Ars Technica reports, “Blue Origin is making steady progress toward the second launch of its New Glenn rocket, which could occur sometime this fall … Two sources say the first stage for this launch is in the final stages of preparation at the company’s facilities in Cape Canaveral, Florida … One source told Ars that a mid- to late-September launch date was ‘realistic,’ but another person said late October or November was more likely … Multiple people have told Ars that the current plan is to launch NASA’s ESCAPADE mission on the second launch of New Glenn. This mission encompasses a pair of small spacecraft that will be sent to Mars to study the red planet’s magnetosphere.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)
Tag: aerospace engineering
Space Force Asking Industry for Ideas On ‘Quick and Efficient’ SBI Deployment
Defense Daily reports, “The U.S. Space Force program executive office for space combat power is soliciting input from industry on the rapid fielding of space based interceptors (SBI), which the Trump administration’s Golden Dome is to use against hypersonic and ballistic missiles…”
Full Story (Defense Daily – Subscription Publication)
2025 Wright Brothers Lectureship in Aeronautics Awarded to Susan Ying, AMP2FLY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 30, 2025 – Reston Va. – AIAA is pleased to award the 2025 AIAA Wright Brothers Lectureship in Aeronautics to Susan Ying, AMP2FLY. Ying will deliver her lecture, “Emergence of Hybrid Electric Aircraft,” Wednesday, 23 July, 11:45 a.m. PT, during the 2025 AIAA AVIATION Forum, Las Vegas.
Ying’s lecture will provide an overview of past, present, and future Ampaire efforts to commercialize hybrid-electric aircraft. Prior work includes Ampaire’s flight of the first hybrid-electric test platform in 2019 (the Electric EEL), using both electric and traditional powertrains. Current work includes the Eco Caravan, which offers fuel savings over the original aircraft of up to 70% on short-hop routes and over 50% on long-haul flights, while still carrying nine passengers or cargo. Future work includes upgraded larger aircraft and clean sheet aircraft designs. She will highlight recent flight operations lending additional credibility to Ampaire’s plan for deploying hybrid-electric commercial service in the very near future.
Ying was the senior vice president of Global Partnerships, responsible for strategy and international partnerships at Ampaire, a deep tech start-up for electric commercial aircraft. In 2017, she retired from the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China as the chief integration officer. In 2013, she retired from The Boeing Company as director of Boeing Research and Technology. Demonstrating success both at individual and team levels, she has been the recipient of many honors, including the Chinese Government’s Friendship Award and NASA Group Achievement Award. Before joining Boeing, Ying taught at universities and directed research in the DOE Research Labs at ISU and FSU, as well as at NASA Ames Research Center.
Ying is currently a board member of ElFly, an electric amphibian aircraft start-up based in Norway, and the immediate past vice president, Aerospace, and board member of SAE International. Ying is an AIAA Fellow and Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. She is the former president of the International Council of Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS). Ying holds a commercial pilot license and is an FAA-Certified Flight Instructor. She received her Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University and B.S. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University.
The AIAA Wright Brothers Lectureship in Aeronautics commemorates the accomplishment of the Wright Brothers in creating the first practical airplane and also recognizes the success of their approach to problem-solving – beginning with study of the literature and including innovative thinking, constructive debate, systematic testing, and teamwork. In particular, the Wright Brothers Lectureship is awarded for the recent accomplishment of a significant “First in Aeronautical Engineering.” The lecture will highlight the details of the accomplishment and the approaches to meeting both the technical and programmatic challenges involved.
Registration for the forum is open now. Journalists can request a Press Pass online. 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, and follow AIAA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X/Twitter.
DoorDash Partners with Flytrex to Provide Drone Delivery in Dallas-Fort Worth
Flying Magazine reports, “On Thursday, DoorDash and Israeli provider Flytrex announced the service is available to about 100,000 residents in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs of Frisco and Little Elm. Customers can order food from dozens of local and national restaurants directly through the DoorDash app, delivered straight to their backyard via drone in minutes. With industry leader Zipline and Alphabet’s Wing also flying in DFW, the area is the nation’s largest drone delivery hotspot.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)
Blue Origin New Shepard Launches 6 Tourists on Suborbital Trip from West Texas
SPACE reports, “Blue Origin sent its 70th person into space today (June 29) on its 13th rocket flight to carry passengers. The company’s New Shepard suborbital launch vehicle lifted off Saturday at 9:39 a.m. CDT (10:39 a.m. EDT or 1439 GMT) from its Launch Site One in West Texas. On board were husband and wife Allie and Carl Kuehner, Leland Larson, Freddie Rescigno, Jr., Owolabi Salis and James Sitkin.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
Launch of Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-33 Mission from Launch Site One, Texas, June 29, 2025 (Launch takes place at the 35:33 mark)
Space Affairs; YouTube
New Avionics Tech Enabling Rapid Emergence of Advanced Air Mobility
Avionics International reports, “Once a speculative concept reserved for futurists, Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is now rapidly emerging as a practical reality, thanks largely to revolutionary developments in avionics. From electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to highly automated flight control systems, avionics is the nerve center of this next-generation ecosystem, orchestrating the delicate balance of safety, autonomy, and sustainability. AAM seeks to redefine how people and goods move across urban and regional landscapes. Instead of being confined to traditional runways or existing air corridors, new aircraft designs such as eVTOLs are built to operate flexibly within dense environments.”
Full Story (Avionics International)
Rocket Lab Launches Electron Rocket from New Zealand
SPACE reports Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket from New Zealand on June 26. The rocket carried a trio of “radio frequency geolocation microsatellites and a fourth experimental satellite dubbed ‘Kestrel-0A’. The group was released into a polar low-Earth orbit (LEO) at an altitude of about 320 miles (520 kilometers).”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
Rocket Lab’s ‘Get The Hawk Outta Here’ Mission Launch (Launch takes place at the 18:37 mark)
NASA; YouTube
2025 AIAA David W. Thompson Lecture in Space Commerce Presented by Jamie M. Morin, The Aerospace Corporation, During 2025 ASCEND
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2025 – Reston, Va. – AIAA is pleased to announce the 2025 AIAA David W. Thompson Lectureship in Space Commerce is awarded to Jamie M. Morin, Vice President, Defense Strategic Space, and Executive Director, Center for Space Policy and Strategy, The Aerospace Corporation. The lecture, “Accelerating Space and Defense Innovation Through Savvy Policy,” will be presented Tuesday, 22 July, 11:45 a.m. PT, during 2025 ASCEND, 22–24 July, Las Vegas. The lecture will be delivered in person, as well as recorded and available on demand at aiaa.org.
Registration for 2025 ASCEND is open now. Journalists can request a Press Pass online.
The ability of the United States to advance its leadership in the space sector depends on harnessing the combined energy of both privately-financed, commercially-oriented firms as well as traditional government-led programs. However, there are significant obstacles to doing this at scale.
In today’s space domain, defining a company as commercial is ambiguous when that entity also serves as a government contractor. Commercial products and services benefit both commercial and government sectors, and income from government partnerships enables commercial players to contribute to important issues like climate change and sustainable agriculture. The democratization of space and unique dynamics of the space environment create risks for commercial actors. Indiscriminate threats to national security systems also pose risks to commercial systems. These factors amplify the need for greater collaboration between commercial actors and the U.S. government. When expanding our presence in space, leveraging the commercial sector is advantageous for addressing rapidly developing challenges.
Building on the research of the Center for Space Policy and Strategy, Morin’s lecture will propose a framework for policy and execution to create this powerful hybrid, which is a timely topic given the rise of commercial space and the emphasis on bringing non-traditional contractors into the defense and space ecosystem.
Morin is vice president of Defense Strategic Space at The Aerospace Corporation. He leads technical support to the senior-most levels of the Department of Defense and Department of the Air Force, including the U.S. Space Force headquarters, as well as to the Army, Navy, Air Force, and terrestrial combatant commands. Morin is an AIAA Associate Fellow.
Morin also is executive director of Aerospace’s Center for Space Policy and Strategy, which provides objective analysis to ensure well-informed, technically defensible, and forward-looking space policy across the civil, military, intelligence, and commercial space sectors. He orchestrates the Center’s extensive series of publications, events, and multimedia products to shape the future of the U.S. space enterprise.
Prior to joining Aerospace, Morin served as director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) for the Department of Defense. Earlier, he served for five years as the assistant secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller), and for a year as acting under secretary of the Air Force.
This lectureship recognizes a prominent industry leader or senior management team who has created or grown a space-related business and generated substantial economic benefits and market value. It was endowed by Orbital ATK to commemorate the long and distinguished career of commercial space pioneer, David W. Thompson.
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.
About The Aerospace Corporation
The Aerospace Corporation is a leading architect for the nation’s space programs, advancing capabilities that outpace threats to the country’s national security while nurturing innovative technologies to further a new era of space commercialization and exploration. Aerospace’s national workforce of more than 4,600 employees provides objective technical expertise and thought leadership to solve the hardest problems in space and assure mission success for space systems and space vehicles. For more information, visit www.aerospace.org. Follow us on LinkedIn and X: @AerospaceCorp.
FAA Approves Varda Space for Unlimited Reentries
Aviation Week reports, “Varda has three successful capsule reentries under its belt and new permission from the FAA to return its spacecraft through the atmosphere as often as it wants. On June 18, the FAA issued an expanded part 450 reentry license to Varda Space for its Winnebago–or W-Series–capsules. The precedent-setting regulatory approval has the potential to help expand the nascent in-space manufacturing and research and development industry.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Video
Reentering W-2
Varda Space Industries; YouTube
UK to Acquire F-35s Capable of Carrying Tactical Nuclear Weapons
Reuters reports, “The British government said on Tuesday that it would purchase a dozen F-35A fighter jets capable of firing tactical nuclear weapons in what it described as the biggest expansion of its nuclear deterrent in a generation. The purchase of the Lockheed Martin jets would allow Britain’s air force to carry nuclear weapons for the first time since the end of the Cold War, Downing Street said.”
Full Story (Reuters)