Tag: aeronautical engineering

NASA Working with US Military on Nuclear-Powered Rocket Engines

Mashable reported on the announcement, made at the AIAA SciTech Forum, that NASA is partnering with the US military “to test a nuclear-powered rocket engine in space as early as 2027, potentially revolutionizing how people travel the cosmos in the coming decades. The two agencies will work on a nuclear thermal propulsion system, a technology NASA wants to use to send humans to Mars in the late 2030s. But the test mission – known as Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, or the DRACO program – would not involve astronauts.”
Full Story (Mashable)

Electra.aero Secures $85M in Funding to Build ESTOL Prototype

Aerospace America reports that Electra.aero has secured new funding, “including $30 million from the U.S. Air Force AFWERX program, to develop a full-scale prototype” of an electric short takeoff and landing aircraft (eSTOL). The terms of the $30 million award include meeting “undisclosed milestones toward building and operating its pre-production prototype” as well as matching the “government funds with private funds.” Electra.aero says “it has exceeded that match by raising an additional $55 million from private investment, for a total of $85 million.”
Full Story (Aerospace America)

Aerus Signs LOI for 30 Eviation Electric Aircraft

Aviation Today reports that electric aircraft manufacturer Eviation “announced last week that the airline Aerus signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for 30 commuter aircraft.” Aerus, a regional airline in Mexico, “plans to serve communities in the northern parts of the country including Nuevo León, Coahuila, Tamaulipas, and Veracruz.” The airline will “use Monterrey Airport as its regional hub to launch commercial operations this year.” Eviation’s Alice aircraft “has nine seats and is fully electric.”
Full Story (Aviation Today)

Amazon Expands its Air Cargo Service in India

CNBC reports Amazon said Monday it is expanding its air cargo unit, Amazon Air, to India. The company “is using two Boeing 737-800 aircraft flown by Quikjet Cargo Airlines to ship packages across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi and Mumbai.” Amazon Air’s presence in the country “will enable the company to offer faster deliveries to customers in India, said Sarah Rhoads, vice president of Amazon Global Air, in a statement.” At the same time, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy “is undergoing a broad review of the company’s expenses as it stares down a worsening economic outlook and slowing retail sales.” The company began the largest set of layoffs in its history last week, which is expected to result in the elimination of 18,000 jobs.
Full Story (CNBC)

Electric Aviation Set to Fly in Australia

The Guardian (UK) reports that in late September “the first fixed-wing passenger electric passenger aircraft took off from Grant County international airport in the US state of Washington.” The nine-seater charter plane – known as Alice – “soared to 1,000 metres (3,500 feet) for eight minutes.” Less than two months later “Northern Territory Air Services, a scheduled airline and charter operator, put in an order to bring 20 of the aircraft to Australia with plans to fly passengers from Darwin to Uluru and Mount Isa.” It’s a small sign “that the winds may be changing for zero-emissions aviation in Australia, one of the most flight-dependent countries in the world.” Until recently there was “no industry body making the case for change and even the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which operates the largest air fleet in the country and has traditionally been a hotbed of innovation, has no plans to acquire or develop electric aircraft.” Yet away from the spotlight, “a small crop of startups and aviation companies have been working on electric flight.”
Full Story (The Guardian)

FAA Will Add Powered-Lift Aircraft to Air Carrier Category

BBC News reports that the FAA said on Monday that “it was proposing to expand its definition of the machines it considered air carriers from airplanes and helicopters, adding ‘powered lift’ to the list.” This is a big step forward in the regulation clearance for commercial air taxis, but the rules “now face a period of public comment before they can go into effect.” The agency also “said it expected to publish proposed rules for operating such aircraft in summer 2023. Those rules will outline in more detail the criteria that firms will need to meet to license pilots and launch their operations.”
BBC News (BBC News)

NASA Faces Challenges as it Looks to Establish a Lunar Base

The Los Angeles Times reports, “If NASA ever establishes a lunar base – a long-term project advanced Wednesday with the launch of Artemis I – it will have to confront…challenges to human habitation. It’ll also have to figure out the dust.” Lunar dust is jagged and grainy, and is an issue for anything man-made on the moon that would land or launch from the surface. “One of the foremost institutions studying lunar dust and its potential effect on human missions is the Swamp Works, a NASA research lab co-founded in 2013 by [University of Central Florida planetary scientist Philip] Metzger, who is now retired from the agency but still collaborates on some projects.” This lab looks to test technology that would allow humans to live and work on the moon or other planetary surfaces in the future.
Full Story (Los Angeles Times)

Air Taxis Clear One Regulation Hurdle

BBC News reports that the FAA said on Monday that “it was proposing to expand its definition of the machines it considered air carriers from airplanes and helicopters, adding ‘powered lift’ to the list.” This is a big step forward in the regulation clearance for commercial air taxis, but the rules “now face a period of public comment before they can go into effect.” The agency also “said it expected to publish proposed rules for operating such aircraft in summer 2023. Those rules will outline in more detail the criteria that firms will need to meet to license pilots and launch their operations.”
BBC News (BBC News)