DARPA

​It hasn’t been an entirely smooth sailing so far for Rocket Lab, but the New Zealand-based startup is starting to turn some important heads in the space scene. The company has today announced its next launch will be used to lift a satellite into orbit for DARPA.

​​Describing a helicopter as "optionally piloted" might not do much to comfort those onboard, but this is the future DARPA is aiming for with its Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS).

DARPA has instituted a new program to advance the technologies needed to build micro-robots on the millimeter to centimeter scales. The aim is to produce new systems that would allow such microbots to enter and search the holes and crevices left by natural and manmade disasters.

DARPA’s Fast Lightweight Autonomy (FLA) program has successfully wound up its Phase 2 flight tests, putting its drones and algorithms to the test in three primary scenarios – all without human assistance or control.

In an effort to move away from today's giant, heavy battle tanks, DARPA's GXV-T program has been investigating new technologies for fast, agile and smart ground transport. Here are six of the fascinating ideas that were demonstrated last month at Aberdeen Test Center outside Baltimore, Maryland.

The first test engine that will power DARPA's next generation spaceplane has completed assembly. The updated AR-22 rocket engine for the Phantom Express project was completed by Aerojet Rocketdyne for use in ground tests to demonstrate its performance capabilities and fast turnaround design.

DARPA is kicking off a new research program aiming to explore how molecular biology could be used to slow the speed of living systems, thereby extending the window for treatment after a traumatic injury and increasing the wounded's chances of survival.​

Following a series of successful sea trials, DARPA has handed its experimental autonomous warship over to the US Navy. The ACTUV "Sea Hunter" was formally transferred to the Office of Naval Research for further development of what could be the first of a new class of unmanned ocean-going ships.

Cyberwarfare is a growing problem, with 2017 seeing some of the most devious attacks ever. As part of a US$50-million DARPA program to improve cybersecurity, computer scientists at the University of Michigan are developing a security system baked into the hardware that's said to be “unhackable.”

Plants aren't likely to be eavesdropping on our conversations anytime soon, but they could be gathering different types of intelligence if a new DARPA program bears fruit. The agency is pursuing research into genetically modifying plants to turn them into self-sustaining surveillance sensors.

The ability to fly at speeds greater than five times the speed of sound holds the promise of reaching to the antipodes in hours, it also makes possible deadly weapons that can penetrate any defenses now available. So what is hypersonic flight and does it pose a promise or a threat?

DARPA has just announced the Safe Genes program, a project that is set to invest US$65 million over four years in seven teams that will investigate ways to make gene editing technologies safer, more targeted and potentially even reversible.