Tag: October 2025

SpaceX Performs 550th Falcon 9 Launch

Spaceflight Now reports, “SpaceX launched its 550th Falcon 9 mission since the rocket’s debut in 2010. The launch from California added 28 more broadband internet satellites to the company’s Starlink constellation.” The Starlink 11-5 mission was the 95th flight in 2025 supporting the low Earth orbit internet constellation. “Liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base happened at 7:16 a.m. PDT (10:16 a.m. EDT / 1416 UTC).”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

Video

SpaceX Falcon 9 launches on the 11-5 mission (Launch occurs at 30:28 mark).
Spaceflight Now; YouTube

Magnetic Levitation Rises to the Occasion

FROM THE INSTITUTE
A new family of hyperdrive motors may rewrite the aerospace playbook with technology that can redefine vertical lift aircraft, said Rod Randall, co-founder and chairman of MagLev Aero. It may sound like magic, but the propulsion breakthrough uses artificial intelligence (AI) and magnetic levitation (maglev) to advance technology that will allow vertical-lift aircraft to fly quieter, more efficiently, farther, and faster – and at less cost – than anything before.
Full Story (Aerospace America)

NASA Places Artemis 2 Mission’s Orion Capsule atop SLS Rocket in Preparation for 2026 Launch

The Artemis 2 SLS rocket that will launch the next astronauts around the moon is all put together inside NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building.  SPACE reports, “Integrity, the Orion spacecraft that will fly NASA’s Artemis 2 crew around the moon as early as February 2026, was recently transported across NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and hoisted atop SLS, completing the rocket’s assembly ahead of launch.”
Full Story (SPACE)

SpaceX Launches 10,000th Starlink Satellite to Orbit

SPACE reports, “SpaceX notched two big milestones on a single Falcon 9 liftoff today (Oct. 19). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink internet satellites lifted off from California’s Vandenberg Space Force Base today at 3:24 p.m. EDT (1924 GMT; 12:24 p.m. local California time). Those 28 included the 10,000th Starlink spacecraft ever to reach orbit.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Amazon Delivers Emergency Supplies to Typhoon-Devastated Western Alaska

Flying Magazine reports, “You can get pretty much anything from Amazon, and the residents of the villages in western Alaska devastated by the recent typhoon pretty much need everything. So it makes sense that the Amazon Disaster Relief recently coordinated its first disaster response flight to the Last Frontier, bringing thousands of pounds of emergency supplies via Amazon Air to the Red Cross in Anchorage. The first shipment arrived on Sunday, October 19.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)

Powerful NVIDIA Chip to Make Orbital Debut Next Month

SPACE reports, “An NVIDIA GPU is heading toward its record-setting orbital debut, a trip that will test how data centers could work in the final frontier. The NVIDIA H100 GPU, which is about 100 times more powerful than any processor that has flown in space to date, will fly aboard the Starcloud-1 satellite, which is expected to launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket next month.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Video

Starcloud-1 satellite
The Collective Pulse; YouTube

USAF Considering Expanding CCA Pairing Capabilities Beyond F-22

Aviation Week reports, “The U.S. Air Force is only set, for now, to pair Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) with the Lockheed Martin F-22, though consideration is still ongoing for the rest of its fighter types. The service in a new report to Congress says the Raptor is the ‘threshold platform’ for CCA, though integration with F-16s, F-35As, F-15Es and F-15EXs is an emerging consideration. Uncrewed aircraft will eventually be paired with the upcoming Boeing F-47.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Japan’s HTV-X Spacecraft Arrives at International Space Station

Ars Technica reports, “A cargo ship from Japan pulled alongside the International Space Station on Wednesday, maneuvering close enough for the lab’s robotic arm to reach out and grab it as the vehicles soared 260 miles over the South Atlantic Ocean. ‘HTV capture complete,’ Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui radioed from the ISS. ‘I just want to say congratulations to all teams and people involved in this mission. Also, thank you very much for your hard work and support for the first HTV-X mission.’”
Full Story (Ars Technica)

Challenger Center and AIAA Open Nominations for 2026 Trailblazing STEM Educator Award

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Three winners will be honored for enthusiasm and dedication to STEM education

Washington and Reston, Va. (October 20, 2025) –  Challenger Center and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) announced they are accepting nominations for the 2026 Trailblazing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Educator Award. The annual award celebrates K-12 teachers going above and beyond to inspire the next generation of explorers and innovators. Nominations can be submitted online through December 15, 2025.

Three winners will be selected from the nominations and announced in early 2026. Each winner and their respective school or organization will be awarded $5,000. They will also receive free access to Challenger Center’s STEM education programs and have the opportunity to attend a space launch experience and/or a VIP tour of an aerospace facility.

“Educators play a vital role in sparking curiosity and helping students see themselves as future scientists, engineers, and explorers,” said Mike Kincaid, President and Executive Director, Challenger Center. “We are proud to again partner with AIAA to recognize the teachers who tend to that spark every day.”

“We share a commitment with Challenger Center to support educators who inspire and empower today’s students. They are developing the next generation STEM workforce that will make the next breakthroughs in aerospace,” said Clay Mowry, CEO, AIAA. “Their impact reaches far beyond the classroom – it reaches the stars.”

The award recognizes teachers who connect classroom lessons to the country’s current and future plans of STEM exploration and innovation, introduce students to STEM careers, and activate students’ imagination about space exploration. Past awardees have represented schools from across the United States and have gone on to achieve remarkable milestones—including participating in a Zero-G flight, being selected to serve on the National Space Council’s Users Advisory Group, and even traveling to space as a commercial astronaut.

About Challenger Center
As a leader in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, Challenger Center provides hundreds of thousands of students annually with experiential education programs that engage students in hands-on learning opportunities. These programs, delivered in Challenger Learning Centers and classrooms, strengthen knowledge in STEM subjects and inspire students to pursue careers in these important fields. Challenger Center was created by the Challenger families to honor the crew of shuttle flight STS-51-L. For more information about Challenger Center, please visit https://www.challenger.org/ or connect on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

About AIAA Foundation
The AIAA Foundation inspires and supports the next generation of aerospace professionals. From classroom to career, the AIAA Foundation enables innovative K-12 and university programming, including STEM classroom grants, scholarships, conferences, and hands-on competitions. Founded in 1996, the AIAA Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt educational organization connected to the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

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 www.aiaa.org or follow AIAA on LinkedIn, Instagram, X/Twitter, and Facebook.

Japan’s New HTV-X Cargo Spacecraft Launches to ISS for 1st Time

SPACE reports, “Japan’s new HTV-X cargo spacecraft launched on its first-ever mission to the International Space Station on Saturday (Oct. 25). The robotic HTV-X lifted off atop an H3 rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center at 8 p.m. EDT (0000 GMT and 9 a.m local Japan time on Oct. 26).”
Full Story (SPACE)



Video

JAXA HTV-X1 Cargo Launch (Launch occurs at the 15:50 mark)
NASA; YouTube

Gulfstream Aerospace Hits Stride as Bizjet Sales, Deliveries Take Off

Aviation International News reports, “Gulfstream Aerospace found its groove in the third quarter as business jet sales and shipments climbed 56% and 39%, respectively, Phebe Novakovic—chairman and CEO of parent General Dynamics—said this morning during an investor call. “There was robust order momentum at Gulfstream in the quarter,” she said, noting a 1.3:1 book-to-bill that increased aerospace backlog to $20.6 billion, a nearly $1 billion quarter-over-quarter rise.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)

SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches Another 28 Starlink Satellites from California

SPACE reports, “SpaceX launched yet another batch of its Starlink satellites today (Oct. 27),” sending 28 of them up from California’s central coast.  Launch took place “at 8:43 p.m. EDT (5:43 p.m. local California time).” The rocket’s first stage returned “to Earth as planned about 8.5 minutes later, landing in the Pacific Ocean on the SpaceX drone ship ‘Of Course I Still Love You.’”
Full Story (SPACE)

The MITRE Corporation Shows Its Might in Aviation Development

FROM THE INSTITUTE
Federally funded R&D Research Centers, or FFRDCs, supply federal agencies with objective data, engineering expertise, and systems-level solutions without competing commercially. MITRE’s Center for Advanced Aviation System Development (CAASD) provides advice and technical expertise to improve the safety, security, and efficiency of the National Airspace System.
Full Story (Aerospace America)

NASA’s X-59 Quiet Supersonic Research Aircraft Performs First Flight

Aviation Week reports, “NASA began flight tests of its needle-nosed X-59 Quesst quiet supersonic research aircraft with a 1 hr. 7 min. initial sortie from Palmdale, California, to the nearby Edwards AFB on Oct. 28. Flown by NASA X-59 lead pilot Nils Larson, the much-anticipated first flight of the Lockheed Martin-built aircraft began at 8:14 a.m. Pacific time with an unrestricted climb from Palmdale’s 12,000 ft.-long runway 07/25.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)

Washington 101 for the Next Generation of Aerospace Innovators

FROM THE INSTITUTE
As commercial spaceflight expands and small satellites reshape the space economy, one reality remains unchanged: policy discussed in Washington, DC, matters. This was AIAA’s Director of Public Policy & Government Relations Ryan Cooperman’s core message at the SmallSat Education Conference at NASA Kennedy Space Center, where he joined over 700 students and educators passionate about space. He offered a crash course on the U.S. legislative process in which he discussed how policy is made, who shapes it, and why it matters to the future of aerospace.
Full Story (Aerospace America)

ISS Marks 25 Years of Uninterrupted Human Presence in Orbit

AP News reports, “It’s an unprecedented space streak: 25 years of people living off-planet without even a moment’s pause. The International Space Station marks a quarter-century of continuous occupancy this weekend, boasting a guest list of nearly 300 — mostly professional astronauts but also the occasional space touristand movie director. The first full-time residents opened the hatch on Nov. 2, 2000.”
Full Story (AP News)

NTSB Releases Urgent Learjet Landing Gear Warning

Flying Magazine reports, “The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued an urgent recommendation for the owners and operators of certain Bombardier Learjets to check the security of the landing gear stemming from the preliminary investigation into the fatal runway excursion at Arizona’s Scottsdale Airport (KSDL) in February.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)