Defense

By Mark Carreau
In a first for a U.S. spacecraft at the International Space Station, SpaceX’s Crew-1 Dragon and its four-member crew swapped docking ports early April 5 to prepare for an upcoming crew exchange and provide a parking spot for a resupply version of the Dragon.
Space

By Matthew Jouppi
The U.S. should account for an advanced adversary when making decisions about its future fighter force.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
NASA’s 4-lb. Ingenuity helicopter has reached its test airfield on Mars in preparation for the first attempt at powered flight beyond Earth.
Space

By Mark Carreau
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program plans to observe another milestone early April 5, as the $8.5 billion initiative to provide the U.S. with a means of transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station marks its 10th anniversary.
Space

By Graham Warwick
As it works to accelerate the establishment of a U.S. advanced air mobility industry by identifying early military procurement opportunities for such vehicles, potential applications being investigated by the U.S. Air Force’s Agility Prime program include personnel recovery and other special operations.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Irene Klotz
As China prepares to launch the first module of a new space station in low Earth orbit, Russia says it is open to potential cooperation on the project.
Space

By Lee Hudson
The U.S. Space Force is in need of additional intelligence analysts as U.S. adversaries’ space capabilities continue to grow and is working toward establishing a National Space Intelligence Center by January 2022.
Space

By Steve Trimble
The company that supplies MH-6M and MH-47G helicopters to SOCOM’s army aviation component declined to directly answer a query by Aerospace DAILY about interest in Armed Overwatch, but left open the possibility of submitting a bid for the 76-aircraft order.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
A top U.S. Air Force commander on April 1 said the Army’s plan to deploy ground-launched, hypersonic missiles in the Pacific theater is “stupid,” throwing gasoline on a largely behind-the-scenes turf fight raging inside the Pentagon over budgetary resources for long-range strike programs.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Michael Bruno
Vaya Space, a Cocoa, Florida, space startup formerly known as Rocket Crafters, on March 31 announced its entrance into the small satellite launching marketplace for launches of up to 1 ton to low Earth orbit starting in 2023.
Commercial Space

Today’s UK defense cuts will enable long-term investments, but the strategy is not risk-free.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Tony Osborne
Advanced electronic warfare and avionic software developments are key features of Saab’s next-generation Gripen.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aerospace

By Maksim Pyadushkin
China has boosted its high-resolution Earth observation capabilities with the launch of another Gaofen 12 satellite.
Space

By Michael Bruno
Fresh off its declaration that it was becoming a space-based weather service provider, ClimaCell has revealed its financing for getting there.
Commercial Space

By Michael Bruno
AST Spacemobile, the new publicly traded version of nanosatellite startup AST & Science of Midland, Texas, should emerge from its reverse-merger with a special purpose acquisition company on April 6 sporting around $462 million.
Commercial Space

The Embraer KC-390 is now qualified to refuel another KC-390 in-flight for the Brazilian air force, the manufacturer said April 1. Boom-equipped air
Aircraft & Propulsion

BOEING was not selected by Canada as bidder to offer KC-46 as replacement for RCAF A310MRTT (CC-150 Polaris) fleet.
Defense

By Tony Osborne
The UK Royal Air Force has disbanded the squadron flying its Raytheon Sentinel wide-area surveillance aircraft, ending the type’s service career.
Aircraft & Propulsion

AIRBUS was qualified as a bidder for Canada's Strategic Tanker Transport Capability (STTC) project to offer A330MRTTs as replacement for Royal
Defense

ELBIT SYSTEMS has acquired BAE SYSTEMS ROKAR, Israel (GPS receivers/guidance systems) from BAE Systems.
Defense

BOEING has $1.7b US Navy contract for 11 more P-8As (737NGs) for delivery by September 2024 to Navy (9) and RAAF (2).
Defense

By Tony Osborne
European missile manufacturer MBDA says it will scale back spending on Germany’s Tactical Air Defense System (TLVS) after a government review of ground-based air defenses prioritized a requirement for short-range air defense and upgrades to the country’s existing Patriot systems.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Bill Carey
NASA estimates the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the agency’s major programs through fiscal 2020 and beyond at nearly $3 billion.
Space

By Michael Bruno
Area-I’s offerings include its Altius UAV, whose current customers include the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Special Operations Command and NASA.
Supply Chain