Astrium has successfully completed the first flight of its long endurance Zephyr solar powered High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite (HAPS) since it acquired the assets of the Zephyr programme in March 2013 from QinetiQ in the UK. Continue reading
Category Archives: SPR
Kansas State University Selected to Test Certification Standards for UAS
Kansas State University in Salina has been selected by the Federal Aviation Administration to test certification standards for unmanned aircraft systems. Continue reading
DARPA Programme Seeks to Develop a Reusable Hypersonic Unmanned Vehicle
DARPA’s new Experimental Spaceplane (XS-1) programme seeks to lower satellite launch costs by developing a reusable hypersonic unmanned vehicle with costs, operation and reliability similar to traditional aircraft. XS-1 envisions that a reusable first stage would fly to hypersonic speeds at a suborbital altitude. Continue reading
Raytheon AI3 Missile Intercepts its First UAS Target
In a first-of-its-kind test for Raytheon Company‘s Accelerated Improved Intercept Initiative system, AI3 destroyed an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) in flight. The intercept was part of the second guided test flights for the AI3 programme and follows its first in-flight defeat of a 107mm rocket earlier in the test series. Continue reading
Bogota Mayor and Tecscorp Launch UAS Pilot Scheme in Colombian Capital
Governmental use of unmanned surveillance aircraft has inspired a lot of concern about privacy, but Bogota City Mayor Gustavo Petro thinks the battle is already over. In a TV interview days ago, Petro said essentially that UAS are an inevitable part of our future, comparing them to the thousands of cameras already located around Bogota. Continue reading
Team Registration Open for NASA-DPI Unmanned Aircraft Systems Airspace Operations Challenge
NASA and Development Projects Inc. (DPI) of Dayton, Ohio, have opened registration for the 2014 Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Airspace Operations Challenge. The $500,000 prize competition is scheduled for April 2014 in Indiana. Continue reading
Northrop Grumman Gets $8M US Air Force Contract for Global Hawk Spares
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation was awarded a $7,902,648 delivery order (0001) to firm-fixed-price contract (F8620-13-G-0001) for Global Hawk spares. The contract award is for ground segment communications spares. Continue reading
Northrop Grumman Readies MQ-8C Fire Scout for Flight Operations
Northrop Grumman Corporation turned on the power to the U.S. Navy’s first MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter and rotated the aircraft’s four blades for the first time during initial ground testing and engine runs at Naval Base Ventura County Point Mugu, California, on Sept. 20. Continue reading