FROM THE INSTITUTE
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.
Tag: AIAA News
AIAA Honorary Fellow Liebeck Died in January 2026
FROM THE INSTITUTE
Robert H. Liebeck, a world-renowned authority in the fields of aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, and aircraft design, died on 12 January 2026. He was 87 years old.
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.
No Fans Needed: Sophia Space’s Orbital Data Centers Will Cool, Compute, and Conquer Space-Based Computing
FROM THE INSTITUTE
Keeping cloud servers cool is a major headache. Vast amounts of chillers are needed to keep data centers humming. On Earth. But in space, that’s another story. Entrepreneur Rob DeMillo, CEO of Sophia Space, formerly of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, with a portfolio of seven acquisitions and IPOs out of nine companies, said cooling servers in orbit is not a concern.
My Daily Launch
In observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we will not publish on Monday, 19 January. Service will resume on Tuesday, 20 January.
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