Over 15 years of news and information. (2010 - 2026)
The FAA intends to procure each aircraft on a separate contract, according to the solicitation. “Aircraft will be procured over the next two to three years depending on market conditions and funding availability,” the FAA said in the solicitation. “The government does not have a preference between Challenger 605 aircraft or Challenger 650 aircraft."
"The airplane performed beautifully," said 737 Chief Pilot Capt. Jennifer Henderson. "The profile we flew allowed us to test the airplane's systems, flight controls and handling qualities, all of which checked out exactly as we expected."
Friday's flight was the start of a comprehensive test program for the 737-10. Boeing will work closely with regulators to certify the airplane prior to its scheduled entry into service in 2023.
The 737-10 can carry up to 230 passengers. It also incorporates environmental improvements, cutting carbon emissions by 14 percent and reducing noise by 50 percent compared to today's Next-Generation 737s.
During a test flight June 4, the Boeing-owned MQ-25 T1 test asset successfully extended the hose and drogue from its Navy-issued aerial refueling store and safely transferred jet fuel to a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet, demonstrating the MQ-25 Stingray's ability to carry out its primary aerial refueling mission.
"Over the next few years, we will work side-by-side with Boeing to deliver this capability that will greatly enhance the future carrier air wing,” said Navy Rear Adm. Brian Corey, who oversees the Program Executive Office for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons.
During the initial part of the flight, the F/A-18 test pilot flew in close formation behind MQ-25 to ensure performance and stability prior to refueling – a maneuver that required as little as 20 feet of separation between the MQ-25 T1 air vehicle and the F/A-18 refueling probe. Both aircraft were flying at operationally relevant speeds and altitudes. With the evaluation safely completed, the MQ-25 drogue was extended, and the F/A-18 pilot moved in to "plug" with the unmanned aircraft and receive the scheduled fuel offload.
The MQ-25 T1 will continue flight testing prior to being shipped to Norfolk, Va., for deck handling trials aboard a Navy carrier later this year.
The launch vehicle, built and operated by Northrop Grumman, is scheduled for liftoff at 7:00 a.m. EDT from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport’s (MARS) Pad 0B on Wallops Island.
The launch may be visible along the U.S. east coast.
This mission, named NROL-111, will be the NRO’s second dedicated launch from Wallops in the last 12 months.
The NRO is a Department of Defense agency responsible for developing, acquiring, launching, and operating America’s intelligence satellites.
The 69-foot tall Minotaur I launch vehicle consists of two solid-fueled motors from decommissioned Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles as the lower stages and two solid-fueled commercial solid rocket motors as upper stages.
NROL-111 is the second Northrop Grumman orbital launch from the MARS launch pads in 2021. Minotaur rockets have been launched from Wallops for nearly 15 years.
SMBC says it is seeing increased customer demand for the 737 MAX jet following its successful return to service.
The new purchase builds SMBC Aviation Capital's 737 MAX portfolio to 121 jets, expanding their investment in Boeing's single-aisle family. In the first quarter of 2021, the lessor delivered 13 737-8s to customers, including 11 planes to Southwest Airlines in the U.S. and two planes to TUI in Europe.
The SMBC Aviation Capital purchase follows recent orders and commitments from Alaska Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. The total number of gross orders and commitments for the 737 MAX this year now exceeds 250 airplanes.
A member of the 737 MAX family, the 737-8 is designed to offer more fuel efficiency, reliability and flexibility in the single-aisle market. The 737-8 can fly 3,550 nautical miles – about 600 miles farther than its predecessor – allowing airlines to offer new and more direct routes for passengers. Compared to the airplanes it replaces, the 737-8 also delivers superior efficiency, reducing fuel use and CO2 emissions by 16% and also reducing operating costs.
SMBC Aviation Capital is one of the world's leading aircraft lessors, with 85 airline customers in 36 countries. As of March, the company owned and managed 496 aircraft.
Liftoff on the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Starliner is targeted for 2:53 p.m. EDT July 30, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The uncrewed mission will test the end-to-end capabilities of the Starliner spacecraft and Atlas V rocket from launch to docking to a return to Earth in the western United States. Following a successful completion of the OFT-2 mission, NASA and Boeing are targeting late 2021 for NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test (CFT), Starliner's first flight with astronauts aboard. Currently, NASA launches U.S. astronauts to the space station aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft and U.S. SpaceX Dragon vehicles.
OFT-2 and CFT will provide valuable data toward NASA certifying Boeing's crew transportation system for regular flights with astronauts to and from the space station.
The rollout of the Starliner spacecraft from Boeing's Commercial Cargo and Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is scheduled for 4 a.m. EDT July 17.
LCRD represents a significant step toward making operational laser, or optical, communications a reality. The payload's microwave-oven-size optical modules will send and receive data over infrared lasers – not visible to the human eye – at 1.2 gigabits per second from geosynchronous orbit to Earth. At that rate, it's possible to download a two-hour movie in about 20 seconds.
Once LCRD is in orbit and positioned more than 22,000 miles above Earth, engineers will beam data between LCRD and optical ground stations located in Table Mountain, California, and Haleakalā, Hawaii. Experiments will allow engineers to refine the transmission process, study different operational scenarios, and refine tracking systems. LCRD will generate essential data and information to prepare laser communications systems for operational missions, as engineers cannot replicate the same conditions with ground tests.
Later in its mission, LCRD will conduct optical communications relay services with a future terminal on the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS terminal is expected to launch on a commercial resupply services mission in 2022. These operations could prove the viability of using laser communications in future crewed missions to the Moon and Mars.
The LCRD mission is led by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Partners include NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
