Flying Magazine reports, “The B-21 Raider ‘continues to make progress’ in flight testing and production, the U.S. Air Force said Wednesday. The stealth strike bomber was unveiled in December 2022 and officially moved into low-rate production earlier this year. In January, Northrop Grumman said six B-21 bombers are in various stages of final assembly and testing at its facility in Palmdale, California.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)
Tag: May 2024
Joby Aviation Eyes Saudi Arabia for Electric Air Taxi Network
Flying Magazine reports, “Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi manufacturer Joby Aviation is setting its sights on Saudi Arabia. The manufacturer on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mukamalah Aviation—a subsidiary of state-owned oil and gas company Saudi Aramco that according to Joby operates the world’s largest fleet of corporate aircraft—to introduce its eVTOL air taxi in the country.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)
Aurora Unveils Updated High-Speed VTOL X-Plane Concept for DARPA
Aviation Week reports, “Aurora Flight Sciences has unveiled a refined concept for a fan-in-wing high-speed vertical-takeoff-and-landing (VTOL) aircraft as it receives funding to proceed to a preliminary design review under a DARPA project to fly an X-plane demonstrator.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
SpaceX Starship Fueled Up Ahead of 4th Test Flight
SPACE reports, “SpaceX just fueled up its giant Starship rocket, checking another box ahead of the vehicle’s fourth test flight. The company performed a ‘wet dress rehearsal’ with Starship at its Starbase site in South Texas today (May 20), filling both of the vehicle’s stages with supercold liquid oxygen and liquid methane in a key prelaunch test.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Hermeus Begins Testing of Precooler Technology on Pratt & Whitney F100
Aviation International News reports, “Hermeus continues its march toward hypersonic development with the testing of its precooler technology on the Pratt & Whitney F100. The precooler lowers the temperature of incoming air, enabling an increase in the maximum speed of the turbine engine.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
AIAA Statement on the Passing of Jeff Bingham
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2024 – Reston, Va – AIAA CEO Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:
“AIAA is saddened by the news of the passing of Jeff Bingham. Jeff was a leading influence in the aerospace community helping shape U.S. space policy. We are grateful for his bipartisan, professional approach that propelled the nation’s efforts in space for the future.
Jeff was instrumental in developing the ISS, championing its use as an orbiting scientific laboratory for the benefit of humanity. In addition to his work on the ISS and the National Lab, he was influential via NASA Authorization Acts to establish the objectives and priorities for human space exploration.
Jeff was an AIAA Associate Fellow. We were honored that he shared meaningful insights with our audiences at several AIAA events, helping our community make progress toward the next exploration goals.
His dedication to the aerospace community continues, with his request in lieu of flowers for donations made to any space-related charity in his name to support future space explorers and leaders.
We send our condolences to his family and friends. Godspeed Jeff.”
Media contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270
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. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.