Aerospace & Defence

Airbus Defence and Space has developed and delivered the qualification model of the solar array for the European Service Module (ESM) of the Orion crewed spacecraft. During a deployment test at NASA's Plum Brook Station facility in Sandusky, Ohio (USA), the model came through the test with flying colours.

The University of Portsmouth is to host a centre of excellence for satellite data, which will promote economic growth in the UK’s space sector. The centre will allow the south coast business community to tap into satellite technology that could improve their products and services, for example, developing technology to help robot submarines use live satellite data to inform their route through the ocean – similar to drivers using live ...

The return of supersonic passenger air travel is one step closer to reality with NASA's award of a contract for the preliminary design of a 'low boom' flight demonstration aircraft. This is the first in a series of ‘X-planes’ in NASA's New Aviation Horizons initiative, introduced in the agency’s Fiscal Year 2017 budget.

Virgin Galactic has unveiled its newly completed SpaceShipTwo. The rollout ceremony was attended by Sir Richard Branson and his family, Virgin Galactic’s Future Astronauts, and partners. Professor Stephen Hawking named the new vehicle Virgin Spaceship (VSS) Unity via a recorded speech and said, “I would be very proud to fly on this spaceship.”

Researchers from the University of Southampton have designed innovative membrane wings which have been inspired by the flight of bats. This could potentialy open the door for next-gen Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) that offer improved aerodynamic properties, can fly over longer distances and are more economical to run.

Verotec has developed a custom 280mm long 6U VME64x extender card for a leading embedded systems company to facilitate testing and debugging of their cards used in a ruggedised military application. The custom extender provides an interface between the standard DIN41612 connectors used in the VME64x-based test system and the high density 160-way female connectors used to connect to the board under test.

Developing humanoid robotic technology to perform difficult tasks in aircraft manufacturing facilities is the goal of a four-year joint research project, which is being conducted by the Joint Robotics Laboratory (CNRS/AIST)1 and Airbus Group. It will officially be launched on 12th February 2016 at the French Embassy in Tokyo2.

Microsemi Corporation has announced the opening of its Aviation Centre of Excellence in Ennis, Ireland. The 1,900 square-foot research and development facility will support the design, development and manufacturing of Microsemi’s new product line of high reliability aviation Intelligent Power Solutions (IPS).

The aerospace, defence and security markets are especially discerning when procuring electronic solutions from vendors. This is understandable as the mission-critical nature of the products used in these applications means that there is no room for error and that quality is paramount. “OEMs operating in these markets require full traceability and the most rigorous quality standards,” says Chas Shale, Business Manager for cable assembl...

Commercial low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites are about to witness tremendous economic growth. Last year, hardly a month passed without the announcement of another satellite constellation designed to support Earth observation or broadband communication. Compared to those in more distant orbits, LEO satellites offer shorter orbiting periods and multiple daily flyovers thanks to their close proximity to Earth. This opens the door to an intriguing mar...