A new PwC report on the mergers and acquisitions in aerospace-and-defense industry says deal activities increased in 2014 compared to 2013 and the number of transactions worth at least $1 billion doubled from the prior year. The firm’s Mission Control report, authored by PwC Global A&D Leader Guillaume Rochard and U.S. A&D Leader Chuck Marx, says the total deal value reached $22.3 billion in 2014, up from the $14.3 […] More

Boeing has begun work on phase 2 of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency‘s Airborne Launch Assist Space Access program that seeks to develop technology that will expedite the launch of small satellites to space. DARPA said Feb. 5 that phase 2 includes more than 10 orbital test launches for the prototype system developed during phase […] More

Exogenesis has subscribed to DigitalGlobe’s geospatial big data platform in a move to develop new products based on data analysis. DigitalGlobe will provide Exogenesis with access to its algorithms and library of high-resolution satellite imagery gathered over a 15-year period, DigitalGlobe said Wednesday. Sean Anklam, president of Exogenesis, said the company intends for the DigitalGlobe […] More

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, a senior vice president at Inmarsat, oversees direction and policy functions for the British satellite services provider’s U.S. government business unit. The nearly three-decade aerospace and defense veteran is also a former member of the Senior Executive Service and served as a program executive officer at the Defense Information Systems Agency before she entered the private […] More

NASA took the first step Friday in what it hopes to be a new era for human space exploration as the agency sent the Orion capsule into a nearly four-hour orbit to evaluate its potential for future missions via Boeing‘s Space Launch System. Engineers for NASA and Orion constructor Lockheed Martin focused much of their attention […] More

Alex Heidt serves as a senior vice president and general manager at Alion Science and Technology, which he joined in March 2013 after service as SVP and GM at Harris Corp.’s information technology services business. Heidt has also served as a VP of Air Force programs at Harris and was responsible for profit-and-loss management, program execution, and business […] More

Lockheed Martin and the University of Arizona have teamed up to operate the United Kingdom’s Maunakea, Hawaii-based infrared telescope. The team will collaborate with NASA‘s Orbital Debris Program Office at the Johnson Space Center to study the impact of space debris on satellites and communication, Lockheed Martin said Thursday. “We plan to grow capability and continue addressing pressing questions about […] More

Boeing‘s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle landed at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California late last week after spending 674 days in orbit and completing its third test mission for the U.S. Air Force. Ken Torok, the company’s director of experimental systems, said Friday the reusable unmanned space plane’s latest experimental mission for the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office brings the program’s total […] More

NASA has released a second request for proposals through its commercial space program for more companies to launch logistical and research payloads and help send supplies to the International Space Station. The Commercial Resupply Services 2 program includes at least six flights to and from ISS for each potential contract through 2020 and an option for additional flights through 2024, NASA said Friday. “To […] More

Lockheed Martin flight controllers will oversee the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft’s health and safety functions as the company and NASA prepare for MAVEN to enter Mars’ orbit on Sunday. MAVEN’s orbital insertion concludes its 10-month interplanetary mission and starts its mission to collect data on upper-atmosphere gases on Mars and their interaction with solar winds, NASA said Wednesday. “The MAVEN science mission focuses on […] More

  Aerojet Rocketdyne has finished work on a service module propulsion system for a human spaceflight program that Boeing holds a contract with NASA for. Aerojet Rocketdyne built the service module and launch abort propulsion system for Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft, the company said Thursday. Terry Lorier, Aerojet Rocketdyne’s CST-100 service module propulsion system program manager, said […] More

Lockheed Martin and Sierra Nevada’s space systems division have introduced the orbital spacecraft composite airframe of the Dream Chaser vehicle that SNC is developing for NASA’s human spaceflight program. Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president of space systems, said Friday that Lockheed has begun work to to manufacture the Dream Chaser orbital structure airframes. The structure will serve as […] More