Know What's Happening in Aerospace
Know What's Happening in Aerospace
NASA faces steep FY2027 budget cuts, overall funding slashed to $11B
The White House’s FY2027 budget request proposes a 23% reduction to NASA’s total budget, bringing it down to roughly $11 billion. The Science Mission Directorate would see a 47% cut, dropping from $7.25 billion to about $3.9 billion.
Middle East airspace closures have left 15 Gulf carrier jets grounded at London Heathrow, the continent’s busiest hub for the region. Emirates and Etihad each have three aircraft on the tarmac, while Qatar Airways accounts for six, including multiple A380s. The stranded planes arrived on February 28 and face uncertain departure dates, with only one aircraft having left so far. Parking fees, crew displacement, and limited gate space are straining Heathrow’s operations and airline recovery plans.
FlyOnE will commence electric vertical take‑off and landing (eVTOL) operations on the busy Perth‑to‑Rottnest Island corridor, adding to its existing schedule of up to 25 daily legacy flights. The company has already completed a proof‑of‑concept with electric test flights and...
Middle East airspace closures have slashed global air cargo capacity by 18%, with Rotate data indicating that 13% of worldwide lift is directly impacted. The suspension of Gulf carriers such as Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad removed roughly 22,000 tonnes...
MaiaSpace, an ArianeGroup subsidiary, announced that the inaugural flight of its two‑stage Maia rocket is now slated for 2027, pushing back the original late‑2026 target. The partially reusable vehicle can lift up to 1,500 kg to low‑Earth orbit in an expendable...
Researchers introduced the Age of Entanglement (AoE) metric to quantify the freshness of bipartite entanglement in satellite‑assisted quantum repeater chains. They modeled intermittent satellite‑ground links as a two‑state Markov chain and cast AoE minimisation as an infinite‑horizon Markov decision process,...
The Federal Aviation Administration has imposed an indefinite ban on all helicopter operations in and around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), citing a proactive safety review after the fatal jet‑helicopter collision in Washington DC. The restriction applies to law‑enforcement, emergency‑service, and general‑aviation...
The U.S. Air Force discovered that its only spare B‑2 Spirit stealth bomber windshields had been sold as surplus to a private individual. After a goose strike caused a hairline crack, the squadron had to locate the owner and buy...
Air Astana has secured an incremental order for 25 Airbus A320neo family aircraft plus 25 purchase rights, with most units expected to be A321LRs. The order, approved by shareholders in February, adds to a current fleet of 59 A320 family...
Luxaviation UK has taken delivery of a third Embraer Praetor 600, making it the largest UK operator of the midsize jet. Based at Luton, the aircraft offers a 4,000‑nautical‑mile range, speeds of 863 km/h and can operate from runways as short as...
Guardian Jet has named Anantha Krishna as its new sales director for the Asia‑Pacific region, creating dedicated leadership for private aviation consulting and brokerage. The appointment comes as demand for private jet services surges among multinational corporations, family offices, and...
A multinational team led by Victor Velasco Herrera has unveiled a forecasting system that can identify super‑flare risk windows months to a year in advance and pinpoint the likely solar regions. By mining 50 years of GOES X‑ray data, researchers...
Iranian‑operated drones struck Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura refinery on March 2, igniting a fire and prompting an immediate shutdown of the plant. The complex processes roughly 550,000 barrels of crude per day and serves as a key export terminal for the kingdom....
Airbus has failed to meet its commercial aircraft delivery guidance for three consecutive years, with shortfalls driven by engine shortages, buyer‑furnished equipment delays, and quality‑control problems. The company repeatedly revised its outlooks as supply‑chain bottlenecks persisted, undermining the reliability of...
Open Cosmos announced ConnectedCosmos, a Ka‑band LEO network that merges broadband, IoT and Earth‑observation services. The constellation will use optical inter‑satellite links to deliver near‑real‑time data without relying on ground stations. The company faces ITU‑mandated milestones for a 576‑satellite filing,...
Russia has begun limited operational use of a new subsonic cruise missile, designated Izdeliye‑30, launched from upgraded Tu‑95MSM and Tu‑160M strategic bombers. The weapon offers an estimated 1,500 km range, an 800 kg warhead, and a 600‑800 km/h subsonic cruise profile. Designed as...
Hargrave Technologies introduced the microDRIVE MP, a 60 V, 120 A motor controller tailored for medium VTOL and helicopter UAVs. The ESC offers high‑current performance in an IP67‑rated, rugged enclosure, addressing the growing power and durability demands of expanding UAV missions. It...
Airlines across the Middle East and India have plunged into the worst travel chaos since the COVID‑19 pandemic, with more than 7,000 flights cancelled over a three‑day span. Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways alone scrapped hundreds of services, while Air...
University College London’s IRONSTAR team won the UK heat of the ActInSpace 2026 hackathon, presenting an early‑stage model that prices space‑debris risk for satellite operators and insurers. The competition, hosted at Surrey Research Park, attracted 75 participants from academia, industry...
Reports from regional media claim a United States Air Force F-15 fighter crashed in northern Kuwait near the Iraqi border, with video showing a smoking aircraft and visible flames. Sources suggest the pilot ejected and was assisted by local residents,...
It’s a race for and against time in the Middle East: Iran is pursuing an attritional approach by attempting to saturate air defenses, hoping to deplete interceptor stocks. The US, Israel, and its allies counter with left-of-launch strikes aimed at...
AirAsia (AK) will start flying 4x weekly Kuala Lumpur-Wuhan from 22 May 2026. The airline is currently offering promotional all-in one-way fares from RM399 for KL-Wuhan flights for travel between 22 May - 24 Oct 2026. The promotion is available from...
The article revisits a NASA monograph that draws six historic U.S. public‑private partnerships to inform today’s space commerce. It highlights how land‑grant subsidies, government‑backed loans, and anchor‑customer contracts launched the transcontinental railroad and later aviation. It also warns that regulated...
3 F-15Es shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait We continue to update our original story: https://t.co/bRgLdhX3sx
Iran fired 1200+ projectiles at five countries in the first 48 hours. Most were drones. These saturation attacks aim to overwhelm air defenses and drain interceptors. $20-50k Shahed drones vs. $4.19M PAC-3 interceptors put US and its partners on the...
The U.S. Air Force deployed B‑2 Spirit stealth bombers from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri to conduct precision strikes on Iran’s hardened ballistic‑missile facilities, flying nonstop for roughly 37 hours. Guided bombs, likely GBU‑31s with BLU‑109 penetrators, were dropped...
Starlink Mobile @ #MWC26 -showed a video call on D2D -10M monthly active D2D users today. -Mexican operator coming shortly -V2 constellation to provide 5G experience - 150 Mbps -V2 coming mid 2027 -NR NTN standard -1,200 satellites initially -“complementary” to terrestrial https://t.co/cxxT3XpFev
We are live updating our article with the latest information. It appears multiple aircraft were involved. At least one appears to be a USAF F-15E. Latest: F-15 Spins Into The Ground While On Fire In Middle East (Updated) https://t.co/bRgLdhX3sx
SpaceX placed 29 Starlink satellites on its second launch today, marking a rapid cadence and the 26th successful Falcon 9 first‑stage recovery on a drone ship. The launch underscores SpaceX’s operational advantage as it heads toward 27 missions in 2026, outpacing...
F-15 Spins Into The Ground While On Fire In Middle East The F-15 was filmed in a flat spin and missing its vertical tails while on fire before hitting the ground. https://t.co/bRgLdhX3sx
18% of global air freight capacity has been taken out of the market by conflict in the Middle East this weekend.
The Chinese government is preparing an incremental order of up to 120 Airbus jets, a move announced by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during his February 25 state visit to Beijing. The exact aircraft variants, delivery timetable, and contract value have not...
Easier said than done. They have very capable aircraft, but deconflicting air operations and altering planning may be more trouble than it’s worth and invite risk, at least at this stage.
Rob Gifford reflects on two decades of Jetwhine, the aviation blog he launched in 2006, and announces the debut of his new podcast, Stories about Flying. The blog evolved from solo writing to a partnership and later to a senior...
Conventionally-armed ballistic missiles suck unless one can achieve very high levels of accuracy. Last time Israel didn’t even bother to intercept Iranian missiles aimed at passively defended targets. No reason to think this will turn out differently for the Iranians.
Can't wait for this baby to fly. Could be the hottest entry yet with hints that the altitude for the dummy sat release is higher than any previous mission.
A NASA‑backed NIAC Phase I study proposes a Cosmic Positioning System (CPS) of five spacecraft spread 20–100 AU apart to triangulate distant signals and directly measure cosmological distances. By leveraging ultra‑stable atomic clocks and 8‑9 m deployable antennas, the network could provide a...
I was geolocating the July 2025 Typhon launch from Australia last summer and--even though I teach my students that focal length can mislead--I was somehow still surprised by how misleading focal length can be. Around -15.32, 130.49° at 8:04:03 UTC+9:30....
Lufthansa Group and Air India announced a joint business agreement (JBA), the first airline‑to‑airline JBA since Lufthansa’s 2017 partnership with Singapore Airlines. The deal deepens an existing codeshare and Star Alliance relationship by integrating network planning, joint sales, marketing, schedule...
SpaceX’s Starship demonstrated a 33‑engine launch and a mid‑air booster catch, confirming its potential as a fully reusable super‑heavy lift vehicle. Independent analysis by Germany’s DLR, using extracted telemetry, estimates the current reusable Starship can deliver about 59 tonnes to low‑Earth...
The Boeing 777X, particularly the 777‑9 variant, is positioned to succeed the Airbus A380 on ultra‑high‑capacity, long‑haul routes. With a passenger capacity exceeding 400, advanced GE9X engines and folding wingtips, the aircraft promises 10% better fuel efficiency and airport compatibility....
Researchers aboard the International Space Station grew the fungus Penicillium simplicissimum with powdered meteorite and recovered measurable palladium, marking the first successful orbital biomining of a precious metal. The fungal cultures outperformed a bacterial counterpart, extracting 18 of 44 measured...
Great to see @FT exploring the complexities of orbital data centres & our work w/ @Google on Suncatcher. Just a quick response here. Generally, space-based AI is a lofty goal, but it's a more sustainable long-term solution in comparison to...
Proxy advisers are split on Avio’s proposed bylaw changes ahead of its March 3 extraordinary meeting. Glass Lewis recommends shareholders approve a board size reduction to nine directors, giving the controlling shareholder seven seats, while ISS advises voting against the amendments....
The U.S. Space Force is increasingly relying on commercial data and artificial intelligence to track foreign satellites and assess threats to American spacecraft. The effort is coordinated through the Space Domain Awareness Tools, Applications and Processing (SDA TAP) Lab, which runs...
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued a Conflict Zone Information Bulletin (CZIB) warning operators to avoid the entire airspace of the Middle East and Persian Gulf at all altitudes, following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. The...
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The Defense & Aerospace Report podcast highlighted Wall Street’s worst day of 2026, driven by AI‑related worries and disappointing U.S. job numbers. A joint Israel‑U.S. strike on Iran sparked a broad regional retaliation, raising concerns over depleted U.S. weapons stocks...
I'm still scratching my head over these pipes. They're not part of the stand. Definitely a part of Ship 39. I've heard all sorts of theories. A new Flap drive. Chill lines. Vent lines. But none of it really fits, especially...
America’s New PrSM Ballistic Missile Just Made Its Combat Debut In Iran Strikes PrSM can fly hundreds of miles further than its predecessor ATACMS, allowing for a far broader set of targets in Iran to be held at risk. https://t.co/IPxRrH0UQE
So - conscious that things have been a bit hectic elsewhere these past 48 hrs - but did #NMH actually get signed off? Any official announcement given deadline was today?
B-2 Spirits Join Iran Air War, Pummel Underground Missile Caves The arrival of the B-2s marks a change in the air campaign and will put certain target sets at greater risk as the operation expands. https://t.co/K24rBVFjmR
