Social•Feb 19, 2026
Airbus Aims 870 Deliveries in 2026, up From 793
Airbus delivered 793 commercial aircraft in 2025, up from 766 in 2024, led by A320 Family and A220 deliveries. For 2026, Airbus is targeting around 870 commercial aircraft deliveries, subject to operational and supply chain conditions. Source: Airbus 2025 full-year results press release.
By Bilqis Bahari
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Flyadeal Adds 34th A320neo, Fleet Hits 45 Aircraft
Saudi Arabia’s low-cost carrier, flyadeal has taken delivery of its first aircraft of 2026, an A320neo, increasing its all narrowbody fleet to 45 aircraft. The jet, delivered to Jeddah from Airbus’ Toulouse facility, is the airline’s 34th A320neo. It has been...
By Bilqis Bahari
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Air Astana Names Former Wizz Air Exec as FlyArystan President
Air Astana has appointed Johan Eidhagen as President of FlyArystan, effective March 1, 2026. Eidhagen joins from Wizz Air, where he most recently served as Managing Director of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi and previously held senior roles including Chief People &...
By Bilqis Bahari
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Russia Turns to Balloon Internet After Starlink Loss
Russia Eyes Balloon Communications System To Fill Massive Gap Left After Losing Starlink SpaceX has cut off Russia's access to Starlink and now Moscow is scrambling to find a replacement. https://t.co/YIhWYjTEhE
By Tyler Rogoway
Social•Feb 19, 2026
ICBM Guard Teams Must Adopt New Tactics for Sentinel Silos
ICBM-Guarding Security Forces Will Need Fresh Tactics To Defend New Sentinel Silos Security Forces tasked with defending Minuteman III ICBMs currently train for everything from retaking captured silos to repelling ground assaults. https://t.co/6zokg3hmvu
By Tyler Rogoway
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Rocket Lab, Blue Origin PR Clash Over Mars Telecom
Watching the PR comms from Rocket Lab and Blue Origin on Mars Telecommunications Orbiter has been fascinating.
By Eric Berger
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Amazon LEO Opens to Third-Party Antennas, Boosting Flexibility
Amazon has signaled its interest in allowing trusted government and third-party customers to use their own antenna hardware to integrate Amazon LEO into existing systems, in a move that would greatly enhance optionality, while hastening market entry for the service....
By Mary Kirby
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Lockheed CEO Rules
Lockheed CEO Taiclet says LMT never considered spinning off part of biz to allow for direct DoD ownership stake: L3Harris "didn't have, I guess, apparently, the resource to manage the scaling themselves." If regulators had allowed LMT to buy Aerojet "we...
By Valerie Insinna
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Boeing Returns Defense HQ to St. Louis, F/A-XX Future Uncertain
Boeing just announced the move of its defense unit HQ back to St. Louis, where McDonnell Douglas was headquartered (and where Boeing continues to build fighters and weapons). Industry always welcomes a SecDef visit but real question for workforce will be...
By Valerie Insinna
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Updated Design Adds Bigger Tail Flag, Cooler Engines
New design (left). First Trump admin (right). Much larger flag on the tail, different color on the engines--possibly related to the thermal concerns raised a couple years back. https://t.co/e5GPwczads
By Brian Everstine
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Aging E‑3 Fleet Deployed to Iran, Highlighting Capability Gaps
Major Deployment Of Rickety E-3 Sentry Fleet For Iran Crisis Highlights Worrisome Gaps The shrunken E-3 fleet isn't getting any younger, and a replacement is still far off while demand for its services would be far greater in the Pacific. Story: https://t.co/bX9Y8kMlqE
By Tyler Rogoway
Social•Feb 18, 2026
MBDA Develops Sovereign, Interoperable European Military Space Network
European missile maker @MBDAGroup on building a sovereign, interoperable military space network. @defis_eu #EuropeanSpaceConf. https://t.co/EXzbZr66rT https://t.co/EA9DMPiTXE
By Peter B. de Selding
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Starship's 25 Launches/Year Heralds Orbital Industrialization
Starship targeting 25 launches/year in 2026-2027. Each launch = 100-150 tons to orbit. Do the math: 2,500+ tons/year of payload capacity. That's not space exploration. That's orbital industrialization. Go @elonmusk.
By Peter H. Diamandis
Social•Feb 17, 2026
Artemis II Launch Countdown Kicks Off Now
The race to the Moon is on! - @SpaceKate reports on the countdown to Artemis II launch #NASA #Artemis https://t.co/HgVrFswjLR https://t.co/P7yO0wazU1
By Tim Robinson
Social•Feb 17, 2026
VerticalAero Showcases Valo eVTOL at Singapore Airshow
Re-up! On the record with @VerticalAero at the 2026 Singapore Airshow to find out more about their Valo #eVTOL #avgeek https://t.co/xntDfKHnaO
By Tim Robinson
Social•Feb 17, 2026
GEO Fleet Set to Shrink Amid Expanding Orbital Options
.@SESSpaceDefense: LEO, MEO, small GEO, large GEO: Lots of options but our current 90+ GEO fleet will be shrinking. @defis_eu @SatNewsEvents. https://t.co/A3p5RXCo3t https://t.co/5Z53Cle9iW
By Peter B. de Selding
Social•Feb 17, 2026
Japan Airlines A350 Business Class Rivals Top Global Suites
Move over Qsuites, the new @japanairlines Airbus A350 business class may just be one of the best in the world. What do you think?
By Zach Griff
Social•Feb 17, 2026
Air Force to Finalize Sentinel ICBM Restructuring by Year-End
Just in: The Air Force saty it intends to complete by year's end a restructuring plan for the new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile system from Northrop Grumman Corp., after the projected $141 billion program was plagued by skyrocketing costs...
By Tony Capaccio
Social•Feb 17, 2026
Artemis II: First Human Deep‑Space Flight in 50 Years
The first human spaceflight mission in over 50 years to venture beyond LEO - why Artemis II matters #NASA https://t.co/hDB2MAHbL2 https://t.co/MRfxDeQFVQ
By Tim Robinson
Social•Feb 16, 2026
70% of Boom Engine Parts Completed
Fun fact: 70% of the parts for the first Boom-made engine are finished and delivered. This is a stage 5 HPC blisk, one of the ~30% still being fabricated. https://t.co/NwmqU7HOAk
By Blake Scholl
Social•Feb 16, 2026
F-16 Scramble Finds Balloons, Not UFOs Over Nevada
F-16s Find Balloons, Not UFOs, After Sunday Scramble: NORAD Alert F-16s out of California scrambled to hunt down mysterious targets over Nevada and California twice on Sunday. Story: https://t.co/oQhqC5oK7H
By Tyler Rogoway
Social•Feb 16, 2026
NASA Schedules Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal for Feb 19
NASA is planning the next Artemis II Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) for Thursday, Feb 19. Call to stations is tmrw (Tuesday) at 6:40 pm ET. Simulated launch time is 8:30 pm ET on Feb 19 w/4-hour window. https://t.co/KCJUL9c800
By Marcia Smith
Social•Feb 16, 2026
Blue Moon Launch Marks Start of Commercial Lunar Race
First of all, this is an epic photo. Second, I believe the successful launch (and hopefully) landing of Blue Moon will be a pivotal moment in the space community's recognition that there's a real commercial race to the surface. Third,...
By Eric Berger
Social•Feb 16, 2026
Pentagon Reverse‑engineers GBU‑57 Using ATACMS Tech to Break Contractor Lock‑
New GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator Parts Reverse Engineered From ATACMS Ballistic Missile Tech Replacing GBU-57s dropped on Iran highlights issues that come from being locked into a single contractor, a which the Pentagon is trying to change. Story: https://t.co/P7JyrN8lCZ
By Tyler Rogoway
Social•Feb 16, 2026
Lufthansa Clears FAA, Sells Most 787‑9 Business Seats
Passengers rejoice. Lufthansa has started selling all but three of the Allegris business class seats on board its new Boeing 787-9 twinjets, after clearing some key certification hurdles with the US Federal Aviation Administration. https://t.co/Taxf2bSwqN #PaxEx
By Mary Kirby
Social•Feb 16, 2026
Space Data Centers Promise Faster, Cheaper, Sustainable Computing
Thanks Dr. Stephanie Hare and @BBCNews for having me on the show. While data centres in space are experimental at this stage, there’s big payoffs if it works: faster, cheaper, and more sustainable compute than terrestrial alternatives. It sounds sci-fi, but...
By Will Marshall
Social•Feb 16, 2026
Emirates Adds Premium Economy to A380, Revamps Cabin
@emirates has announced a series of aircraft deployments and cabin upgrades across its network as it expands the rollout of Premium Economy and enhances product consistency for customers. Under its ongoing retrofit programme, the airline is set to complete the upgrade...
By Bilqis Bahari
Social•Feb 16, 2026
Air Astana Boosts Almaty‑Baku Flights to Four Weekly
Air Astana will resume direct services from Almaty to Baku from 15 March 2026, while increasing overall frequencies to the capital of Azerbaijan. The Almaty–Baku–Almaty route will initially operate twice weekly on Thursdays and Sundays. Frequency will rise to three weekly...
By Bilqis Bahari
Social•Feb 16, 2026
Lunar New Year Becomes Launchpad for Global Holidays
@emirates February 2026 booking data shows Lunar New Year is no longer just about balik kampung. It is increasingly a launchpad for long-haul holidays. According to booking data released by Emirates for February 2026, travel to and from Malaysia during the...
By Bilqis Bahari
Social•Feb 16, 2026
Jonathan's Space Report No. 853 Now Online Only
Jonathan's Space Report No. 853 published at https://t.co/6gKV8Gl53V I have temporarily lost the capability to send this out as an email newsletter, so for the time being you'll have to access this on the website.
By Jonathan McDowell
Social•Feb 16, 2026
Chinese Spaceplane Shifts to Near‑circular 588‑km Orbit
The Chinese spaceplane maneuvered from a 349 x 592 km orbit to a circular 588 x 597 km orbit at about 0050 UTC Feb 12. (Shown: perigee, average, apogee heights) https://t.co/X9FhHPTxwJ
By Jonathan McDowell
Social•Feb 15, 2026
Space’s Role Crucial as Europe Boosts Defense
Great weekend at @MunSecConf. The world is in transition, and it’s clear Space is incredibly relevant. I met with leaders incl @NATO_SACT and @DavidMcGuinty, and was inspired by remarks from @ZelenskyyUa, @vonderleyen, @Keir_Starmer and others on the critical need for...
By Will Marshall
Social•Feb 15, 2026
Micro Reactors on C‑17 Promise Off‑grid Power
This Is A Nuclear Reactor Packed Into A C-17 Globemaster III Micro nuclear reactors are being seen as a way to get critical bases off the grid, but they could also have a major impact on civilian energy production. Story: https://t.co/KrommLR43d
By Tyler Rogoway
Social•Feb 15, 2026
Roskosmos Preps Progress MS-33 for Site 31 Return
Roskosmos resumes processing of the Progress MS-33 cargo ship in Baikonur in anticipation of the return to flight from the restored Site 31 after the service platform collapse last year: https://t.co/mN4Hi2mIUG https://t.co/dpnK9COwOB
By Anatoly Zak
Social•Feb 15, 2026
Questioning Transfer Costs and Feasibility of Permanent Base
Thought about this for more than a day now and still don’t know if it’s a good plan. What does each transfer stage cost? It seems like this is a plan to be “first”, but not much more. Will it be feasible...
By Felix Schlang
Social•Feb 14, 2026
NASA Withholds SLS Confidence Test Details Until Evening
NASA Admin Isaacman replying to Eric Berger @SciGuySpace about the "confidence test" they did on SLS on Thursday (Feb 12) and why NASA didn't share info until last night (Friday, at 7:51 pm ET) about it or the problem they...
By Marcia Smith
Social•Feb 14, 2026
NASA Let Hydrogen Leak Grow During Artemis Gap
It turns out NASA used the three-year interim between Artemis I and Artemis II to get comfortable with a more significant hydrogen leak, instead of fixing the leaks themselves. https://t.co/XX1eeIJnR0
By Stephen Clark
Social•Feb 14, 2026
Legacy GEO Giant Eutelsat Shifts Focus to LEO
This is pretty remarkable. Eutelsat is one of the big three legacy GEO operators, now pivoting to LEO.
By Stephen Clark
Social•Feb 14, 2026
NASA Tests SLS LH2 Flow, Fixes Equipment Issue
As reported by Bill Harwood (@cbs_spacenews) and others, on Thurs NASA flowed LH2 thru the new seals on SLS. Now there's a blog post explaining that ground support equipment problem reduced the flow. Working on it this weekend. https://t.co/PbuyJHZMNV
By Marcia Smith
Social•Feb 14, 2026
SLS Costs 23× XB‑1, Draining Private Innovation Potential
The NASA SLS costs 23X the entire XB-1 program. Every time it launches. What could private innovators create had this capital not been confiscated by gov’t and pissed away? Each time SLS launches 23 XB-1s go up in smoke. We don’t...
By Blake Scholl
Social•Feb 14, 2026
GE Aerospace Unveils Sustainable Fan Tech and Fighter
At the GE Aerospace booth during the Singapore Airshow 2026, it was more than just engines on display. From the CFM RISE Program’s open fan concept pointing to the future of sustainable propulsion, to the F110 engine that powers fighter fleets...
By Bilqis Bahari
Social•Feb 14, 2026
NASA's $650M SLS Ground System Overdue After Artemis I
NASA had literally three years after Artemis I to work on, and improve the SLS rocket ground systems. The annual budget for SLS "Ground Support Equipment" is around $650 million. It's completely unacceptable.
By Eric Berger
Social•Feb 14, 2026
NASA's SLS Test Fails, Delayed Update on Ground‑system Issue
Yikes. NASA couldn’t even complete a test of the SLS rocket’s ground system seal for liquid hydrogen because something else broke with the ground systems. And they wait until 8 pm ET Friday to send an update on something they...
By Eric Berger
Social•Feb 13, 2026
USAF Considers Mini‑Missiles to Defend Tankers
Mini Missiles Used To Shoot Down Incoming Missiles Eyed For USAF Tanker Fleet Tankers are increasingly vulnerable as enemy long-range missiles evolve, leading the USAF to explore 'hard kill' solutions. Story: https://t.co/B429nwNjht
By Tyler Rogoway
Social•Feb 13, 2026
Proton Rocket Launches Russia Weather Satellite with Iran TV Payload
The Proton launch of Russia's Elektro-L No. 5 weather satellite carried a secondary payload, Iran's Jam-e Jam 1 television broadcasting sat, also called Iran-DBS. Elektro-L-5 has a mass of 2120 kg; Jam-e Jam 1 is likely only 150 kg...
By Jonathan McDowell
Social•Feb 13, 2026
Beware Easy Fixes: Aviation Sustainability Isn't Simple
If it looks too good to be true then it probably is - beware those promising easy fixes to aviation's sustainability challenges, says RAeS Head of Research in a personal commentary #avgeek https://t.co/93rGLcXKZO https://t.co/JuC0jFsawu
By Tim Robinson
Social•Feb 13, 2026
Superpower Engine Sets Unprecedented Speed, Redefines History
Just held a Superpower technical review. This program has the feeling of history in the making. Not only has there never been an engine like Superpower, no one has ever designed an engine this way. Workflows are orders of magnitude...
By Blake Scholl
Social•Feb 13, 2026
Iridium Leverages L‑Band Spectrum to Counter Competitors
.@IridiumComm to market: Don't like our growth story? Well, I do happen to have some L-band spectrum here... @SpaceX @EchoStar @Viasat @space42ai @AST_SpaceMobile.https://t.co/Dl5XyXjk6X https://t.co/BvsN3zA7Q1
By Peter B. de Selding
Social•Feb 13, 2026
Rapid Supersonic Engine Development Demands Uncomfortable Discomfort
"Building a supersonic engine rapidly is like riding a horse. If you're comfortable when you're doing it, you're not doing it right." - Boom meeting
By Blake Scholl
Social•Feb 13, 2026
SunExpress 737 Gear Collapse Highlights Ongoing Safety Concerns
Another landing gear collapse... this time SunExpress Boeing 737 at Antalya during taxi (XQ7646 to Gaziantep). Pax evacuated safely, no injuries. Airline quick with replacement flight. These incidents keep happening....
By Fahad Naim