Recent Updates

Sir Richard Branson hopes to become the second billionaire to go to space in early 2021 to kick off his space tourism business. Branson, the owner of Virgin Galactic, will be on the first flight after the operation is certified by the FAA to take “space tourists” to the edge of space in a reusable […]

The propeller designs for NASA’s all-electric X-57 Maxwell have now undergone two weeks of wind tunnel testing, the agency said on Monday. The propeller assemblies, supplied by California-based contractor Empirical Systems Aerospace (ESAero), logged 14 hours of powered operation during testing with wind speeds up to around 90 knots. The tests took place at the […]

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao has announced the completion of the FAA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS/drone) Integration Pilot Program (IPP), a three-year initiative designed to test and evaluate the integration of drone operations into the national airspace system. IPP is followed by the BEYOND program, which officially launched last week. BEYOND is expected to […]

Looking to “accelerate the implementation of electric and hydrogen powered, vertical takeoff flight in Canada,” the Canadian Advanced Air Mobility Consortium (CAAM) announced its official launch on Wednesday. The Vancouver-based organization says it is aiming to streamline Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) research, development and commercial operations by meeting objectives such as creating an AAM innovation […]

Boeing’s Loyal Wingman unmanned military aircraft successfully completed its initial low-speed taxi test this week, marking the first time the aircraft has moved under its own power. During the test, the prototype reached a speed of 14 knots while the team verified systems integration and functions including steering, braking and engine controls. According to Boeing, […]

Pipistrel announced on Wednesday that it has chosen Honeywell’s Compact Fly-By-Wire system for its Nuuva V300 cargo unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). According to Honeywell, the system that will be used on the V300 offers “features derived from decades of expertise in fly-by-wire systems for airliners” while being about “the size of a paperback book.” Pipistrel […]

NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft successfully made contact with asteroid Bennu on Tuesday. The purpose of the brief touch-and-go, the first of its kind accomplished by NASA, was to collect a sample from the asteroid’s surface. Sample collection was conducted using a sampling arm, called the Touch-And-Go Sample Acquisition […]

Aircraft manufacturer Bombardier has announced that it plans to offer at least 1,000 new paid student internships for the 2020-21 academic year. The company expects that students from more than 30 Canadian universities and colleges will be represented in its intern selections. Internships will be available for students pursuing fields including engineering, science, finance, law […]

Embraer has announced the launch of Eve Urban Air Mobility Solutions, an independent Embraer-backed company “dedicated to accelerating the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ecosystem.” According to Embraer, Eve’s focus will include the development and certification of its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle, developing a services and support network for the aircraft and creating […]

Uber Elevate and GE Aviation’s Digital Group are working together to develop a flight data monitoring program that will support electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles on Uber’s platform. The partnership, which was announced on Wednesday, will initially focus on developing requirements for such a program. According to GE, its flight data monitoring services […]