Know What's Happening in Aerospace
Know What's Happening in Aerospace
Artemis II crew prepares for historic lunar flyby
NASA’s four‑person Artemis II crew has passed the mission’s halfway point and is set for a five‑hour lunar flyby on April 6, skimming 4,000‑6,500 miles above the Moon’s far side to capture high‑resolution images of the Orientale basin and test Orion’s life‑support and navigation systems. The Space Launch System placed Orion into Earth orbit with 99.92% trajectory accuracy, and the crew will target a splashdown around April 10‑11.
Also developing:
Colombian President Gustavo Petro publicly questioned the army’s reliance on second‑hand transport aircraft following a crash that killed dozens of soldiers. The incident has sparked a debate over procurement practices, maintenance standards, and regional defense‑aviation policies.
SES announced a strategic partnership with K2 Space to develop the meoSphere medium‑Earth‑orbit broadband constellation. The rollout will begin with a Spring 2026 pathfinder on SpaceX’s Transporter‑16, scale to 28 satellites by 2029 and reach full operational capability in 2030, positioning...
US needs a totally new air defense strategy. This also includes congressional advocacy, procurement, etc. Leadership has failed us here. Little movement for many years when it was clear the nature of the mission was morphing rapidly. Time for a...
NASA has awarded Intuitive Machines a $180.4 million contract under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program for its fifth task order, dubbed IM‑5. The mission will deploy a larger Nova‑D lunar lander to the South‑Pole ridge Mons Malapert, delivering seven science...
The U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command completed its second Tactically Responsive Space (TacRS) exercise, Victus Diem, using a tabletop and field‑training simulation rather than an actual launch. The drill demonstrated that payload processing, checkout, and encapsulation can be completed...
LAUNCH at 2251 UTC Mar 25 of the Siwei Gaojing 2-05 and 2-06 commercial imaging satellites by CZ-2D from Taiyuan
The Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program has surpassed former Secretary Frank Kendall’s target of delivering drone wingmen at roughly one‑third the cost of an F‑35, achieving unit costs at or below $34 million. Semi‑autonomous drones such as the YFQ‑44A...
NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a $20 billion, seven‑year program to build a permanent lunar base and a nuclear‑electric propulsion spacecraft to Mars by 2028. The shift cancels the Lunar Gateway station, repurposes its hardware, and accelerates commercial lander development, signaling...
In April 2026 American Airlines will operate 1,327 domestic flights featuring lie‑flat seats across its internationally configured fleet, including the 102‑seat A321T, the new A321XLR, Boeing 777‑200, and Boeing 787‑8/‑9 aircraft. The A321T offers 30 Flagship First‑Class and 20 Flagship Business seats on four...
The Army’s new UAS Marketplace, designed as an "Amazon‑like" portal for Group 1‑3 drones, will likely not serve as the primary acquisition channel for its launched‑effects programs. Capability executive Rodney Davis warned that launched effects demand massed capability and scale, which...
The Army’s SkyFoundry program, originally slated to internally produce 10,000 cheap drones per year, has pivoted to a fully commercial partnership model. Rich Martin, AMC’s supply‑chain director, emphasized that the service cannot scale drone manufacturing alone and will rely on...
European airlines are adding direct services to Asia and Africa as travelers steer clear of Middle East layovers amid ongoing conflict disruptions. Lufthansa Group announced four extra Munich‑Singapore flights, additional Frankfurt‑Cape Town and Frankfurt‑Riyadh legs, while Austrian scheduled ten Vienna‑Bangkok...
The McDonnell Douglas MD‑11, a three‑engine widebody introduced in the early 1990s, saw only about 200 units produced before production ceased in 2001. While it struggled in passenger service, the type found a lasting niche as a cargo workhorse, with...
Rocket Lab is being positioned as the primary candidate to supply the satellite bus for Equatys, a joint venture between Viasat and Space42 targeting a 2,800‑satellite LEO constellation that delivers direct‑to‑device connectivity. The venture, backed by a $600 million investment from...
Flying Fox Engineering is developing the Fox Lightning, a low‑cost, fixed‑wing UAV priced around $2,500 per unit. The drone offers a 25‑mile range and a 5.5‑lb payload, targeting rapid, large‑scale deployment in electronic‑warfare and GPS‑denied environments. The company has entered...
Performance Drone Works (PDW) announced a Series B round that raised over $110 million, led by Ondas and joined by strategic investors such as Hood River, Cedar Pine, Hanwha’s venture fund and Booz Allen Hamilton. The capital will fund a hiring...
Lockheed Martin CTO Craig Martell told Axios that future warfare will rely on human‑machine teaming, not fully autonomous cognition. He emphasized that operators must train alongside AI systems to understand their limits and assume responsibility for any errors. Martell cited...
An Ariana Afghan Boeing 737-400 veered off the runway on landing in Kabul today. Passengers slid down emergency chutes, some injuries, and the aircraft took some damage.
Canada’s Mission Control consortium has selected Quebec‑based robotics firm Kinova to build the robotic manipulator for the nation’s first Lunar Utility Vehicle (LUV). The LUV is a 1,000‑kg heavy‑duty rover designed for a minimum ten‑year lifespan, supporting NASA’s Artemis program...
Textron Aviation will present its full Cessna, Beechcraft, and newly acquired Pipistrel lineups together for the first time at Sun ’n Fun 2026 in Lakeland, Florida. The static exhibit will span piston trainers, turboprop workhorses and light‑sport aircraft, highlighting the...
SpaceX marked a milestone this week by lofting its 10,000th Starlink satellite into low‑Earth orbit, extending the company’s broadband constellation. The added capacity is already delivering reliable high‑speed internet to remote outposts, such as a Norwegian polar expedition across Ellesmere...
Advent Capital has poured roughly $15 billion into mature defense firms since 2020 and is preparing to commit an additional $1 billion to nurture early‑stage innovators. Malani highlighted investments in missile‑defense, AI‑enhanced submarine hunting, space‑based intelligence and V‑laser weapons, blending large‑cap take‑privates...
Prior to Covid I could probably count on one hand how many times I had a flight discontinue all in flight service for “potential rough air”, now it happens on probably a third of my flights. Maybe more. Happens all...
RT drops IRGC claim: US F-18 'hit by air defenses over Iran' . In Reality the documented case is the March 19 F-35 that got tagged, pilot wounded by shrapnel, emergency landing confirmed by CENTCOM. No independent verification on a...
Terran Orbital, a Lockheed Martin company, unveiled a new star tracker product line—M10, H6, and F4—at SATSHOW 2026. The three models are engineered to balance cost, mass, and performance while leveraging the firm’s extensive flight heritage. Each unit features robust...
Lots of discussion of countering UAVs at the moment. @Justin_Br0nk and I published this in 2024: https://t.co/dsSGyI9mfx Lots of others with similar conclusions. The answers have been known for some time - the problem is implementation. @RUSI_org @roberttollast
.@isaraerospace launch aborts at second of scheduled liftoff, cause unclear. countdown had been delayed by a boat in launch area earlier. https://t.co/TXLNBwmRVz
The Golden Dome missile‑defense concept faces a formidable data‑fusion hurdle, requiring real‑time 3‑D tracking of ballistic and hypersonic launches from a patchwork of space‑ and ground‑based sensors. Industry leaders at a SATShow Week panel emphasized that the obstacle is less...
LaGuardia Plane Crash Into Fire Truck + Rob Mark on Losing a Pil… https://t.co/BB8lwrUy17 https://t.co/fevl12WkF4
There's a new object cataloged as 68376 and tagged as a debris object from the 2026-009 ALSAT-3A launch; it's in the catalog number range I was expecting for the 2026-061 Rassvet launch, but no TLEs for that launch yet.
NASA, ESA, and CSA combined the James Webb Space Telescope’s infrared power with Hubble’s visible‑light imaging to deliver the most detailed, layered view of Saturn to date. The paired observations captured a long‑lived jet stream, remnants of the 2011‑12 Great...
Space Force orbital data now out for StriX-6, launched on Mar 20, showing it in a 557 x 580 km x 50.3 deg orbit with Electron stages in 173 x 491 km and 340 x 558 km.
KBR’s protest of NASA’s $1.8 billion COSMOS contract was rejected by the Government Accountability Office, leaving the award to the Ascend joint venture of Amentum and Aerodyne. The five‑year contract, with two optional extensions, supports command‑and‑control systems for Orion, the Space...
The U.S. Air Force’s 34th Fighter Squadron, nicknamed the “Rude Rams,” was awarded the 2025 Raytheon Award as the top fighter squadron in the service. Based at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, the unit spent 11 of the past 12...
Air France will consolidate flights serving Réunion, Guadeloupe and Martinique at Paris Charles de Gaulle starting March 29, 2026. The restructuring removes the need for passengers to change airports, shortening overall journey times. By routing all connections through CDG, the...
This spooky image of the B-2 is another great study of the aircraft's very organic-like leading edge shape. Nothing straight. https://t.co/vcqFIHYorX
The Antonov An‑225 required six Progress D‑18T turbofans because each produced only about 51,300 lbf, and the aircraft needed roughly 309,000 lbf to lift its 1.4 million‑lb maximum take‑off weight and a 550,000‑lb payload for the Buran space‑shuttle. Soviet engine technology in the 1980s...
Pour one out for NASA's Joel Montalbano. Months ago he is confirmed to appear before the US House to speak about the future of humans in low-Earth orbit. On the day before his appearance NASA basically says there isn't much...
As NASA was laying out its new exploration vision yesterday, NOAA's Office of Space Commerce was releasing an update of its Mission Authorization proposal, seeking stakeholder input. https://t.co/zdjJBR62HO https://t.co/7Ly27Fdunk
Boeing’s active fleet now includes ten models capable of flying over 8,500 nautical miles, with the 777‑200LR leading at 8,555 nm. The list spans from the narrow‑body 737‑900ER to the ultra‑long‑haul 777‑200LR, showing how composites and efficient engines have stretched range...
Wizz Air has started retiring its Airbus A321ceo fleet, beginning with the 2016‑delivered aircraft, and plans to phase out all 41 units by March 2029. The carrier is replacing the older jets with higher‑capacity, fuel‑efficient A321neo models, keeping its average...
Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) Ltd announced a $2.8 billion unsecured revolving credit facility, replacing a $1.4 billion line and lifting its total revolving capacity to roughly $4 billion. The facility, maturing in March 2031, blends conventional and Sharia‑compliant funding from 15 global banks,...
Swiss startup Pave Space announced a $40 million private funding round to develop a reusable orbital tug and conduct a demonstration flight. The round was led by Visionaries Club and Creandum, with participation from several European investors. Originating as a student‑led...
ZIPAIR Tokyo Inc. has chosen Axinom Stream to power its next‑generation onboard streaming platform, delivering DRM‑protected Hollywood movies directly to passengers' personal devices. The API‑driven solution integrates with ZIPAIR’s passenger experience portal while keeping full control of the user interface....
The European Space for Sustainability Award, backed by ESA, EISC and ESPI, is now accepting entries from European students and young professionals aged 18‑30. Participants must submit a poster by 3 May 2026 and, if shortlisted, a detailed report by 21 June 2026. Winners...
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has opened its annual call for nominations for member advancement, inviting the aerospace community to recognize peers who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and contributions. Eligible candidates include those who have significantly impacted...
Intuitive Machines secured its fifth NASA contract, a $180.4 million award to launch the upgraded Nova‑D lunar lander near the Moon’s south pole. The mission, designated IM‑5, will target Mons Malapert, a ridge offering continuous Earth visibility and stable illumination, making...
American Airlines has upgraded its digital platform to provide real-time explanations for flight delays and cancellations via its mobile app and website. The enhancement integrates self‑service tools that let passengers instantly rebook, track baggage, and claim vouchers, all within a...
The U.S. House passed H.R. 2247, the Airmen Certificate Accessibility Act, allowing pilots to present FAA‑issued airman and medical certificates digitally or on paper during inspections. The legislation mandates the FAA to develop authentication methods and issue a final rule...
