Stephen Kuper

Delivered by Raytheon, part of RTX, the advanced electronic attack system has been developed in close partnership with the United States Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The NGJ is designed to be deployed on platforms such as the Boeing EA-18G Growler, a capability already operated by the RAAF.

The Airborne Science and Cosmology Enabling Telescope (ASCENT) program was formally introduced by Space Centre Australia LLC at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, where it will be based. At the heart of the program is a fleet of C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, modified to carry interchangeable telescopes and sensor payloads.

The decade-long investment is aimed at strengthening Australia’s ability to detect and defeat increasingly sophisticated uncrewed aerial threats, both at home and in deployed operations overseas.

The funding will “enable Air Force to undertake expeditionary air operations to project force, sustain protracted combat operations and maintain situational awareness in our primary air of military interest”, the Government says.

After a journey of more than a week, the Orion spacecraft splashed down safely off the coast of California on Saturday, carrying its four-person crew back from a historic lunar flyby. It was the first time astronauts have travelled beyond low Earth orbit since the Apollo era.

The spacecraft, known as ViaSat-3 Flight 3 (VS-3 F3), was built using Boeing’s high-power 702MP+ platform at the company’s facility in El Segundo, California. It is designed to deliver flexible, high-performance bandwidth to support a range of users, including commercial aviation.