver a constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites being developed by Qinetiq and HyperSat into low Earth orbit.
Space

By Irene Klotz
While it supports NASA’s ongoing Mars helicopter test campaign, the rover Perseverance on April 20 completed its first run of another technology demonstration, successfully converting some of the planet’s carbon dioxide atmosphere into oxygen.
Space

By Thierry Dubois
Airbus’ OneSat new-generation satellite program is ready to enter the production phase, says Francois Gaullier, head of Airbus Telecom Systems.
Commercial Space

By Lee Hudson
As the U.S. Space Force plans to establish a Space Systems Command this summer, service leadership is already rallying Congress to alter the new command’s reporting structure for two important offices—the Space Development Agency and the Space Rapid Capabilities Office.
Space

By Irene Klotz
Technicians have removed the Space Launch System core stage from its test stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi in preparation for a weeklong trip to Kennedy Space Center, NASA said on April 21.
Space

By Tony Osborne
Kopter Group’s SH09 single-engine light helicopter has been rebranded the AW09 to reflect the aircraft’s entry into the product line of Leonardo Helicopters.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
High winds and rough seas downrange of Kennedy Space Center prompted NASA on April 21 to delay for one day the SpaceX Crew-2 launch to the International Space Station, with liftoff now targeted for 5:49 a.m. EDT on April 23.
Space

By Steve Trimble
The M2DO configuration, which also includes retrofit plans, will help the MQ-9 fleet transition to a European Command mission in a potential standoff or conflict with Russia.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Thierry Dubois
While Ariane 6 is overcoming the last technical hurdles, reusability demonstration programs are making progress.
Space