Aerospace and Defence | Extrapolate

Garmin earns best supplier recognition from Embraer for 9th consecutive year It is an honor to be recognized as the Best Supplier from Embraer. This prestigious award represents the strong collaboration between Embraer and Garmin and is a testament to Garmin's long-term dedication to Embraer and our mutual customers. We are truly grateful to receive this award recognizing the entire organization's commitment to on-time delivery, quality, and customer support."  –Phil Straub, Garmin Executive Vice President & Managing Director, Aviation This annual award program honors an elite group of suppliers for their outstanding performance, continuous improvement and increased customer satisfaction among all suppliers who serve Embraer's global commercial aviation, business aviation and defense markets. This recognition validates Garmin's achievement in designing and manufacturing state-of-the-art flight deck systems while remaining responsive to market needs and preferences.

Terra Drone, Unifly, and Aloft Technologies Launch UTM Development for AAM Targeting Global Markets Terra Drone, Unifly, and Aloft are embarking on this joint UTM development to seize the opportunities presented by the rapid global progress in electric vertical take-off and landing aircrafts (eVTOLs), which are poised to revolutionize transportation. According to research by Morgan Stanley, the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market is expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2040 and $9 trillion by 2050 (3). In the meanwhile, eVTOLs have been capturing the public's imagination worldwide through test flights and prototype showcases. The three companies are uniquely positioned for joint UTM collaboration given their decade of experience in UTM development since the dawn of the modern drone industry. Terra Drone is the world's second-largest drone solution provider (4). Unifly has a world-class track record in UTM implementation at the national level in countries such as Canada and Germany. Aloft has an over 84% share of the UTM market in the U.S. (5), considered the world's largest market for drones and eVTOLs.

NASA to Host a Pair of Briefings for Starliner Crew Flight NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will lift off aboard Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and dock at the orbiting laboratory, where they will stay for about a week. As part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program, the mission is the first crewed flight for the Starliner spacecraft. The mission will test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner system, including launch, docking, and return to Earth in the western United States. Following a successful crewed flight test, NASA will begin the final process of certifying Starliner and systems for crewed missions to the space station.

Marking the End of an Era, United Launch Alliance Successfully Launches Final Delta IV Heavy Rocket Thank you to our teammates past and present for their dedication to these critical national security missions," said Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of Government and Commercial Programs. "The Delta IV Heavy rocket was a workhorse for the NRO, launching 12 missions delivering critical national security payloads. The NROL-70 mission marked our 35th successful launch with the NRO and we look forward to continuing our partnership launching future national security space missions. The Delta rocket played a pivotal role in the evolution of space flight since the 1960s," said Tory Bruno, ULA's president and CEO. "This final Delta mission signals ULA's evolution to the new Vulcan rocket, providing even higher performance than our three-core Delta IV Heavy rocket in a single-core rocket to launch heavy-class missions for the nation. We will continue to deliver our superior reliability and unprecedented orbital precision for all our customers across the national security, civil and commercial markets. ULA's next launch is the Crew Flight Test (CFT) mission for Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft as part of NASA's Commercial Crew program. The launch is planned for no earlier than May 6, 2024.

Kanders & Company Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire Antenna and Test Equipment Businesses from L3Harris The acquisition brings together three separate business units under Kanders' newly formed Fisica, Inc. ("Fisica") platform. With roots dating back to the 1960s, the acquired businesses are known as skilled manufacturers of airborne and ground-based antennas, and electromagnetic systems and simulators for applications across radar, communications, warning systems, remote sensing, nuclear effects testing and imaging. Fisica will be well positioned for continued growth and success as a critical partner for flagship defense primes and the U.S. Department of Defense. We are excited to announce the agreement to acquire these businesses from L3Harris and partner with existing management to launch a new platform in the defense industry," said Warren B. Kanders, President of Kanders and Chairman and CEO of Fisica. "As the electronic warfare and communications space continues to evolve, we believe Fisica's product portfolio, long-standing customer relationships and stable program base position the combined businesses to grow both organically and through targeted acquisitions. Under the terms of the agreement, Kanders will pay L3Harris $175 million in cash at closing and a $25 million seller note. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

Lunar Dawn Team Awarded NASA Lunar Terrain Vehicle Contract This next-generation Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) will enable the exploration of the surface of the Moon in unprecedented fashion as part of NASA's Artemis campaign. It will dramatically extend the range that astronauts can travel from their landing sites as they perform high-priority science investigations on the Moon. When not in use by NASA, the LTV will provide commercial services, contributing to a more accessible and sustainable cislunar economy. Surface mobility is a critical capability for humanity's future in space, and Lunar Outpost looks forward to driving value in the cislunar economy by providing a reliable, safe and capable vehicle that will be used to provide mobility to Artemis astronauts and perform critical missions autonomously on the Moon for commercial endeavors," said Lunar Outpost CEO, Justin Cyrus. "We look forward to leveraging the strengths of Lockheed Martin, a company with extensive human and advanced space systems experience, and our other industry teammates, GM, Goodyear and MDA Space, to provide an unparalleled technical offering at a commercially viable price point.

U.S. Aerospace & Defense Top 5 OEMs 2024: Comparative SWOT & Strategy Focus of Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX The Global Aerospace & Defense Market is in a major upswing phase owing to the whittling down of traditional, rule-based world order; led by China's geopolitical revisionism, backed by military ascension amid territorial disputes as well as issues with neighbors & military adventurism in Asia; and Russia's military resurgence with a renewed threat to Europe as the geopolitical dynamic clearly shifts towards multi-polarity. The same has led to a virtual defense renaissance globally and has created a surge in demand for procurement of new defense equipment, replacement of legacy systems, increased spending outlay towards R&D on next generation technologies and an accelerated production ramp-up of ammunition being undertaken across most key markets globally. Global defense spending, clearly, is on an upward growth trajectory, driven by geopolitical shifts, and is projected to reach $2.5 trillion by 2027, thereby, providing the defense industrial bases across most key markets significant growth opportunities for the medium term horizon as it is desperately trying to ramp-up production rates over near term, amid supply chain constraints, to backfill depleting U.S. & NATO allies' stockpiles of munitions, missiles & weapon systems besides fulfilling Ukraine's critical requirements and to meet growing international demand in the era of great power competition.

NASA Awards Promote Science, Technology, Engineering, Math Nationwide We're excited to grow the community of informal education organizations through these awards," said Torry Johnson, deputy associate administrator of STEM Engagement Programs at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "These organizations bring the excitement of STEM and spaceflight to students where they are, helping us inspire the Artemis Generation of future explorers and innovators. These awards are a real catalyst for partnerships that connect STEM education and NASA's missions to communities across the nation. Projects were selected for NASA's Teams Engaging Affiliated Museums and Informal Institutions (TEAM II) program and TEAM II Community Anchor Awards. Both are funded through NASA's Next Generation STEM project, which supports kindergarten to grade 12 students, caregivers, and formal and informal educators in engaging the Artemis Generation in the agency's missions and discoveries. The selected projects will particularly engage students from underserved communities in a variety of STEM learning opportunities including exhibits, mentorship, educational content, and hands-on activities.

Nations Top Military Friendly Schools Announced for 2024-2025 Institutions earning the Military Friendly® Schools Awards designation were evaluated using public data sources and responses from a proprietary survey. Over 1,800 schools participated in the 2024-2025 survey, 537 schools earned awards level designations in Gold, Silver, and Bronze. 243 were selected for "Gold" award status for their leading practices, outcomes, and effective programs. Methodology, criteria, and weightings were determined by Viqtory with input from the Military Friendly® Advisory Council of independent leaders in higher education. Final ratings were determined by combining the institution's survey responses and government/agency public data sources within a logic-based assessment. We measure their ability to meet thresholds for Retention, Graduation, Job Placement, Repayment, Persistence, and Loan Default rates for all students and specifically, for student veterans. "Military Friendly® is committed to transparency and providing consistent data-driven standards in our process. This creates a competitive atmosphere that encourages institutions to consistently evolve their programs. Award level schools have gone beyond that standard, Showing true commitment and dedication in their efforts. The Military Friendly® benchmark promotes positive educational outcomes and support services that better the educational landscape and provide opportunity for the Military Community." - Kayla Lopez,Director of Military Partnerships, Military Friendly®. 

NASA Selects First Lunar Instruments for Artemis Astronaut Deployment Artemis marks a bold new era of exploration, where human presence amplifies scientific discovery. With these innovative instruments stationed on the Moon's surface, we're embarking on a transformative journey that will kick-start the ability to conduct human-machine teaming - an entirely new way of doing science," said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. "These three deployed instruments were chosen to begin scientific investigations that will address key Moon to Mars science objectives. The instruments will address three Artemis science objectives: understanding planetary processes, understanding the character and origin of lunar polar volatiles, and investigating and mitigating exploration risks. They were specifically chosen because of their unique installation requirements that necessitate deployment by humans during moonwalks. All three payloads were selected for further development to fly on Artemis III that's targeted to launch in 2026, however, final manifesting decisions about the mission will be determined at a later date. Members of these payload teams will become members of NASA's Artemis III science team.