Aviation Week & Space Technology

While boosters and skeptics disagree on where the commercial and defense budget cycles are, most say the current business environment is no place for amateurs.

The MA700 is progressing too slowly to make its scheduled first flight in June 2017.

First on the international space station, then in cislunar habitats, NASA is set to begin researching human survivability for travel to Mars.

Musk’s approach is flawed. If he truly believes that what is at stake is the long-term survival of humanity, then he should not expect to charge people $200,000 for the trip, opines Antoine Gelain.

NASA’s faltering commercial-spaceflight endeavor enjoys a spectacular return to flight of the Orbital ATK Antares launcher laden with supplies for the International Space Station (ISS).

Autonomous aerial, surface and underwater vehicles gathered in Scotland for a technological showcase.

Boeing’s use of additive manufacturing is one for the record books, Guinness World Records, but more recently it's also helping with flight-testing capabilities.

The ExoMars—for “exobiology on Mars”—mission begins with a landing demonstration.

Improving cooperation between Singapore Airlines’ two low-cost carrier subsidiaries is one part of its plans for fleet expansion.

Now that India has reset the clock on replacing its Ilyushin Il-78MKIs, look to Boeing to enter its 767-based KC-46 tanker and Airbus to try to revive A330 MRTT deal.

Unmanned in the news: AeroVironment’s Snipe nano; UAS expert heads Airbus A3; VTOL Aerosonde ready; Rwanda leads drone delivery.

The French aerospace industry will face dire worker shortfalls if it can’t fix its inability to recruit and train young people.

European regional airlines are cautiously optimistic about continued growth, and regional aircraft OEMs worldwide are also reaping the benefits.

EASA says H225 can be operated with an “acceptable level of safety” with checks and balances.

Airframers and airlines must shore up cyberweakness in supply chains and avoid safety risks.

Japan and Britain are assessing the likely performance of an AESA-equipped Meteor in separate but coordinated studies. Expense and development time are also being weighed.

Cultivating true pilot autonomy in unscripted scenarios takes decades to hone and demands honest assessment of mistakes.

Metalysis’s vision is one of on-demand production of metal powder in factories of the future.

Deemphasis of maneuverability in the 2013 25DMU concept design is one of several signs that the defense ministry’s engineers think Japan’s next fighter should engage its targets at great distance.

Poland opts for Black Hawks after withdrawing from Airbus helicopter deal.

In this week’s Washington Outlook: a White House official looks at continued cooperation with India, including fighter sales; Obama touts Mars exploration; and Southwest Airlines starts flights to Cuba.

Now that the new tanker’s bumpy design phase is over, the U.S. Air Force is looking forward to bringing the fly-by-wire Pegasus online.

Airbus tanker could also take on network node and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.

The new air force platform is based on the IL-76.

Morocco needs to maintain security and political stability. But with major civil OEMs laser-focused on cost reduction, the outlook appears to be bright.