Unmanned Systems Technology 002 | Scion SA-400 | Commercial UAV Show report | Vision sensors | Danielson Trident I Security and safety systems | MIRA MACE | Additive manufacturing | Marine UUVs

8 Platform one The X-37B space vehicle has smashed the endurance record for an autonomous vehicle, staying aloft for 674 days, or just over two years. The craft, also called the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), was on its third mission and was built by Boeing before being transferred to the US Air Force. The vehicle is a quarter of the size of the Space Shuttle, being 9 m long and having a wing span of 4.5 m, and is powered by an Aerojet AR2-3 hydrazine engine and gallium arsenide solar cells and lithium batteries while in flight, although it is launched using a traditional rocket system. It is controlled by an autopilot to keep it in low Earth orbit and to oversee the landing, and is being used to test out new ceramic materials for heat protection. A key feature is that there are no hydraulics on the craft – all the actuation is electro- mechanical to enhance the endurance and controllability. New orbital endurance record Space flight Spring 2015 | Unmanned Systems Technology AUVSI Europe Tuesday 3 March – Wednesday 4 March Crowne Plaza, Brussels, Belgium www.auvsi.org/UnmannedSystemsEurope/Home DoD Unmanned Systems Summit Wednesday 18 March – Thursday 19 March Alexandria, VA, USA www.unmannedsystems.dsigroup.org SkyTech Friday 24 April Business Design Centre, Islington, London, UK www.skytechevent.com Small Unmanned Systems Business Exposition Wednesday 29 April – Friday 1 May San Francisco, CA, USA www.susbexpo.com AUVSI USA Tuesday 5 May – Thursday 7 May Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, GA, USA www.auvsishow.org/auvsi2015/public/enter.aspx ICUAS’15 – The 2015 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems Tuesday 9 June – Friday 12 June Denver Marriott Tech Center, Denver, CO, USA www.uasconferences.com Paris Air Show Monday 15 June – Sunday 21 June Le Bourget, Paris, France www.siae.fr/EN Commercial UAV Show Asia Tuesday 30 June – Wednesday 1 July Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, Singapore www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/commercial-uav-asia UAS Tuesday 7 July – Wednesday 8 July Twickenham, UK www.uas-event.com World Congress on Unmanned Systems Engineering Thursday 30 July – Friday 31 July Palacio de Santa Paula, Granada, Spain www.wueng-congress.com InterDrone Wednesday 9 September – Friday 11 September Rio, Las Vegas, USA www.interdrone.com DSEI Tuesday 15 September – Friday 18 September ExCel, London, UK www.dsei.co.uk Unmanned Systems Institute (USI) Conference Wednesday 23 September – Friday 25 September Las Vegas, USA www.unmannedsystemsinstitute.com Unmanned Global Systems (UGS) Wednesday 14 October – Thursday 15 October Bordeaux Exhibition Centre, Bordeaux, France www.ugsevent.com/en Commercial UAV Show Tuesday 20 October – Wednesday 21 October ExCel, London www.terrapinn.com/exhibition/the-commercial-uav-show Unmanned Systems Canada Tuesday 3 November – Thursday 5 November World Trade & Convention Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada www.unmannedsystems.ca/ UST diary