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.
United Semiconductors has signed a payload reservation with Starlab Space to shift its microgravity semiconductor crystal growth from the ISS to the commercial Starlab station in low‑Earth orbit. The agreement gives United access to internal and external platforms, including pure‑vacuum environments, to increase throughput, cut logistics time, and lower production costs. By leveraging microgravity’s stable conditions, the company expects higher material uniformity, improved yields and performance for advanced III‑V semiconductor and semimetal alloys. The move is positioned to bolster U.S. semiconductor supply chains and support applications in AI, aerospace, sensing and national‑security technologies.
Assaia has unveiled StandManager, an AI‑driven Resource Management System that continuously analyzes live airport data to allocate stands and gates in real time. The platform replaces static buffer times with predictive buffers, allowing dynamic re‑allocation when flights arrive early or...
On March 16, 1926 Robert Goddard launched the world’s first liquid‑fuel rocket, lifting 12.5 meters before crashing after 2.5 seconds. Despite early successes and funding from the Guggenheim family and the Smithsonian, Goddard’s distrust of collaboration kept his work isolated. The...
The JAA Training Organisation (JAA TO) has signed a two‑year cooperation framework with the Romanian Civil Aeronautical Authority, granting Romania structured access to JAA TO’s specialised regulatory training programmes. The partnership, formalised at JAA TO’s High‑Level Training workshop, covers safety oversight, airworthiness, aerodromes,...
CRP Group, comprising CRP Technology and CRP Meccanica, will debut at XPONENTIAL Europe 2026 in Düsseldorf, showcasing flight‑validated composite and hybrid‑manufactured components for aerospace and defense. The exhibit features a MIL‑STD‑810H‑tested UAV fuselage and a 3D‑printed PocketQube satellite deployer that...
The U.S. Space Force has terminated its roughly $1.7 billion contract with AeroVironment for the Satellite Communications Augmentation Resource (SCAR) program, ending work on the mobile BADGER phased‑array antennas. The termination follows failed renegotiations and reflects a shift toward an open‑competition...
NASA announced that the Advanced X‑Ray Imaging Satellite (AXIS) has been disqualified from the Astrophysics Probe Explorer competition after failing to meet the program’s cost and schedule thresholds. The decision follows a series of internal disruptions at NASA, including a...
Here are some additional scenes of how it happened on Air India Express. You can see the amazing landing: main gear hard landing, bounce, tire burst, and nose gear landing. No slides were deployed, so at least some money was...
Bartow Executive Airport has installed Frequentis' integrated communications platform to power its newly renovated Digital Tower Operations Center. The solution combines the Frequentis X10, GuardX recording, and smartATIS into a single digital suite, replacing legacy systems and supporting the airport’s...
Telesat announced new Canadian landing‑station sites in Estevan and Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, and Papineauville, Quebec, expanding its ground footprint ahead of Lightspeed pathfinder launches in December. The company aims to operate 24 landing stations worldwide by the start of global services...
James Cropper and Hexcel have teamed up under the European Composites Circularity Alliance (ECCA) to develop the Unimat range, leveraging Cropper’s Vectis aligned‑fibre technology for recycled carbon‑fibre composites. The partnership aims to achieve the alignment and fibre‑volume fractions required for...
Cathay Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau: • can expect the fuel surcharge to rise due to increase in price of jet fuel
Utah’s Department of Transportation, together with a coalition of public and private entities, has been chosen by the FAA as one of eight sites for an eVTOL integration pilot program. The initiative, called uFLY: America’s AAM Crossroads to the West,...
Shanghai‑based BlueStar Optical Domain announced a Series C round of roughly 500 million yuan ($72 million). The capital will fund a production‑line upgrade aimed at delivering 1,000 laser communication terminals annually by mid‑2026. The move positions BlueStar as a mass‑production supplier for China’s...
Cyprus has become the first EU member to operationally use the European Union’s GOVSATCOM secure satellite communications service, announced by EUSPA on 10 March. The service, which went live in January 2026, aggregates capacity from eight satellites operated by five countries to...
Key players from the French and UK aerospace composites sectors gathered at the British Embassy in Paris during JEC World for a networking reception organized by Composites UK and the Department for Business and Trade. Deputy Trade Commissioner Jo Hawley...
Cathay Group’s employees will receive over 11 weeks of bonuses & a salary increase this year after the group reported a full-year 2025 profit of US$1.38 billion (HK$10.8 billion) driven by higher capacity, load factors & strong cargo demand.
The United Kingdom has dispatched the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon, Wildcat helicopters equipped with Martlet missiles, Eurofighter Typhoons and F‑35B aircraft to Cyprus and the wider Middle East following a drone strike on RAF Akrotiri. These assets aim to reinforce regional air‑defence...
Air India Express’s Hyderabad‑Phuket Boeing 737‑Max 8 suffered a nose‑wheel malfunction during its March 11 landing at Phuket International Airport, prompting the runway’s temporary closure. The aircraft touched down at 04:24 UTC, and both nose wheels detached, but no passengers or crew were injured....
Airbus delivered 793 aircraft in 2025, topping its revised target as supply chain constraints eased. https://www.metalnomist.com/2026/03/airbus-delivered-793-aircraft-in-2025.html
We break: Boeing has a new $298 million contract with Israel to deliver as many as 5,000 new air-launched smart bombs, according to three people familiar with the transaction https://t.co/WCseIjItOf
Thales unveiled SkyDefender, an AI‑enabled air and missile defence dome that spans land, sea and space. The system combines long‑range early‑warning radars and satellite sensors with medium‑ and short‑range interceptors, all managed through the SkyView command platform. Its open, modular...
The U.S. has a drone that punches in the same (financial) weight class as the Iranian Shahed. Everybody, meet LUCAS. #shahed #drone #iranwar #geopolitics https://t.co/hoDkzlZII0
Anduril Industries announced it will acquire ExoAnalytic Solutions, effectively doubling its space workforce. The deal adds ExoAnalytic’s 130‑plus engineers and a network of over 400 telescopes, enhancing Anduril’s space‑situational‑awareness (SSA) offerings for Department of Defense and Space Force customers. Anduril...
The European Space Agency (ESA) is advancing Project Cassandra, a collaboration with CompPair, CSEM and Com&Sens to adapt self‑healing carbon‑fibre composites for spacecraft. The HealTech material, originally developed by CompPair, uses embedded fibre‑optic sensors and 3D‑printed aluminium grids to detect...
Echostar XXV has been tracked in a 264 x 22015 km x 26.9 deg subsynchronous transfer orbit. The Falcon 9 upper stage made a perigee lowering burn and reentered at first perigee near 102W 10N at about 1130 UTC...
Air Combat Command has tasked the 319th Reconnaissance Wing at Grand Forks AFB to run the Point Defense Battle Lab, a series of monthly 2026 exercises that will test counter‑small‑UAS technologies. The lab issued two RFIs—one for detection, identification and...
Widebody freighter capacity remains constrained in 2026 as manufacturers grapple with lingering supply‑chain disruptions. IATA’s director general Willie Walsh warned that OEMs are still struggling to stabilize production, pushing the Boeing 777‑8F launch to 2028 and delaying Airbus’s A350F entry...
Beijing Capital International Airport, once the world’s second‑busiest hub, has slipped to 15th place in 2025 with passenger volumes at just 70% of 2019 levels. Over the past five years the airport has accumulated roughly $1.6 billion in losses, and analysts...
The U.S. Space Force has cleared the preliminary design review for Epoch 2, a ten‑satellite medium‑Earth‑orbit missile‑warning constellation. The milestone, achieved nine months after awarding a $1.2 billion firm‑fixed‑price contract to BAE Systems Space and Mission Systems, paves the way for a...
Starlab Space announced that its commercial payload capacity is fully booked ahead of its planned launch, despite the station not reaching orbit for another 36 months. Voyager Technologies, the lead developer, reported a $6 million backlog tied to these reservations, including...
A pilot recounts receiving a weight‑and‑balance ACARS transmission that listed 301 "souls on board" for a trans‑Atlantic flight, the first time his aircraft carried over three hundred occupants. The count includes passengers, crew, and lap children, pushing the total beyond...
Serbian MiG-29 Fighter Appears Armed With Chinese Supersonic Standoff Missiles Previously only known to be in Pakistani service, the Chinese-made CM-400 air-to-ground missile has now appeared on Serbian MiG-29 jets. https://t.co/HFecMXiP2D
Bristow Group has taken delivery of the first two Airbus H160 medium‑twin helicopters leased from Milestone Aviation, marking the aircraft’s debut on the African continent. The helicopters are undergoing final preparations in Nigeria ahead of entry into offshore oil‑and‑gas transport...
Massive Leap In Ability To Spot Iranian Drones Headed To Persian Gulf The E-7A Wedgetail is arguably the best aircraft anywhere in the world for spotting low-flying Iranian drones and cruise missiles. https://t.co/p5D8s2NIsM
Viasat has been awarded a $14 million contract to provide in‑flight satellite communications for the U.S. Navy’s C‑37 executive transport aircraft. The two‑year sole‑source agreement, issued by the Space Systems Command Commercial Space Office, will equip the Gulfstream‑based jets with Viasat’s...
The National Space Society will host the 44th International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in McLean, Virginia, from June 4‑7, 2026. The agenda features high‑profile NASA astronauts and industry leaders, including former shuttle commander Michael López‑Alegria, planetary scientist Lindy Elkins‑Tanton of the...
🌕@GRU_Space built the world's first Moon factory in just 6 weeks—patent-pending hardware turning lunar dirt into bricks and inflates habitats on the Moon. It's landing as early as next year to lay the foundation for lunar hotels and base infra. Congrats on...
The Space Rapid Capabilities Office has pivoted to an incremental strategy for migrating both new and legacy orbital‑warfare systems onto the cloud‑based Rapid Resilient Command and Control (R2C2) platform. The revised plan shortens delivery cycles to two weeks, enlists Space...
The Air Force Safety Center has launched a Unit Risk Forecasting dashboard that predicts mishap risk for over 2,400 squadrons using a decade of safety data. The tool classifies each squadron’s risk as low, medium, or high for the coming...
The U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command has issued a solicitation for industry input, including Canadian firms, on a joint command‑and‑control (C2) system for allied space domain awareness (SDA). A letter of offer and acceptance with Canada’s Department of National...
New Space Force orbit for Van Allen Probe A , epoch 1440 UTC [6 hours ago], 113 km perigee, 952 km apogee. No updated reentry estimate
The Aerospace Industries Association released a white paper positioning agentic AI as a powerful enabler for faster defense procurement and supply‑chain decisions. Tim White emphasizes that AI will not replace culture, processes, or workforce but can augment them when paired...
Maritime satcom provider #KVHIndustries: 2025 was our turnaround year; new 18-mo, $45M capacity deal w/ @Starlink is 3X the size of our earlier one; 2026 revenue to climb 24%; adj EBITDA 66%. LEO competition's increasing - great news. @EutelsatGroup.https://t.co/Zxf08GDZmr...
Iran war deals double blow to Indian airlines already hit by Pakistan airspace ban https://t.co/Lrp4mt7658
In this episode, Tyler Crowe, Matt Frankel, and Lou Whiteman discuss how once‑sparse industries are becoming crowded with startups and IPOs, focusing on the space sector and the emerging nuclear power market. They highlight the rapid influx of launch companies,...
Airbus Helicopters and Garuda Technologies have signed a contract to deliver up to 18 Flexrotor uncrewed aerial systems. Garuda will integrate the high‑endurance Flexrotor into its leasing portfolio, offering both dry and wet lease options for civil and parapublic missions...
SpaceX is expanding its Boca Chica Starbase to double its current footprint, creating a massive integrated facility for Starship and Super Heavy production. The enlarged site will accommodate the assembly of hundreds, potentially thousands, of Starships and the manufacturing of...
The World Meteorological Organization’s Observing Systems Capability Analysis and Review (OSCAR) database now serves as the definitive inventory linking quantitative weather‑and‑climate observation requirements to the actual capabilities of satellites and surface networks. Version 3.0, released in early 2026, adds advanced gap‑analysis tools...
Viasat and Space42 detailed their Equitays direct‑to‑device venture, outlining a potential constellation of up to 2,800 satellites spread across 60 orbital planes and three altitude layers. The network will operate in globally harmonized L‑ and S‑band mobile satellite service spectrum,...
