Know What's Happening in Aerospace
Know What's Happening in Aerospace
China tests 7.5‑tonne hydrogen‑turboprop cargo plane
China’s Aero Engine Corporation flew a 7.5‑tonne unmanned cargo aircraft powered by a 1‑megawatt hydrogen turboprop for 16 minutes, covering 36 km at 220 km/h and 300 m altitude. The test demonstrates the engine’s reliability and the country’s claim of a fully domestic hydrogen‑engine supply chain.
Florida lawmakers approved CS/CS/SB 422, prohibiting airports from using ADS‑B surveillance data to calculate landing fees or related charges for Part 91 aircraft weighing 12,499 pounds or less. The bill, cleared by both chambers, heads to Governor Ron DeSantis and would take effect on July 1, 2026. It aims to preserve pilot privacy while keeping ADS‑B focused on safety and airspace efficiency. The measure aligns with similar initiatives in Arizona and a pending federal Pilot and Aircraft Privacy Act.
Many of the early countermeasures to cheap OWA drones are also relatively cheap, such as mobile machinegun teams. This requires the modernization of the drones, employing them in greater numbers, and new methods of employment to overcome cheap countermeasures, which...
Dubai Civil Aviation Authority issued a notice today: landing permissions at DXB and DWC are suspended for all foreign operators until further notice, citing the prevailing regional situation and safety of airlines, crews, passengers, and the public. Emirates has already...
United Airlines stands to benefit from a planned multibillion‑dollar renovation at its Washington Dulles hub. The project includes a 435,000‑square‑foot, 14‑gate concourse slated for later 2026, expanding capacity for United, which already handles about 70% of Dulles traffic. While the...
Airlines operating between the United Kingdom and the Middle East have cancelled a notable share of flights amid escalating regional tensions, with 18 of 133 outbound services (13.5%) and 23 of 134 inbound services (17%) scrapped as of 16 March. The...
UK Defence Minister Luke Pollard met German State Secretary Jens Plötner in Berlin to review progress on a joint Deep Precision Strike missile programme. The initiative aims to produce stealth cruise and hypersonic missiles capable of exceeding 2,000 km, with initial...
In January 2025 an Air Busan Airbus A321 caught fire on the tarmac in Busan after a passenger’s lithium‑ion power bank overheated, injuring seven people. The incident has intensified scrutiny of portable battery safety on aircraft. IATA recently issued new minimum...
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft retrieved Ryugu asteroid samples in 2020 after impacting the surface in 2018. Laboratory analysis has now identified all five nucleobase precursors needed for DNA and RNA within the debris. The discovery strengthens the hypothesis that asteroids delivered...
Rocket Lab’s Venus Life Finder (VLF) mission aims to drop a sub‑kilogram probe into the clouds of Venus for a brief 210‑second sampling window, targeting possible biosignatures. The entire venture is slated to cost under $17 million, dramatically cheaper than historic...
Ukrainian forces depend on cloud‑based AI to coordinate massive drone swarms, but Russian electronic‑warfare can sever the uplinks, turning pre‑programmed drones into ineffective assets. Bandwidth constraints and energy shortages expose a critical compute vulnerability, prompting a shift toward a layered...
Joby Aviation completed a series of electric air‑taxi demonstration flights over the San Francisco Bay Area, departing from Oakland International Airport and cruising past the Golden Gate Bridge toward the Marin Headlands. The flights showcased the company’s N545JX prototype operating in...
The Commercial UAV News webinar highlighted how drone surveying firms must first secure data‑first workflows before layering AI, adopt a three‑tiered, modular tech stack, and address new regulatory demands. Panelists stressed that clean, structured data and automated pipelines are prerequisites...
Canada's federal government has signed a ten‑year, C$200 million lease for a private launch facility on the east coast, aiming to develop an independent satellite launch capability. The agreement with Maritime Launch Services will give Canada direct access to sub‑orbital and...
NASA's Artemis II mission, slated for early April, will send four astronauts on a ten‑day lunar flyby, becoming the first humans to view the Moon’s far side since Apollo. The crew will operate within 6,400‑9,000 km of the surface, capturing wide‑angle imagery,...
KTOS at $87.53 just hit a high-conviction BUY setup. Pure-play leader in autonomous drones, hypersonics & next-gen defense electronics — exactly where DoD is front-loading billions. 12x forward sales while margins are about to expand sharply from development to production scale. Market...
ROBOZE has unveiled the ARGO 500 HYPERSPEED MISSION READY, an additive manufacturing platform tailored for aerospace and defence applications. The system prints high-performance polymers such as SABIC’s ULTEM AM9085F and ROBOZE’s Carbon PEEK, offering weight reduction and corrosion resistance. Enhanced...
RTX Raytheon has finished expanding its Redstone Missile Integration Facility in Alabama, raising Standard Missile‑3 and Standard Missile‑6 production rates by more than 50%. The boost is intended to replenish Pentagon missile stockpiles that were drawn down during recent operations....
The Pentagon disclosed that F‑35 Lightning II jets conducting strikes in Operation Epic Fury over Iran are still equipped with the older TR‑2 software, as the planned TR‑3 upgrade has been stalled. The TR‑3, part of the Block 4 modernization, promises...
The European Defence Agency has granted a €15.65 million research contract to a Sener‑led consortium to design the first military satellite optimized for very low Earth orbit (VLEO). VLEO, ranging from 150‑350 km, promises sharper imagery and lower communication latency but requires...
100 years since someone had a crazy idea and believed in it. Only Goddard, his wife Esther, and a couple of assistants witnessed it. It didn't even make the local newspapers, and Goddard kept details secret for years afterward due to...
Oman Air Cargo will add a Fuel Surcharge and a War Risk Surcharge to all shipments starting March 18, 2026. The fuel charge will track the US Gulf Coast Jet A1 price per gallon and be reviewed weekly, while the...
Aeroflot arriving Guangzhou(and many other Asian cities)... daily service still going strong despite sanctions and the war. They’re flying to more destinations than some Middle Eastern airlines right now.
Starling Aerospace will debut its new SA‑designated seat family at the Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg, featuring the economy‑focused SA4000, the premium modular SA5000, and the ultra‑luxury rotating SA6000 for private jets. The lineup emphasizes weight efficiency, advanced connectivity, and...
L3Harris Technologies commemorated Robert Goddard’s 100‑year rocket milestone by accelerating next‑generation propulsion, including 3D‑printed RS‑25 engines, advanced electric thrusters, and nuclear thermal concepts. The company is hot‑fire testing new RS‑25 units that cut production costs by 30 percent while delivering...
Folks traveling by air today, it is going to be a day. MSP is digging out of a blizzard. A crazy, high speed front passed through ATL this morning. This disrupted the morning bank of flights and caused some international...
This shortlist for Satellite Executive of the Year makes me feel that SatShow no longer has its finger on the pulse of the most significant industry developments... (yes the SES-Intelsat merger is a big deal but shouldn't Charlie Ergen be...
South Korea’s defense establishment is reviving anti‑aircraft gun systems as a primary tool against the surge of low‑cost drone attacks. Modern gun platforms such as the radar‑equipped K30 Biho and the upcoming Cheonho vehicle employ programmable airburst ammunition to engage...
Lynk: "We want to build the most cost-effective constellation in the world. We need to build partnerships to compete against some of the bigger guys who seem to have endless money and ambition" https://t.co/HQZGajsIqU via Michelle Donegan
Defenses in the Persian Gulf are collapsing as Iran continues large drone attacks, but there's a country that already has the answer. Enter Ukraine's Sting interceptor. Note: name correction at the end 📸: Wild Hornets #drone #iranwar #geopolitics
Australia’s civil aviation regulator, CASA, announced that it is close to launching a Dubai‑style electric vertical take‑off and landing (eVTOL) air‑taxi service. The agency is drafting licensing rules for piloted passenger‑carrying advanced air mobility (AAM) flights and a safety framework...
Spain's @Defensagob, #Hisdesat on verge of selecting @AirbusSpace to replace Airbus SpainSat NG2 sat, which failed 5 wks after launch from 'impact of high-energy space particle in critical area of satellite.' SpainSat NG3 replacement could launch in 2030.https://t.co/l5TJ7Tc01C https://t.co/nHIzh6iWXD
News from @airbus as cargo carrier Atlas Air Worldwide places a firm order for 20 x A350Fs - becoming the biggest customer for Airbus' flagship widebody freighter. #avgeek https://t.co/EAAVLfsF8f
The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) created a probabilistic method to estimate the risk of reducing nondestructive evaluation (NDE) inspections on spaceflight hardware. Using a historic database of 33,630 bolt‑hole inspections that yielded six crack‑like findings, the team derived...
"Operations on T-Mobile’s T-Satellite service powered by Starlink will be supported immediately, but it also is designed to work with AST SpaceMobile—the satellite D2D provider for AT&T and Verizon in the U.S." https://t.co/FBUFQLhMfg Noteworthy that enterprise devices have this
Astronauts Zhang Lu and Wu Fei made a spacewalk from the Chinese Space Station from about 0430 UTC until 1135 UTC Mar 16, continuing installation of external debris protection panels https://t.co/GKPg66uFEF
The Boeing 737 MAX has transitioned from a heavily scrutinized program to a cornerstone of the global narrow‑body market, with roughly 2,200 deliveries recorded through February 2026. After accounting for the two aircraft lost in fatal crashes, an estimated 2,198 jets remain in...
Progress MS-31 undocks from ISS to clear the way for the next resupply mission: https://t.co/8NFAf26ZvR https://t.co/rvJcBU6rTq
The Progress MS-31 cargo ship undocked from the ISS Poisk module at about 1324:12 UTC Mar 16
In August 2016 the U.S. Army Systems Adaptive Red Team ran the UAS Threat Experiment 2‑16, using off‑the‑shelf drones to simulate attacks on convoys and urban targets. The trials examined improvised explosive payloads, autonomous targeting of moving vehicles, and command‑and‑control...
Connected seatback IFE is on the horizon and @united, which is installing @Starlink across its fleet, is leading the charge. "They're starting to lead this industry in digital engagement," says Andy Masson of @PanasonicAero, United's IFE provider. https://t.co/WJIZdT2yiC #PaxEx https://t.co/LrBgB4gR44
@astroscale_HQ: record rev, reduced loss for 9 months to Jan. 31; commercial GEO life-extension mission looks uncertain; contract w/@isaraerospace for ELSA-M to deorbit @EutelsatGroup OneWeb sat, in 2028. Security/military is where main market is now.https://t.co/qQthiO1SI0 https://t.co/8lBc4kQgMD
France unveiled the FLP‑T 150, a 150 km long‑range guided rocket artillery system developed by ArianeGroup and Thales. The ITAR‑free launcher, mounted on a Mercedes‑Zetros 8×8 truck, carries eight rockets in a single container and uses sub‑decametric GPS/INS for single‑digit meter...
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) unveiled a free, curated collection of 100 technical papers on rocket propulsion to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Robert H. Goddard’s first liquid‑fuel rocket test in 1926. The anthology pulls from AIAA’s...
China is targeting a crewed lunar landing by 2030, positioning itself to be the first nation on the Moon since Apollo. The United States, under the Artemis program, has pledged to beat that deadline but still lacks an operational lander...
In 2023 Texas earmarked $350 million for its space sector, allocating $150 million through the Texas Space Commission to 24 projects and awarding a final $14.15 million grant to Rice University’s Space Institute for a lunar‑technology center. The state also invested $200 million in...
NASA’s new administrator is exploring an “Artemis via ISS” strategy that uses the International Space Station as a low‑Earth‑orbit staging point for lunar missions. By capitalizing on the ISS’s proven habitat, docking, and orbital alignment, the plan reduces reliance on...
AI‑driven routing is turning satellite constellations into real‑time, autonomous utilities that allocate bandwidth, imagery and sensing data in milliseconds. While this autonomy makes megaconstellations economically viable, it also embeds opaque decision‑making into models that can prioritize one user over another...
Space-focused exchange‑traded funds are gaining momentum as rumors swirl around a potential SpaceX initial public offering that could price the company at roughly $1.75 trillion. The Procure Space ETF, billed as the first pure‑play space fund, has delivered a 100.7% gain...
Israel’s air force announced it destroyed the Iranian government‑owned Airbus A340‑300, the aircraft used by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for diplomatic and procurement flights. The strike comes amid intensified US‑Israel operations against Iran following the February 28 killing of Iran’s leader. The...
EUROCAE has opened an open‑consultation on draft guidance ED‑342, which proposes using advanced simulation for handling‑qualities certification of vertical take‑off and landing (VTOL) aircraft. The WG‑112 working group approved the draft after peer review on 13 March, and the document outlines...
