Aviation Week & Space Technology

Ashton Carter’s Defense Innovation Unit, Experimental, is quite small and has no budget to speak of.

Bomber lobby lays the groundwork for the kind of attack on its budget now threatening the F-35; new space bill allows citizens to mine the Moon for its water ice.

Commercial space bill nears final passage; Middle East nations seek precision weapons; DHS pledges new security enhancements; and Ex-Im Bank reauthorization takes another step forward.

NASA delays its CRS-2 contract, again. Italy is in line to become the next nation with armed Reapers. The FAA scrambles to create a UAV registration system. And the Ex-Im bank bill nears final passage.

The situation with Bombardier’s C Series could have been far worse.

This has nothing to do with market access and everything to do with sidestepping strong labor laws.

Boehner departure allows budget deal, new Speaker Ryan brings hope of end to fiscal cliffhangers; Ex-Im Bank reauthorization awaits Senate action.

There has been no methodical effort to assess the actual risks UAS present to other air traffic.

F-35 official hints Canada’s suppliers could lose work if it opts out of the program; FCC proposes rules that could enable 5G wireless service; foreign investment in aerospace is rising.

House to vote on Ex-Im Bank at last. Army studies Russian UAV ops in Ukraine. NASA plans for a return to the Moon in the long run. And the State Department prepares to sell Black Hawks to Saudi Arabia.

ICAO responded with a task force, which created a website — hardly a determined effort.

U.S. experts on Russian actions in Syria; FAA prepares big penalty for wayward UAV; over-cost defense programs face fines.

Failing to reauthorize the U.S. Ex-Im Bank amounts to unilateral disarmament.

A two-year budget agreement that would fund the Pentagon, FAA and NASA and reauthorize the Export-Import Bank.

Without a new spending bill by Sept. 30, the U.S. government could be forced to shut down.

What is a ‘real’ operational test, anyway; NASA doubts Orbital can meet its schedule for returning Antares to flight and Japan may lift restrictions on daytime flights to the U.S.

Many airlines want the lowest maintenance cost possible, but also wish to retain full flexibility.

Defense officials need to do more than sound like an abusive partner returning to his lover (“Baby, it will be different this time”).

If the consequences of a collision with a UAS could be detailed, that could be a powerful disincentive to irresponsible behavior.

Directed energy an MDA priority; states filling void on UAV rules; FAA modernizes rules for amateur rockets and increased costs for a GPS system.

Slowing the rapid rate of growth of the Commercial Crew program is not a “cut,” but President Obama’s low-ball budget requests for Orion and the Space Launch System are.

Budget experts begin to worry about a potential government shutdown; the FAA disputes method of finding control tower inefficiencies; and NASA tells lawmakers it is tough on Space X.

With the current strategy, it could take 20 years to find wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines 777-200ER.

The Air Force is sending F-22s to Europe, airline pilots prepare for a stopgap FAA bill, Pakistan is making 20 nuclear weapons a year and a blunt solution to unwanted drone flights.

If the FAA can’t keep UAVs away from airports, maybe Congress can. The Pentagon plans more UAV patrols. Air Line pilots prepare for a decision on open skies, and Democrats plead for budget talks.