Mitre and The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies have released a joint report highlighting the need to modernize the U.S. military’s aging nuclear triad to address emerging threats, particularly from Russia and China.

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Northrop Grumman's aerospace systems business has secured a one-year, $17.4M contract option from the Missile Defense Agency to manage and sustain demonstrator satellites designed to track ballistic missile launches in space.

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The U.S. Navy and the Missile Defense Agency have tested the interception performance of the Raytheon-made Standard Missile-3‘s Block-IIA variant with a land-launched target. The Navy’s USS John Finn destroyer launched the SM-3 IIA missile to intercept the ballistic target during the test in Hawaii, marking the missile’s second fulfilled interception, Raytheon said Friday. “This second […] More

NASA will immerse 15 new potential space technologies in low-gravity simulating experiments using commercial aircraft, high-altitude balloons and suborbital rockets as part of the Flight Opportunities program. The space agency said Wednesday the effort will help mature the selected technologies for future space operations. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine noted that the organization will work to […] More

The Missile Defense Agency has awarded a three-year, $73.2 million contract modification to an L3 Technologies business unit to procure aircraft that can accommodate an updated High Altitude Observatory system. L3 Aeromet will help MDA buy and equip three used planes with the HALO platform under the modification, which increases the contract’s total potential value from $564.1 million […] More

Boeing and Northrop Grumman have started to develop designs of the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missile for the U.S. Air Force, SpaceNews reported Tuesday. The service branch awarded in August 2017 approximately $678 million in combined contracts to Boeing and Northrop to perform technology maturation and risk reduction work on the GBSD program. GBSD […] More

The European Space Agency has selected five companies to study the feasibility of using a commercial microlauncher to deploy small satellites into orbit. ArianeGroup, MT-Aerospace, ELV, Deimos and PLD Space will conduct research on their proposed concepts, ESA said Thursday. France-based ArianeGroup, a joint venture of Airbus and Safran, proposed to develop the three-stage Quick Access to Space vehicle […] More

Boeing has committed to invest an additional $300 million in employee-related and charitable initiatives following the passage of a tax reform bill by Congress. Chicago-based Boeing said Thursday it will allocate $100 million to charity work in support of education, communities, veterans and military personnel. The aerospace and defense company also plans to spend $100 million on […] More

Lockheed Martin has received queries on missile defense systems from customers as North Korea ramps up long-range missile tests, Reuters reported Wednesday. Tim Cahill, vice president of Lockheed’s air and missile defense business, told Reuters that interest in missile defense grew over the past 12 to 18 months and that some countries have placed missile technology on […] More

Northrop Grumman has received a contract to update radio terminals aboard the U.S. Air Force’s fleet of E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft. The company said Tuesday it will install the Air Force Tactical Receive System-Ruggedized terminal that works to help JSTARS detect and monitor hostile ballistic missile and air defense threats through collection of […] More

Boeing has launched a parachute system of its crew capsule at Spaceport America‘s purpose-built commercial spaceport in New Mexico to verify the inflation characteristics and landing system performance of the platform during touchdown. Spaceport America said Friday the CST-100 Starliner Parachute System Test Launch utilized a giant helium-filled balloon that carried a flight-sized boilerplate spacecraft 40,000 feet above the San Andres Mountains and […] More

NASA has chosen five space technologies to test fly on high-altitude balloons, suborbital rockets or aircraft that simulate low gravity. The agency said Saturday the selected experiments are part of the Flight Opportunities program that aims to test space technologies through methods that simulate spaceflight. Stephan Ord, technology manager for NASA’s Flight Opportunities program, said the program works to help NASA […] More