Military/Aerospace Electronics

The European Space Agency has approved what is described as the world’s first space telescope dedicated to studying how exoplanet atmospheres form and evolve. And UK institutions will play a central role. It is dubbed the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, or Ariel. Following government funding, UK research institutions – including UCL, the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) RAL ...

Raytheon Technologies has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the privately held Blue Canyon Technologies, a provider of small satellites and spacecraft systems components. The companies expect the acquisition to be completed by early 2021, subject to regulatory approvals. Blue Canyon Technologies will report into Raytheon Intelligence & Space, one of the businesses that make up Raytheon Technologies. Pictured above ...

UK-based Teledyne e2v’s Space Imaging division has completed the signing of Thales’ Alenia Space contract for the supply of a specialised image sensor for CO2I and NO2 instruments. The company will supply image sensors and detectors to the recently announced proposal of the European Space Agency to place six Copernicus Sentinel satellite missions in space. As the sensor partner for ...

Founded by engineers from University of Wisconsin-Madison, a company has just appeared claiming to have a route to 13kW/kg electric motors for flight. “For long-distance electric aircraft to be feasible, substantial improvements need to be made to electric propulsion system technology,” according to the company, named H3X. “ARPA-E has determined that for a Boeing 737 to complete a typical five ...

EMC/EMP filters and capacitor manufacturer, MPE, has appointed SACA Group as an authorised distributor specifically to serve customers who need small or occasional orders. This is the first time in its 95 year history that the Merseyside company will use a distributor for the UK market. It has come about as the company experiences an increase in business from its ...

The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed up three businesses following its call for proposals for commercial space transportation services: HyImpulse Technologies, Isar Aerospace Technologies and Rocket Factory Augsburg. All three German companies will prepare to offer new launch services to serve the small satellite market. It’s part of the agency’s Boost! programme  – Element 1 of which was launched ...

Hexcel has launched an electrically-conductive high-performance thermoplastic for 3D printing using selective laser sintering (SLS). Applications in  EMC shielding, static dissipation and radar absorption are foreseen. Called HexPEKK EM, it is a polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) and carbon fibre composite for flight-ready parts in commercial aerospace, defence and military sectors. Surface resistivity is ~8×104Ω/sq and volume resistivity ~4×103Ωcm. Physically, parts printed from the ...

Rolls Royce has announced a three-year project – dubbed REINSTATE – to develop innovative technologies for use in servicing and maintenance of jet engines, such as robotic snakes. These “snake robots” could travel within the systems to access complex parts, says the company. Acknowledging that it sounds like something out of science fiction, or a bad Hollywood movie, the project ...

The UK Space Agency has itself won a global award for sustainable development: the GEO (Group on Earth Observations) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Award. Specifically it has been recognised for its commitment to innovative use of Earth Observation data and other satellite technologies in the form of its International Partnership Programme (IPP). This initiative, which invests £30 million each year ...

Airbus has been awarded a climate change space contract to prepare a mission to collect the first ever absolute measurements of the light reflected off Earth’s surface. The contract is backed by the UK Government and awarded as part of the European Space Agency’s TRUTHS satellite mission, which will improve our ability to track and predict climate change from Earth ...