BBC News reports, “India’s aviation regulator has ordered the country’s airlines to inspect fuel control switches in Boeing aeroplanes, after their reported involvement in a fatal Air India crash that killed 260 people in June. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said the order follows Indian and international airlines already starting to carry out their own checks.”
Full Story (BBC News)
Tag: July 2025
NASA’s Mariner 4 Probe Captured 1st-ever Up-close Look at Mars 60 Years Ago
SPACE reports, “Some of NASA’s earliest planetary missions, Mariners 3 and 4 were planned and executed by a group of pioneering scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and its associated NASA field center, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). NASA was a brand-new agency when the planning for the first Mars flyby was begun a few years earlier, but the core science team had been working together at Caltech for years.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Joby Tested a New Large Hydrogen-powered Drone
Aerotime reports, “Advanced air mobility developer Joby Aviation appears to have tested a large long-endurance hydrogen-powered drone, according to investigative news outlet Hunterbrook, which first reported on this development. Hunterbrook has also published some pictures that were taken from a distance, which seems to confirm this hypothesis.”
Full Story (Aerotime)
SpaceX Launches Unspecified Satellite on a Falcon 9 Rocket from Cape Canaveral
Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket early Sunday carrying the Israeli Dror 1 satellite. The mission was initially shrouded in secrecy as the satellite’s manufacturer, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), shunned any pre-launch publicity. The mission, referred to by SpaceX as ‘Commercial GTO-1,’ lifted off at 1:04 a.m. EDT (0504 UTC) on Sunday, July 13.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
Electra to Develop Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Propulsion for US Army
Avionics International reports, “Electra has received a small research contract from the Army to mature hybrid-electric propulsion systems the company is developing for its ultra-short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft to advance the technology, and reduce risks, for Army aviation.”
Full Story (Avionics International)
NASA, SpaceX Aim for July 31 for Launch of Crew-11 Astronaut Mission
SPACE reports NASA and SpaceX are targeting July 31 for the launch of the four-astronaut Crew-11 mission, which will fly a mix of rookies and spaceflight veterans to the ISS. “The flight, called Crew-11, will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex-39A (LC-39A), at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending the Crew Dragon Endeavour to low Earth orbit (LEO).”
Full Story (SPACE)
Hegseth Orders Military to Increase Use of Small Drones in New Memo
Breaking Defense reports, “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is directing every US Army squad to be armed with small, one-way attack drones by the end of fiscal 2026, while also enabling troops to modify small drones as necessary in the field.”
Full Story (Breaking Defense)
Axiom-4 Mission Astronauts Aboard ISS Conducting Research Experiments and Outreach Events
SPACE reports, “As the Axiom-4 mission approaches its two-week mark before returning to Earth, the private space mission crew discusses science and pierogis. The crew of Axiom-4 (Ax-4) have been aboard the International Space Station (ISS) since their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule docked there on June 26.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Boeing Delivers 60 Aircraft in June
Reuters reports, “U.S. aeronautics company Boeing (BA.N), said on Tuesday that it delivered 60 airplanes in June, a 27% increase compared to a year earlier … Boeing booked 116 new orders in June, including 54 737 MAXs and 62 787s.”
Full Story (Reuters)
NASA Shares Side-by-Side Views of Spectacular Star Clusters Captured by Webb and Hubble
Ars Technica reports, “NASA has shared side-by-side views of these clusters taken in visible light by the Hubble Space Telescope and in infrared light by the James Webb Space Telescope. Hubble’s image captures the glowing, ionized gas as stellar radiation produces what look like bubbles in the clouds of gas and dust, whereas Webb highlights the clumps and delicate filamentary structures of dust.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)