Defense One reports, “Key refueling-related tests for the B-21 Raider are now underway, an Air Force spokesperson confirmed to Defense One, the latest milestone towards delivering the next-generation bomber by 2027. On Tuesday, several open-source intelligence accounts and plane spotters posted images of a B-21 approaching a KC-135 tanker over California”
Full Story (Defense One)
Tag: march 2026
Firefly Alpha Returns to Flight With Successful Orbital Launch
SPACE reports, “Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket launched for the seventh time ever today (March 11), bouncing back from two explosive mishaps in 2025.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
Firefly’s Alpha rocket launches from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base. (Launch occurs at the 00:29 mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube
Dassault Unveils Falcon 10X as First Flight Nears
Aviation Week reports, “Dassault Aviation unveiled the long-awaited Falcon 10X business jet as it prepares for an intense period of flight trials to finally get the product into user hands. The Falcon 10X is Dassault’s biggest bet yet on the business jet market, both literally and figuratively. The clean-sheet design marks the French manufacturer’s entry into an entirely new segment of flying with an aircraft that retails for around $80 million, before full cabin fitting.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Video
Dassault’s New Falcon 10X Business Jet makes its debut.
AIN; YouTube
NASA Satellite Reentry Expected to Exceed Agency Risk Threshold
Ars Technica reports, “A NASA satellite that spent more than a decade coursing through the Van Allen radiation belts encircling Earth is about to fall back into the atmosphere. Most of the spacecraft will burn up during reentry, but a fraction of the material making up the 1,323-pound (600-kilogram) satellite will likely reach Earth’s surface without vaporizing in the atmosphere. Uncontrolled reentries of satellites with comparable mass happen quite regularly—multiple times per month, according to one recent study—but most of them are older spacecraft or spent rocket bodies.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)
March 2026: The Goddard Centennial
FROM THE INSTITUTE
This March 16th will mark the 100th anniversary of Dr. Robert Goddard’s historic first flight of a liquid propulsion rocket, back in 1926. That flight is rocketry’s closest equivalent of the Wright Brothers’ first flight of an airplane at Kitty Hawk in 1903. And just like the similarly historic Kitty Hawk flight, Goddard’s pioneering first liquid propulsion flight opened the way to a world-changing future that all of humankind benefits from today.
Honda Positions Hybrid eVTOL as New Path for Urban Air Mobility
AirInsight reports, “After four years in ‘stealth mode,’ Honda revealed at the Dubai Airshow 2025 that its hybrid eVTOL program is far more advanced than anyone outside the company knew, with over 400 flight tests already completed.”
Full Story (AirInsight)
Video
Honda’s first full-scale hybrid eVTOL prototype
AIN; YouTube; Framegrab
Call for Technical Experts for Standards
FROM THE INSTITUTE
AIAA is now the Committee Manager and US TAG for ISO TC20/SC 16 Uncrewed Aircraft System which leads international standardization in the field of advanced air mobility and uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). The committee is looking for technical experts to support its work in developing International Standards to provide a framework and guidance for government, public and private stakeholders involved in the safe and effective design, procurement, deployment and operation of Counter UAS equipment intended to be deployed in all fixed, mobile and transportable civilian environments. Experts in the field of cybersecurity aspects specific to UAS are also encouraged to particiate.
U.S. Lawmakers Move to Keep ISS Operational Through 2032
SPACE reports that Congress is pushing to extend the International Space Station’s life by two years, to give commercial outposts more time to step into its shoes.
Full Story (SPACE)
DARPA’s Sprint Program Advances as Bell’s Stop-Fold Tiltrotor Becomes X-76
Aviation Week reports, “The stop-fold tiltrotor uncrewed aircraft under development by Bell for a DARPA project to fly a high-speed vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) demonstrator has been designated the X-76. Under Phase 2 of DARPA’s Speed and Runway Independent Technologies (Sprint) project, Bell has completed the critical design review (CDR) and moved into manufacturing of the demonstrator.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Aerospace Momentum Builds in the Carolinas: AIAA Symposium Showcases Regional Innovation
FROM THE INSTITUTE
UNC Charlotte hosted the 2026 AIAA Carolina Aerospace Symposium on February 21st at the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC), bringing together more than 80 participants from across North and South Carolina. Organized and promoted by the AIAA Carolina Section, the event highlighted the region’s growing strength in aerospace research, education, and industry collaboration.