Defense Daily reports, “The Marine Corps’ newest Aviation Plan underscored the importance of new sensors to be installed on the V-22 Osprey to better predict when parts need to be replaced to avoid previous incidents. The document said this new Osprey Drive System Safety and…”
Full Story (Defense Daily – Subscription Publication)
Author: aiaaorg
Tech Briefs Reports on 7 Space Sustainability Startups
Tech Briefs reports, “Approximately 8,000 metric tons of space junk now in orbit includes nearly one million individual pieces of debris that are potentially lethal to satellites, space missions, commercial space services, and human lives. With companies like SpaceX, Amazon, and OneWeb launching mega constellations, this number will continue to increase over the coming years.”
Full Story (Tech Briefs)
NASA to Announce New Plan for Return of Wilmore and Williams
Ars Technica reports, “NASA should soon announce a new plan for the return of two of its astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, to Earth as early as March 19. This is about two weeks earlier than the existing public timeline for their flight home from the International Space Station. Bringing the two astronauts back to Earth next month will require some shuffling of spacecraft here on the ground and a delay of the privately operated Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station to later in the spring.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)
Jaunt Air Mobility Unveils Plans for Hybrid Cargo Drone
Aviation Week reports, “Jaunt Air Mobility has revealed plans to go to the market with an uncrewed, hybrid version of its Journey electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) compound helicopter.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Boeing Predicts Indian, South Asian Airlines Will Add More Than 2,800 Jets Over Next 20 Years
Reuters reports, “Boeing said on Thursday it expects Indian and South Asian airlines will add 2,835 commercial aircraft to their fleet over the next 20 years, a four-fold increase over current levels, as a rising middle class and healthy economic growth spur travel. The U.S. planemaker’s previous rolling 20-year market forecast, issued last year, was for 2,705 jets.”
Full Story (Reuters)
Boston Logan International Airport Wins Prestigious 2025 Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 6, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) congratulates Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) as the winner of the 2025 Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award for designing new low-noise flight procedures to actively reduce aviation noise impacts around the airport while also providing a reduction in fuel burn.
The Jay Hollingsworth Speas Airport Award honors an individual or individuals judged to have contributed most significantly in recent years to the enhancement of relationships between airports and/or heliports and other surrounding environments via exemplary innovation that might be replicated elsewhere. The award is cosponsored by AIAA, the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), and the Airport Consultants Council (ACC).
“The Award Committee is pleased to recognize the excellent collaborative work by MIT and Massport to reduce aircraft noise for residents under Boston Logan International Airport approach paths while simultaneously reducing fuel burn and distance traveled,” said R. Dixon “Dirk” Speas Jr., brother of Jay Hollingsworth Speas in whose memory the award was established 40 years ago by their father, R. Dixon Speas. “It is our hope that other airports and communities will benefit from the methodologies utilized.”
The following representatives from the collaborating organizations will accept the award during the awards luncheon on 13 March at the 2025 AAAE/ACC Airport Planning, Design, and Construction Symposium in San Antonio, Texas:
- R. John Hansman, T. Wilson Professor of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
- Flavio Leo, Director of Aviation Planning and Strategy, Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport)
- Jacqueline Huynh, Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California Irvine
- Sandro Salgueiro, Airspace Integration Engineer, SkyGrid
Over the last decade, improvements to aircraft navigation technology have allowed departing and arriving aircraft to follow highly precise routes in the sky. These new routes, known as Area Navigation (RNAV) flight procedures, were implemented at BOS between 2012 and 2013 and have allowed aircraft to navigate more efficiently and predictably in the airspace around Boston. However, this shift to more precise navigation has had the side effect of concentrating aircraft trajectories over specific neighborhoods, leading to a perceived increase in aviation noise for affected communities. After the implementation of RNAV procedures, the number of noise complaints received annually by the airport increased, with complaint locations correlating strongly with RNAV tracks.
In response, in 2016, a three-way collaboration was started between the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Massport, and MIT to identify potential modifications to the then-current departure and arrival procedures at BOS that could mitigate the impacts of high flight track concentrations. In collaboration with Massport and the FAA, Professor John Hansman and graduate students at the MIT International Center for Air Transportation (ICAT) led outreach to communities and technical development of potential procedure modifications. Over a period of six years, ICAT investigated several technical solutions for mitigating aircraft noise.
Following extensive collaboration with community groups and operational stakeholders, four new low-noise flight procedures were submitted to the FAA for implementation. Now deployed operationally, these procedures are actively reducing aviation noise impacts around BOS while also providing a reduction in fuel burn.
About AAAE
Founded in 1928, AAAE is the world’s largest professional organization representing the individuals who work at public-use commercial and general aviation airports. AAAE’s 10,000 members represent over 960 airports and hundreds of companies and organizations that support the airport industry. Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., AAAE serves its membership through results-oriented representation in Washington, D.C., and delivers a wide range of industry services and professional development opportunities, including training, conferences, and a highly respected accreditation program. aaae.org
About ACC
The Airport Consultants Council (ACC) is the global trade association that represents private businesses involved in the development and operation of airports and their related facilities. Part of ACC’s mission is to inform its members of new trends while promoting fair competition and procurement practices that protect the industry’s bottom line. acconline.org
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Media Contacts
AAAE
Molly Balkam, Manager, Marketing
[email protected]
703.797.2539 | 301.787.1605
ACC
T. J. Schulz, President
[email protected]
703-344-6792
AIAA
Rebecca Gray, Director, Communications
[email protected]
804-397-5270 cell
NASA Plans to Launch PUNCH Mission February 27
SPACE reports, “On Feb. 27, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, NASA plans to launch the sun-studying PUNCH mission to low Earth orbit. It will ride alongside the agency’s SPHEREx observatory, which is sort of like a wide-angle version of the James Webb Space Telescope, as part of the agency’s Launch Services Program that works to make space missions more cost efficient.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Important Testing on Latest F-35s to Begin in 2026
Defense News reports, “An important series of tests for the latest upgrades to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will likely not begin until two years after these jets started hitting the field — and at least three years following their original due date. The Office of the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation said in its annual report, submitted to Congress on Jan. 31, that dedicated operational tests for the F-35’s Technology Refresh 3, or TR-3, upgrades will probably start in mid to late fiscal 2026, or around next summer. Those tests are intended to determine whether TR-3 is operationally effective.”
Full Story (Defense News)
Blue Origin Successfully Launches New Shepard on NS-29 Mission
AP News reports that yesterday “Blue Origin launched the 29 lunar technology experiments to the edge of space from West Texas. The company later confirmed that roughly two minutes of artificial lunar gravity were achieved by spinning the capsule 11 times a minute. It was Blue Origin’s first attempt at mimicking lunar gravity, which is one-sixth that of Earth.”
Full Story (AP News)
More Info (AIAA Statement)
Video
New Shepard Mission NS-29 Webcast
(Blue Origin; YouTube)
AIAA Expands International Reach with New Section, Student Branches
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce it has chartered a new section in the United Kingdom (UK) and new student branches in seven countries. The AIAA Council of Directors approved the moves at its meeting during the 2025 AIAA SciTech Forum in Orlando, Florida.
The UK Section is located in AIAA Region VII and includes AIAA members living in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The addition of the UK Section brings the global total of AIAA sections to 58, in seven regions. Sections are led by AIAA members who volunteer to organize and offer technical programs, networking, educational opportunities, and other activities tailored to local aerospace professionals, students, and educators.
The seven new student branches have been granted three-year provisional charters to ensure they are sustainable before being officially chartered as a student branch. The universities include:
- Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia
- King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia
- M.S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, India
- Military Institute of Science and Technology, Bangladesh
- Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, United States
- TED University, Turkey
- University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
“We are thrilled to welcome the UK Section and new student branches to AIAA. We are building bridges across the globe to strengthen our connections everywhere, growing international contributions to the AIAA community. We look forward to seeing how they shape the future of aerospace,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry.
Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.