Tag: AIAA News

2026 AIAA Election Now Open

The AIAA Council Nominating Committee has assembled an outstanding slate of candidates. We urge all eligible voting members to carefully consider each candidate and select those who most closely reflect your values and your vision for the future of AIAA. All candidates are highly qualified, and all are anxious to serve.

The election is being held 26 January–20 February 2026.

Learn More and Cast Your Vote! 

2026 AIAA Election Guide

AIAA Announces New Student Branches

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 26, 2026 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce it has provisionally chartered five new student branches at the AIAA Council of Directors meeting during AIAA SciTech Forum 2026 in Orlando, Florida.

The five new student branches have been granted three-year provisional charters to ensure they are sustainable before being officially chartered as a student branch. The universities include:

  • Baylor University – Waco, Texas
  • South Dakota State University – Brookings, South Dakota
  • University of Texas Permian Basin – Odessa, Texas
  • Wilbur Wright College – Chicago, Illinois
  • Zewail City Science and Technology – Cairo, Egypt

“It’s an exciting moment as we welcome these new student branches to AIAA – totaling 268. By expanding our global network reaching more students, we are enriching our community. We’re eager to see the impact these future leaders will have on the aerospace industry,” said AIAA CEO Clay Mowry.

To find out how your institution can establish a student branch, visit aiaa.org/get-involved/university-students/student-branches.

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 LinkedInInstagramX/Twitter, and Facebook.

Shield AI Co-Founder Shares 10-Year Journey Reimagining Air Power

FROM THE INSTITUTE
When brothers Ryan and Brandon Tseng co-founded Shield AI a decade ago with Andrew Reiter, they did so with a fire in their belly and a clear mission: to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems, buoyed by the belief that “air power is the only way to deter war.”

The Universe’s First Selfie: The Remarkable Story of the James Webb Space Telescope

FROM THE INSTITUTE
The James Webb Space Telescope was designed over the course of 20 years to accomplish one thing: take the universe’s baby pictures. It has done that and more. Jonathan Arenberg, Fellow and Chief Mission Architect for Science and Robotic Exploration at Northrop Grumman, took the audience at AIAA SciTech Forum on a tour of the origins, specifications, and accomplishments of the 7-ton, 6.6-meter-wide eye.

GOTCHA! Students Capture Malfunctioning Satellite in Spacecraft Control Exercise

FROM THE INSTITUTE
A team of students from the XDLab Group at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has won the third annual Capture the Satellite competition, a game that teaches how to control a spacecraft to avoid obstacles and safely rendezvous with another spacecraft that needs service, on 15 January at AIAA SciTech Forum 2026.

Preserving NASA’s Scientific Mission: Budget Stability, Safety, and the National Interest

FROM THE INSTITUTE
NASA’s scientific enterprise has long served as a cornerstone of American leadership in discovery, innovation, and aerospace safety. Its science portfolio faces growing structural pressures driven not by technical shortcomings, but by budgetary instability, funding misalignment, and an increasingly compressed execution environment. These pressures pose tangible risks not only to mission outcomes, but also to the highly specialized workforce, civil servants, FFRDCs, and industry partners that are required to execute NASA science safely and effectively.

IQT: Seeding Early-Stage Private Sector Innovation into Defense Programs

FROM THE INSTITUTE
QT (In-Q-Tel), the independent strategic investor focused on accelerating national security innovation, was featured in a HUB session at AIAA SciTech Forum 2026 in January.  Founded in 1999, IQT serves as an independent, not-for-profit strategic investor that bridges the gap between government needs and rapidly advancing private-sector innovations. Over the past 25 years, IQT has invested in more than 800 startups across the globe, helping fuel the commercial space industry.

Advanced Autonomy Critical for Future Air Superiority

FROM THE INSTITUTE
Chuck Yeager predicted that autonomous aircraft would someday dominate the future of air combat. Last October, Yeager’s vision was realized when Anduril Industries’ YFQ-44A Fury became the first next-gen autonomous fighter jet to fly its full mission profile without direct human intervention.