Aviation & Space brings together two industries that converged on the same
engineering a long time ago: civil and military aviation on one side,
spaceflight on the other. You will find launch reports and mission updates here,
along with new satellite constellations, engine and materials development,
certification decisions by the aviation authorities, and the order books of the
large manufacturers and their suppliers.
Every report is written from several named sources, is checked by an editor
before it goes live, and lists the sources it drew on at the foot of the
article. The list below runs newest first. Stories that unfold over months — a
slipped mission, a certification still in progress — can therefore be followed
across several reports.
Munich Airport and Lufthansa are expanding their stopover program to China, India, Japan, South Korea and Thailand, building on an initial launch in Singapore and the USA.
SpaceX reached its 100th orbital launch of 2026 with a Starlink mission from California, a day after a Florida launch pushed the constellation past 11,000 satellites.
ESA will launch two Earth-observation satellites within weeks: MTG-I2 completes the Meteosat constellation, and FLEX will map vegetation fluorescence for the first time.
NASA has aborted its mission to boost the Swift observatory due to spacecraft issues, while Canada funds domestic launch startups to achieve sovereign launch capability.
Astronauts completed a 6-hour 23-minute spacewalk to replace a failed ISS antenna, but ran out of time to install the spare, prompting a follow-up spacewalk.
NASA upgrades its giant Vertical Motion Simulator with digital systems and faster reconfiguration, while Lunar Station Corp. uses NASA data to map lunar resources for future missions.
New peer-reviewed data from the Artemis I MARE experiment show a wearable vest can reduce radiation dose by about 60% during a solar storm, a boost for deep-space missions.
Millions across Europe witnessed the first total solar eclipse in Spain in over a century, with totality visible from Spain to Iceland and partial darkness across western Europe.
On 12 August 2026, a total solar eclipse sweeps across Greenland, Iceland and Spain, the first visible from mainland Spain since 1905, with NASA and ESA offering guidance and events.
NASA's Webb telescope peers into the Lion Nebula's dusty heart, while satellites document El Niño's toll on Pacific life, extreme Australian tides, and Tanzania's unique lava.
SpaceX scrubbed a Starlink mission and rescheduled for Tuesday, while Rocket Lab cautioned that its Neutron rocket's debut could slide into 2027 and announced Kepler as the first dedicated customer.
The Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak on August 12-13, offering dark skies thanks to a new moon, while a total solar eclipse and six-planet parade add to the celestial spectacle.
The European Commission and SpaceRISE have signed the agreement for IRIS², a 348-satellite constellation using 5G NTN, as Europe counters US space dominance.
NASA's Perseverance rover is set to break the off-world driving distance record, while reanalyzed data from the Spirit rover suggests ancient Mars had more water than previously thought.
Blue Origin has traced May's New Glenn pad explosion to a faulty oxygen valve on a BE-4 engine and plans retrofits by end of August, while customers face delays.
Astronomers have discovered a faint exoplanet, Beta Pictoris d, that hid in telescope archives for 11 years. Independent confirmations from VLT and JWST make the finding unusually robust.
A spent Falcon 9 upper stage is expected to crash into the moon on Aug 5, potentially producing the first-ever visible impact flash on the sunlit side. Scientists say the event offers a rare chance to study lunar debris and highlights dust hazards for future missions.
Boeing found no defect in a fuel control switch on an Air India 787-8 after a pilot report, but the investigation into the Thrust Control Module is ongoing amid scrutiny from the Ahmedabad crash.
Swiss startup Moov Airways plans to buy up to 30 eVTOL aircraft from Embraer-backed Eve Air Mobility, with operations targeted in Cabo Verde and Europe. The LOI was signed at the Farnborough Air Show.
The Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids both peak on the night of July 30-31, but a nearly full moon will dim the view. Skywatchers can look forward to the Perseids and a total solar eclipse in August.
Xona Space Systems plans to launch its first six Pulsar satellites in October 2026, promising a signal 100 times stronger than GPS for improved urban and indoor accuracy.
A silver plastic Duro Rocket pen used by Buzz Aldrin to fix a broken circuit breaker on the Apollo 11 lunar module sold at Sotheby's for $857,600, exceeding pre-sale estimates.
SpaceX shares closed below their initial public offering price on the same day a Starship launch was aborted after ignition, raising questions about investor confidence ahead of the next attempt.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a third planet in the Beta Pictoris system by detecting its chemical fingerprint in spectroscopic data, a technique that could reveal worlds too faint or close to their star for direct imaging.
NASA's upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launching next month, carries an advanced coronagraph that could directly image exoplanets similar to Jupiter, marking a key step toward finding Earth-like worlds.
Airbus Defence and Space has signed a preliminary agreement with the European Space Agency to design and build the Aeolus-2 satellite, a successor mission for global wind profiling from orbit.
NASA's Artemis III mission requires three rockets and intricate orbital docking, but a SpaceX Starship launch abort raises concerns about the 2027 timeline.
Airbus has been awarded a €345 million contract by Thales Alenia Space to supply two advanced C-band radar instruments for the Copernicus Sentinel-1 Next Generation constellation.
Airbus Helicopters has clinched a string of contracts from European governments and operators, while expanding its footprint in Africa and Asia with new H135 and H160 deals.
SpaceX has disclosed the size and power specifications of its AI1 satellite, the first iteration of a planned 1-million-satellite orbital data center constellation.
NASA has repainted an F-15 and an F/A-18 in red, white, and blue to celebrate the U.S. semiquincentennial, with public appearances scheduled through October 2026.
PZL Mielec has begun production of Sikorsky S-70 FIREHAWK helicopters for the Czech Republic, marking the first such assembly in Europe. The aircraft will join the RescEU pool.
Lufthansa has received its first Airbus A350-1000, which also becomes the 700th Airbus delivered to the Lufthansa Group. The aircraft wears a special 100th anniversary livery.
SpaceX's 13th Starship test flight could launch as soon as Thursday, carrying 20 functioning Starlink V3 satellites and attempting laser crosslink demonstrations.
Using over 20 years of Hubble archival data and recent Webb observations, astronomers have identified the first stellar-mass black hole in the globular cluster Omega Centauri, named oMEGACat BH-2.
AerCap, the world's largest aircraft lessor, has placed an order for 100 additional Airbus A320neo Family aircraft, reinforcing demand for fuel-efficient narrowbodies.
NASA's Artemis II lead communications officer Chris White describes the tense moments during the crew's lunar flyby and the stunning photos that resulted.