The European launch consortium, which today lifts more than half of the world’s communications satellites, says the recent successful recovery of a Falcon 9 core stage is only the first step for SpaceX in reusing the already-low-cost rocket.

From the commercial-aircraft ramp-up and small-UAV explosion to U.S. defense budget pressures and Europe’s response to Russian aggression, 2016 will be a dynamic year for the aerospace and defense industry.

Tiny ADS-B for UAVs; better materials, lighter diesels; NASA seeks clean-sheet thinking on 2035 airspace; Basque partners combine additive and subtractive

A320neo and C Series enter service; F-35A goes operational, JAS 39E flies; emissions measures and tracking mandates for aviation; contract protests and consolidation pressures; unmanned aircraft and suborbital spaceplanes—things will come in pairs in 2016.

Countering UAS, beating brownout, robotic copilots, communication by laser, and building-block satellites are among advances that could make the news in 2016 and beyond.

SpaceX is celebrating the first successful touchdown on land of an orbital-class booster, the first step toward a potential paradigm shift in easing human access to space.

Smaller, more capable satellites enter satcom market as U.S. military demand for new spacecraft stalls.

In the next 10 years, as major spacefaring nations renew their fleets, the space-launch sector will be molded by the growing popularity of small satellites, increasing commercialization of space transportation, reusable launch vehicles and manned space programs.