Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

India kicked off the 2024 launch calendar with deployment of an X-ray astronomy satellite from the Satish Dhawann Space Center.

U.S. battery startup SES AI is targeting the urban air mobility market with its lithium-metal cells.

Led by SpaceX, the number of orbital launch attempts last year rose by 20% over 2022.

Rocket Lab has received a $489 million contract to design, build and operate 18 space vehicles on behalf of an undisclosed U.S. government customer.

Wisk Aero has updated its concept of operations for autonomous urban air taxis.

EHang has conducted its first commercial flight demonstrations by a passenger-carrying electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicle.

Shield AI said on Dec. 29 that it raised an additional $300 million, adding to a previously announced $200 million through debt issuance, as part of the autopilot startup’s Series F round.

South Korea’s Defense Acquisition Program Administration has announced a Maritime Operation Helicopter program.

Romanian airframer Avioane Craiova SA is getting ready to begin flight testing of an upgraded version of the IAR-99 Soim jet trainer.

NASA’s ISS oversight has been authorized by Congress through the end of fiscal 2030.

Ukrainian pilots are training to fly the F-16 fighter in Denmark ahead of potential transfers of the aircraft to Ukraine’s air force later this year.

All 367 passengers and 12 crew members on board the A350 managed to escape the burning aircraft, but five of the six on board the Coast Guard aircraft died.

The triple-core booster lifted off with the X-37B from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A at 8:07 p.m. EST.

The platform, which had been widely expected to fly this past summer, finally got airborne on Dec. 28.

DAPA said the deal was signed in early December, and that the F-35As will have “significantly improved performance” over its current 39 F-35As.

Japan will reportedly transfer an unspecified number of MIM-104 Patriot missiles to the U.S.

The White House on Dec. 27 announced a final package of $250 million in military aid to Ukraine under current authorities.

Australian startup Stralis Aircraft plans to retrofit a Beechcraft Bonanza with a hydrogen-electric propulsion system, aiming for first flight in 2024.

Recovery operations were underway after the successful Dec. 22 splashdown of the 29th NASA-contracted SpaceX Crew Dragon resupply mission.

The Myanmar Air Force has taken delivery of two more Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30SME multirole fighters.

The Tracking Layer satellites are to be part of the first group of operational missile-tracking spacecraft in the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture.

Axiom Space’s upcoming third private astronaut mission promises to offer a preview of the future low-Earth-orbit economy.

As 2024 begins, a looming decision in a Western capital will determine whether the Ukrainian air force will receive a new single-engine fighter. Sound familiar?

The competitors for the U.S. Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft are progressing well.

It is time for the world to invest more spending in space situational awareness, according to the former president of the Portuguese Space Agency.