Airlander airship approved to fly; NASA to validate RTCA’s UAS standards; Darpa tests drop-in sense-and-avoid; Armadillo’s Stig returns as Sarge; Rocket Lab moves closer to launch.

Legislation would allow Pentagon to focus on threats; an FAA official prepared to take on the role; and an Air Force general supports the concept.

Breakthrough Starshot project aims to propel wafer-thin “nanocraft,” using powerful laser beams, toward Alpha Centauri.

As Senior Space Editor Frank Morring says, companies are looking for "pots of gold" in space. That gold could come from commercial efforts that would extend the life of the International Space Station or to mine water from the Moon. Civilian space agencies might benefit as well—working with each other to reach the Moon and ultimately charting a path to Mars. Frank joins Mark Carreau and Jen DiMascio at the annual space symposium in Colorado Springs and discuss the latest efforts to explore—and profit from—outer space.

Lockheed Martin is one of seven U.S. companies building deep-space habitat concepts. Mark Carreau and Jen DiMascio toured the company's mock-up at its Littleton, Colorado facility.

There was plenty of media coverage of the Feb. 1, 2003, loss of space shuttle Columbia, which broke apart over Texas as it reentered the atmosphere, killing its crew of seven. But Aviation Week set itself apart with its in-depth, team analysis of the accident.