Aerospace News The Aerospace category covers robotics and AI in aviation, spaceflight, and defense, including autonomous drones and UAVs, satellite servicing robots, planetary rovers, and AI-driven flight systems. Coverage spans company announcements, funding rounds, agency programs from NASA, ESA, and defense departments, and research from labs and universities. Readers will also find reporting on regulatory developments, launch missions, and commercial applications in air mobility and space exploration.
ESA Awards €544M European Launcher Challenge Contracts to Isar, RFA and PLD Space — Aug 29, 2026 — The European Space Agency signed inaugural European Launcher Challenge contracts on 27 August 2026 worth €543.6 million with Isar Aerospace, Rocket Fa...Arianespace Sets Aug 27 for Ariane 6's First Geostationary Mission — Aug 16, 2026 — Ariane 62 will loft the MTG-I2 weather satellite for EUMETSAT and ESA on August 27, 2026 — Ariane 6's first flight to geostationary transfer orbit.Eve Air Mobility Completes First Partial Transition eVTOL Flight — Aug 7, 2026 — Eve's engineering prototype fired up its rear pusher propeller in flight for the first time, hitting 30 knots ground speed and closing in on wing-born...Greenjets Raises $40M Series A For UK's Next Aerospace Prime And LCADE Drone Interceptor — Aug 2, 2026 — British aerospace startup Greenjets has raised $40 million in Series A funding led by Blossom Capital and backed by the NATO Innovation Fund to scale...Heart Aerospace's X1 Wins FAA Approval To Fly The Largest Electric Aircraft — Jul 26, 2026 — The FAA has cleared Heart Aerospace's X1 demonstrator for piloted flight testing at Plattsburgh, N.Y., making it the largest electric aircraft ever au...Airbus Launches Three-Year A321neo Flight Test For Wing Of Tomorrow — Jul 22, 2026 — Airbus used Farnborough International Airshow 2026 to unveil a three-year A321neo flight test campaign for its Wing of Tomorrow high-span wing program...GE Aerospace, NASA, BETA And Boeing Fly First Hybrid-Electric Above 30,000 Feet — Jul 21, 2026 — At Farnborough 2026, GE Aerospace and partners flew a modified Saab 340B in hybrid electric mode above 30,000 feet — the first time the technology rea...Loganair Orders Up To 10 BETA ALIA CX300 Electric Aircraft At Farnborough — Jul 21, 2026 — Loganair signed on day one of Farnborough 2026 to buy five all-electric BETA Technologies ALIA CX300 aircraft with options for five more, setting up t...Pratt & Whitney's NextGen2 GTF Will Adopt CMCs and Composite Fan Blades — Jul 21, 2026 — Pratt & Whitney is bringing ceramic matrix composites and composite fan blades — technologies GE pioneered on the LEAP — into its NextGen2 GTF, as CFM...Vertical Aerospace To Fly First eVTOL Public Demos At Farnborough — Jul 19, 2026 — Vertical Aerospace will fly the Valo prototype in public demonstration flights throughout Farnborough International Airshow 2026, a first for the eVTO...NASA's Anil Menon Rides Soyuz MS-29 to ISS With Dubrov and Kikina — Jul 14, 2026 — NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina launched aboard Soyuz MS-29 from Baikonur on July 14, 2026 for an eigh...SpaceX Targets July 16 for Starship Flight 13 After FAA Clears Fixes — Jul 14, 2026 — SpaceX confirmed a July 16 launch window for Starship Flight 13 after the FAA closed its Flight 12 mishap investigation and cleared corrective actions...Airbus Wins ESA Contract To Build Aeolus-2 Wind-Profiling Satellite — Jul 10, 2026 — The European Space Agency has picked Airbus Defence and Space to build Aeolus-2, the operational follow-on to the pioneering 2018 wind-measuring lidar...Brazil's ALADA Signs INNOSPACE For 2026 SEBIT Launch From Alcantara — Jul 6, 2026 — ALADA has signed its first foreign customer since standing up in 2025, awarding South Korea's INNOSPACE a suborbital launch slot from Alcantara for th...SpaceX Launches Starfall, a Disk-Shaped Cargo Return Capsule — Jun 25, 2026 — SpaceX launched a demo of Starfall, a flat, disk-shaped reentry capsule aimed at returning cargo and manufactured goods from orbit.NASA Taps Relativity Space to Build 2028 Mars Orbiter Aeolus — Jun 21, 2026 — NASA will partner with Eric Schmidt's Relativity Space to build and launch Aeolus, a Mars orbiter targeted for 2028 that will monitor the Red Planet's...Joby Lands Mobile eVTOL Simulator At Dayton Air Show Ahead Of Ohio Production — Jun 15, 2026 — Joby Aviation parks its mobile flight simulator at the Dayton Air Show this weekend as part of its Electric Skies Tour, showcasing the S4 air taxi ahe...Federal Judge Dismisses Archer Fraud Counterclaim Against Joby In eVTOL Court Fight — Jun 13, 2026 — A U.S. federal judge tossed Archer Aviation's fraud counterclaims accusing Joby of hiding China ties, while also dismissing some of Joby's trade-secre...Boeing Unveils MQ-28 Ghost Bat Block 3 At ILA Berlin With Rheinmetall Team — Jun 11, 2026 — Boeing's MQ-28 Ghost Bat Block 3 debuts at ILA Berlin with a bigger wing, more thrust, AMRAAMs and SDBs in internal bays, and a German team led by Rhe...China's Tianwen-2 Set To Orbit Asteroid Kamoʻoalewa On June 7 — Jun 6, 2026 — After a 13-month cruise, China's first asteroid sample-return spacecraft arrives at the near-Earth quasi-moon Kamoʻoalewa on Sunday, opening a year of...