NAA Names 2019 Collier Nominees

The National Aeronautic Association (NAA) announced nine nominees for the 2019 Robert J. Collier Trophy on Wednesday. The trophy, which is presented annually "for the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America,” was first awarded in 1911. This year’s nominees are the Airborne Collision Avoidance System Team, Bombardier Global 7500, Gulfstream G500 and G600, Hubble Space Telescope Team, magni500 Electric Propulsion System, Project Heaviside, Stratolaunch Carrier Aircraft, United States Air Force-Boeing X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Team and Unmanned Aircraft Systems Traffic Management Team.

“For more than a century, the Collier Trophy has recognized the greatest achievements in aeronautics and astronautics,” said NAA President Greg Principato.  “Some of history’s greatest technological feats have received the Collier. The nominees this year are very much in that tradition, spanning aeronautics and astronautics and including many new technologies and approaches to solving problems.”

The 2019 Collier Trophy selection committee is scheduled to meet on April 2 in Arlington, Virginia, and will announce the trophy winner on April 3. The trophy will be formally presented on June 11. As previously reported by AVweb, last year’s Collier Trophy was awarded to the Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto GCAS) team. Previous recipients include the Cirrus Vision Jet, the crews of Apollo 11 and Apollo 8, Orville Wright, the B-52, the Boeing 747, the F-22 and the International Space Station.