Today's Aerospace Pulse
Icelandair to retire B757‑200 fleet by late 2026
Icelandair announced it will retire its Boeing 757‑200 aircraft in late 2026 as part of fleet modernization. In the same coverage cluster, Flexjet’s Irish subsidiary received regulatory approval to operate in the United States.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Eaton merges mobility business with Dana in $10B deal
Army Orders $186 Million in Switchblade Kamikaze Drones, Tank Killers
The U.S. Army has placed a $186 million delivery order with AeroVironment for two Switchblade loitering‑munition variants: the 600 Block 2 and the 300 Block 2. The 600 Block 2 brings advanced AI‑driven target detection and can operate from sea platforms, while the 300 Block 2 is equipped with an Explosively Formed Penetrator to act as a backpack‑sized “tank killer.” The order reflects growing confidence in autonomous, one‑way attack drones for contested environments. Production capacity is being expanded to meet demand from U.S. and allied forces.
US Chipmakers Turn to Sunrise Metals Amid Scandium Shortage
U.S. semiconductor manufacturers are feeling the pinch from Chinese restrictions on scandium exports, @Reuters reports, underscoring the importance of @SunriseMetals’ Syerston Scandium Project as an essential supplier to key U.S. industries. “U.S. chipmakers have experienced delays in receiving new scandium export licenses from...
In-Space Manufacturing Automated Platforms Market Analysis 2026
The 2026 market analysis shows free‑flying in‑space manufacturing platforms emerging as the commercial backbone of the broader in‑space manufacturing sector. Varda Space Industries has demonstrated repeatable pharmaceutical crystal production across five missions, while Space Forge proved orbital plasma generation for...
US Navy Awards $61m Contract Modification for Kratos BQM-177A
The U.S. Navy has awarded Kratos Defense & Security Solutions a $61.07 million contract modification to initiate full‑rate production of the BQM‑177A subsonic aerial target, delivering 70 units and associated RATO kits. The award brings the total value of the BQM‑177A...
Rogue Waves and Satellites: How Space Technology Is Changing What We Know About the Ocean’s Most Dangerous Phenomenon
Space‑based sensors, especially Synthetic Aperture Radar, have proved that rogue waves—crests over 25 m that appear without warning—are far more common than earlier statistical models suggested. The MaxWave SAR study in 2001 identified ten >25 m events in three weeks, prompting a...
When Pilots Overlook Red Flags: Unpacking the Why
Why Do Pilots Ignore Red Flags? Captains Speaking Episode 28 #aviation #airplane #pilot #planes #mentourpilot
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport Adds Striker® 6×6 ARFF Vehicle to Support Emergency Readiness
Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in Puerto Rico has added an Oshkosh Striker® 6×6 Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) vehicle to its all‑Oshkosh fleet. The 6×6 model brings a 3,000‑gallon water tank, 420‑gallon foam capacity, and advanced TAK‑4 independent...
UK’s New Medium Helicopter Deal Finalisation on Horizon, Alludes Leonardo CEO
Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani indicated that the UK Ministry of Defence will announce the New Medium Helicopter (NMH) contract within days, ending weeks of speculation. Leonardo is the only bidder for the £1 billion (US$1.3 billion) programme, positioning the company to secure...
Airbus and Leonardo Report Increased Space Revenues for 2025
Airbus Defence and Space reported €13.4 billion in space revenues for 2025, an 11 % increase from the prior year, while Leonardo’s Space division posted just over €1 billion, also up 11 %. Both companies improved profitability through restructuring, cutting over 2,000 jobs and...
AST SpaceMobile Encapsulates BlueBird 7 Satellite for Inaugural New Glenn Mission
AST SpaceMobile announced that its BlueBird 7 (BB7) satellite has been encapsulated inside the 7‑meter payload fairing of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket, marking the final major milestone before the NG‑3 launch from Cape Canaveral. BB7 is a Block 2 satellite featuring a...
U.S. Laser Strikes Decline For Second Year
Pilots logged 10,994 laser strikes to the FAA in 2025, marking a 14% drop from 2024. The decline reflects a robust pilot reporting culture that fuels FAA outreach and law‑enforcement collaboration. California, Texas and Florida accounted for the bulk of...
Flydubai Grows 737 MAX 9 Fleet, Adds Premium Capacity
flydubai announced it will receive 12 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in 2026, including seven MAX 9s that add business‑class seats. The carrier posted 2025 results with $531 million net profit, $3.7 billion revenue and a 6% rise in available seat kilometres. Passenger traffic hit...
Innovation Awards: Toray’s Process for Reusing the Secondary Structure of the A380 for the A320 NEO Wins in the Circularity...
The JEC Composites Innovation Awards recognized Toray Advanced Composites for its breakthrough process that reuses secondary‑structure components from retired A380 aircraft in new A320 NEO parts. By reshaping carbon‑fiber‑reinforced polyphenylene sulphide (C/PPS) pylon covers while preserving long fibres, the method maintains...
Flight Review: Delta One, Airbus A350-900, Paris to Los Angeles
Delta’s Airbus A350‑900, introduced in 2017 with the Delta One Suite, remains the airline’s flagship on long‑haul routes but shows signs of age after nearly a decade. The reviewer praised the suite’s privacy, lie‑flat comfort, and attentive service, including champagne...
European Space Assets Drive Structural Transformation in Global Aviation
The European Commission’s Copernicus Observer reports that the EU Space Programme—Galileo, EGNOS, Copernicus and the upcoming IRIS²—is reshaping civil aviation by moving navigation and connectivity to orbit. Since July 2025 Galileo’s OSNMA has added cryptographic authentication, protecting flights from GNSS...
F/A-18 Beat F-15, F-16 & Mirage Jets in Canada’s 1970 NFA Program; Can F-35 Lightning II Repeat A Hornet?
In the late 1970s Canada’s New Fighter Aircraft (NFA) program pitted the F/A‑18 Hornet against the F‑15, F‑16 and Mirage F‑1, ultimately selecting the twin‑engine Hornet for its cost, reliability and Arctic suitability. Decades later the Royal Canadian Air Force...
Thrust Flight Awarded Phoenix Police Training Contract
Thrust Flight has been awarded a five‑year contract to provide fixed‑wing pilot training for the Phoenix Police Department’s Air Support Unit, beginning in March. The program will train roughly two students per year across private, commercial, instrument, and instructor ratings...
AMC Interim Commander Emphasizes Airmen, Aircraft Readiness Importance at AFA
Lt. Gen. Rebecca Sonkiss, the interim commander of Air Mobility Command, addressed service members, industry partners, and the press at the 2026 Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium. She underscored the twin priorities of maintaining Airmen readiness and ensuring...
AMC Interim Commander Emphasizes Airmen, Aircraft Readiness Importance at AFA
Lt. Gen. Rebecca Sonkiss, interim commander of Air Mobility Command, used the 2026 Air and Space Forces Association Warfare Symposium to stress that aircraft and Airmen readiness hinges on rapid modernization, enhanced connectivity, and survivability. She called for accelerating the...
4RCargo Launches in Baltics and Names New Regional Manager
Independent General Sales and Service Agent 4RCargo has launched operations in the Baltic region, covering Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The company appointed Vladislavs Pecevics as regional and product manager, leveraging his 15 years of air‑cargo network and commercial strategy experience....
Rolls-Royce Boosts Mid-Term Targets, CEO Dismisses UltraFan Loan Speculation
Rolls‑Royce reported a robust 2025 full‑year performance, with net profit rising year‑on‑year and the company lifting its mid‑term earnings and cash‑flow targets. The engine maker reiterated its plan to re‑enter the narrow‑body market, highlighting new partnership opportunities and a refreshed...
Celeste Technologies Complete Successful 5G NR-NTN Interoperability Tests with Sateliot's D2D Constellation Payload
Celeste Technologies announced that its fully software‑based SmartgNB successfully completed 5G NR‑NTN interoperability tests with Sateliot’s direct‑to‑device payload at Qualcomm’s Lannion labs. The campaign validated end‑to‑end traffic across GEO and LEO scenarios, covering both transparent and regenerative satellite payloads, using...
Gilat Demonstrates 5G NTN End-to-End Connectivity over GEO Satellite
Gilat Satellite Networks demonstrated a 3GPP‑compliant 5G non‑terrestrial network (NTN) connection using its existing geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellite infrastructure. The end‑to‑end test validated key capabilities such as 5G NTN VSAT, hub technologies, latency compensation and protocol optimizations. Gilat’s success...
Jet2 Announces New Destinations for Summer 2027
Jet2 will launch three new summer 2027 routes, adding Reus from Bournemouth Airport and Crete (Chania) plus Pula from Edinburgh Airport. The Bournemouth service runs weekly on Sundays from 2 May to 31 Oct, while Edinburgh offers weekly Wednesdays to Crete (5 May‑27 Oct)...
Full Review Must Return Air New Zealand to Profitability
Air New Zealand announced a comprehensive strategy review aimed at restoring profitability after posting a $40 million net loss for the first half of FY26. The carrier is grappling with recurring engine reliability problems that have grounded aircraft, while domestic demand...
GE Wins First Digital TrueChoice Defense Deal for J85 Engine
GE Aerospace has secured its first TrueChoice Defense contract, applying AI and advanced analytics to the J85 engine that powers the Air Force’s T‑38 trainer. The seven‑month deal, with an optional four‑year, five‑month extension, aims to boost engine readiness through...
Orbital Data Centers: AI Power Solution or $50B Gamble
Can orbital data centers solve AI’s massive power crisis? Tech titans like Musk, Bezos, and Pichai are betting on $51B satellite networks to move AI processing off-planet. The goal: Unlimited, 24/7 solar power. Is it a brilliant move or a...
Training Turns Sensor Failure Into Safe Space Docking
Flying a spaceship up to dock with a space station is an extreme event. During this docking with Mir our range sensors failed, so we had to use eyeball visuals & a stopwatch to figure the angles & speeds. Hit...
Korean Air and Skyports Sign MoU to Advance Air Mobility Tech Integration
Korean Air and Skyports Infrastructure have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a unified technology platform for eVTOL operations. The partnership will merge Skyports' Vertiport Automation System with Korean Air's Air Control & Routing Orchestrated Skyway System, creating an...
Press Release: ZIPAIR Launches Starlink Inflight Wi-Fi on 787
ZIPAIR Tokyo launched SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet on a Boeing 787, marking Asia’s first commercial passenger flight equipped with the service. Flight ZG045 from Tokyo to Incheon offered free, high‑speed, low‑latency Wi‑Fi to every seat, matching ground‑based broadband performance. Installation...
CesiumAstro Acquires Vidrovr to Embed AI in Communications Systems
CesiumAstro announced the acquisition of AI‑focused startup Vidrovr to embed artificial intelligence into its space‑based communications payloads. The deal, closed in late 2025, adds multimodal signal‑analysis and edge‑computing capabilities to CesiumAstro’s software‑defined phased‑array systems, including the Element satellite. By integrating...
Sierra Space Names Dan Jablonsky CEO
Sierra Space announced that longtime defense executive Dan Jablonsky will assume the role of chief executive officer on March 2, succeeding interim CEO and founder Fatih Ozmen, who will remain board chair. Jablonsky previously led Ursa Major Technologies and Maxar Technologies, bringing deep aerospace...
Phantom Space Reclaims Former Vector Launch Technology
Phantom Space has acquired launch assets from the defunct Vector Launch, including flight‑proven design elements and engineering data. The assets will be integrated into Phantom’s Daytona two‑stage rocket to cut development risk and accelerate its schedule. Phantom, which has raised...
New Airbus Jets Power Qantas HY1 Earnings
Qantas Group’s fleet renewal accelerated with Jetstar receiving two A321LRs and one A320neo, raising the share of next‑generation narrow‑body aircraft to 45 percent. The newer Airbus types deliver about 20 percent fuel‑efficiency gains and feature modern cabins that attract passengers. Jetstar’s Adjusted...
Broadband Shorts February 2026
Amazon One has asked the FCC for a two‑year extension to meet its 1,600‑satellite launch deadline, currently operating only 212 satellites, while the FCC approved an additional 4,500 satellites for its constellation. The NTIA quickly rebuffed Starlink’s push to loosen...
Superconducting Thruster Cuts Power and Mass for Space Propulsion
Chinese researchers unveiled a compact high‑temperature superconducting magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster, replacing bulky copper coils with YBCO superconductors. The new design slashes power consumption from 285 kW to under 1 kW and trims mass from 220 kg to 60 kg, making it viable for small...
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base: Ohio’s Tech Powerhouse Meets 3D Printing Innovation
Wright‑Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio’s largest single‑site employer, is emerging as a premier hub for additive manufacturing within the U.S. Air Force. The Rapid Sustainment Office recently awarded a $2.5 million contract to develop a nine‑foot fused filament printer, aiming to...
UK Royal Navy Notes Hybrid Air Wing Progress with Eyes on Peregrine Drone Development
The UK Royal Navy’s Maritime Aviation Transformation (MATX) programme is advancing toward a hybrid air wing by 2040, with recent progress highlighted at the Defence IQ International Military Helicopter 2026 conference. Officials confirmed ongoing discussions to expand the deployment of the Peregrine...
China’s Tianwen-2 Probe Operating Normally on Approach to Asteroid
China’s Tianwen‑2 probe is operating normally on its heliocentric transfer toward the near‑Earth asteroid 469219 Kamoʻoalewa, with a sample‑return window set for the end of November 2027. The spacecraft, launched in May 2023, will conduct multi‑altitude investigations before employing three redundant sampling techniques...
Golden Dome for America Hits One-Year Mark but Key Questions Remain on Its Progress
One year after its launch, the Pentagon’s Golden Dome for America program aims to create a layered “shield” of sensors and interceptors to protect the U.S. homeland from aerial threats. The effort, a complex system‑of‑systems, is hampered by inter‑service integration...
Aerion Recognised for Innovation at STAT Trade Times Air Cargo Awards
Aerion was awarded the Innovative Logistics Solutions in Air Cargo of the Year at the 2026 STAT Trade Times International Award for Excellence in Air Cargo. The accolade, presented by Dallas Fort Worth International Airport CEO Chris McLaughlin, acknowledges Aerion’s technology‑driven,...
U.S. Navy Fields Single-Use EW Decoy Program for Naval Aviation
The U.S. Navy has launched a market‑research effort to field single‑use Active Expendable Decoys (AED) for its F‑35 and F‑18 fighter fleets. The program targets an initial purchase of roughly 3,000 decoys per year, rising to about 6,000 units annually...
ExecuJet Haite Gains Multi‑Authority Certification for G700 Maintenance
ExecuJet Haite Aviation Services China Co., Ltd (ExecuJet Haite) has secured certifications from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) and Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) to perform line and heavy maintenance on the Gulfstream G700. The...
Flydubai Posts $531m Profit, Hits Record Passengers
flydubai posts US$531m profit after tax for FY2025, reinforcing the momentum behind its expanding network strategy. The Dubai-based carrier reported US$591m pre-tax profit on revenues of US$3.7b, up 6% year-on-year. A record 15.7 million passengers flew with the airline, with Business...
Bowersox to Retire From NASA
Ken Bowersox, a former astronaut and four‑time shuttle veteran, announced his retirement from NASA effective March 6, ending a brief stint as associate administrator for space operations. He will be succeeded on an acting basis by deputy Joel Montalbano. The announcement...
GPS Satellite Ready for Launch, Vehicle Still Undecided
The next GPS satellite is at Cape Canaveral, preparing for launch. Whether it flies on Vulcan or Falcon 9 is up in the air. https://t.co/XxmkgevJk3
NASA Announces Artemis II Next Steps in Tomorrow’s Conference
NASA will hold a news conference tomorrow, Friday, Feb 27, at 10:00 am ET at KSC to discuss next steps for the Artemis II campaign. Watch on YouTube. https://t.co/G97rjQNnsk
NASA Mars Spacecraft Contract Competition Heats Up
The contest for the contract to build NASA’s next Mars spacecraft is getting spicy. 🌶️ https://t.co/RhlVdkCXDG
Overture Launches First Brand-New Jet in 15 Years
Remarkably, Overture is first all-new airliner since inflight WiFi was invented. If this seems insane, remember that Boeing and Airbus quit developing new jets about 15 years ago. (Yes this is even more insane.)
Overture's Built‑In WiFi Eliminates Bumps and Fuel Burn
Fun fact: we are designing WiFi into Overture, so there will be no bump at all and no fuel burn impact.