Emerging Technologies

United Aviation Solutions (UTD) and the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) have launched the Brown Condor Initiative (BCI) aimed at providing a platform for AFRAA members with Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facilities to support their North American counterparts in MRO services and assets.

London City Airport flight operations are now being directed from 70 mi. away.

Scalable autonomy framework development supports airborne agent that can react to unanticipated situations for a wide range of aircraft.

European engineering services company AKKA Technologies is to assist French startup Aura Aero with development of its planned 19-seat Electric Regional Aircraft and Integral E electric aerobatic aircraft.

UAE aerostructures manufacturer Strata is to enter the business aviation sector thanks to an offset agreement between the Tawazun Economic Council and Swiss airframer Pilatus.

COVID-19 has pushed sustainability and emissions reduction higher up the aviation agenda–and highlighted the need for further action.

The slow pace of Leonardo’s AW609 program has not benefited from the global pandemic.

ZeroAvia testbed crash; Lufthansa deploys riblets; MightyFly’s autonomous logistics; Wingcopter’s triple drop; Hydrogen startup funding.

Europe’s industry sees itself in a time crunch for sustainability, but budget negotiations on the Clean Sky follow-on program drag on.

ZeroAvia’s plans to demonstrate long-distance hydrogen fuel cell-powered flight have been set back after its demonstrator aircraft was involved in a landing accident.

The latest Skunk Works demonstration series shows off new level of ad hoc, multidomain networking.

Up to five test runs of the rotorcraft are planned by May 4.

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

Ask the editors: Longer-haul electric aircraft will depend on better energy storage, higher power densities and greater efficiencies.

Smiths Detection, a provider in threat detection and security screening technologies, has launched a new lithium batteries algorithm for the HI-SCAN 10080 EDX-2is, its dual-view air cargo and checked-baggage screening system.

As new materials and fuel technology advance, NASA gets serious again about nuclear space propulsion for missions to Mars and beyond.

Bye’s electric twin; In-orbit debris monitoring; New LEO use; Decarbonizing Europe’s skies; and Furanics for SAF.

Europe’s civil aeronautical industry is beginning to express impatience about the launch of the Partnership on Clean Aviation, a follow-on program to the ongoing Clean Sky 2 research and technology project for greener air transport.

Through targeted technology investments, regional air mobility can offer early benefits for communities, industry and investors, a new NASA white paper has concluded.

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have launched a Destination Tracker in preparation for the restart of international travel.

A four-year research project to develop a cheaper method of producing sustainable aviation fuel from agricultural and forestry residues has kicked off in Europe.

Zero-emissions propulsion startup Universal Hydrogen has raised $20.5 million in Series A funding from investors including the venture arms of Airbus, JetBlue Airways and Toyota.

“This is the first powered flight on another planet. Let that blow your mind for a minute.”

Bye Aerospace has launched development of the eFlyer 800, an eight-seat, all-electric competitor to Textron Aviation’s Beechcraft King Air 260 turboprop.

The airline group said it would achieve this by purchasing one million tons of sustainable jet fuel per year, which will allow it to cut its annual emissions by two million tons by 2030.