Mary-Louise Hoffman

NASA has partnered with Deployable Space Systems and Space Systems Loral to develop solar cell structures designed to power government space vehicles or commercial communications satellites. Roll Out Solar Array will work to convert the sun’s rays into energy that could drive ion thrusters of solar electric propulsion spacecraft for NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission and other deep-space exploration programs, the agency said […] More

Canada looks to procure Boeing-built F/A-18E Super Hornets as an “interim measure” to address a looming capability gap in the country’s military fighter aircraft fleet, the National Post reported Monday. Lee Berthiaume and John Ivison write Canada could replace its military’s aging fleet of CF-18 Hornets with Super Hornets before the Canadian government decides on whether to go ahead with acquisition of […] More

An Airbus Group subsidiary has secured a contract of an undisclosed value to develop landing technology for integration with the Russian Luna-Resource robotic lunar vehicle. Airbus’ defense and space business will build the Precise and Intelligent Landing using Onboard Technologies system in support of a moon exploration project between ESA and Russian space agency Roscosmos, Airbus said Thursday. The PILOT Phase B and […] More

A fiscal 2017 defense funding bill introduced in the Senate would provide $576.1 million funds to a Sikorsky–Lockheed Martin team to continue work on the Combat Rescue Helicopter for the U.S. Air Force and the Marine One presidential helicopter replacement. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) has urged members of Congress to pass the Senate’s defense appropriations bill to help Lockheed […] More

Avcorp Industries has received a contract from Lockheed Martin to continue to manufacture composite wing skin, nacelle and body access panels for the F-35 program. The contract will extend Avcorp’s work on composite F-35 panels at a company facility in Gardenia, California, through 2020, Avcorp said Tuesday. Lockheed awarded Avcorp a firm order in mid-April to provide paint preparation and installation services […] More

The U.S. Navy is considering changing its procurement strategy for the Next Generation Enterprise Network program from a sole-source method to a multiple-award contracting model, SIGNAL Magazine reported Wednesday. Robert Ackerman writes Capt. Michael Abreu, Naval Enterprise Networks program manager, said the Navy seeks to engage with vendors in order to determine if segmentation of NGEN offerings would help the military branch address future information technology requirements. A […] More

Centerra Group has been awarded a five-year contract to provide facilities maintenance services to an Energy Department organization that markets and distributes electricity in the Pacific Northwest. The company said Friday the contract with DOE’s Bonneville Power Administration is scheduled to run through 2021. BPA sells wholesale power from 31 federally-backed hydroelectric power stations located in the Columbia River Basin, one non-federal nuclear […] More