Aviation International News reports, “Unrelenting wildfires across Europe have focused the minds of policymakers on the imperative to strengthen air power options to combat the deadly blazes now spreading faster and farther. French start-up Hynaero, with backing from several leading legacy aerospace groups, is stepping up its plans to offer an alternative to the ubiquitous but aging Canadair water bomber for the 2030s.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Author: Ben McRae
China to Launch Chang’e 7 Moon Probe
SPACE reports China aims to launch its Chang’e 7 moon mission on Aug. 24 to send a lander, a rover, a hopper and a wide range of science experiments to the lunar south.
Full Story (SPACE)
From Simulation to Surrogate: AI Transforms Aerospace Workflows
The era of artificial intelligence in aerospace is no longer a futuristic concept; it is actively reshaping production engineering workflows today. During a panel discussion at AIAA SciTech Forum 2026, Neil Ashton, NVIDIA; Thanos Margaritis, Neural Concept; and Nicolò Vallana, Leonardo Helicopters, demonstrated how machine learning surrogates are delivering tangible speedups in critical design and manufacturing processes.
Former President of CASI and AIAA Fellow, Who Helped Shaped Canadian Conversations about Aviation, Died in August 2026
Gerald “Gerry” F. Marsters who served as president of CASI and helped shape the conversations Canadians were having about the future of aviation at the time, as well as working on project such as UAVs, wind tunnels, artificial vision systems and flight simulation, died on 11 August.
Poland to Remain in Starlink Roaming Region
European Spaceflight reports, “SpaceX has agreed to keep Poland within Starlink’s European roaming region after the country’s foreign minister threatened to reconsider roughly $50 million in annual payments to the company.”
Full Story (European Spaceflight)
RFP Issued by Indian Government for Transport Aircraft
Aviation Week reports, “The Indian government has issued a long-awaited request for proposals for a new fleet of transport aircraft to replace the Indian Air Force’s fleet of Antonov An-32s.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
U.S. Army Chooses New Basic Training Helicoptor
Aerospace Global News reports the US Army will use Robinson R66 helicopters to train up to 1,500 pilots annually under a new contractor-operated model.
Full Story (Aerospace Global News)
U.S. Hires Commercial Operators to Explore Satellite Disposal
Space News reports Firefly, D-Orbit USA and Katalyst will compete to show how commercial operators could capture and remove aging spacecraft.
Full Story (Space News – Subscription Publication)
Space-based Data Centers Patent Obtained by Sophia Space, Caltech
Sophia Space announced the award July 30 of a patent, shared with the California Institute of Technology, covering large, modular space-based data centers.
Full Story (Space News)
JetZero Races Natilus to Deploy First Blended Wing Body Aircraft
Per Autoevolution, the work of a California startup called JetZero, the Z4 is slated to become the world’s first aircraft of this kind – that’s assuming the Horizon being cooked up by rival Natilus doesn’t get here first.
Full Story (Autoevolution)