Austrian aerospace parts and services provider FACC said March 25 that “a large part” of its staff is expected to apply for “short-term work” starting April 6, and that it will revise plans to ramp up a new Croatian factory, as well as suspend its dividend payment to shareholders for 2019.
Although F-35 Joint Strike Fighter test operations had to cease March 25 because of the novel coronavirus, the U.S. military has not seen “anything major” that would delay full-rate production, the Navy acquisition executive says.
The European Space Agency is reducing on-site personnel at its mission control center in Darmstadt, Germany, and switching some science missions into standby mode.
The European Space Agency is planning a public webcast on March 26 for astronauts to share their experience and techniques for living in confined spaces.
The Pentagon’s acquisition arm is tackling the military’s response to the novel coronavirus with a two-pronged approach: securing authorities for the defense industrial base to continue work while simultaneously supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a DOD official said.
The U.S. Space Force is looking forward to “voice recognizable” communications with the expected completion of the six-satellite Advanced Extremely High Frequency constellation.
Preparations for Rocket Lab’s next launch, a rideshare mission of small research satellites, have been suspended because of newly announced New Zealand government restrictions designed to limit the spread of the COVID-19 disease.
Using the International Space Station’s robot arm, ground controllers removed Bartolomeo, the recently launched European commercial external experiment platform, from the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule late March 24.
The four-way competition for a pair of National Security Space Launch (NSSL) contracts remains on track for award this year despite work restrictions stemming from concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, the U.S. Air Force said on March 24.
In the midst of shutdowns and work restrictions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, United Launch Alliance and the U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing at Cape Canaveral AFS here are preparing for the March 26 launch of an Atlas V rocket carrying the sixth and final member of the Air Force’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite network.
Startup Sabrewing Aircraft has postponed the public rollout of its Rhaegal unmanned cargo aircraft because of COVID-19 restrictions, but continues to work toward flying the hybrid-electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) prototype this year.
EPlane, an electronic marketplace startup for aviation aftermarket parts and MRO, announced March 24 that it landed $9 million in new funding from Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corp.
The U.S. Navy’s multibillion-dollar aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, has a certified flight deck and carrier air traffic control center (CATCC), making the warship eligible to qualify pilots.
CPI Aerostructures of Edgewood, New York, said March 24 it will remain open and operating after state officials branded it an “essential business” to keep going while Albany leaders otherwise roll out a shelter-in-place mandate for New York residents.
Following a warning last week of coming cutbacks—and on the heels of previously announced cost-saving goals months ago before the COVID-19 pandemic—major Tier 2 provider Triumph Group on March 24 said it will eliminate 500 staff and contractor jobs by May 1.
Piaggio Aerospace has extended the deadline for potential buyers to submit expressions of interest in the business from April 3 to May 4 because of the ongoing emergency caused by the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19, it said.
Nigeria’s air force is expecting to take delivery of its first of three JF-17 Thunder fighters from Pakistan next November as the African country bolsters its air arm against insurgent threats.
Spirit AeroSystems, Boeing’s provider of aerostructures and its largest supplier, on March 24 said it will halt work at its Wichita and Tulsa, Oklahoma, facilities after Boeing the day before announced a temporary shutdown of its Puget Sound facilities in Washington state.
Representatives from NASA’s Commercial Crew Program are joining the SpaceX investigation into why a Falcon 9 engine shut down early during launch last week, NASA said on March 23.
As the U.S. Marine Corps redesigns its force to meet the demands of the National Defense Strategy, the service will drastically reduce the number of F-35s in its squadrons by 37.5%.
