Space.com reports SpaceX successfully launched the NASA SpaceX Crew-4 mission early Wednesday from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida. NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert Hines, and Jessica Watkins, and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti are on their way to the ISS, following launch at 3:52 a.m. EDT. The astronauts are expected

Spaceflight Now reports that NASA rolled the SLS rocket for the Artemis 1 mission “back inside the Vehicle Assembly Building before dawn Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center, moving into the hangar for repairs after technical problems prevented teams from completing a countdown dress rehearsal earlier this month.” NASA officials “hope to complete the repairs

Digital Engineering reports that AIAA has announced “the winners of the 26th annual AIAA/Textron Aviation/Raytheon Technologies Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition.” First place goes to the Georgia Institute of Technology, second place to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and third place to FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences. The DBF objective for 2022 “was to design, build and test an

Space.com reports that the Ax-1 mission’s four crewmembers returned to Earth Monday, successfully concluding “the first-ever all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station.” The SpaceX crew capsule “carrying the four crewmembers … splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida” Monday at 1:06 p.m. EDT, “bringing the groundbreaking 17-day flight to

Aviation Week reports that NASA’s long-running Osiris-Rex mission “to the asteroid Bennu has received a nine-year, $200 million extension and the promise of a new name, Osiris-Apophis Explorer (Osiris-Apex), as it travels to its new second destination, Apophis, an asteroid that is to make a close approach to Earth.” Full Story (Aviation Week)

Aviation Week reports that the US Marine Corps “says the Sikorsky CH-53K King Stallion reached the initial operational capability (IOC) milestone on April 22, completing a 17-year journey from the award of the development contract in 2005.” Full Story (Aviation Week)

Bloomberg reported that US airlines are experiencing an ongoing pilot shortage, “but a purging of employees at the start of the downturn in 2020 has left the industry ill-prepared for a rebound.” American Airlines CEO Robert Ison said, “We don’t have the regional aircraft flying the summer right now [that] we would like.” Ison added,

SPACE reported that there is no timeline as to when all the James Webb Space Telescope’s “observatory components will meet their operating temperatures.” Webb Deputy Senior Project Scientist Jonathan Gardner said Thursday the telescope’s mirrors “are not quite there yet.” All “of the observatory’s instruments are at their final temperature, including the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), which

AIAA today announced the winners of the 26th annual AIAA/Textron Aviation/Raytheon Technologies Design/Build/Fly (DBF) Competition:

The Houston Chronicle reports that NASA “wants to fully open Lucy’s solar array before the spacecraft visits the Trojan asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit around the sun.” Lucy “is producing enough energy to travel nearly 4 billion miles in 12 years, where it will fly by asteroids that could unlock secrets to the formation of planets

Aviation Week reports that Vertical Aerospace “expects to certificate its VX4 air taxi concurrently with the UK and Europe, with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) agreeing to validate UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) type certification of the electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) aircraft.” Full Story (Aviation Week)

Spaceflight Now reports SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Thursday at 1:51 p.m. EDT carrying 53 Starlink satellites into orbit thus “growing the company’s commercial internet network [as] ground teams seek to increase the already-blistering pace of Falcon 9 rocket missions.” Launch, initially scheduled to take place at

CNET News reports that NASA’s Perseverance rover has arrived at the Jezero Crater river delta on Mars. NASA Science Mission Directorate Associate Administrator Thomas Zurbuchen said Tuesday, “The delta at Jezero Crater promises to be a veritable geologic feast and one of the best locations on Mars to look for signs of past microscopic life.” Full

CNET News reports that drone company Zipline will “begin delivering prescription drugs and other medical supplies in May to hospitals in Japan’s hard-to-reach Goto Islands.” Toyota Tsusho, which “invested in Zipline in 2018, will run the operation.” Zipline and Toyota Tsusho “said the service will cut delivery times to 30 minutes from several hours.” Test

Space News reports that poor weather has delayed the return of the Endeavour spacecraft from Wednesday morning to Wednesday afternoon. The delayed return “could affect the launch of another Crew Dragon on NASA’s Crew-4 mission,” scheduled to launch Saturday. Full Story (Space News)

Aviation International News reports that Cape Air “has signed a letter of intent with Eviation Aircraft covering the purchase of 75 all-electric Alice commuter aircraft.” The contract signing “comes nine months after Cape Air chairman Dan Wolf told a gathering at the Vertical Flight Society’s Electric Aircraft Symposium that the Alice could enter service with his

AIAA is pleased to announce the winners of six of the 2022 Regional Student Conferences.

AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement: “We applaud the administration’s commitment to not conduct…

SPACE reports that NASA announced Monday that it is to roll the Artemis 1 moon rocket off the launch pad early next week. NASA Exploration Ground Systems Artemis Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson said, “We’ll set a time for the roll as we get closer and we get through some of this work based on the

Aviation International News reports that construction “is beginning on two vertiports designed to accommodate eVTOLs in the U.S. Midwest. Davenport, Iowa-based Difco has begun building a vertiport in Rock Island, Illinois, while Volatus Infrastructure plans to erect an eVTOL terminal and charging station at Wittman Regional Airport (KOSH) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.” Full Story (Aviation International

AIAA, Estes Industries, and the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) have joined together to inspire the next generation…

AIAA is returning to Wichita with its annual Design/Build/Fly (DBF) contest, April 22-24. The weekend event is hosted by Textron Aviation…

CNET News reported that the United States “has sent 600 more AeroVironment Switchblade drones to help the Ukrainian military counter Russia’s invasion, the US Defense Department revealed Thursday.” The UAVs are “included in the Pentagon’s new $800 million in military aid to Ukraine, a package that brings the country’s total contributions to $2.6 billion in security

  Space News reported that NASA “says it’s gearing up for a rapid-fire series of events on the International Space Station that includes the return of a private astronaut mission and the launch of a new long-duration crew of American and European astronauts.” Axiom Space’s Ax-1 mission “will conclude with an undocking scheduled for 10:35 a.m.

AIAA announced the program for its collaborative event focused on growing the Texas space ecosystem and our off-world future…

The Houston Chronicle reports that The Boeing Company has announced that it plans to launch its CST-100 Starliner test flight – originally scheduled for August 3 of last year – on May 19. “Next month, Boeing will launch its Starliner spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. They will lift off from the Cape

The Daily Mail (UK) reports that Volocopter “has successfully completed the maiden flight of its first full-size, fully electric VoloCity air taxi, that it claims could transform urban travel.” Full Story (Daily Mail)

Aviation Week reports that EHang “has secured its largest commitment to date from an Asian customer with preorders for 100 EH216 autonomous air taxis from Prestige Aviation.” Full Story (Aviation Week)

Space News reports that the US Space Force “in 2025 plans to launch to geostationary orbit three small satellites that will attempt to dock with a propellant tanker so they can be refueled in space.” The experiment, “called Tetra-5, is run by the Space Force’s Space Enterprise Consortium.” Full Story (Space News)

FlightGlobal reports that Lockheed Martin “says a specially configured Stalker unmanned drone successfully completed a continuous endurance flight of 39h, 17min.” If certified “by the Switzerland-based World Air Sports Federation which governs aviation records, the flight would represent the longest ever by an aircraft weighing between 5kg and 25kg.” Full Story (FlightGlobal)

Scientific American reports that NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS)’s massive size “could ultimately be a boon for scientists seeking to send larger, more ambitious spacecraft and telescopes throughout the solar system – and even beyond.” The article also reports that SpaceX’s Starship is even more promising. Southwest Research Institute’s Alan Stern said, “Starship holds the promise

The Miami Herald reports that the omicron variant surge and December snowstorm have caused critical delays to Alaska Airline’s new pilot training program. The Air Line Pilots Association union had warned Alaska Airlines management for some time that a pilot shortage was coming. Full Story (Miami Herald)

CNN reports that NASA’s Artemis I mission “will make a fourth attempt at its most critical and final prelaunch test beginning on Tuesday, according to the agency.” NASA Marshall Space Flight Center SLS Chief Engineer John Blevins said, “I’m very confident that we’re going to have a good test on Thursday with the modified procedures.

Aviation International News reported that global business aviation “flight activity last month climbed 25.7 percent year-over-year, boosted by more than 321,000 flights in North America and more than 74,000 flights in Europe, according to Argus International’s TraqPak monthly report.” TraqPak expects the trend to continue “in April with flight increases of 13.3 percent in North

Space News reported, “The Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3), an experiment funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory, will fly to a geostationary Earth orbit in 2023 and will be used to augment the positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services currently provided by GPS satellites.” Such navigation “could be significant as the Pentagon fears that signals

AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement: “On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we congratulate…

ExecutiveGov reports that NASA “has selected five universities to design research experiments that will take place on the International Space Station.” Each awardee “will receive approximately $100,000 to formulate these experiments under the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research or EPSCoR program.” The awardees are: Montana State University, New Mexico State University, the University of Delaware,

ExecutiveGov reports that NASA “has selected five universities to design research experiments that will take place on the International Space Station.” Each awardee “will receive approximately $100,000 to formulate these experiments under the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research or EPSCoR program.” The awardees are: Montana State University, New Mexico State University, the University of Delaware,

SPACE reported that SpaceX “rolled the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule that will fly the Ax-1 mission out to Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida.” Full Story (SPACE)

ExecutiveGov reports that the CH-53K helicopter “has made testing progress toward initial operational capability later in the year and the green light for full-rate production in 2023.” The helicopter “underwent seven months of initial operational test and evaluation through March under Marine Operational Test and Evaluation Squadron One in North Carolina.” Full Story (ExecutiveGov)

AIAA announced its three-day program on advancing and accelerating modernization for the 2022 AIAA DEFENSE Forum…

CNN reports that NASA “is still aiming for a June launch after a second attempt at a final test for its Artemis I mission to the moon was scrubbed on Monday.” Artemis Mission Manager Mike Sarafin said at a Tuesday news conference, “We’re not ready to give up” on a June launch. He added that

ExecutiveGov reports that the UH-60V Black Hawk model has “secured certification to fly in national airspace at any time of the day and under instrumented meteorological conditions.” Full Story (ExecutiveGov)

Space News reports that at a briefing at the 37th Space Symposium Monday, “the Space Foundation released new data on the size of the core space industry workforce in the United States. That research found that there were 151,797 people working in the industry in 2021, an 18.4% increase over the last five years.” The

Defense Daily reports that “Sikorsky’s build of its Raider X helicopter for the Army’s Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) competitive prototyping (CP) effort is now over 85 percent complete.” Aviation Week reports that “Sikorsky has reached the power-on milestone with its Raider X prototype, but like rival Bell, is awaiting delayed delivery of GE Aviation’s T901 turboshaft

Air Force Times reported that a “problem with the trim on the KC-46A Pegasus’ overwing exit doors kept it from being able to open, which could have hindered passengers’ ability to escape during an emergency.” The US Air Force’s engineers “worked with KC-46 manufacturer” The Boeing Company “to create and issue a time compliance technical

Space News reported that SpaceX “launched the fourth in its series of dedicated rideshare missions April 1, placing one relatively large satellite and dozens of smallsats into low Earth orbit.” The Transporter-4 mission carried only 40 satellites, compared to previous missions carrying more than 100 satellites. Full Story (Space News)

Aviation Week reports that a “secret test of a hypersonic cruise missile demonstrator and a budget setback for a troubled boost-glide missile prototyping program highlights a growing divergence in the U.S. Air Force’s plans for a future class of missiles that can maneuver at speeds faster than Mach 5.” Full Story (Aviation Week)

Space News reports that Blue Origin “launched its New Shepard suborbital vehicle on its first flight of the year March 31, carrying six people on a brief trip to space and back.” The rocket “lifted off from the company’s Launch Site One in West Texas at 9:59 a.m. Eastern.” The crew of Blue Origin’s NS-20

AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement: “On behalf of the 30,000 professional and student members of AIAA, we congratulate…