Tag: March 2025

Roscomos’ Progress MS-30 Cargo Spacecraft Docks at ISS

SPACE reports, “A new delivery of food, fuel and supplies has arrived at the International Space Station by way of a Russian supply ship. Roscomsos’ Progress MS-30 (or Progress 91, as referred to by NASA) cargo spacecraft autonomously docked to the aft port of the space station’s Zvezda service module on Saturday (March 1) as the two vehicles orbited 260 miles (418 kilometers) over the South Atlantic Ocean. The 6:02 p.m. EST (2302 GMT) link up came two days after the Progress launched from the Baikonur Cosmdrome in Kazakhstan.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Beta Electric Air Taxi to Perform Statewide Demo in Utah

Flying Magazine reports, “Utah residents, electric air taxis may be en route to a city near you—and next week is your first chance to see them fly. A pair of state agencies are working with manufacturer Beta Technologies and 47G—a coalition spanning industry, academia, and government that aims to cement Utah as the headquarters for aerospace companies—to conduct demonstration flights of Beta’s Alia electric conventional takeoff and landing (eCTOL).”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)

SpaceX to Invest $1.8 Billion in Florida for Starship Program Expansion

Reuters reports, “SpaceX is planning to invest at least $1.8 billion to build new Starship launchpads and processing facilities on Florida’s Space Coast, eyeing a key expansion for the rocket program beyond Texas amid pending environmental reviews, according to the state’s governor. Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been looking to build new Starship launchpads near its primary launch sites in Florida, as it works in Texas on early development and testing of the next-generation rocket designed to loft bigger loads of satellites into space and put humans on the moon later this decade.”
Full Story (Reuters)

SpaceX’s Starship Rocket Disrupts Florida Airports With Unsuccessful Test Flight

The New York Times reports, “Starship — the huge spacecraft that Elon Musk says will one day take people to Mars — failed during its latest test flight on Thursday when its upper stage exploded in space, raining debris and disrupting air traffic at airports from Florida to Pennsylvania. It was the second consecutive test flight of the most powerful rocket ever built where the upper-stage spacecraft malfunctioned. It started spinning out of control after several engines went out and then lost contact with mission control.”
Full Story (New York Times – Subscription Publication)

 

 

 

 

Video

SpaceX Starship launches on flight 8, catches booster but loses ship again (Launch at 00:25:35 mark)
(VideoFromSpace; YouTube)

Flight Tests Prove Capability of Sikorsky’s ‘Rotor Blown Wing’ Drone

Defense News reports, “Through extensive flight tests earlier this year, Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky has proven the capability of a ‘rotor blown wing’ unmanned aircraft system that can fly like a helicopter or an airplane, the company announced Monday. The drone is a 115-pound, battery-powered twin prop-rotor aircraft that the company said can be scaled larger, ‘requiring hybrid-electric propulsion.’”
Full Story (Defense News)

 

 

 

 

Video

Sikorsky Flies Rotor Blown Wing UAS in Helicopter and Airplane Modes
(Lockheed Martin; YouTube)

Boeing Outperforms Airbus in Deliveries for February 2025

Aerotime reports, “Boeing delivered 44 new aircraft in February 2025, outperforming rival Airbus for the second month in a row. The European planemaker delivered 40 aircraft to customers during the same period. This is a decrease from the 45 aircraft delivered in January 2025. In February 2025, Boeing received 13 new aircraft orders, down from 36 in January 2025.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

Global Shortfall in Firefighting Rotorcraft Prompts Reboot of Bell’s 214ST

Aviation Week reports, “Bell’s 214ST is set to become the latest legacy helicopter to go back into production to address global shortfalls in rotary-wing firefighting capability. Australia’s McDermott Aviation, which owns the type certificate to the twin-engine, 8-metric-ton helicopter, is planning to produce new-build versions of the rotorcraft. It will be powered by either the General Electric CT7/T700 or Safran’s Aneto turboshaft. McDermott currently owns all 24 of the remaining operational 214STs of the 85 that were built. It has been using them on firefighting contracts, most notably in Greece, where the company had 14 aircraft deployed last year.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Gray Eagle UAS Performs First Proliferated Low Earth Orbit Flights

Unmanned Systems Technology reports, “General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) has conducted its first flight test series of the Gray Eagle® Extended Range (GE-ER) Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) using a Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) satellite constellation for aircraft communications. Contracted by the U.S. Army, the flight tests began in January 2025 and mark a significant milestone, reportedly making GE-ER the first long-endurance U.S. Army aircraft to be controlled over the new satellite service. Gray Eagle is also the only U.S. Army UAS capable of leveraging Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and PLEO constellations for secure, inflight adaptable and resilient communication, navigation and data management.”
Full Story (Unmanned Systems Technology)

AIAA DEFENSE Forum to Feature an Extensive Program

The 2025 AIAA DEFENSE Forum will feature hundreds of technical briefings on 16 of the most important topics shaping the present and future of defense and national security, including digital engineering, hypersonics, test and evaluation, and guidance, navigation, and control.

Learn More

Israeli and U.S. Companies Collaborating on Military Hydrogen-Cell Drones

Defense One reports “As drones continue to reshape the nature of warfare, the limitations on range and power are becoming the difference between success and defeat on the battlefield. Now, an Israel-based drone company and U.S. manufacturing company Mach Industries are working together to co-produce hydrogen fuel cell powered drones, which offer big advantages in range but have previously faced challenges that have kept them from the battlefield.”
Full Story (Defense One)

Joby and Virgin Atlantic to Launch Air Taxi in UK

Aerotime reports, “In a groundbreaking move set to launch air taxi services in the UK, Joby Aviation has announced a strategic partnership with Virgin Atlantic. The new partnership, which was unveiled on March 15, 2025, marks a significant step toward launching zero-emission, high-speed air taxi services across the country. According to the United States venture-backed aviation company, the new air taxi service will initially connect key Virgin Atlantic hubs, including London Heathrow (LHR) and Manchester Airport (MAN), with regional cities.”
Full Story (Aerotime)

SpaceX Launches its 450th Falcon 9, Sets New Record for Booster Turnaround Time

Spaceflight Now reports, “The National Reconnaissance Office launched its eighth batch of satellites to support its proliferated architecture constellation. The mission includes a number of notable milestones for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket program, including a record-fast turnaround time for its booster. The rocket carried an unspecified number of satellites that are believed to be Starshield, a government variant of the Starlink satellites that are built by SpaceX in partnership with Northrop Grumman. This was SpaceX’s 450th Falcon 9 launch to date.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)



Video

SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 for 450th time (Launch occurs at 32:38)
(Spaceflight Now; YouTube)

Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum Launcher Set to Overtake V-2 as Germany’s Largest Rocket

Ars Technica reports, “Seven years ago, three classmates at the Technical University of Munich believed their student engineering project might hold some promise in the private sector. At the time, one of the co-founders, Daniel Metzler, led a team of 40 students working on rocket engines and launching sounding rockets. Josef Fleischmann was on the team that won the first SpaceX Hyperloop competition. Together with another classmate, Markus Brandl, they crafted rocket parts in a campus workshop before taking the leap and establishing Isar Aerospace, named for the river running through the Bavarian capital.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

Airbus Expects Next Jet Will Be ‘Evolutionary Not Revolutionary’

Reuters reports, “Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said on Tuesday the planemaker’s next single-aisle jet would be ‘evolutionary rather than revolutionary’, but that this could include an open-rotor engine such as one being studied by supplier CFM. The head of the world’s largest planemaker was speaking at the start of an event aimed at focusing attention on ongoing innovation following the company’s decision last month to delay development of a radical hydrogen-powered regional aircraft.”
Full Story (Reuters)

Boeing to Test MQ-28 Ghost Bat Missile in Late 2025 or Early 2026

Aviation Week reports, “Boeing plans to fire an air-to-air missile from its MQ-28 Ghost Bat uncrewed combat aircraft demonstrator late this year or early next, as part of an effort to accelerate the system’s development, says Steve Parker, acting head of BoeingDefense, Space and Security. Boeing has now flown 102 missions with the system it has designed and built in Australia. The system ‘is really maturing,’ Parker told reporters here at the Avalon Australian International Airshow.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

NASA Completes SLS Core Stage Stacking for Next Year’s Artemis 2 Moon Mission

SPACE reports, “NASA’s next moon rocket is coming together, piece by piece. The core stage of NASA’s next Space Launch System (SLS) rocket recently completed integration with the vehicle’s side boosters inside the agency’s Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida. SLS will launch NASA’s Artemis 2 mission to fly four astronauts aboard an Orion spacecraft around the moon and back sometime next year.”
Full Story (SPACE)

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)