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The U.S. Air Force will retire its remaining 162 A‑10 Thunderbolt II aircraft by the end of fiscal year 2026, replacing them with F‑35A Lightning II fighters. The A‑10, a dedicated close‑air support platform since the 1970s, is being phased out due to aging airframes and shifting strategic priorities. The F‑35A brings fifth‑generation stealth, advanced sensors and multirole capability, marking a significant leap in lethality, survivability and speed. This transition reflects the Air Force’s broader modernization and divestment agenda.
The ESA‑CAS Smile spacecraft landed at the Guiana Space Centre on 26 February after a two‑week sea voyage aboard the cargo ship Colibri. Over the next weeks the probe will undergo health checks, propellant loading and integration with the Vega‑C launch...
On 8 March 2026 a bright fireball streaked from southwest to northeast across Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, glowing for about six seconds before breaking apart. The meteoroid, estimated to be a few metres in diameter, left a visible trail...
India's Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu told the Rajya Sabha that the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau's probe into the June 12, 2025 Air India Boeing 787‑8 crash, which killed 260 people, is progressing rapidly. He pledged that the final report will be...
Russia’s Defense Ministry announced it shot down a record 754 Ukrainian fixed‑wing drones in a single day. The claim also includes the interception of three guided aerial bombs and three U.S.-made HIMARS rockets. While the numbers cannot be independently verified,...
Ukrainian forces used a domestically produced FP‑2 strike drone equipped with a 100‑kilogram warhead to destroy a Russian Pantsir‑S1 air‑defence system near the village of Nove, close to Melitopol. The unmanned aircraft flew roughly 90 km to the target, demonstrating the...
India’s Noida International Airport has secured its aerodrome licence from the DGCA, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for commercial operations. The licence confirms compliance with safety, navigation and emergency standards, while a separate security clearance from BCAS is still pending....
Embraer is integrating Valkyrie Aero’s Gunslinger artificial‑intelligence suite into its A‑29 Super Tucano platform to boost counter‑uncrewed aerial system (CUAS) capabilities. The AI-driven system will provide pilots with real‑time tactical decision‑making assistance during drone‑threat engagements. While the Super Tucano already...
The U.S. Army was photographed moving a high‑fidelity mock‑up of Russia’s Buk‑M3 medium‑range air‑defence system on a semi‑trailer in Alabama. The replica is intended for realistic training, allowing pilots and ground units to practice detecting, tracking and engaging a modern...
Wizz Air celebrated International Women’s Day 2026 by operating ten all‑female flights across ten European markets, involving 70 female pilots and cabin crew. The initiative marks the airline’s fifth consecutive year of all‑female flights, underscoring its commitment to gender diversity....
ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) spotlighted five senior women who lead spacecraft missions such as JUICE, EarthCARE, and the ExoMars rover, sharing their daily skills and career paths. They highlight the importance of interpersonal communication, calm decision‑making, and human‑centred...
ESA’s Φ‑lab and Creative Destruction Lab‑Milan are hosting the third CommEO Award selection round in Milan, targeting early‑stage downstream Earth Observation startups in resilience, climate and infrastructure. The live pitch and demo event will choose five winners who advance to...
The Artemis program is being reshaped to win the Moon race through diplomatic leverage rather than pure hardware milestones. By emphasizing the Artemis Accords, the United States counts partner sign‑ups and normative leadership as victories, even as launch schedules slip....
NASA has altered the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory’s operating mode to reduce atmospheric drag and preserve its altitude ahead of a scheduled orbit‑raising mission. Since February 11, most science activities have been paused, with the spacecraft held in a drag‑minimizing attitude and...
NASA has reshuffled the Artemis program, turning Artemis III into a low‑Earth‑orbit test flight in 2027 and pushing the first lunar south‑pole landing to Artemis IV in early 2028. The change follows the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel’s warning that the original landing...
NASA's revised Artemis plan keeps the SLS Block‑1 configuration, adds yearly flights, and leans on SpaceX and Blue Origin landers, preserving jobs and contracts. The February 2026 overhaul cancels the Block‑1B upgrade and Mobile Launcher 2, but expands the flight cadence through...
The entry, descent, and landing (EDL) of Mars probes has progressed from hard‑impact crashes to sophisticated systems like airbags, legged landers, and the sky‑crane. Each method emerged to address the planet’s thin, variable atmosphere and the mass limits of payloads,...
Indian startup GalaxEye Space Solutions is preparing to launch the world’s first privately built OptoSAR satellite, a 190 kg platform powered by electric propulsion, aboard a SpaceX Falcon rocket within the next two to two‑and‑a‑half months. The Gen‑1 satellite, part of...
The Indian Air Force lost a Su-30MKI on March 5 after it vanished from radar during a training sortie from Jorhat, killing both pilots. This marks the third Su-30MKI crash in as many years, yet the fleet’s attrition rate stays...
China’s reusable Shenlong space plane lifted off from Jiuquan on February 6 and is now on its fourth orbital mission, cruising at a 594 km circular orbit after thruster firings on February 9 and 12. The vehicle shows no evidence of deploying small...
SBG Systems has launched Firmware 6.0 (v6.0.5585‑stable) for its Ekinox, Apogee, Quanta and Navsight navigation suites. The update adds a fixed‑wing UAV motion profile with full air‑data support, and opens integration to external cameras, LiDAR or radar for position and...
Airlines are grappling with record passenger demand while aircraft deliveries stall because of a severe engine production bottleneck, especially Pratt & Whitney’s GTF units. Boeing briefly reclaimed the lead in 2026, delivering 46 737 MAX jets in January, surpassing Airbus’s 19 A320neo...
Sweden’s archipelagos and severe winter weather make helicopter emergency medical services (HEMS) exceptionally challenging, requiring pilots to navigate low clouds, ice, and sudden wind shifts. Avincis Sweden operates 13 H145 helicopters from ten bases, handling 124 missions over a three‑day...
Virgin Atlantic announced it will suspend its London‑Heathrow to Dubai service until the end of March due to escalating Middle East conflict and persistent airspace closures. The decision follows a forced U‑turn of flight VS400, which diverted to Budapest after...
A decommissioned United Boeing 747‑400 has been disassembled into 39 sections and is being reassembled between two high‑rise towers of the WB 1200 mixed‑use project in Seattle’s Denny Triangle. The aircraft, tail‑number N178UA, retired in 2017, will become a public workspace suspended...
Saxon Air, a Norwich Airport‑based private charter operator, has bolstered its fleet with a brand‑new 2025 Agusta AW139 helicopter (registration G‑MCFC). The medium‑twin aircraft will serve executive charter flights across the UK and key European destinations such as Paris, as...
SpaceX successfully launched 25 additional Starlink satellites aboard a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base. The rocket’s first stage marked its seventh flight, achieving a precise drone‑ship landing in the Pacific. With this mission, SpaceX’s 2026 launch tally of 29...
NASA’s Artemis program is reshaping its roadmap to echo Apollo, scheduling a crewed lunar flyby in 2026, a low‑Earth‑orbit rendezvous in 2027, and a south‑pole landing originally slated for 2028. The timeline now drifts toward 2029 as hardware setbacks, SLS...
On March 5, 2026, a.i. solutions entered a CRADA partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey to embed artificial‑intelligence and machine‑learning tools into Landsat’s flight operations. The collaboration will automate anomaly triage, telemetry trending, and orbital mechanics analysis for the sun‑synchronous Landsat constellation....
The U.S. Department of Defense awarded BlackSky Geospatial Solutions a $99 million SBIR Phase III contract to build an advanced optical imaging testbed for the Air Force Research Laboratory. Simultaneously, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control received a $53.1 million contract modification to...
The Airbus A350‑1000 adopts a six‑wheel main‑gear bogie, while Boeing’s larger 787‑10 retains the four‑wheel configuration used on earlier Dreamliners. The difference stems from the A350‑1000’s higher maximum take‑off weight and passenger capacity, which require lower pavement‑loading per wheel. Boeing...
Airbus has dominated thin transatlantic routes with the A321LR/XLR, but Boeing’s 737 MAX is now making a serious push across the pond. Icelandair already flies more than 3,500 MAX flights to Europe and is phasing out wide‑bodies, while WestJet is adding...
NASA announced 16 finalists for Phase 2 of the LunaRecycle Challenge, a $3 million competition aimed at creating waste‑recycling technologies for lunar missions. The teams, drawn from 11 U.S. states, will spend the next six months refining prototypes or digital‑twin systems before...
The U.S. Navy has awarded a $347,318 contract to Rockwell Collins to repair and reconfigure TacNet 1.0 datalink radios used on the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) and Harpoon Block II+ missiles. The sole‑source award, issued by the Naval Air Systems Command’s Precision...
Aircraft leasing activity in India's International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City surged from 63 units in December 2024 to 196 units by December 2025, a 211% increase. The leased fleet, now valued at $6.886 billion, attracted $615 million of financing...
The Tennessee Army National Guard has issued solicitations to purchase small unmanned aerial systems, including the Neros Archer, FlightWave Edge 130, and ModalAI Stinger Vision FPV drones, for use by the 117th Regiment Regional Training Institute. Each solicitation calls for two...
Japan is set to field domestically developed long‑range missiles, including the Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile (HVGP) and an upgraded Type‑12, between fiscal years 2025 and 2027. The rollout will be complemented by U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles and a new ISR...
On March 8 1986, Japan’s Suisei probe became the second spacecraft to fly past Halley’s Comet, part of an international “Halley Armada” that also included two Soviet Vega probes, Japan’s Sakigake, and ESA’s Giotto. The comet’s perihelion occurred on February 9, placing it...
French space‑tech firm Aldoria has signed a contract with Indian engineering company AXISCADES to deliver optical stations for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) in India. The first station will be deployed in 2026, with a phased rollout targeting more than a...
NASA has granted HEBI Robotics an $850,000 Phase II SBIR contract to develop and test space‑rated actuation hardware. The two‑year effort will produce modular actuators and compatible avionics for low‑Earth‑orbit and geosynchronous missions. HEBI’s technology aims to survive ionizing radiation and...
Low Earth Orbit is on track to host up to half a million satellites by 2040, driven by aggressive mega‑constellation plans from both commercial firms and nation‑states. Existing licensing relies on UN notifications and national approvals, with little cross‑agency coordination,...
Malaysia Airlines announced supplemental Kuala Lumpur‑London Heathrow and Kuala Lumpur‑Paris Charles de Gaulle flights from 6‑8 March 2026, adding capacity amid widespread travel disruptions. The airline will operate the extra services with A350‑900 aircraft alongside its daily schedule, using alternative routes that...
Israeli startup Remondo unveiled its Partial Aperture Imaging System (PAIS), a novel approach that replaces costly large mirrors and sensors with rings of smaller mirrors, a light modulator and coding to achieve 30‑cm resolution imagery. The design cuts satellite development...
NASA announced a sole‑source contract awarding United Launch Alliance (ULA) the Centaur‑5 upper stage for future Space Launch System (SLS) flights after Artemis‑3. The decision leverages the proven RL10 engine heritage, compatibility with Mobile Launcher 1, and ULA’s existing work with...
American Airlines will launch four new winter transatlantic routes to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Edinburgh and Lisbon using its Airbus A321XLR. The narrow‑body jet, capable of carrying 155 passengers, will operate from Philadelphia between late January and late March, filling seasonal demand that...
The Boeing 737‑700 remains a linchpin of low‑cost carrier strategy in 2026, offering a rare blend of range, speed, and operational simplicity. Its high‑performance wing, CFM56‑7B engines, and 41,000‑ft service ceiling deliver fuel‑efficient, high‑altitude cruising that outperforms many newer narrowbodies....
Uganda Airlines has grounded both of its Airbus A330‑800neo aircraft after unscheduled maintenance, leaving its long‑haul fleet idle since mid‑January 2026. The airline announced a suspension of all long‑haul services on February 20, affecting routes to Dubai, London Gatwick and...
Brussels Airlines is rolling out a comprehensive upgrade of its inflight product across all cabins, with the most significant investment in Premium Economy on long‑haul routes. The refresh includes premium tableware, three hot‑meal choices, enhanced entertainment accessories, and a new...
The University of Michigan M‑SAAVE student team completed a five‑year Humanitarian Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Mission (HUM) with Air Serv International, showcasing a modular aircraft capable of aid drops and RGB/infrared imaging. The team delivered a comprehensive technical package to Air...
A new MRI analysis of 26 astronauts reveals that microgravity causes the brain to shift upward and backward inside the skull, with movements up to more than 2 mm in year‑long missions. The study segmented the brain into over 100 regions,...
