Aerospace and Defense Review : News

The test seemed to have some minor issues. SpaceX released a video of the flight in which it showed some debris flying off the launch stand after take-off, while part of the Raptor engine seemed to be on fire as the vehicle landed. None of these appeared to affect the flight of the vehicle A prototype of SpaceX’s starship next-generation reusable launch vehicle flies a brief a hop on August 4 at the company’s South Texas test site after a period of delays and testing setbacks. Powered by a single Raptor engine, the Starship SN5 vehicle took off shortly before 8 p.m. Eastern at SpaceX’s site in Boca Chica, Texas. The flight was planned to reach an altitude of 150 meters, even though SpaceX did not reveal the exact altitude the vehicle reached. [vendor_logo_first] After shoring a short distance sideways, the flight came down to a landing on a nearby pad about 45 seconds after take-off. Six landing legs, folded underneath the skirt surrounding the engine bay, deployed shortly before landing. The test seemed to have some minor issues. SpaceX released a video of the flight in which it showed some debris flying off the launch stand after take-off, while part of the Raptor engine seemed to be on fire as the vehicle landed. None of these appeared to affect the flight of the vehicle. SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk appeared contended with the test. Nevertheless, this test flight is months behind a schedule Musk, which was set last September. The Mark 1 prototype was destroyed in a tanking test last November. Three other Starship prototypes were also demolished in later tests, including the SN4 vehicle that exploded after a static-fire test on May 29. At the time of an event last September, NASA was criticizing SpaceX for appearing to invest more attention to Starship than its Crew Dragon commercial crew vehicle, which the agency was expecting SpaceX to complete to allow for the return of human orbital spaceflight to the United States. See also:  Top Aerospace Manufacturing Companies ...Read more

This contract is a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase III award, an extension of Shift5's current SBIR Phase II project through AFWERX. Shift5, an advanced cybersecurity company that secures operational technology for a range of Department of Defense and commercial platforms, declared a contract award with the Air Force Cyber Resiliency of Weapon Systems (CROWS) office. This contract is a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase III award, an extension of Shift5's current SBIR Phase II project through AFWERX. SBIR Phase III awards are dedicated to commercialize the innovation developed through the earlier phases and rapidly field that capability to the warfighter. Following their SBIR Phase I awarded in December 2019, Shift5 immediately satisfied the competition requirements, allowing any federal agency to issue sole-source Phase III awards with buying Shift5's products without competition. This Phase III award is a result of Air Force interest in the disruptive cybersecurity technology given by Shift5. This project will take Shift5 cybersecurity technology and transform it to a micro-form factor prototype. This miniaturization will allow a wider range of use cases, to include those that are extremely weight, size, and power-sensitive. Mitch Plonski, Shift5 Head of Operations, stated, "We are extremely honored to start this Phase III project and our partnership with the Air Force will continue to deliver innovation to the mission of securing critical military platforms against cyberattack along with commercializing the micro-form factor technology. This project, and our mission focus in supporting the DoD, is answering the call to better secure our most critical weapon systems that stems from the 2016 NDAA Section 1647 and is discussed in a GAO report in 2018." The work starts in September 2020 and will primarily occur at Shift5 headquarters in Rosslyn, Virginia. ...Read more

In 2017, the U.S. Air Force had revealed that it was in discussions with the NOAA over the possibility of taking over one of the agency’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). The U.S. Space Force announced the reprogramming of a geostationary weather satellite, previously owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to the military for coverage over the Indian Ocean. The NOAA satellite was first launched in 2006 and retired in 2018. The satellite has been now reprogrammed as the Electro-Optical Infrared Weather System – Geostationary, or EWS-G1. Schriever Garrison, the Space Delta 2 at Peterson, Colorado, declared the satellite operational on September 1st. The NOAA is currently operating EWS-G1 for the military, collecting weather imagery over the Indian Ocean region in support of U.S. Central Command. [vendor_logo_first] “EWS-G1 is the first Department of Defense owned geostationary weather satellite,” stated the Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center in a news release. “The satellite provides timely cloud characterization and theater weather imagery to DoD in the Indian Ocean region, addressing needs across Central Command and other operating theaters.” In 2017, the U.S. Air Force had revealed that it was in discussions with the NOAA over the possibility of taking over one of the agency’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES). For many years, the U.S. Air Force has relied on an ageing European weather satellite to provide coverage over the Indian Ocean and in 2019 worked out an agreement to take over GOES-13 from NOAA. In 2018, the NOAA decommissioned the GOES-13 and replaced with it with a new spacecraft GOES-16. For over a decade, the GOES-13 was a crucial source of information during significant U.S. weather events like Hurricane Sandy in 2012. GOES-13 was launched in 2006 aboard a Boeing Delta 4 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. “NOAA’s spacecraft was moved to the Indian Ocean region far earlier than a new satellite could be produced and fielded,” said Charlotte Gerhart, SMC’s Production Corps Low Earth Orbit Division chief. “The repurposing of GOES-13, and residual NOAA ground equipment, accomplished the mission at a fraction of the procurement cost of a brand new system.” After the relocation of the satellite, the NOAA and the U.S. Space Force completed a checkout of the EWS-G1 spacecraft and sensors. EWS-G1 is now providing weather data to DoD forecasters. NOAA will continue to operate EWS-G1 on behalf of the U.S. Space Force for its remaining life span from the NOAA Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Maryland, and Wallops Command and Data Acquisition Station in Virginia. See Also:  Top Aerospace Technology Companies ...Read more