Doug Jones, former chief test engineer at rocket engine manufacturer XCOR Aerospace, has joined asteroid mining company Deep Space Industries as director of propulsion systems. DSI said Tuesday Jones, who has years of experience in aerospace engineering, will lead efforts to develop new propulsion technology for small spacecraft that will support deep space exploration. “[He] is joining DSI at […] More

NATO plans to award up to $3.2 billion in contracts for satellite communications, air and missile defense, cybersecurity and software support services, Bloomberg reported Monday. Jonathan Stearns writes NATO officials will discuss the planned contracts at an industry conference to be held in Ottawa, Canada on April 24 to 26. The international alliance aims to gain approval from member countries on specific […] More

NASA wants to send an Orbital ATK-built Cygnus cargo ship to the International Space Station in spring 2017 using United Launch Alliance‘s Atlas V rocket, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Andy Pasztor writes NASA’s plan to use the Atlas V for its next ISS cargo delivery mission with Orbital ATK is part of efforts to ensure that ISS crews will have adequate […] More

Bill Birkhofer leads the aerospace and defense portfolios of Jacobs Engineering Group as a senior vice president with additional responsibilities over the Pasadena, Calif.-based contractor’s global infrastructure and telecommunications The two-time inductee into Executive Mosaic’s Wash100 group holds four decades of experience in the engineering and construction fields and participates in GovCon industry trade associations such as […] More

The Defense Department and Lockheed Martin have unveiled a pair of initiatives that aim to reduce the costs of producing and sustaining the F-35 Lightning II aircraft and weapon system. Lockheed, the primary F–35 contractor, and its principal industry partners BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman will invest an additional $170 million over the next two years in an effort to generate further […] More

NASA plans to demonstrate detect-and-avoid platforms onboard a General Atomics-built Ikhana unmanned aerial system by end of April in support of the Federal Aviation Administration’s efforts to develop policies on the integration of UAS with the national airspace system. The planned demonstration will run through June at the space agency’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California and will be the fourth […] More

The competition for new fighter jets to replace Canada’s CF-18 fleet faces a refresh as the Liberal party prepares to take over government on Nov. 4, Reuters reported Monday. Randall Palmer writes that incoming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ruled out the purchase of Lockheed Martin‘s F-35 and indicated plans to place savings onto naval ships. Other bids on […] More

Orbital ATK has shipped to NASA a service module for Cygnus OA-4, the company-built cargo spacecraft planned for a Dec. 3 launch at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The company said Monday that Cygnus will undergo final assembly at KSC before the agency launches the spacecraft aboard an Atlas V rocket to deliver crew supplies, […] More

CACI International and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration will collaborate to test a company-designed sensor technology meant to help authorities to locate unmanned aircraft systems. Deputy Administrator Mike Whitaker told House aviation subcommittee members during a hearing Wednesday that FAA wants to examine the safety and security functions of CACI’s technology and if the platform […] More

Northrop Grumman has finished work on the first of 52 center fuselages it has designed for the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s planned order of F-35 Lightning II – the AM 1 conventional takeoff and landing variant. The company said Wednesday it reached the milestone on time and within budget, utilizing an integrated assembly line approach to produce the […] More

Bradley Feldmann elevated to the chief executive post at San Diego-based defense and transportation contractor at Cubic Corp. during the summer after a two-month transition period that saw him succeed William “Bill” Boyle. Feldmann first worked at the company between 1989 and 1999, then returned to Cubic in 2008 and has since led the defense systems segment and […] More

Joe Donohue serves as chief financial officer at Agilex Technologies, where he is responsible for the management and oversight of the company’s financial operations. He joined Agilex from Northrop Grumman, where he led customer support operations for the company’s ePower product line and was responsible for software maintenance, support, training and quality assurance work. Donohue served as a […] More