FlightGlobal reports that the US Air Force “has formally launched its search for an unmanned air vehicle (UAV) to replace the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper beginning in 2030.” The service “is conducting market research to find its next medium-altitude UAV for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), as well as air-to-ground strike, missions, Air Force

CNBC reports that on Tuesday, Delta Air Lines planned to make the last flight of its McDonnell Douglas aircraft. Delta “expected to retire the twin-engine MD-88s at the end of this year and the MD-90s by the end of 2022, but a sharp drop in travel demand has prompted it to idle more than 600 planes

CNN reports that NASA’s Commercial Crew program “can expand the amount of astronauts on” the International Space Station – “which means that more science, and even new types of experiments, can happen in the unique microgravity environment.” Two “decades of research on the space station has allowed scientists to realize the potential of eliminating gravity as

NASA’s Bridenstine Among Notable Speakers at AIAA’s First Fully Virtual Forum June 3, 2020 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is holding its first fully virtual forum, the 2020 AIAA AVIATION Forum, 15–19 June. “This year, more than most, the AIAA AVIATION Forum has a crucial role to play in advancing

Spaceflight Now reports that “days after launching astronauts for the first time, SpaceX is set to resume a speedy cadence of satellite launches Wednesday night with liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the company’s next batch of Starlink broadband relay stations.” The launch is scheduled for Wednesday at approximately 9:25 p.m. EDT, from Cape Canaveral’s

Aviation Week reports that the US Marine Corps “is gauging industry interest in manufacturing technology to detect or intercept unmanned aircraft, with plans to purchase six to 10 systems.” The “counter-unmanned aircraft system (C-UAS) or similar product must provide air surveillance capable of detecting, recognizing, classifying, and identifying an unmanned aircraft, according to a May 26

June 1, 2020 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) mourns the loss of AIAA Honorary Fellow Arnold D. Aldrich, whose 35-year NASA career encompassed the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle missions. Aldrich passed away on 28 May 2020 after a brief battle with cancer. He was 83. Aldrich served

USA Today reported that DOT “is on the cusp of giving final approval to a lengthy list of cities that could lose some of their airline service” due to the fall in demand for air travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. The list is DOT’s “latest attempt…to help airlines cope with a dearth of passengers and conserve

CBS News reported that a “prototype using next-generation propulsion technology being developed by SpaceX for its planned heavy lift Starship rocket exploded in a towering fireball two minutes after a brief engine test firing on the Texas Gulf Coast Friday, destroying the test vehicle and its firing stand.” A “static firing earlier this week appeared to

Updated May 30, 2023* | Originally Published June 1, 2020 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the 2020 Regional Student Conference winners. “AIAA gives students real-world experience to help start their aerospace careers,” said Dan Dumbacher, AIAA executive director. “I’m impressed by the student research topics.

May 30, 2020 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) celebrates the success of today’s history-making launch of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft from U.S. soil to the International Space Station. “Today’s success heralds a new era of space exploration, one that will redefine U.S. leadership in space,” said Dan Dumbacher,

Space News reports that China “is preparing to carry out 11 missions in two years to construct a space station and will soon select a new batch of astronauts for the project.” The “first module for the Chinese space station will launch next year, said Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China’s human spaceflight program, on the

The Seattle Times reports that a “modified Cessna Caravan turboprop that typically seats nine passengers flew Thursday for the first time powered not by a gas-powered engine, but by electricity.” Two Seattle-area aviation companies were “behind the airplane’s 30-minute-long, all-electric first flight at Moses Lake,” Washington. Redmond-based MagniX “designed the light electric motor,” while Seattle-based AeroTEC

In continuing coverage, Space News reports that on May 20, the US Army “signed a three-year agreement with SpaceX to experiment using Starlink broadband to move data across military networks.” The “upcoming evaluation of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband by the U.S. Army will look primarily at the reliability of the service and potential vulnerabilities of the satellites

Reuters reports that on Wednesday, The Boeing Company “said it has resumed production of its 737 MAX passenger jet at the company’s Renton, Washington, plant at a ‘low rate.’” Boeing “said last month it expected to resume 737 MAX deliveries in the third quarter following regulatory approvals, with production restarting at low rates in the second

SPACE reports that SpaceX, with the goal of landing humans on Mars, is “testing early versions of the spacecraft it envisions using on such journeys, evaluating potential landing sites and thinking through what a long-term base on the Red Planet might look like many years from now.” SpaceX Principal Mars Development Engineer Paul Wooster said

The Wall Street Journal reports that The Boeing Company and Airbus are collaborating with academics, engineers, and medical experts to study how the novel coronavirus behaves on airliners and how manufacturers can minimize the spread of the virus. Boeing said that it is working on computer models to examine how the virus spreads, while Airbus is working

Update, 4:45 p.m. EDT:  Wednesday’s launch of the NASA/SpaceX Demo-2 mission was scrubbed due to weather. Next attempt is Saturday, May 30 at 3:22 p.m. EDT. USA Today reports NASA and SpaceX are set to launch a new era of spaceflight Wednesday afternoon when two American astronauts lift off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket

Spaceflight Now reports that “making its first flight, a privately-funded air-launched rocket developed and built by Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit failed to reach space Monday after release from the company’s modified 747 carrier airplane over the Pacific Ocean.” Virgin Orbit’s “two-stage LauncherOne suffered an ‘anomaly’ soon after ignition of its kerosene-fed first stage engine, the company

Military reported that the US Air Force has “launched the bidding process for its next-generation ‘Skyborg’ program, aimed at pairing artificial intelligence with a human piloting a fighter jet.” The USAF “posted a solicitation notice last week on the government’s acquisition and awards website,” and, according to the posting, “multiple companies could potentially win contract awards

Former Astronaut Sandy Magnus on 29 May; NASA’s Steve Jurczyk on 1 June May 26, 2020 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is hosting two free webinars—one moderated by former astronaut and AIAA’s own Sandy Magnus on Friday, 29 May, and another with NASA Associate Administrator Steve Jurczyk on Monday, 1

May 22, 2020 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) announced the election of four new trustees to its Board of Trustees and new leadership for the AIAA Foundation. “AIAA is grateful for the active volunteer leaders who help guide the Institute,” said Dan Dumbacher, AIAA executive director. “AIAA board members

Aerospace America reported that on Monday, the FAA approved Garmin’s Autoland technology – “a set of software plus a radar altimeter and control servos that can land a small plane when a pilot is incapacitated.” Fully “automated general aviation flight would still require breakthroughs such as in sensing and avoiding other aircraft, but analysts see Autoland

Aviation International News reports that “on Tuesday, the NTSB found that a helicopter air ambulance operator’s ‘inadequate management of safety’ was the probable cause of the fatal crash of a Bell 407 in Zaleski, Ohio, on Jan. 29, 2019.” The NTSB “found that Survival Flight’s routine failure to use preflight risk assessment had become ‘normalized’ and

CNET News reports that NASA announced Wednesday that it has targeted the Osiris-Rex spacecraft to touch down on the Bennu asteroid on October 20. The “Touch-and-Go (TAG) sample collection will involve Osiris-Rex contacting Bennu for about five seconds. It will fire off a charge to shake up the surface and then collect a sample and

Aviation International News reports that Air France-KLM “will retire its fleet of Airbus A380s, ending any uncertainty over the superjumbo’s return to service following the Covid-19 crisis, the group said Wednesday. Initially scheduled by the end of 2022, the airline’s accelerated retirement of the A380 fleet marks the latest blow for the Airbus superjumbo’s prospects

Spaceflight Now reports that a Japanese HTV “cargo freighter is ready for launch Wednesday with the last set of six lithium-ion batteries to upgrade the International Space Station’s solar power truss.” The launch is scheduled for 1731 GMT (1:31 p.m. EDT) from Tanegashima Space Center. The HTV will launch aboard a H-2B rocket, and “mark the

Aerospace America reports that the idea for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab to begin designing ventilators amid the COVID-19 pandemic came from flights project engineer David Van Buren. Within 35 days of Van Buren explaining “the concept to co-workers at the Left Field design bay,” the “team finished building the first of two prototypes and two days

GovCon Wire reports that the US Air Force “has issued a broad agency announcement to seek technical proposals for a potential $400M program that aims to advance prototyping and experimentation work on Skyborg unmanned air vehicles.” The “notice posted Friday says the Skyborg Protoyping, Experimentation and Autonomy Development program aims to develop low-cost UAVs designed to

Space News reports that a US Naval Research Laboratory “experiment to capture solar power in space for use on Earth is now in orbit and ready to be tested.” The experiment launched aboard the X-37B spaceplane on May 17. The “technology aboard the plane is a ‘photovoltaic radio-frequency antenna module’ to be tested as part

AIAA is grateful for John Langford’s leadership as AIAA president during his 2018–2020 term, which ended this week.

May 19, 2020 – Reston, Va. – The new president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Basil Hassan, begins his 2020–2022 term this week. Hassan is director of the Chief Research Office at Sandia National Laboratories. “We are pleased to welcome Basil Hassan as AIAA’s new president,” said Dan Dumbacher, AIAA executive

CNET News reports that the launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, scheduled for Sunday, has been rescheduled to 3:10 a.m. Tuesday. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk “said the first VisorSats would be included in the batch of 60 satellites” set to launch aboard the Falcon 9 rocket. It is “not clear how many of the satellites

Aviation Today reported that the US Navy “has completed calibration testing of the Leonardo Osprey 30 AN/ZPY-8 radar for the Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout drone and is to finish flight testing of the radar by December, as the Fire Scout moves toward planned deployment next year.” The Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) AN/ZPY-8 radar “uses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Michele McDonald 703.264.7542 [email protected] May 15, 2020 – Reston, Va. –The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) applauds NASA’s announcement of the Artemis Accords, a set of common principles created to govern the civil exploration and use of outer space. “The Artemis Accords will provide the framework needed to build

SPACE reports SpaceX’s Demo-2 mission launch, scheduled for May 27, “is less than two weeks from launching NASA astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time, but some big obstacles still stand in the way.” Director of NASA’s Spaceflight Division Phil McAlister told NASA Advisory Council’s Human Exploration and Operation Committee, “We are still

Aviation Today reports that the Federal Aviation Administration “is planning to have remote ID service for drones – a foundational component of integrating unmanned aircraft into the national airspace – up and running by sometime next year, according to documents viewed by Avionics International.” Through the “remote ID system described in the agency’s proposed remote

Aviation International News reports that two Bell Boeing MV-22B Block C Ospreys “were delivered to Japan on May 8 to be prepared for hand-over to the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF).” The Ospreys “are to operate from a new base being built at Saga airport on Kyushu island, but in the meantime, they will operate from

Space News reports that Planet “announced that its next six SkySat satellites will fly to low Earth orbit on SpaceX Starlink missions scheduled later this summer.” The “six SkySats will be evenly split across two launches on SpaceX’s Falcon 9, Planet said May 13 in a news release.” The “first three – SkySats 16-18 –

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Michele McDonald 703.264.7542 [email protected] May 14, 2020 – Reston, Va. –The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enable the two preeminent professional aerospace societies to collaborate on future endeavors. “AIAA looks forward to collaborating with

SPACE reports that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket “is scheduled to launch the company’s Crew Dragon capsule on May 27 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, sending NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station (ISS).” However, Demo-2 “is far from a climax; as its name suggests, it’s a

Aviation International News reports that Gulfstream Aerospace can “begin deliveries of the fly-by-wire G600 to customers in Europe, following EASA certification of the large-cabin jet, the Savannah, Georgia-based aircraft manufacturer announced” Monday. According “to Gulfstream, the G600 can fly 5,500 nm at its Mach 0.90 high-speed cruise or 6,500 nm at its Mach 0.85 long-range

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Michele McDonald 703.264.7542 [email protected] May 13, 2020 – Reston, Va. –The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of technical excellence awards to be presented during the 2020 AIAA AVIATION Forum, which will be held online 15–19 June. The following aerospace professionals will be recognized for

Florida Today reports that United Launch Alliance (ULA) and SpaceX both plan to launch rockets this weekend “if schedules hold.” The ULA Atlas V Rocket, carrying the X-37B spaceplane, is scheduled to launch “between 6:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Saturday,” from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 41. On Sunday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket “is slated to

Aviation Today reports that Uber is developing a design of Skyports “despite a dearth of industry standards and regulations” for urban air mobility. Uber, through Uber Elevate, “is working with at least eight developers of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, to be used for urban aviation in concert with cars, scooters and other modes

ExecutiveGov reported that NASA “is awarding six U.S. universities roughly $2.4 [million] in funding under the Artemis Student Challenges with the aim of generating student interest in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as in the Artemis mission, the NASA-led spaceflight program whose goal is to return humans to the moon.” The

Bloomberg reports that Lockheed Martin and the US military “have eliminated all of the [F-35’s] deficiencies believed to endanger pilots and about 90% of other serious flaws that could hamper missions.” According to US Department of Defense data compiled by the Government Accountability Office, “that’s down from 111 ‘Category 1’ safety-of-flight and mission-impeding deficiencies in

Webinar will be held on 7 May 2020, 1400-1600 hrs

On 30 March, the FAA published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding noise standards of supersonic airplanes during landing and takeoff. The proposal would establish subsonic landing and takeoff cycle standards for supersonic airplanes with a maximum takeoff weight no greater than 150,000 pounds and a maximum operating cruise speed of Mach 1.8. Those interested in

Foreign Investment: Tools for Small Businesses and How DoD Can Help