Reuters reports, “Archer Aviation said on Wednesday it has signed a deal with The Helicopter Company and luxury developer Red Sea Global, both owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, to develop, test and potentially deploy electric aircraft in the Kingdom. Western air taxi makers have been stepping up efforts to expand beyond their home markets, with the Middle East emerging as a key target thanks to its fast-growing tourism sector, supportive regulators and willingness to invest early in next-generation transport technologies.”
Full Story (Reuters)
Tag: aerospace engineering
Rocket Lab Successfully Launches HASTE Vehicle with Payloads for MDA and DIU
Defense Daily reports, “Rocket Lab [RKLB] on Tuesday announced the successful launch of a suborbital mission using its HASTE launch vehicle with missile defense technology payloads operating for the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and Defense innovation Unit (DIU). The company said the launch took place at its Launch Complex 2 on Wallops Island, Va., on the morning of Nov. 18.”
Full Story (Defense Daily)
Video
Aerospace Award Winners to be Honored at AIAA SciTech Forum 2026
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will bestow awards to aerospace innovators who made an impact on the industry over the past year during the AIAA SciTech Forum 2026, 12–16 January, Orlando, Fla. The awards will be presented during the forum at a special Awards Recognition Ceremony. Forum registration is available now. Journalists can request press credentials to cover the forum at [email protected].
“Congratulations to this year’s award winners! These remarkable individuals are highly regarded in their field and have been chosen by their peers. Their impressive contributions are advancing aeronautics and astronautics while also inspiring the next generation of aerospace professionals,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry. “They are truly shaping the future of aerospace.”
For more information about the AIAA Honors and Awards program, contact Patricia A. Carr at [email protected].
LITERARY AWARDS
2026 AIAA Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Award
The award is presented for the best original contribution to the field of aeronautical or astronautical non-fiction literature published in the last five years dealing with the science, technology, and/or impact of aeronautics or astronautics on society.
Sean Seyer
University of Kansas
Sovereign Skies: The Origins of American Civil Aviation Policy
2026 AIAA Elementary Children’s Literature Award
This award is presented to an outstanding, significant, and original contribution in aeronautics and astronautics literature for youth audiences.
Lauren Sánchez Bezos
The Fly Who Flew To Space
TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS
2026 AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology Award
This award is presented for continued contributions and achievements toward the advancement of advanced aerodynamics flowfield and surface measurement techniques for research in flight and ground test applications.
Mark P. Wernet|
NASA Glenn Research Center
For the continued advancement of LDV, PIV, Raman thermometry, and real-time BOS technology into facility-hardened techniques that provide validation data for CFD assessment.
2026 AIAA Aerospace Guidance, Navigation and Control Award
This award is presented to recognize individuals that have made important and substantial contributions in the field of guidance, navigation and control.
Kathleen Howell
Purdue University
For seminal contributions to the theory and practice of the trajectory design and operation of spacecraft in the Earth-moon system.
2026 AIAA Aerospace Power Systems Award
This award, established in 1981, is presented for a significant contribution in the broad field of aerospace power systems, specifically as related to the application of engineering sciences and systems engineering to the generation, storage, management, and distribution of electrical energy to aerospace power systems.
Jeffrey Hojnicki
NASA Glenn Research Center (retired)
For exceptional technical contributions in spacecraft power systems analysis and for outstanding leadership in the design of photovoltaic power systems for multiple human spaceflight programs.
2026 AIAA Air Breathing Propulsion Award
This award is presented to an individual for sustained, meritorious accomplishment in the arts, sciences, and technology of air breathing propulsion systems.
Eric J. Ruggiero
GE Aerospace
For shaping propulsion technology starting with fundamental research in cooling features of gas turbines leading to product development of propulsion systems for advanced military platforms.
2026 AIAA Atkinson-Ball Survivability Award
This award is presented to an individual to recognize outstanding achievement or contribution in design, analysis, implementation, and/or testing of survivability in an aerospace system.
Timothy L. Williams
Boeing Defense, Space, and Security
For visionary leadership advancing multi-domain platform survivability, integrating resilient technologies across global defense systems, and shaping the next generation of aerospace engineers through mentorship & innovation.
2026 AIAA de Florez Award for Flight Simulation
This award is presented for an outstanding individual achievement in the application of flight simulation to aerospace training, research, and development.
Bruce Jackson
Adaptive Aerospace Group, Inc.
For leading standards for check-cases and model exchange of six-degree-of-freedom simulations, and for developing software frameworks for crew training, handling qualities, and vehicle subsystems development.
2026 AIAA Energy Systems Award
This award is presented for a significant contribution in the broad field of energy systems, specifically as related to the application of engineering sciences and systems engineering to the production, storage, distribution, and conservation of energy.
Kemal Hanjalić
Delft University of Technology
University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
For pioneering and outstanding contribution to the modelling of turbulent flows, heat, mass transfer, and its application for the advancement of energy and process technologies.
2026 AIAA Intelligent Systems Award
This award is presented to recognize important fundamental contributions to intelligent systems technologies and applications that advance the capabilities of aerospace systems.
Mary “Missy” Louise Cummings
George Mason University
For outstanding and sustained contributions to human supervision and control of intelligent autonomous aerospace vehicles.
2026 AIAA Mechanics and Control of Flight Award
This award is presented for an outstanding recent technical or scientific contribution by an individual in the mechanics, guidance, or control of flight in space or the atmosphere.
Michael Bolender
Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL/RQQA
For outstanding contributions to the development of control-oriented models and flight control methods for air-breathing hypersonic vehicles, which serve as the foundation of many computational models used in research and industry.
2026 AIAA Microgravity and Space Processes Award
This award is presented for significant contributions in microgravity science, space processing, or in furthering the use of microgravity for space processing.
Steven Collicott
Purdue University
For unique leadership in research, advocacy, and education supporting spaceflight activities in ISS, commercial sub-orbital rockets, parabolic flights, drop-towers, and commercial satellites.
2026 AIAA Propellants and Combustion Award
This award is presented for outstanding technical contributions to aeronautical or astronautical combustion engineering.
Fokion Egolfopoulos
University of Southern California
For outstanding contributions in studies of flames, including flame theory and fundamental flame property measurements and simulations especially at engine-relevant conditions.
2026 AIAA Wyld Propulsion Award
This award is presented for outstanding achievement in the development or application of rocket propulsion systems.
Vladimir J. Hruby
Busek Co. Inc.
In recognition of outstanding technical contributions in the field of spacecraft electric propulsion, and foundational influence on the industry.
Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X/Twitter.
AIAA Announces 2026 Sustained Service Awards Winners
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 19, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 Sustained Service Awards. The award recognizes sustained, significant service and contributions to AIAA by members of the Institute.
“Our volunteers are the Institute’s driving force. Their ingenuity and dedicated service make AIAA great,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry. “This year’s honorees exemplify servant leadership. We are grateful for their enduring contributions to our community.”
The Sustained Service Award winners are AIAA members in good standing who have shown continuing dedication to the interests of the Institute by making significant and sustained contributions over a period of time, typically 10 years or more. Active participation and service at the local section/regional level, and/or the national level is a potential discriminator in the evaluation of candidates.
The 2026 Sustained Service Awards winners are:
Melissa Carter, NASA Langley Research Center
For sustained leadership, service, and contributions to the Hampton Roads Section, Region I, and AIAA National
Carter became an AIAA student member at Penn State in 1997. She held many positions in the Hampton Roads Section, including Young Professional Committee Chair and Section Chair. She is a member of the Inlets, Nozzles, and Propulsion System Integration (INPSI) Technical Committee and served two years as Chair. Carter started working at NASA Langley Research Center as a co-op student in 1998, converted to a full-time employee in 2000, and is retiring in January 2026.
David Casbeer, Air Force Research Laboratory
For leadership advancing AIAA’s focus on autonomy and intelligent systems in aerospace.
Casbeer, a 20-year member of AIAA, heads the UAV Cooperative and Intelligent Control Team at the Air Force Research Laboratory. His team works to develop enabling technology for autonomous UAVs, supporting future Air Force missions.
Wayne Hurwitz, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems
For sustained leadership and dedicated service to AIAA at the national level through significant contributions to Corporate Membership advocacy, the Air Breathing Propulsion TC, Propulsion & Energy Group, TAD leadership, and the Ethics Committee.
Hurwitz is the Northrop Grumman Fellow for Propulsion. He has served as a manager or IPT leader on a range of military aircraft programs, including F-5/T-38, F-20, TSSAM, legacy F/A-18 and E/F, B-2, B-21, X-47A, JAST, F-22, F-35, UCLASS, NGAD, and other advanced programs. Hurwitz is an AIAA Associate Fellow and Deputy Director for the AIAA Propulsion and Energy (P&E) Group. He is a past chair of the AIAA Ethics Committee, served as Director of the P&E Group, and chair for the Air Breathing Propulsion Technical Committee. Hurwitz is the 2023 recipient of the Engineer’s Council Jack Northrop Spirit of Innovation Award.
Elizabeth Lee-Rausch, NASA Langley Research Center
For sustained leadership, service, and contributions to the Hampton Roads Section, Region I, and AIAA national.
Lee-Rausch is the Chief Engineer for the AeroSciences Division at NASA Langley Research Center. She received her B.S. in aerospace engineering from Auburn University in 1987 and her M.S. in aeronautics and astronautics from Purdue University in 1992. Lee-Rausch joined the staff of Langley in 1987 and has spent most of her career as a Research Engineer at the center working on the application and validation of CFD tools for large-scale aerospace systems.
Michael Oppenheimer, Air Force Research Laboratory
For sustained leadership, service, and contributions to the Dayton/Cincinnati Section, Region III, and AIAA national.
Oppenheimer is a Senior Electronics Engineer at the Air Force Research Laboratory and an Associate Fellow of AIAA. He has performed flight control research on reusable launch vehicles and flapping wing micro air vehicles, as well as development of control allocation techniques for multiple applications. Oppenheimer holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Akron and a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology.
Kerri Phillips, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
For sustained leadership and service through Technical, Ethics, and Public Policy Committees; the AIAA DEFENSE Forum Executive Steering Committee; and outreach at the section, regional, and national levels of AIAA.
Phillips serves as Program Area Manager for Threats and Intelligence in the National Security Space Mission Area at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Formerly APL’s Chief Scientist for Air and Missile Defense, she is an AIAA Associate Fellow and recognized expert in missile guidance and control. She was recently inducted into West Virginia University Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering’s Academy of Distinguished Alumni for her technical and leadership achievements.
Joshua Rovey, University of Illinois
For sustained leadership, service, and contributions to the Illinois Section, Region III, and AIAA national.
Rovey is Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois and Director of the Illinois Space Grant Consortium. He is an Associate Fellow and a member of the Electric Propulsion Technical Committee and the Publications Committee. He spent several years as an associate editor of the Journal of Propulsion and Power.
Todd Treichel, Sierra Space
For exemplary leadership, dedicated service, and significant contributions to the Wisconsin Section, Region III, and the AIAA national organization.
Treichel is an Operations Manager at Sierra Space with over two decades of experience spanning quality, reliability, environmental testing, manufacturing, and design engineering. Notable spaceflight contributions include ISS payloads, Cygnus & HTV-X spacecraft, and Mars landers. Since founding the AIAA Rocket Science STEM short courses in 2010, Treichel has continued to lead this Wisconsin-based educational initiative. He is an AIAA Associate Fellow, Section Chair, and recipient of the NASA Silver Achievement Medal.
Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About AIAA The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Orbiting Satellite Reorients Itself Using AI-Powered Controller
SPACE reports an AI-powered controller on an orbiting satellite executed real-world attitude adjustments in space, “for the first time,” showing that AI can fly satellites autonomously.
Full Story (SPACE)
2026 AIAA Durand Lectureship for Public Service Awarded to University of Colorado Boulder’s Brian Argrow
Lecture Set for Monday, 12 January, During AIAA SciTech Forum 2026
November 17, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the 2026 AIAA Durand Lectureship for Public Service is awarded to Brian M. Argrow, Distinguished Professor and Glenn L. Murphy Endowed Chair, Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences; Director, Integrated Remote & In Situ Sensing Program (IRISS), University of Colorado Boulder.
Argrow will deliver his lecture, “Aerospace Engineering for Science and Public Safety: Aerial Robots to Explore Tornadogenesis,” on Monday, 12 January, 3:30 p.m. ET, during the SciTech Forum, Orlando, Florida. Forum registration is available now. Journalists can request press credentials to cover the forum at [email protected].
Argrow is founding Director of the Integrated Remote & In Situ Sensing Program (IRISS) and founding Director (Emeritus) of the Research and Engineering Center for Unmanned Vehicles (RECUV) at the University of Colorado Boulder. His research covers the design and field deployment of small UAS, aero-gasdynamics, and hypersonics. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and AIAA Fellow. He received the Department of the Air Force Exemplary Civilian Service Award for service on the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.
In 2024, the 30-year average for tornado-related fatalities in the United States stood at 72 per year. This figure masks episodic tornado events over just the past 20 years that resulted in 126, 553, and 104 fatalities, respectively, in 2008, 2011, and 2021. Recent studies of tornado warning statistics indicate that from 1986 to 2011 the average tornado warning time in the United States was about 18.5 minutes but has been about 15 minutes since (yes, a decrease in warning time). Severe storms researchers seek to understand how storms, particularly supercell thunderstorms, create tornadoes while forecast and warning researchers seek to use that knowledge to increase tornado warning times. In 2010, aerospace engineers from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) teamed with meteorologists from the University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL) for the first intercepts of supercell thunderstorms using uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) during the “Second Verification of the Origins of Rotation in Tornadoes Experiment (VORTEX-2).” Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NOAA, VORTEX-2 remains the largest study of tornadogenesis to date. The cross-disciplinary CU-UNL team has continued to advance capabilities for increasingly autonomous and collaborative small UAS deployed from highly mobile ground stations, including the 2019 Targeted Observations with Radar and UAS of Supercells (TORUS) field campaign, involving many participants from VORTEX-2. The research continues through long-term university and agency collaborations that are seeking answers to tornadogenesis—the atmospheric conditions and processes that create tornadoes.
Argrow’s lecture presents 30 years of research and development of small aerial robots that continue to be deployed to increase knowledge of tornadogenesis while contributing to public safety by supporting advances in accurate and life-saving methods for tornado prediction, detection, and warnings.
The Durand Lectureship for Public Service, named in honor of William F. Durand, Ph.D., is presented for notable achievements by a scientific or technical leader whose contributions have led directly to the understanding and application of the science and technology of aeronautics and astronautics for the betterment of humanity. Durand was a United States naval officer and a pioneer in mechanical engineering. During his remarkable 99-year life, Durand contributed significantly to the development of aircraft propellers. He was the first civilian chair of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the forerunner of NASA.
The Institute’s Public Policy Committee takes pride in selecting accomplished leaders in aeronautics and astronautics for this honor who can share their knowledge through the Durand Lecture for Public Service. For more information about the AIAA Honors and Awards program, contact Patricia A. Carr at [email protected] .
Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, APR, [email protected] , 804.397.5270
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
SpaceX Launches Joint NASA-European Research Satellite
Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched a joint NASA-European environmental research satellite early Monday, the second in an ongoing billion-dollar project to measure long-term changes in sea level, a key indicator of climate change. The first satellite, known as Sentinel-6 and named in honor of NASA climate researcher Michael Freilich, was launched in November 2020. The follow-on spacecraft, Sentinel-6B, was launched from California atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 12:21 a.m. EST.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
2026 AIAA Dryden Lectureship in Research Awarded to Thomas C. Corke, University of Notre Dame
Lecture Set for 13 January During AIAA SciTech Forum 2026
November 17, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce the 2026 AIAA Dryden Lectureship in Research is awarded to Thomas C. Corke, Clark Chair Professor of Engineering, University of Notre Dame.
Corke will deliver his lecture, “Active Drag Reduction with Net Power Savings in Turbulent Boundary Layers – Physics and Scaling,” Tuesday, 13 January, 3:30 p.m. ET, during the SciTech Forum, Orlando, Florida. Forum registration is available now. Journalists can request press credentials to cover the forum at [email protected].
Corke is the Founding Director of the Notre Dame Institute for Flow Physics and Control (FlowPAC), the third Director of the Notre Dame Hessert Laboratory for Aerospace Research, and currently the Director of the Hypersonic Systems Initiative. He is internationally recognized for his research in the areas of fluid instabilities and transition, plasma dynamics, and flow control covering a full range of flow fields and Mach numbers from incompressible to hypersonic. He is a Fellow of APS, ASME, and AIAA, and founding Chair of the new Fluid Instabilities and Transition TC. Among his many publications, he is the author of three textbooks.
Corke’s lecture examines the realization of a long-sought capability in aeronautics, namely significant turbulent boundary layer net skin friction drag reduction. Laminar flow control can be applied for skin friction reduction on wings, tails, and engines; however, for sizable transports and many other applications, significant turbulent boundary layer drag reduction has long been sought. The new approach, essentially an aerodynamic breakthrough, will utilize plasma aerodynamics to control the turbulence production processes in the boundary layer (sometimes termed “coherent structures”) that are linked to viscous drag. The essential control approach is the imposition of a small spanwise mean flow, in a very economically energetic fashion. Experiments thus far indicate excellent net drag reduction performance up to Mach 0.5, with indications of similar performance into supersonic regimes. This turbulence control/large net-drag reduction success has informed the understanding of boundary layer turbulence dynamics. Fuselage turbulent skin friction accounts for 25% of the drag on a conventional transport at cruise. It holds a much greater percentage for advanced designs with greater aspect ratios and laminar flow wings. This technology appears to be capable of reducing the turbulent skin friction of such aircraft by a net 50% amount. The lecture concludes by outlining a plan for an upcoming flight test.
The Dryden Lectureship in Research is one of the most prestigious lectureships bestowed by the Institute. Since the inaugural lecture in 1961, it has been a catalyst for sharing research advancements and knowledge. This premier lecture is named in honor of Dr. Hugh L. Dryden, a renowned aerospace leader and a director of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, or NACA, as well as the first deputy administrator of NASA when the agency was created in 1958. The award emphasizes the importance of basic research in advancing aeronautics and astronautics. For more information about the AIAA Honors and Awards program, contact Patricia A. Carr at [email protected] .
Media Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected] , 804-397-5270 cell
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit www.aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Pipistrel’s Velis Electro Aircraft Certified for Canadian Owners and Operators
Flying Magazine reports, “The world’s first type certificated and commercially available electric aircraft is becoming increasingly widespread as more regulators authorize it for commercial and flight training purposes. Textron Aviation subsidiary Pipistrel on Wednesday announced that Transport Canada, the country’s aviation regulator, has validated the type certificate for its two-seat, single-engine Velis Electro, allowing Canadian operators to own and fly it.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)
ULA Atlas 5 Rocket Launches ViaSat-3
Spaceflight Now reports the mission was the second of three planned spacecraft that Viasat plans to operate in geostationary orbit. United Launch Alliance launched from pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station “at 10:04 p.m. EST (0304 UTC), the opening of a 44-minute-long window. The rocket headed due east upon leaving Florida’s Space Coast.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Video
ULA Atlas 5 launches ViaSat-3 F2 communications satellite. (Launch occurs at the 59:66 mark)
Spaceflight Now; YouTube