This people-moving drone has completed more than 1,000 test flights

The flying taxi could soon be spotted in Dubai and Las Vegas. Most drones are small, and carry nothing except cameras. But Ehang Corp, a major Chinese drone maker, has been busy testing its Ehang 184 flying taxis, a drone designed to transport people. It's now completed more 1,000 test flights wi...

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China shot down another missile in space

Like a hypersonic bullet hitting another hypersonic bullet. On February 5, China used a long-range missile interceptor, tentatively identified as the DN-3, to destroy a target missile in space. This isn't the first time the nation has managed it; in 2010, China used a midcourse interceptor, likel...

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Lockheed Martin Invites Innovators and Entrepreneurs to Join the Next Space Age with 'Open Space' Satellite Innovation Project

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Company Releases Satellite Specs; Offers New Opportunities to Aspiring Space Technologists

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) has publicly released specifications for its satellite platforms with the goal of offering new opportunities for collaboration to companies aspiring to send innovative technologies to space.

As part of a new satellite innovation initiative called Lockheed Martin Open Space, and building on expertise from the more than 800 satellites Lockheed Martin has produced, the company is publishing technical details about the payload accommodation information for its flagship LM 2100 satellite platform, its LM 400 small satellite, and two variants of its new LM 50 nanosat series.

In an event yesterday in Silicon Valley, Lockheed Martin invited start-ups, researchers and established companies alike to propose technologies that could help solve some of today's most pressing challenges in space. With numerous launches and hosted payload slots on the docket, the company is looking to collaborate with a new generation of companies to find opportunities to put innovations in orbit and beyond.

"Our goal with Lockheed Martin Open Space is twofold: first, to help more companies and innovators do amazing things in space, and second, to create new avenues for collaboration so we can move faster to tackle our customers' most pressing challenges," said Rick Ambrose, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space. "We're not just offering launch slots, we're ready to help new companies integrate their groundbreaking technologies with powerful satellite platforms. We believe there's significant untapped potential out there waiting to be unleashed."

The company is looking for non-proprietary technologies that will help protect, connect and inspire the world. Potential applications include helping first responders address crises faster, studying the environment, creating ultra-high-capacity communications links and adapting low-cost commercial technology to the punishing environments of space.

Interested companies or individuals can download the payload accommodation specifications at www.lockheedmartin.com/openspace and submit their concepts online. The submission page will be open from now through May 11. A team of Lockheed Martin experts will review each submission and follow up to discuss opportunities and provide feedback to submitters.

"We're ready to explore and collaborate on new opportunities, and we're challenging the best and brightest to join us," said Ambrose. "Space isn't just a place to go. It's a place to do. So let's get new innovators plugged in to tomorrow's space opportunities. Let's collaborate on the country's toughest challenges. Let's do great things in space together."

The venerable LM 2100 is the foundation for more than 40 satellites in orbit today, including weather, missile warning and commercial communications satellites. The LM 400 is a reconfigurable bus that can go to LEO and GEO orbits and can be delivered as quickly as 24 months from order. The LM 50 is a small but powerful satellite series that can host a wide array of remote sensing, communications and scientific payloads. For more information about Lockheed Martin's family of satellites visit www.lockheedmartin.com/satellites.

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Lockheed Martin Delivers 400th C-130J Super Hercules Aircraft

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MARIETTA, Ga., Feb. 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) reached a major milestone with the delivery of its 400th C-130J Super Hercules aircraft on Feb. 9. This Super Hercules is an MC-130J Commando II Special Operations aircraft that is assigned to the U.S. Air Force's Special Operations Command (AFSOC).


The C-130J Super Hercules is the current production model of the legendary C-130 Hercules aircraft, with operators in 17 nations. To date, the global fleet of C-130Js has surpassed more than 1.7 million flight hours supporting almost any mission requirement — any time, any place.

"We celebrate this accomplishment with our employees, industry partners and the Super Hercules operator community that spans 17 countries," said George Shultz, vice president and general manager, Air Mobility & Maritime Missions at Lockheed Martin. "These first 400 C-130Js meet a global demand for the proven performance and unmatched versatility found only in a Super Hercules. Its durability, relevancy and capability will continue to set the C-130J apart as the world's choice in tactical airlift for decades to come."

The C-130J is defined by its versatility. To date, the C-130J supports 17 different mission configurations to include transport (military and commercial), firefighting, search and rescue, Special Operations, weather reconnaissance, and aerial refueling.

This aircraft has another distinction in addition to being the 400th C-130J delivered: it is the 13th MC-130J to be converted into an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship. It will be assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The AC-130J is a highly modified C-130J that provides close-air support, air interdiction and armed reconnaissance.

The U.S. government operates the largest C-130J Super Hercules fleet in the world. This delivery represents the U.S. government's continued transition to the C-130J as the common platform across Air Mobility Command, AFSOC, Air Combat Command, U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Marine Corps. The Air National Guard and Reserve still operate a mixed fleet of C-130J and legacy aircraft.

To learn more about Lockheed Martin's C-130J Super Hercules,
visit www.lockheedmartin.com/c130

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1st satellite capable of performing global wind-component-profile observation successfully passes all tests in Liège

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• Airbus-built Aeolus successfully passes all tests in Liège (Belgium), and has arrived in Toulouse for final checks
• ESA’s wind sensing spacecraft Aeolus will be the first satellite capable of performing global wind-component-profile observation on a daily basis in near real-time. 

Stevenage, 12/02/2018 - Aeolus, the European Space Agency’s wind sensing satellite, has left Liège in Belgium having successfully completed an extensive thermal and functional performance test campaign under in-orbit conditions. It will now undergo final checks at InteSpace test centre in Toulouse, France, before being shipped to French Guiana in the summer ready for launch on a Vega launcher.

The 1.4-tonne spacecraft, primed by Airbus, features the LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) instrument called Aladin, which uses the Doppler effect to determine the wind speed at varying altitudes.


Aladin fires a powerful ultraviolet laser pulse down through the atmosphere and collects backscattered light, using a large 1.5m diameter telescope, which is then analysed on-board by highly sensitive receivers to determine the Doppler shift of the signal from layers at different heights in the atmosphere.


The data from Aeolus will provide reliable wind-profile data on a global scale and is needed by meteorologists to further improve the accuracy of weather forecasts and by climatologists to better understand the global dynamics of Earth’s atmosphere.
Aeolus will orbit the Earth 15 times a day with data delivery to users within 120 minutes of the oldest measurement in each orbit. The orbit repeat cycle is 7 days (every 111 orbits) and the spacecraft will fly in a 320 km orbit and have a lifetime of three years.

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General Atomics to partner with Boeing on MQ-25 Stingray

http://www.janes.com/article/77855/general-atomics-to-partner-with-boeing-on-mq-25-stingray

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USAF's Controversial New Plan To Retire B-2 And B-1 Bombers Early Is A Good One

http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/18410/usafs-controversial-new-plan-to-retire-b-2-and-b-1-bombers-early-is-a-good-one

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The Jet Engine: A Futuristic Technology Stuck in the Past - The Atlantic

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/engine-failure/552959/

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