Aviation News Daily reports, “Joby Aviation has officially commenced flight testing of its first FAA-conforming aircraft, marking a critical advancement toward Type Inspection Authorization (TIA)and commercial passenger service. This development coincides with a major White House-backed initiative that allows mature eVTOL designs to begin early operations across the United States this year.”
Full Story (Aviation News Daily)
Tag: Certification
Canada Certifies Airbus H175, Opening Door to Public Service Missions
Vertical Magazine reports, “Airbus is fielding interest from ‘a range of customers’ in Canada following domestic certification of the H175 super-medium helicopter, but won’t say if the type has landed its first operator or when deliveries might begin. Still, the company sees significant potential for search-and-rescue (SAR), law enforcement and emergency medical services (EMS) in Canada’s harsh and unforgiving cold-weather climate.”
Full Story (Vertical Magazine)
Bombardier’s Global 8000 Achieves FAA Certification as Fastest Civil Jet in Decades
Reuters reports, “Bombardier’s Global 8000 business jet, the world’s fastest civilian plane since the Concorde, has received certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, the Canadian planemaker said on Friday. The Global 8000 jet has a top speed of Mach 0.95, or about 729 miles per hour.”
Full Story (Reuters)
Citation CJ4 Gen3 Program Progresses toward Certification with P1 Flight
Aviation International News reports, “Textron Aviation has completed the first flight of a second Cessna Citation CJ4 Gen3 test aircraft, marking a key milestone in the program’s path toward certification. Designated P1, the second test jet provides a platform focused on evaluating avionics, human factors, and cabin systems. The flight, conducted from the company’s Wichita facilities, lasted 3 hours 29 minutes and reached FL450 and 305 knots.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
NASA, Boeing to Begin Testing Starliner for Next Flight Targeted for Early 2026
Reuters reports, “NASA said on Thursday it was moving toward certifying Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner for crewed flights later this year or by early 2026 after its inaugural mission to the International Space Station was marred by a system fault, forcing an extended stay. The agency is working with Boeing to resolve the Starliner’s faulty propulsion system, which caused its debut eight-day crewed mission to stretch into a nine-month stay in space for NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.”
Full Story (Retuers)
ULA Vulcan Receives Certification for US National Security Missions
Via Satellite reports, “The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket is now certified for U.S. national security missions after receiving certification from the U.S. Space Force. Space Systems Command’s (SSC) Assured Access to Space organization announced the certification on Wednesday for National Security Space Launch (NSSL) missions. ULA is now eligible to launch NSSL missions as one of two certified providers, the other being SpaceX.”
Full Story (Via Satellite)
NASA to Continue Pursuit of Boeing Starliner Certification
Aviation Week reports, “NASA says it wants to stick with the Boeing CST-100 Starliner to give the space agency options in case the SpaceX Dragon system encounters problems. NASA last year had to lean on the SpaceX system when it experienced technical issues with Starliner during a Crew Flight Test (CFT) that turned a days-long mission into a months-long saga. The propulsion issues drove NASA to return the Boeing capsule to Earth uncrewed and make astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams part of the International Space Station (ISS) crew. They returned to Earth March 18along with NASA’s Crew-9 Dragon commander Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
ULA Awaits Space Force’s Certification of its New Vulcan Rocket
Ars Technica reports, “Last October, United Launch Alliance started stacking its third Vulcan rocket on a mobile launch platform in Florida in preparation for a mission for the US Space Force by the end of the year. That didn’t happen, and ULA is still awaiting the Space Force’s formal certification of its new rocket, further pushing out delivery schedules for numerous military satellites booked to fly to orbit on the Vulcan launcher.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)
FAA is Getting Closer to Certifying ZeroAvia’s Electric Propulsion System
Aerospace Global News reports, “ZeroAvia has moved one step closer to certification of its first commercial product, having received Certification Basis for its 600kW electric propulsion system (EPS) from the FAA – a key document outlining the applicable airworthiness regulations with which the manufacturer must comply. The G-1 Issue Paper (Stage 2) contains a formally confined agreement, designating the standards to which ZeroAvia will validate the design requirements of its EPS.”
Full Story (Aerospace Global News)
FAA Announces Pilot Training, Certification Rules for Air Taxis
Reuters reports, “The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday finalized comprehensive training and pilot certification rules for flying air taxis, addressing a key hurdle to the deployment of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. The FAA called the rule ‘the final piece in the puzzle for safely introducing these aircraft in the near term.’ Some flying companies hope to begin flying commercial passengers as soon as 2025.”
Full Story (Reuters)