U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

By Steve Trimble
The Boeing-owned company received a nearly $25 million award from DARPA on Feb. 27.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Matthew Fulco
Leading the seed funding round was MetaVC Partners with participation from Entrada Ventures and Blue Collective.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
A secretive DARPA office has a new project: a large hypersonic bomber prototype. The Aerospace Projects Office keeps a low profile, even by DARPA standards.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Garrett Reim
The robot would be hosted as a payload aboard Momentus’ Vigoride orbital services vehicle.
Commercial Space

By Steve Trimble
Automotive software startup Applied Intuition acquired EpiSys Science (EpiSci), forming a new powerhouse in the defense market for autonomy programs.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Vivienne Machi
“It’s time to be able to move through space at will and to be able to defend ourselves when we are attacked,” ULA CEO Tory Bruno says.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Guy Norris, Vivienne Machi
The fuel was subjected to a rigorous series of cyclic thermal evaluations.
Space Exploration

By Vivienne Machi
DARPA and NASA’s nuclear thermal propulsion project will miss its scheduled 2027 testing time frame, as its development has proven trickier than anticipated.
Launch Vehicles & Propulsion

By Brian Everstine
Milestones loom in the coming months for future refueler and airlifter programs amid funding uncertainty.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Brian Everstine
The U.S. Marine Corps has selected Sikorsky to demonstrate its flight-autonomy system onboard an optionally piloted UH-60 Black Hawk.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Stop-fold tiltrotor tests; EcoPulse lessons learned; Black Hawk advanced controls; China’s AAM avionics supplier.
Emerging Technologies

By Graham Warwick
Bell has completed wind-tunnel testing of its proposed X-plane for a DARPA project to demonstrate a high-speed vertical-takeoff-and-landing aircraft.
Emerging Technologies

By Vivienne Machi
The U.S. needs nuclear propulsion to power spacecraft beyond geostationary orbit for human space exploration and dynamic space operations.
Launch Vehicles & Propulsion

By Vivienne Machi
Over the past half-century, the U.S. has introduced over 20 efforts to harness nuclear power and propulsion for space operations, only to cancel all of them.
Operations & Safety

By Brian Everstine
Australia, the U.S. and UK have agreed under the AUKUS pact to jointly accelerate the testing and fielding of hypersonic weapons.
Missile Defense & Weapons

By Steve Trimble
The milestone moves the Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program closer to a delayed launch date in 2026.
Operations & Safety

By Graham Warwick
The upgrade will enable the Army to evaluate autonomy capabilities for the UH-60 and potentially a planned replacement, the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Fan-in-wing VTOL airlifter; Electrifying the C-130; Hover record goal for LH2 drone; Fly-drive logistics eVTOL.
Emerging Technologies

By Brian Everstine
After killing the UH-60V Black Hawk upgrade, the Army has embarked on a nose-to-tail upgrade of the UH-60M.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The Aurora concept includes two turbofan fan engines for horizontal thrust and four fans embedded into the blended wing body airframe for vertical lift.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Garrett Reim
The semiconductors could increase power delivery and better manage heat in radar and radio communications systems, Raytheon said on Oct. 2.
Sensors & Electronic Warfare

By Steve Trimble
A multitude of autonomous flying vehicles sharing airspace with crewed aircraft over a battlefield raises concerns about safety.
Budget, Policy & Operations

By Graham Warwick
Aurora’s Liberty Lifter; stratospheric HAPS; Radian’s subscale spaceplane; and GAC plans winged eVTOL air taxi.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Graham Warwick
Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.
Aircraft & Propulsion

By Steve Trimble
The Boeing subsidiary’s proposed version of the Liberty Lifter demonstrator features a 213-ft. wingspan and the ability to carry up 50,000 lb. of cargo.
Aircraft & Propulsion