Airbus is Completing the First Orion Service Module

Airbus Defence and Space is in the home stretch of work to ship the first European Service Module (ESM) to its Florida launch site for integration with the rest of the hardware for NASA’s Orion spacecraft. When fully assembled and tested, Orion will be launched on the Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1) test flight to orbit the Moon and return.

ESM-1 is now undergoing subsystem functional testing at its Assembly, Integration, and Testing (AIT) facility in Bremen, Germany, following completion of most hardware that can be installed on-site. Also known as Flight Model-1 (FM-1), the module will be flown to the Kennedy Space Center this summer to begin the sequence of steps to put together the full Orion spacecraft.

As FM-1 nears completion, Flight Model-2 (FM-2) has joined its sister module in the clean room at Bremen to begin its AIT flow. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are also working with prime contractor Airbus on beginning construction of ESM hardware for subsequent modules this summer.

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ESA, Airbus Sign $374 Million Contract for Jupiter Icy Moons Mission (JUICE)

The European Space Agency on Dec. 9 signed a contract with Airbus Defence and Space for the construction of ESA’s Juice – Jupiter Icy Moons – orbiter, scheduled for launch in 2022 aboard a European Ariane 5 rocket.

The contract had been expected since ESA’s July decision to approve a contract valued at 350.8 million euros ($374 million) with Airbus after a competition with Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy and OHB SE of Germany, which had submitted a joint bid.

Francois Auque, head of Airbus Space Systems, said Juice hardware will be produced as early as mid-2016, with the full contracting team from 60 companies lined up by 2017. Some 150 people will be working on the prime contractor’s project team at the program’s peak in 2017-2018, he said.

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The Chinese Unveil C919 (737 Equivalent) Airliner

A state-owned manufacturer on Monday unveiled the first plane produced by a Chinese initiative to compete in the market for large passenger jetliners.

China is one of the biggest aviation markets but relies on Boeing and Airbus aircraft. The multibillion-dollar effort to create the homegrown C919 jetliner is aimed at clawing back some of the commercial benefits that flow to foreign suppliers.

The Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China showed off the first of the twin-engine planes in a ceremony attended by some 4,000 government officials and other guests at a hangar near Shanghai's Pudong International Airport.

"It's a major push for the country, as they want to be known as a major player" in airplane manufacturing, said Mavis Toh, Asia air transport editor for Flightglobal magazine.

The C919 is one of several initiatives launched by the ruling Communist Party to transform China from the world's low-cost factory into a creator of profitable technology in aviation, clean energy and other fields.

The C919, which can seat up to 168 passengers, is meant to compete in the market for single-aisle jets dominated by Airbus Industrie's A320 and Boeing Co.'s 737.

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Airbus Unveils Adeline Launch System, Mimics ULA's Avionics & Propulsion Recovery Plans

Airbus Defence and Space has unveiled its concept for a reusable first stage launch vehicle to compete with SpaceX's reusable space launch system. The ADvanced Expendable Launcher with INnovative engine Economy (Adeline) would preserve the main engines and avionics of the company's next generation Ariane 6 and other launch vehicles, for use in later missions.

According to Airbus, the components contained in the Adeline re-entry module would account for around 70 to 80 percent of the total value of the launch vehicle. Therefore, if the ambitious concept were to become reality, it would represent a significant step towards creating a highly affordable and versatile launch solution. But more importantly, Adeline would help to solidify the company's position in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

The system, located at the base of a launch vehicle, is essentially a detachable, protective module, designed to act as the thrusters and guidance system for the main stage of an Airbus rocket. Having fulfilled its primary objective of liberating the upper stage of an Ariane launch vehicle from Earth's atmosphere, Adeline would return to Earth and readied to do it all again.

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Korean Air, Airbus Sign Korean KF-X 5th Generation Fighter Joint Bid Agreement

Korean Air and European aerospace giant Airbus have signed an agreement to jointly bid for an $8 billion jet fighter project, an airline spokesman said Sunday, pitting them against a team comprised of Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries.

The project is designed to develop and produce 120 fighter jets of a new "indigenous" type to replace the country's aging fleet of F-4s and F-5s.

"We've signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus," a Korean Air spokesman told AFP.

One of the conditions of the bid is that local enterprises tie up with foreign companies to secure technological assistance, according to Seoul's Yonhap news agency.

The pair will compete with Korea Aerospace Industries, which has teamed up with America's Lockheed Martin.

South Korea's Defence Acquisition Program Administration plans to announce the final winner in July.

The Korean Air/Airbus alliance would have to present a totally new design as the Eurofighter Typhoon's delta wings do not fit South Korea's specifications, an analyst said.

"Eurofighter does not fit the swept-wing concept favored by South Korea," Lee Il-Woo of Korea Defence Network told AFP.

Korean Air currently operates aircraft maintenance workshops for both the South Korean and US air force and has many years of experience in manufacturing wings for Boeing.

"Korean Air would play a role as a manufacturer with technological assistance from Airbus", Lee said.

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Boeing Teaming With AirBus, Korean Airlines for Korean KF-X Stealth Fighter Bid

Airbus and Boeing are jointly attempting to unseat Lockheed Martin from South Korea’s KF-X indigenous fighter program, offering technology from Europe that could not be supplied from U.S. sources, industry officials say.

With Korean Airlines as the local partner, the pair are likely to be proposing the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet as a base design for the KF-X.

The defense ministry’s procurement office, the Defense Acquisition Program Agency (DAPA), issued a request for proposals for KF-X development on Dec. 23.

The Boeing-Airbus KF-X proposal should be an economical alternative to a fighter design of the defense ministry’s Agency for Defense Development (ADD) that Korea Aerospace Industries has been expected to build with technical assistance from Lockheed Martin.

The U.S. limits the technology that its companies can transfer abroad. South Korea lacks technology in many fields, such as active, electronically scanning radar. But Airbus, as an airframe company, is probably involved in the Boeing bid as a supplier of stealth know-how that the U.S. company is not authorized to provide.

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Airbus Offers to Make Poland 5th Nation for Helicopter Contract

Airbus Group is ready to offer Poland a sweeping partnership alongside its core European nations to support its bid for a major military helicopter contract, a senior executive told Reuters.

The proposal comes as Airbus Group competes with Sikorsky of the United States, a unit of United Technologies, and AgustaWestland, owned by Italy's Finmeccanica, in a contest to sell 70 rotorcraft worth an estimated $3 billion.

"We want to bring Poland in the direction of Europe and the Airbus Group in defense and especially on helicopters where they have two big tenders, one of which is already ongoing," Airbus Helicopters Chief Executive Officer Guillaume Faury said.

"We view this process as an accelerator and a catalyst for Poland to become the fifth Airbus nation," Faury said, adding there should be "more Europe in defense".

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Safran, Airbus Team to Compete with SpaceX

Airbus Group (stock exchange symbol: AIR) and Safran (stock exchange symbol: SAF) are further strengthening their relationship to propose a new family of competitive, versatile and efficient space launchers, to serve both commercial and institutional needs.

In this context, both companies have agreed to create a 50-50 Joint Venture, with a key role for each shareholder in their legacy activities especially in France and Germany, combining expertise in the launcher systems from Airbus Group as well as propulsion systems from Safran.

The initiative capitalises on the preparatory activities undertaken during the last two years under the leadership of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French Space Agency CNES, in line with the guidelines set by the ESA ministerial conference in November 2012.

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Airbus Spaceplane Drop Test Video

Airbus Conducts Spaceplane Drop Test

Airbus Wants to be the Tesla of the Skies, Develops E-Fan All Electric Aicraft

E-Fan, a two-seat experimental electric aircraft developed by Airbus Group and partners, was unveiled and made its first public flight demonstration at Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport in France in April 2014. The training aircraft is intended for flying clubs and schools, and can be used for training professional pilots.

Flight tests on the E-Fan 2.0 prototype are currently underway, while development of the production version is expected to begin in June in a production facility near Bordeaux Airport. BpiFrance Public Investment Bank will partially provide finance for the development. The aircraft is expected to enter into service by 2017.

Airbus plans to introduce a new four-seat E-Fan 4.0 version aircraft in the next two years.

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3D Printed Aircraft?