From the Institute
AIAA is proud to honor the legacy of a remarkable family man who made significant contributions to aerospace over his 40+ year career through the new Steve L. Karman Jr. Aerospace Engineering Scholarship. The $10,000 scholarship aims to support undergraduate students who embody the same dedication to aerospace excellence that Steve demonstrated throughout his career. It was made possible through the generous funding provided by AIAA Fellow John Chawner, a colleague and dear friend of Steve.
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Tag: From the Institute
Protecting U.S. Leadership in Space Commerce: Funding at Risk
FROM THE INSTITUTE
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has cut the FY25 spend plan for the Office of Space Commerce (OSC) to $37 million, down from $65 million. This represents a 47% budget reduction from FY24 and eliminates the two-year funding authority Congress provided for OSC to purchase commercial space situational awareness (SSA) data.
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SPHEREx Mission: Mapping the Universe in Unprecedented Detail
From the Institute
In the vast expanse of space, a revolutionary observatory no larger than a small car is quietly transforming our understanding of the cosmos. SPHEREx, NASA’s Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, represents a remarkable achievement in astronomical engineering—a mission that delivers extraordinary science from a deceptively modest package.
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To Succeed, Space Startups Must Leverage Agility and Their Unique Value
FROM THE INSTITUTE
Space startups must set themselves apart from established competitors by delivering something distinct – whether it’s better technology, reliability, or price – and leveraging their agility and passion. “That means offering a higher level of reliability and mission services to your customers,” said former SpaceX space mission engineer Laura Crabtree, who is now CEO and co-founder of software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup, Epsilon3.
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From Classroom to Flight Line: 30 Years of Design/Build/Fly
FROM THE INSTITUTE
In April 2026, AIAA DBF will celebrate its 30th anniversary fly-off in Wichita, Kansas, hosted by Textron Aviation. The objective for this year is to design, build, and test a banner-towing bush plane, conduct charter flights to pay for the airplane, and start a banner-towing business. The mission balances performance with practicality, pushing students to innovate while staying grounded in real-world design constraints. Learn more about the draft rules and submission deadlines.
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AIAA Award Presented at International Conference on Environmental Systems
FROM THE INSTITUTE
The 2025 AIAA Jeffries Aerospace Medicine and Life Sciences Research Award was presented at the International Conference on Environmental Systems, 13-17 July in Prague, Czechia, to Christophe Lasseur, European Space Agency (retired). He was honored “For leadership of international advanced life support research toward development of safe and reliable closed loop regenerative systems for sustained human presence in space.”
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RTX Ventures Aims to Transform the Industry, One Investment at a Time
FROM THE INSTITUTE
Innovators! If you know of a startup enterprise in the aerospace or defense industries looking for investments, you may want to get to know RTX Ventures. A subsidiary of aerospace giant RTX Corporation, RTX Ventures is a three-year-old venture capital firm with a unique approach, noted Executive Director Roman Mueller. He described how the firm seeks companies to provide investment funding.
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A Day in the Life of the Thunderbird Crew
FROM THE INSTITUTE
Keeping America’s premier aerial demonstration team flying day in and day out takes extraordinary skill behind the scenes. More than just routine aircraft upkeep, maintaining the Thunderbirds fleet is a high-precision dance. A handpicked cadre of 135 maintenance professionals across 30 specialties keeps the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds sky-ready to perform the precision flying and heart-stopping maneuvers that viewers on the ground love.
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Aviation Startups Showcase Disruptive New Aircraft Coming by 2050
FROM THE INSTITUTE
Commercial aviation is staring down a massive shortfall—and time is running out. According to industry estimates, more than 40,000 new aircraft will be needed by 2050 to meet global air transportation demand. Yet between them, the world’s two largest aircraft manufacturers—Boeing and Airbus—can only deliver about 26,000 new aircraft by the midpoint of this century.
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Student Scientist’s Space Biology Experiment Wins 2025 Genes in Space Competition
FROM THE INSTITUTE
Under the bright lights of the ASCEND stage in Las Vegas, a remarkable moment for student innovation took flight. Nitya Johar, 17, of Skyline High School in Sammamish, Washington, was announced as the 2025 national winner of the Genes in Space competition. Her pioneering experiment will investigate codon usage bias in space, a discovery that could advance spaceflight medicine and biomanufacturing in microgravity.
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