Aviation International News reports, “Electra Aero has completed the first urban flight of its hybrid-electric EL2 ‘ultra-short’ technology demonstrator aircraft, landing on a pier in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. The exceptional short takeoff and landing performance is based on the blown-lift technology being used to develop the full-scale EL9 aircraft it aims to certify under U.S. Part 23 rules in 2029.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Tag: Completes
SpaceX’s Starship V3 Reaches Key Milestones Despite Booster Loss
Aviation Week reports, “SpaceX completed a full suborbital flight of the latest version of its Starship-Super Heavy launch vehicle on May 22, achieving several key milestones for ‘Version 3’ even as it lost its first-stage booster shortly into the flight.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Video
SpaceX Starship V3 flip and landing burn.
VideoFromSpace; YouTube; Framegrab
Rocket Lab Completes Ninth Launch Mission for Synspective
Aviation News reports, “Rocket Lab has successfully launched its ninth dedicated mission for the Japanese Earth observation company Synspective, deploying a new StriX radar satellite into orbit. Originating from New Zealand, this latest launch reinforces one of the most reliable commercial partnerships in the small satellite sector.”
Full Story (Aviation News)
Wisk Aero Conducts First Flight of Second Generation 6 eVTOL Prototype
Flying Magazine reports “Boeing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) unit Wisk Aero is ramping up flight testing of its flagship Generation 6 air taxi. Wisk on Monday revealed that it completed the first flight of a second production prototype aircraft—a “test article” of the autonomous model it aims to certify with the FAA.”
Full Story (Fling Magazine)
Video
Wisk Aero’s Generation 6 aircraft
Wisk Aero | YouTube
Boeing MQ-25 Stingray Hits Key Milestone with First Production Flight
Aerotime reports, “The US Navy’s first production-representative Boeing MQ-25 Stingray completed its maiden flight on April 25, 2026, taking off from MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois, in the most significant step yet toward fielding the service’s first carrier-based unmanned aircraft. The flight, originally targeted for the end of 2025, was conducted with a Boeing-owned TA-4J Skyhawk and a US Navy UC-12M Huron acting as chase aircraft. A first attempt on April 22, 2026, was aborted for undisclosed reasons.”
Full Story (Aerotime)
SpaceX Concludes Investigation into Starship Failure Clearing Way for Flight 10
SPACE reports, “The U.S Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has closed its investigation into SpaceX’s Starship mission failure this spring and given the green light for Starship Flight Test 10 to proceed this weekend.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Skydweller UAS Performs Three-day Unmanned Flight Test
UK Defense Journal reports, “The U.S. Navy has completed a successful three-day nonstop flight of a solar-powered unmanned aerial system (UAS), according to a Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) update issued on 29 July. Conducted in partnership with Skydweller Aero, the 73-hour continuous flight from Stennis, Mississippi, demonstrated the Skydweller UAS’s ability to sustain solar-powered flight while maintaining communications, autonomous operation, and responsiveness to changing weather conditions.”
Full Story (UK Defense Journal)
Saab Gripen E Jet Completes First AI-controlled Flight Tests
Aerotime reports, “Saab has completed a series of flight tests integrating artificial intelligence into its Gripen E fighter jet, the company announced on June 11, 2025. Conducted in partnership with the German-based defense AI firm Helsing, the flights over the Baltic Sea saw the AI agent, named Centaur, take autonomous control of the aircraft during simulated Beyond Visual Range (BVR) combat scenarios.”
Full Story (Aerotime)
Trailblazing STEM Educator Amy Medina Jorge Completes Spaceflight on Blue Origin’s NS-32 Mission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2025 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) issued the following statement from AIAA CEO Clay Mowry:
“Congratulations to Amy Medina Jorge on her journey beyond the Kármán line! We are thrilled to see such a remarkable educator-astronaut make the journey of a lifetime as part of Blue Origin’s New Shepard NS-32 mission. Amy is one of those teachers who literally goes above and beyond to inspire the next generation of explorers and innovators.
We were honored to recognize Amy in 2023 with the Trailblazing STEM Educator Award in partnership with Challenger Center. Amy stood out due to her tireless work every day to empower students in STEM – especially those who are traditionally underserved and underrepresented. She’s given her students the chance to participate in real space experiences, leading more than 60 space experiments including developing and flying biometric sensors and performing in-flight 3D printing on a parabolic zero-gravity flight.
As a middle and high school teacher at Odyssey Academy Galveston, in Galveston, Texas, Amy is also an AIAA Educator Associate Member. Teachers like Amy are invaluable – not only to their local communities but to the space community as a whole.
Amy’s lessons are launchpads for her students’ dreams, giving them every opportunity to see their potential. Certainly, her students’ dreams were onboard with her today. What an inspiration!
AIAA applauds Blue Origin on continuing to open up access to space to more people, totaling nearly 60 commercial astronauts so far. We salute the countless aerospace professionals whose expertise has brought the New Shepard fully reusable, suborbital rocket system to this point. Reusability is the future of launch.”
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. Visit www.aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on X/Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
Boom XB-1 Technology Demonstrator Getting Closer to Supersonic Milestone
Aviation Week reports, “Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 technology demonstrator probed deeper into the transonic speed regime during its ninth test flight from Mojave Air & Space Port, California, on Dec. 13, paving the way for an attempt to reach and exceed Mach 1, now targeted for early 2025. Piloted by Boom chief test pilot Tristan “Geppetto” Brandenburg, the XB-1 expanded the altitude envelope to over 27,700 ft., continued tests of the Flutter Excitation System (FES), and reached a maximum speed of Mach 0.87.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)