Aerospace

Sweden’s Inkonova has built a drone designed to fly in places humans cannot get to—today it’s caves, tomorrow it could be asteroids.

This industry has its share of challenges, and we will continue to doggedly cover them. But I am confident that the best is yet to come.

Structural testing of a critical element of Aurora’s D8 concept composite “double-bubble” fuselage shows the unique Y-joint design has the required strength.

Folding wings in flight; China’s hypersonic biplane; X-57 motor progress; Europe’s radical thinking; Vahana eVTOL slips.

Quadrotor, helicopter and tiltwing designs will help steer NASA research toward key technology challenge areas for future urban air transport systems.

Super Puma replacement may be rescoped for multirole mission as commercial market tumbles.

Vertical-lift OEMs warn that the best helicopter safety standards and production processes will be inadequate to ensure success of urban eVTOL air taxi market.

Airbus Helicopters prepares to launch a drone-based urban package-delivery trial service developed with partners in Singapore.

Are London and Paris balking at the high costs associated with the UCAV demonstrator’s development?

European Union planning demonstration of unmanned technologies, including naval UAVs.

Systems Technology demos a machine-learning approach to maneuvering UAVs on carrier decks by recognizing the same gestures used to direct human pilots.

The federal deficit and interest rates threaten to constrain the Pentagon’s budget.

Boeing leverages X-43, X-51 and XB-70 design legacy to challenge Lockheed Martin for future hypersonic strike/reconnaissance role.

AirSpaceX eVTOL design taps electric vehicle tech; Zephyr stratospheric UAV for civil use; beefing up AUDS’ combat counter-UAS; reusable hypersonics study.

Aurora Flight Sciences demonstrates resupply at the touch of a button by unmanned helicopter under the Office of Naval Research’s Autonomous Aerial Cargo/Utility System program. Photo: John F. Williams/U.S. Navy

Certifying additively manufactured parts for aircraft installation just got a lot easier. The Stratasys Aircraft Interiors Certification Solution gives aerospace companies a faster, more streamlined process. Learn more about producing certified aircraft interiors with 3D printing.

Airbus, Boeing and their peers are trying to avoid the aerospace equivalent of a “midlife crisis.”

Urban air mobility generated headlines with air taxi debuts and demonstrations at the largest U.S. consumer electronics show.

DARPA’s collaborative CODE; France advances naval UAV; airspace awareness from Insitu; a better loitering munition.

Boeing HorizonX, formed to bring in disruptive ideas from both outside and inside, has its first internally developed innovation, an unmanned cargo aircraft.

If the defense budget wins enough support to pass, it would represent an increase of only about 2% over the Obama baseline.

Fifteen years after it first tried to market solar-powered high-altitude UAVs, AeroVironment signs development deal for “pseudo-satellites.”

While the consumer drone world attempts variations on the quadcopter form, the software and sensors are what will lead to something bold.

Boeing has revealed details of a reusable Mach 5-plus demo vehicle design that could pave the way for a future high-speed strike and reconnaissance aircraft.

Pratt & Whitney’s Executive Director for Advanced Programs and Technologies James Kenyon joins Aviation Week’s Guy Norris and Graham Warwick to talk about adaptive engines and high-speed propulsion from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’ Scitech conference in Kissimmee, Florida.