Aviation International News reports that EASA “has published what it claims are the world’s first proposed noise certification standards for eVTOLs.” The proposals, known as the Environmental Protection Technical Specifications (EPTS), “are applicable to eVTOL vehicles powered by multiple vertical, non-tilting, evenly distributed rotors.” EASA says that the proposed specifications “are intended to fill a regulatory gap and use the internationally harmonized noise certification standards for heavy helicopters” as a starting point while it “collects more noise data from specific eVTOL designs through certification projects.” In addition, a hover noise level “has been developed to aid in the assessment of flight operations in the vicinity of vertiports.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Tag: aeronautical engineering
Revolutionary New Air Transportation is Closer Than We Think
The Miami Herald reported that the Federal Aviation Administration has proposed a plan for incorporating air taxis into some of the biggest airports in the U.S., with acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen working with NASA to provide air taxi lanes in the sky and build “vertiports” for them to land on.
Full Story (Miami Herald)
NASA Secures Partner Cooperation on ISS Through 2028
Florida Today reports that the International Space Station “will remain in operation through 2028 with the full cooperation of all partners, NASA announced last week.” The United States, Japan, Canada, and countries from the European Space Agency “have committed to extending their participation aboard the space station until 2030.” Additionally, Russia has said it will remain committed to station operations through at least 2028. Last year, NASA “announced the lifespan extension of the space station until 2030, at which point it is planned to be retired.”
Full Story (Florida Today)
Russia Agrees to Stay Aboard ISS through 2028
SPACE reports that Russia has agreed to remain onboard the ISS through 2028, which is a clarification from last year’s announcement of a departure sometime after 2024 following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The vague pronouncement has now been firmed up considerably, with the other major ISS partners – the space agencies of Europe, Canada and Japan – having “signed on through 2030, the update added, joining NASA in committing to the orbiting lab through the envisioned end of its operational life.”
Full Story (SPACE)
ISS Adjusts Orbit to Avoid Collision
Space News reports that the International Space Station “adjusted its orbit March 6 to avoid a close approach by an imaging satellite operated by Satellogic, the latest evidence of growing congestion in low Earth orbit.” A March 6 blog post from NASA said “that the Progress MS-22 spacecraft docked to the station fired its thrusters for a little more than six minutes, raising the station’s orbit to move out of the way of what the agency called an Earth observation satellite.” The satellite would have passed within 3 kilometers of the ISS without the maneuver.
Full Story (Space News)
F-35 Engine Recommends F-135 Retrofit to Fix Vibration Issue
Aviation Week reported that the F-35 Joint Program Office “has issued a directive recommending that all Pratt & Whitney F135s powering the global fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35s be retrofitted within 90 days with a fix for a vibration problem that caused an aircraft to crash on Dec 15.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Rolls-Royce Starts Testing New B-52 Engines
Aviation Week reports that Rolls-Royce “has begun tests of the F130 turbofan for the U.S. Air Force B-52H re-engining program in the bomber’s distinctive twin-podded configuration for the first time.” The company says that initial results have been “very positive” and could provide new life for the decades-old bomber platform.
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Boeing’s Starliner on Track to Launch in April
SPACE reported that The Boeing Company and NASA officials have announced that the Starliner’s first crewed flight will launch in April. The next major milestone “for Starliner’s progress will be loading propellant into the vehicle’s service module.” Successful propellant loading will begin a 60-day launch window in order to prevent valve corrosion on the spacecraft’s propulsion system.
Full Story (SPACE)
ISS National Lab Looks for Projects
Aviation Week reports that demand for conducting experiments “on board the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory remains strong after 75 payloads were sent to the orbiting platform last year.” The laboratory, “which hosts non-NASA experiments, is looking for its next crop of in-space projects.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Beta Technologies Partners with Blade Air Mobility on eVOTL Test Flight
Aviation International News reports that on Tuesday, Beta Technologies “made a test flight of its six-seat, all-electric Alia-250 EVA eVTOL at the Westchester County Airport (KHPN) in White Plains, New York.” The flight, which was performed in cooperation with Blade Air Mobility, “was the first of an eVTOL aircraft in the New York metropolitan area.” The Alia-250 flew “alongside a conventional helicopter before pulling away for a second pass above the airport to highlight the eVTOL’s comparative quietness.” Beta claims that “its noise profile is one-tenth that of a conventional helicopter.” In April 2021, Blade “agreed to facilitate the purchase of up to 20 passenger-configured Alia-250s by its network of operators.” Blade intends to “deploy these aircraft on routes between its network of dedicated terminals in the U.S. Beta has also agreed to provide and install charging infrastructure at certain key locations.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)