The next two piloted flights to the International Space Station aboard Russian Soyuz MS spacecraft later this year will be carrying civilians—a film crew first, and later, tourists.
Arqit, a four-year-old British startup aiming to provide quantum encryption for communications, announced May 12 it will become a publicly traded company after a two-step merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
The startup did not identify the operator or its market sector, but the 40-aircraft order, plus an option for another 40, is “committed and in hand,” XTI CEO Bob LaBelle said.
Textron will not immediately enter the urban air mobility market, despite its “enormous amount of technological capability,” as the battery technology has not advanced enough to support it, Textron’s top executive says.
Tim Conver, who took over the then-spunky UAV pioneer AeroVironment in the early 1990s, will retire as chairman at the company’s 2021 annual shareholder meeting.
Startup Aergility is working with an unidentified strategic partner to develop a vertical-takeoff unmanned cargo aircraft using its “managed autorotation” technology to increase range and payload.
