Aviation International News reports that on April 9, SkyDrive’s three-seat SD-05 eVTOL aircraft prototype made its first public demonstration flights at the World Expo 2025 event in Osaka, Japan. “ During the flight, which lasted about four minutes, the remotely piloted and highly automated aircraft reached an altitude of 5 meters, according to SkyDrive.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Public Flight of SKYDRIVE Model SD-05
(SkyDrive, Inc; YouTube)
Breaking Defense reports, “The US Army has begun 3D printing swarms of small aerial drones for soldiers to train against, in anticipation of a decision on how to proceed with an initiative to cheaply and quickly mass produce drones, according to two senior Army leaders.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
The New York Times reports that four private astronauts ended a mission in a SpaceX vehicle on Friday by splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, marking a first for the company. “The Fram2 mission had circled the Earth for four days in a north-south orbit. The journey was the first time people have been able to look down directly at the North and South Poles from orbit.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription Publication)
Fram2 Astronauts Launch on Polar Orbit Mission (Splashdown occurs at 08:12)
(VideoFromSpace; YouTube)
Aerotime reports, “Taiwanese carrier EVA Air has finalized an order for six long-range A350-1000s and three single-aisle A321neo aircraft, completing a deal first revealed by the airline in March 2025. With these new orders, EVA Air’s total aircraft backlog will now include 24 A350-1000s and 18 A321neo aircraft, Airbus announced in a statement on April 7, 2025.”
Full Story (Aerotime)
Aviation Week reports, “The first flight of a hydrogen-powered helicopter has been accomplished in Canada by Unither Bioelectronics. A subsidiary of bioetechnology company United Therapeutics (UT), Unither modified the piston-powered Robinson R44 to hydrogen-electric propulsion using a fuel cell power system.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Defense News reports, “The Navy has awarded defense and aviation technology company Shift5 a contract to test predictive maintenance technology on the V-22 Osprey, which the company hopes might prevent gearbox catastrophes that have proven fatal in recent years.”
Full Story (Defense News)
SPACE reports, “On April 1, NASA announced its brand new infrared space telescope, SPHEREx, has officially opened its eyes to the cosmos as well. This first light, as it’s called, shows that all of the spacecraft’s systems are working just as expected. ‘Based on the images we are seeing, we can now say that the instrument team nailed it,’ Jamie Bock, SPHEREx’s principal investigator at Caltech and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said in a statement.”
Full Story (SPACE)
SPACE reports, “NASA’s new X-59 supersonic jet is a step closer to flight after passing an important ground test in March. Known as “engine speed hold,” the test ensured that the X-59 can maintain a specific speed when it flies for the first time later this year. “Engine speed hold is essentially the aircraft’s version of cruise control,” Paul Dees, NASA’s X-59 deputy propulsion lead at Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, said in a statement. “The pilot engages speed hold at their current speed, then can adjust it incrementally up or down as needed.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Spaceflight Now reports, “A historic mission took flight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday night. Against the backdrop of an off-shore band of thunderstorms, four first-time astronauts soared off the pad at Launch Complex 39A onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and headed into a polar orbit. Malta resident Chun Wang funded the orbital polar expedition and flew alongside Norwegian cinematographer, Jannicke Mikkelsen; German arctic robotics researcher, Rabea Rogge; and Australian polar guide, Eric Philips.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Fram2 Astronauts Launch on Polar Orbit Mission (Launch occurs at 2:00:17)
(Spaceflight Now; YouTube)
Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) and the Belgian Ministry of Defence have marked a significant milestone with the successful first flight of Belgium’s new MQ-9B SkyGuardian® Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). This aircraft is the first of four MQ-9Bs ordered by Belgium and took to the skies on February 20, 2025, from GA-ASI’s Desert Horizon Flight Operations Facility in El Mirage, California.”
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Technology)