Industry News

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will conduct an information drive for parties interested to participate in a program that seeks a ground-launched weapon system that can utilize different payloads. DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office will sponsor a Proposers Day to detail the objectives of the OpFires program ahead of a planned broad agency announcement, DARPA said through a […] More

The Department of Energy has announced that it will launch a competition to push U.S. entrepreneurs for new developments on solar manufacturing. The $3 million American Made Solar Prize competition seeks to augment the U.S.’ presence in the solar energy market, and form partnerships between industry players and DOE laboratories, the department said Wednesday. Participants will be given […] More

Orbital ATK has confirmed the Al Yah 3 commercial communications satellite’s good operational status, following a launch on Thursday wherein the unit entered an unplanned route. Al Yah Satellite Communications commissioned the satellite that was initially launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket, in aims to provide Ka-band coverage over Africa, Orbital ATK said Friday. “Based on […] More

Gen. Carlton Everhart, head of the U.S. Air Force‘s Air Mobility Command, has said that the Boeing-built KC-46 tanker aircraft is slated to obtain approval for its military equipment, Military Times reported Thursday. Everhart told Air Force Times during a visit to Boeing’s Washington state facility that the company and the Federal Aviation Administration could finish the required […] More

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said the company aims to launch a heavy-lift variant of its  Falcon rocket at NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center in Florida by Feb. 6, Spaceflight Now reported Sunday. The report noted SpaceX set a three-hour window beginning at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time for the Falcon Heavy liftoff from launch pad 39A. Falcon Heavy will carry a used Tesla-built Roadster sports […] More

A Kratos Defense & Security Solutions division has opened an 8,800-square-foot facility in Oklahoma City to house engineering, production and administrative operations as the company anticipates an increased demand for target and tactical unmanned aerial systems. The company said Friday the new facility unveiled by its unmanned systems division will accommodate the production of new tactical […] More

Sonalysts, Systems Engineering Associates and Transtecs have won spots on a potential $49.4 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract from the U.S. Navy to build classrooms, laboratory environments and training systems. The Defense Department said Friday all three small businesses will vie for Waterfront Surface Trainers Program support orders from the Navy and the Philippine government through a foreign military […] More

Lockheed Martin has received a potential $10.8 million modification under a U.S. Air Force contract to provide hardware necessary to implement the third phase of the service branch’s GPS control segment upgrades. The company will also engineer, install and test resources under phase 3 of the Combined Hardware and Software Commercial-Off-The Shelf Upgrade and Ground Antenna/Air Force Satellite Control […] More

Mercury Systems has received a $3.9 million follow-on order from a defense company to produce solid-state drives for use in airborne mission management efforts. Andover, Massachusetts-based Mercury Systems said Thursday it booked the order during the second quarter of its 2018 fiscal year and scheduled to deliver military-grade SSDs to the customer over the next several quarters. The […] More

Rolls-Royce has opened a facility in Finland to research and develop autonomous technology for shipping operations. The company said Thursday it aims to conduct R&D projects in the areas of autonomous navigation, land-based control and artificial intelligence at the new center. The facility includes a Remote and Autonomous Experience Space designed as a venue for showcasing autonomous technology platforms […] More

NASA and Lockheed Martin have evaluated the solar arrays of a future Mars robotic lander technology inside a clean room at the company’s facility in Littleton, Colorado. The space agency said Tuesday its Jet Propulsion Laboratory led the InSight evaluation process wherein the platform deployed its solar arrays while in a landed configuration to test the actual process […] More

The U.K. ministry of defense has formally accepted a BAE Systems-built River-class offshore patrol vessel designed to help protect the country’s territories and interests worldwide. HMS Forth will remain at the Scotstoun yard in Glasgow, Scotland for additional work before its commissioning at the Portsmouth Naval Base later this year, BAE said Thursday. The company also started […] More