Aviation Week & Space Technology

The seven-year mission to asteroid Bennu promises to deliver the first pristine samples from the formation of the Solar System’s inner planets.

Russia’s Europeanized Soyuz will lift a bevy of low-orbiting satellites on its first launch of 2016 from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.

European-based turboprop maker ATR predicts there will be demand for about 100 turboprops in Japan through 2025, and the manufacturer aims to win 70% of these sales opportunities.

The aircraft maker has learned from past production issues and is applying those lessons to pick up the pace of its 737-8 certification testing.

An extended flight-test plan for the C919 looks realistic to experts familiar with the program.

Flight simulators need to be upgraded to train pilots to deal with stalls, but upgrading them won’t be easy or inexpensive.

The demand for low-cost, rapidly available off-the-shelf countermeasures against small unmanned aircraft systems from both government and commercial customers seems to be growing.

Airlander airship approved to fly; NASA to validate RTCA’s UAS standards; Darpa tests drop-in sense-and-avoid; Armadillo’s Stig returns as Sarge; Rocket Lab moves closer to launch.

National Research of Canada says two new ice-particle detection technologies are ready for transition to industry to tackle the threat of high-altitude ice crystals causing engine rollback or flameout.

European airline consolidation has been relatively minor compared to the U.S., and Lufthansa’s move to take on Brussels Airlines is a typical “tiny step.”

Studies to gauge F-35 noise levels will ask residents of the communities around two Dutch air bases for feedback.

The Greater China business aircraft fleet grew just 6.6% last year, but the aircraft are being used more intensively, a sign that orders may pick up.

United’s deal with AltAir signals a new level of maturity for the biofuels industry, but advancing biofuels to commercial scale calls for strategic intervention.

Germany’s E-Volo begins manned flight tests of its all-electric, 18-rotor Volocopter VC200 two-seat aircraft. Is it the vanguard of future personal aviation?

Breakthrough Starshot project aims to propel wafer-thin “nanocraft,” using powerful laser beams, toward Alpha Centauri.

Legislation would allow Pentagon to focus on threats; an FAA official prepared to take on the role; and an Air Force general supports the concept.

As Senior Space Editor Frank Morring says, companies are looking for "pots of gold" in space. That gold could come from commercial efforts that would extend the life of the International Space Station or to mine water from the Moon. Civilian space agencies might benefit as well—working with each other to reach the Moon and ultimately charting a path to Mars. Frank joins Mark Carreau and Jen DiMascio at the annual space symposium in Colorado Springs and discuss the latest efforts to explore—and profit from—outer space.

The U.S. Air Force’s UAS fleet is in constant demand, but keeping it flying is taking a toll on its pilots.

In preparation for a U.S. Army competition for a counter-rocket, artillery and mortar interceptor, Lockheed Martin flight tests its enhanced Miniature Hit-to-Kill missile.

There is long list of technology demonstrations behind the idea of an unmanned combat aircraft, but no requirements for an operational system have emerged. Now Europe has a try.

Polish and Turkish companies are among those developing and selling loitering munitions, aka lethal small unmanned aircraft.

Fighter aircraft for “Make in India”; North Korea shows long-range air defense system; Pratt & Whitney F135 engines contract; UAE-Stratcom space data accord.

Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) is proposing legislation to tackle a broad range of space issues, foremost is ending the use of the Defense Department to manage space traffic.

Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman vie for the next-generation satellite work.

Some irate citizens of New York and New Jersey have petitioned, successfully, to curb the amount of helicopter tours that can be offered in the city.