Aviation Week & Space Technology

Readers write about the U.S. Navy’s MH-60, SpaceX’s Starlink and FedEx founder Fred Smith. Plus: Behind the Scenes at NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed in Ohio.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

The maker of the Predator and Reaper family of uncrewed aircraft systems now finds itself as the target of an industry newcomer, but GA-ASI is fighting back.

Strong June deliveries signal Boeing’s recovery is gaining momentum, but system tests on 737-10s remain a challenge toward completing MAX family certification.

Rare earths are essential for a wide variety of defense systems to function but the U.S. is largely reliant on China for these strategic metals. Listen in as experts discuss what can be done.

The Space Force is replacing its legacy tactical and strategic satellite communications assets with disaggregated and proliferated spacecraft.

A spending bill that does not cover the Transportation Department squeezed in $12.5 billion for the agency’s ambitious air traffic control modernization plan.

Before the Indian Space Research Organization launches the first uncrewed flight test of its Gaganyaan capsule, one astronaut is now an experienced space flyer.

Congress and the White House are sending NASA mixed messages about the future of the Artemis program to return humans to the Moon.

The FAA adds a grant assurance for low-lead avgas while still aiming to eliminate leaded aviation fuel by 2030.

The E2 family has not sold as well as Embraer had hoped, as the market for it remains fragmented and complicated.

Russia’s main airline needs locally produced aircraft to replace Western jets, but that transition keeps facing setbacks.

Missile defense has become an all-domain juggling act to handle low- to high-end threats.

Space rockets and Boeing C-17-sized wing-in-ground effect vehicles rank among candidates attempting to solve one of the U.S. military's toughest problems.

Texas lawmakers are a step closer to snatching away the National Air and Space Museum's prized space shuttle and moving it from Northern Virginia to Houston.

A Supplier New Deal built on fairness, collaboration and mutual investment could reset OEM-supplier relationships and enable higher production rates.

The Defense Department’s latest budget plan goes all in on space-based moving-target tracking.

A new leader, a funding plan and an architecture outline define the early steps toward Trump’s hawkish homeland defense plan.

A flat fiscal 2026 budget request combined with a $113 billion reconciliation offers a game-changing opportunity for nontraditional defense contractors.

NASA’s Electric Aircraft Testbed is just one “invaluable resource” for industry at Ohio’s Armstrong Test Facility.

The trend among LCCs to add widebodies to their fleets is gaining momentum in Asia, but it is not making headway elsewhere.

The Defense Department is debating how best to develop the space-based data connectivity backbone of its future force.

The Competition Bureau is outlining steps for the Canadian government to take to strengthen domestic airline competition.

The Japan Air Self-Defense Force is looking to modernize against a wide, growing array of threats, from new ballistic missiles to next-generation fighters.

With ATC modernization in sharp focus, listen in as editors and former FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt dig back through our archives to discuss a midair collision in 1956.