ST. LOUIS, 23 Nov. 2010. The Boeing [NYSE: BA] Phantom Ray unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) completed low-speed taxi tests on Nov. 18 at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis. Phantom Ray is designed to support potential missions that may include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; suppression of enemy air defenses; electronic attack; strike; and autonomous aerial refueling.

EDWARDS AFB, Calif., 22 Nov. 2010. Researchers at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., are asking engineers at the Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems sector in El Segundo, Calif., to develop advanced aircraft avionics, propulsion, and airframe technologies to improve fuel efficiencies, reduce noise levels, and reduce harmful emissions.

EDWARDS AFB, Calif., 21 Nov. 2010. Researchers at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., are joining hands with aeronautical experts at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, Calif., to find breakthrough aircraft avionics, propulsion, and airframe technologies to improve fuel efficiencies, reduce noise levels, and reduce harmful emissions. NASA Dryden awarded the Skunk Works a $3 million contract Friday for the Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project to explore the benefits and risks new aircraft technologies to reduce the impact of aviation on the environment.

NEWBURYPORT, Mass., 18 Nov. 2010. Aftermarket electronics components specialist Rochester Electronics in Newburyport, Mass., is expanding the company's space-level radiation-hardened products and manufacturing services. Contractually licensed by more than 60 original manufacturers, Rochester has more than two million space-level semiconductor devices in stock, and is licensed to manufacture rad-hard space products from National Semiconductor, Texas Instruments, Fairchild, and others.

ZHUHAI, China 17 Nov. 2010. Xiamen Airlines selected a suite of avionics from Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, including MultiScan Threat Detection System and GLU-925 multi-mode receiver (MMR) for 25 Boeing 737 Next-Generation aircraft. Deliveries will begin next summer.

CHARLOTTE, N.C., 16 Nov. 2010. Goodrich Corp. gyroscopes passed in-orbit testing on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Earth Explorer CryoSat-2 satellite during a mission to detect shifts in global ice cover. The Goodrich micro electro-mechanical system (MEMS) gyros were the smallest ever flown by ESA and were used to monitor the satellite's rate of spin. They were integrated into the SiREUS rate sensor to form Europe's first MEMS-based device to be used for space vehicle navigation.

SEATTLE, 12 Nov. 2010. Boeing [NYSE: BA] opened a new P-8 aircraft production facility near Boeing Field in Seattle. The refurbished factory provides Boeing and its P-8 teammates the space to install mission systems and conduct tests on aircraft for current and future users.

WIXOM, Mich., 31 Oct. 2010. Acromag in Wixom, Mich., is introducing MIL-STD 1553 avionics databus modules to interface avionics and weapons subsystems to an embedded control system. Two versions of the 1553 bus interface module are available: the IP570 Industry Pack ANSI/VITA-4 card that plugs into VME, CompactPCI, and PCI bus mezzanine carrier cards or high-performance single-board computers, and the IOS-570 models for use in Acromag's I/O server industrial PC.

SEATTLE, 28 Oct. 2010. Boeing (NYSE: BA) is introducing new subscription-based services to help airlines save fuel and increase environmental efficiency. InFlight Optimization Services are designed to be implemented within current air traffic and airline operating procedures using existing communication channels. No regulatory changes and little to no new equipment are needed. The services, Direct Routes and Wind Updates, provide up-to-the-minute information to airlines and their flight crews, enabling adjustments en route to account for weather and air traffic control status.

ATLANTA, 22 Oct. 2010. Aerion Corp. announced at this week's National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) show additional detail and preliminary results relating to a new round of flight tests of technology for their supersonic business jet concept in collaboration with NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. These tests achieved a top speed of Mach 2.0, mark the latest milestone in preliminary engineering activities.

Nanotechnology, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), and nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) -- once only fodder for fantasy and science fiction -- are reaching new milestones. Advancements in microelectronics are helping to reduce the size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C), and carbon footprint of various aerospace and military electronics in land, sea, air, and space applications.

ATLANTA, 20 Oct. 2010. Honeywell (NYSE: HON) and Gulfstream announced that they have been awarded a $1.2 million contract for an 11-month testing program of synthetic and enhanced vision systems (SEVS) technologies for the Next Generation (NextGen) Transportation System flight environment.

ATLANTA, 18 Oct. 2010. Esterline CMC Electronics' (CMC) PilotView Class 2 electronic flight bags (EFBs) added a new capability -- real-time weather using Iridium. Users operating in Europe or abroad now have the option of en-route weather displayed on CMC's PilotView 8.4 inch CMA-1100 MkII and 10.4 inch CMA-1410 EFBs. CMC is offering the system with the Avidyne MLX770 for access to real-time graphical weather, text, and datalink radar. The Weather Services International (WSI) products will be accessed from the Avidyne network, which can provide seamless operation for graphical weather and radar in Europe and Australia, as well as in North America.

ARLINGTON, Va., 17 Oct. 2010. Scientists at the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., are asking industry to develop a miniature, power-efficient inertial navigation and guidance device that combines precision timing and inertial measurement on one chip for applications like personal navigation, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), and compact munitions.

MOJAVE, Calif., 11 Oct. 2010. Virgin Galactic, which is developing the a commercial manned space flight system and tourism business, announced the completion the first piloted free flight of SpaceShipTwo, named the VSS Enterprise. The spaceship was released from its mothership at an altitude of 45,000 feet. The two main goals of the flight were to carry out a clean release of the spaceship from its mothership and for the pilots to free fly and glide back and land at Mojave Air and Space Port in California.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, 8 Oct. 2010. Rockwell Collins completed two major milestones in the Modernized User Equipment (MUE) receiver development program that will bring next-generation global positioning system (GPS) technology to military users. The company completed Ground-Based GPS Receiver Application Module-Military-code (GB-GRAM-M) receiver formal qualification testing and delivered receiver cards to support U.S. Air Force GPS Wing developmental testing.

MONTREAL, 6 Oct. 2010. Boeing selected Esterline Corp. subsidiary CMC Electronics (CMC) to supply the flight management system (FMS), known as the CMA-9000, for the avionics upgrade of the U.S. Air Force's KC-10 fleet of 59 tanker jets. The KC-10 Tanker Fleet Upgrade Program will involve the installation of dual CMC CMA-9000 FMSs plus multi-function control and display units, providing Precision Area Navigation (PRNAV) and FANS1 datalink capability, as well as several tactical functions that enhance the KC-10's performance.

WASHINGTON, 2 Oct. 2010. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a new grant program designed to fund projects that develop and expand commercial space transportation infrastructure. The Space Transportation Infrastructure Matching Grants will be awarded to four separate projects located in Alaska, California, Florida, and New Mexico.

BOULDER, Colo., 2 Oct. 2010. NASA awarded Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. a contract for the first Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-1) satellite. Procured by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), JPSS-1 will ensure continuity of climate and weather data records.