Tag: aerospace engineering

SpaceX Conducts 45th Starlink Mission of 2026

Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base Tuesday night to send a batch of its Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit … Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 4 East happened at 7:46 p.m. PDT (10:46 p.m. EDT / 0246 UTC). The rocket flew on a south-southwesterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

Video

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 24 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg. (Launch occurs at the 30:00 mark)
Spaceflight Now; YouTube

DoD Selects Five Companies in Small Drone ‘Lethality Prize Challenge’

Breaking Defense reports, “As part of its Drone Dominance initiative, the Pentagon has named five winners of a ‘lethality’ challenge, a title that could place them ahead of other vendors in the race to snag deals to arm small drones. On the competition’s website, the Pentagon announced that Bravo Ordnance, Kela Defense, Kraken Kinetics, Mountain Horse and Northrop Grumman have all been named winners of the recent Lethality Prize Challenge.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)

FAA Lowers Air Traffic Controller Staffing Goal Amid Modernization Push

CNBC reports, “The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it was sharply reducing its target for air traffic control staffing as it vowed to modernize scheduling and increase the time employees spend managing traffic. The FAA said its new target is 12,563 certified controllers, down from 14,633. A National Academies of Sciences report last year said overtime costs for air traffic controllers, have jumped by more than 300% since 2013 to over $200 million, citing a misallocated workforce and inefficient scheduling.”
Full Story (CNBC)

SpaceX Sends 6,500 Pounds of Cargo and Science Equipment to Space Station

CBS News reports, “SpaceX launched an unpiloted Dragon cargo ship Friday loaded with 6,500 pounds of supplies and equipment bound for the International Space Station, including nearly a ton of research gear, samples and other material for some 50 different science investigations.”
Full Story (CBS News)

Video

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches NROL-172 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. (Launch occurs at 30:26 mark)
VideoFromSpace: YouTube

Region V Student Conference Brings Together a Community to Share Ideas and Celebrate Innovation

From the Institute
From 26 to 27 March, the AIAA Region V Student Conference was held at Iowa State University. The conference included everything from engaging technical presentations to conversations with passionate high school and college students, and it was clear the future of aerospace is in incredibly capable hands. What stood out most was the community of students, faculty, and professionals all coming together to support one another, share ideas, and celebrate innovation.

NASA Accelerates X-59 Flight Campaign Ahead of First Supersonic Test

Aviation Week reports, “NASA is continuing to speed up the rate of X-59 flight tests as the Quesst low-boom supersonic demonstrator program builds up to its first Mach 1 faster-than-sound milestone flight. The needle nose Lockheed Martin Skunk Works-built aircraft has so far accumulated around 19.6 flight hours on 16 flights, eight of which were completed in April.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)