Teledyne Technologies announced in July 2015 that they have secured a USD$15 million contract with NASA to provide hyperspectral remote-sensing imagery from an instrument to be installed on the International Space Station (ISS). The instrument, built by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), will be integrated into the multi-user system for earth sensing (MUSES) earth-observation platform at the station. It is said to be the first instrument to be installed in the MUSES platform which will also house three other Earth observation tools.

At the end of last week, word broke that the Canadian government is reportedly planning on cancelling a USD$55 million contract with Thales Canada to deliver new radar units in order to support its CF-18 fighter jet squadrons in Cold Lake, Alberta and Bagotville, Quebec. Signed in November of 2010, the deal called for Thales Canada to deliver two Ground Master (GM 400) air-defense tactical-control radar systems, scheduled to begin in 2013. According to Defense Department documents, costs of the equipment had increased to over USD$78 million which led to the Public Works Department being called in to negotiate with Thales and try to resolve the issue.

The British Broadcasting Corporation has released its new Micro Bit (stylized as “micro:bit”), a new device for the company’s computer literacy project designed to capture the imaginations of the next generation of programmers.

With a scheduled date of June 26, the upcoming hearing on the US space launch strategy is bound to get heated. The forthcoming hearing, dubbed “Assuring National Security Space: Investing in American Industry to End Reliance on Russian Rocket Engines,” will feature a panel of government speakers followed by one from private industry. The House Armed Services - Strategic Forces Committee, the agency that oversees the nation’s ballistic missile defense, strategic weapons, space, and Department of Energy national security programs, wants the public to understand that Congress meant it when it mandated the US Air Force to end its reliance on Russian-made launch systems by 2019.

Lockheed Martin has received the first of five instruments, a Thermal Emission Spectrometer, for NASA’s asteroid-bound OSIRIS-REx probe.

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems has successfully tested their railgun projectiles with on-board electronics at US Army’s Dugway Proving Ground.

In June 2015, Toyota executive Julie Hamp was taken into custody by Japanese police on charges of illegally bringing a restricted painkiller into the country. The next day, Toyota president Akio Toyoda spoke up in support of Hamp, calling her a “’trusted and essential’” aide and defended her by saying that he was confident she had not broken the law intentionally. After the apprehension, Tokyo police raided Toyota Motor Corporation’s headquarters as well as its Tokyo and Nagoya offices as a result of Hamp’s arrest.

Following a January lawsuit filed by Monster against Apple-owned Beats Electronics, Apple announced that they have suspended Monster’s right to make licensed accessories for their devices. Under Apple's Made for iPhone (MFi) certification process that was established in 2005, Monster produces accessories such as lightning charger cables and headphones that are certified to work with various Apple devices. On May 5 of this year, Apple terminated its deal with Monster and the company will no longer be able to make their accessories.

The third hot fire test of an RS-25 engine of the Space Launch System has been completed at the Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, US. The engine was fired for 500 seconds. SLS is the newest rocket from NASA. It is being designed to send astronauts on future missions beyond Earth’s orbit. The Rocket will be equipped with four RS-25 engine and travel at speeds of 17,500 mph.

In June 2015, the US Navy announced that they were set to christen their tenth littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), on Saturday June 13^th at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama. This ship was named in honor of former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords who resigned from Congress in 2011 to recover from wounds sustained in an assassination attempt. She was known for her support of the military and veterans.

The Pilatus PC-24 has completed its first flight in Switzerland, two years after the jet was announced.

SpaceX and Boeing are both building private spaceships to taxi astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA. Since the cancellation of NASA’s shuttle program, restoring the ability to launch American astronauts to ISS has been a top priority. It now appears that the goal is closer than ever.

The 787-9 Dreamliner is a stretched version of the 787-8.  It has a seating capacity suitable for 250-290 passengers. In the past, the 787-9 aft and mid fuselage sections was fabricated, assembled, and integrated at the North Charleston plant in South Carolina. From there, it was sent to Everett for final inspection.

Pratt & Whitney has won the 2015 Gold Edison Award in the transportation-aviation category for their PurePower Geared Turbofan. The award recognizes achievement in innovation, creativity, and ingenuity in the global economy.

The world’s biggest provider of seeds to farmers Monsanto has presented an unsolicited offer of $45 billion to take over their Swiss rival Syngenta. However, the company has not given up as it continues to work on a deal, planning on increasing the initial bid of 449 Swiss francs per share which is a 36 percent premium to Thursday’s closing price.

Headquartered in Surrey, United Kingdom, Sperry Marine is a premier designer and manufacturer of navigational equipment including steering systems, compass systems, speed logs, integrated bridge systems, and control systems. Founded in 1997, Sperry Marine was formed out of three legacy companies with over a century of maritime navigation experience-Sperry Gyrocompass, C. Plath, and Decca Radar. Since 2001, Sperry Marine has been operating as a business unit of Northrop Grumman’s Navigation and Maritime Systems Division.

On Saturday, May 2^nd, the John Finn (DDG 113) was launched at the Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) shipyard. The US Navy assigned the name John Finn to the Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51), one of their newest guided missile destroyers. This name was in remembrance of a Medal of Honor recipient, John Finn, who showed “magnificent courage in the face of almost certain death.”

In April 2015, GKN Aerospace announced that they have received a contract from Gulfstream Aerospace to provide wing skins for its G500 and G600 business jets. The deal calls for GKN to produce upper and lower wing skins for the ultra-long jets at its advance machined structures plant in Wellington, Kansas.

Harris has received a $27 million contract from the US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to supply additional Falcon III wideband manpack and handheld tactical radios.

GKN Aerospace is coming up with a titanium powder to use in additive manufacturing for their aerospace components.