Lockheed Martin plans to develop a reconnaissance plane to fly six times faster than the speed of sound and have it in the demonstration phase by 2018, Aviation Week reported Nov. 1. Guy Norris writes the company’s Skunk Works division intends for the SR-72 to be the successor to the SR-71 Blackbird, …

Mark Tucker, a 30-year veteran of Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), has been appointed senior vice president of operations and engineering at Aerojet Rocketdyne. He will lead initiatives to implement and integrate processes, systems engineering and affordability initiatives at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s 16 sites in the U.S., the company said Tuesday. Tucker will …

Kathy Warden – chairman, CEO and president of Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) and a 2020 Wash100 winner -- has been appointed to succeed Kelly Ortberg as chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association's board of governors. AIA named Mike Petters, president and CEO of Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) and a previous Wash100 awardee, as vice chairman.

THIS WEEK’S TOP 10 MOST POPULAR STORIES View Weekly Contract Awards Boeing Conducts Taxi Test on AI-Powered Unmanned Aircraft Prototype An unmanned aircraft prototype Boeing developed with the Australia’s air force has undergone a low-speed taxi process as part of tests and preparations for a maiden flight slated for later this year. …

James Taiclet, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), said the company saw earnings growth in the space segment and attributed the increase to hypersonic weapons programs, Defense News reported Tuesday.

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) a potential $13.3B contract to build the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missile system.

THIS WEEK’S TOP 10 MOST POPULAR STORIES AECOM Names New Executives to Leadership Team; Troy Rudd Quoted AECOM has appointed Gaurav Kapoor, current chief accounting officer of the company, as chief financial officer (CFO), Douglas Stotlar as independent chairman of the Board of Directors and Troy Rudd as director of the Board, effective Aug. 15. Bradley …

A United Launch Alliance-built Atlas V rocket carrying NASA’s Perseverance rover lifted off Thursday from a launch complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida as part of the Mars 2020 mission.

Twenty-eight representatives from the government, private and academic sectors have been appointed to serve for a term of up to two years on the user’s advisory group of the National Space Council.

The U.S. Air Force is looking for potential sources of information on systems engineering and integration requirements for an air-launched hypersonic cruise missile ahead of planned preliminary design review activities next fiscal year.