Recent Updates

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is drawing criticism from both industry stakeholders and members of Congress regarding its handling of commercial space launch licensing During a House space subcommittee hearing this week, industry officials and  lawmakers called out the agency on its implementation of new launch licensing regulations known as Part 450. According to SpaceNews, […]

NASA confirmed Boeing’s Starliner will undock from the International Space Station and make its return to earth on Friday evening without astronauts onboard. Boeing and NASA expressed confidence that Starliner would not encounter any issues before making a planned parachute landing at White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. However, astronauts Suni Williams and Butch […]

Archer Aviation’s eVTOL prototype Midnight completed 402 test flights so far this year, surpassing its goal of 400 flights in 2024, the company announced Tuesday. Over the past eight months, Archer has intensified its flight test operations in preparation for “for-credit” certification testing with the FAA. “When we first set our goal for 400 flights […]

When it leaves the International Space Station next Friday, Boeing’s troubled Starliner crew capsule may not be going quietly into the night. The spacecraft started making a funny noise on Saturday shortly after it was announced that Boeing would attempt to return the vehicle autonomously to Earth on Sept. 6. Astronaut Butch Wilmore, who rode […]

A fully autonomous Cessna Caravan shuttled components to support a major military exercise between nine different airports across two states earlier this month. The Caravan, operated by Xwing, which was acquired by Joby earlier this year, covered 3,900 miles and the human monitor pilot onboard never touched the controls. Exercise Agile Flag 24-3 is one […]

Archer Aviation’s eVTOL aircraft could be flying above Los Angeles as early as 2026, the company announced in a recent press release. The company’s new air mobility network aims to ease traffic congestion and cut travel times with 10- to 20-minute flights to key destinations such as Los Angeles International Airport, Orange County, Long Beach […]

On Tuesday, electric air taxi company Joby Aviation announced it has applied for aircraft certification in Australia. According to the company, Joby’s request to Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) for validation of its FAA type certification is based on a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Australian regulators. This application paves the way for […]

Transport Canada, the Canadian aviation authority, and NAV Canada, which provides air navigation services, have selected a consortium to deliver a Phase 2 trial of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS) Traffic Management (RTM). The consortium is led by AeroVision Canada, with principal partners ANRA Technologies and ClearSky Connect. The Phase 2 effort will refine and […]

During an online roundtable on July 17, Joby Aviation founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt recalled his pathway to becoming involved in electric vertical takeoff and land (eVTOL) aircraft. He sees the present as a time of converging transformational technologies that he believes will make aviation “dramatically more relevant to our daily lives and more impactful […]

Former astronaut Gen. Joe Engle died July 10 at the age of 91. Engle was an accomplished Air Force pilot with the distinction of flying two different winged spacecraft, the X-15 and the Space Shuttle. Beyond that he flew 185 aircraft and accumulated 15,400 hours, including the first operational shuttle flight and another later on. […]