Program Management

NASA has agreed to conduct an assessment of the probabilities of meeting cost and launch schedule estimates for the James Webb Space Telescope by late September.

SINGAPORE/FRANKFURT—China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CAS) has signed a General Terms Agreement (GTA) with Airbus for 290 A320 family aircraft and 10 A350s in one of Airbus’ biggest deals for its narrowbody aircraft.

Within the next six months, Lockheed Martin plans to launch a cubesat mission to demo a software-defined sat architecture that will allow a spacecraft to change missions while on orbit.

The USAF, Marine Corps, Navy and National Nuclear Security Administration have all submitted fiscal 2020 unfunded priorities lists to Congress.

U.S. Congress begins debating the Defense Department’s fiscal 2020 budget request.

NASA chief fires warning shot, orders study to assess launching Orion lunar flight test on commercial boosters.

DARPA plans to demonstrate a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system that can be assembled on orbit to expand U.S. operating presence in cislunar space.

OEMs and Tier 1s must be vigilant about lower-tier suppliers and a possible working capital crunch they could face in coming years.

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV delivered the USAF's 10th WGS satellite to geosynchronous orbit March 15 following a successful launch from Cape Canaveral.

With the first launch for a global broadband satellite network behind it, OneWeb has raised another $1.25 billion from investors.

Airbus has delivered to UK LCC easyJet the first A320 equipped for enhanced FANS-C data link communications, marking the start of a demonstration of sharing an aircraft’s predicted trajectory with air traffic control (ATC).

NASA’s fiscal 2020 budget request supports the ongoing X-57 Maxwell electric-propulsion and X-59 QueSST low-boom supersonic flight demonstrators, but some within the agency are concerned about future X-planes.

The statement comes in the aftermath of two 737 MAX 8 crashes in less than five months involving Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines.

BAE has completed an upgrade for Australia’s Hawk trainers that has prepared the aircraft for possibly 21 more years of service.

Following up on the legacy of NASA’s aging Great Observatories may depend on breaking a cost spiral that has delayed the JWST and threatened the WFIRST.

Finalists will be announced in early September, with winners to be named during the 2019 Program Excellence banquet.

The concept would allow Air Force leaders to hedge against the risk of future technology breakthroughs and surprise enemies with unexpected new capabilities.

Rolls-Royce’s decision to pull the UltraFan from the NMA competition may be a good move by the UK engine-maker, but what happens now?

Acknowledging the reusable rocket technology pioneered by SpaceX and Blue Origin, the U.S. Air Force has dropped the word “expendable” from the name of its orbital launch services acquisition program.

The new vehicle, Dragon 2, is designed, built, owned and operated by SpaceX, with financial backing, technical expertise and oversight provided by NASA.

Boeing Airpower Teaming System is a fighter-like unmanned aircraft specifically designed to be exportable globally.

The USAF has revealed its life cycle cost estimate—$18.5 billion—for the new helos to guard nuclear missile sites and transport VIPs around Washington.

Rolls’ composite fan and case evaluation marks the next step toward full-scale UltraFan flight-test demonstration.

NASA has selected a dozen small science and technology demonstration payloads that could be launching to the surface of the Moon using new commercial launch transportation services as soon as the end of 2019.

Consider the two primary sources of NMA demand: upgauging from single-aisle routes and replacements for current single-aisle jets.