aerospace

Musk says Starship will attempt first orbital flight Sept. 28

SpaceX is preparing to send its Starship rocket into orbit for the first time, with the 14th test flight of the vehicle now targeted for Monday, September 28, from the company's Starbase facility in southern Texas. Elon Musk confirmed on…

Boeing nears 150-jet deal after Turkish Airlines threatened to walk away

Boeing The Boeing Company is close to finalizing a delayed order for 150 of its 737 MAX jets after Turkish Airlines Türk Hava Yolları A.O. threatened to walk away from the deal over a dispute about engine maintenance, Reuters reported…

Europe accelerates space self-reliance as US allies pull away from NASA

For the second consecutive week, Paris has positioned itself as the center of the global space industry. Europe's premier space business conference opened on Monday, days after the International Space Summit on Sept. 9-10 drew nearly 120 foreign delegations to…

Von der Leyen draws antitrust fire for backing EU space merger

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen publicly backed Project Bromo, the proposed merger of the space divisions of Airbus, Leonardo, and Thales, during the International Space Summit in Paris this week — a move that prompted accusations of overstepping…

Paris space summit closes with €20B in deals, Iris² contracts

The first International Space Summit concluded at the Grand Palais in Paris on Thursday, September 10, with France and the European Union throwing their weight behind Iris², the bloc's flagship satellite communications constellation. The two-day event, which drew 90 countries…

ESA awards startup a record €760M space cargo contract

The European Space Agency on Thursday awarded The Exploration Company a contract worth up to €760 million to develop and demonstrate autonomous cargo return capabilities using the startup's Nyx capsule, marking the largest capsule transportation service contract ESA has ever…

Isar Aerospace confirms all satellites operational after historic European launch

German rocket startup Isar Aerospace made European space history on Saturday, successfully launching its Spectrum rocket into orbit from Andøya Spaceport in northern Norway — the first time a commercial launch vehicle developed in Europe has reached orbit and deployed…

Trump threatens to block Bombardier jet sales in U.S.

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to bar Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier from selling jets in the United States, opening a new front in the escalating trade war with Canada just hours before Ottawa's retaliatory tariffs are set to take…

Isar Aerospace reaches orbit in first commercial launch from European soil

German startup Isar Aerospace on Saturday became the first commercial space company from Europe to deliver satellites into orbit, launching its Spectrum rocket from Norway's Arctic Andøya Spaceport at 10:12 p.m. local time. The flight marks the first time an…

Japan sets Oct. 20 launch for first Mars moon sample mission

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced on Wednesday that its Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) spacecraft will launch on October 20 aboard an H3 rocket, setting the stage for what would be the first mission to collect and return samples…

China to launch historic five-spacecraft lunar mission Sunday

China is poised to launch its Chang'e 7 lunar probe on Monday, August 24, in what scientists are calling the most ambitious robotic moon mission ever attempted. The spacecraft, mounted atop a Long March 5 rocket, was rolled out to…

Musk calls China ‘by far’ strongest AI rival as LandSpace lands orbital booster

Elon Musk declared on X that China is "by far" the strongest competitor in artificial intelligence, extending a warning he first made 15 years ago about Beijing's trajectory in rocket technology. His comments came the same day Chinese private rocket…

Intesa Sanpaolo holds nearly $1B SpaceX stake, SEC filing shows

Italy's largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, held a stake worth approximately $966 million in Elon Musk's SpaceX as of June 30, according to an SEC filing disclosed on Monday.

China launches satellites days after rare rocket failure

China sent a new batch of internet satellites into orbit on Sunday from its commercial spacecraft launch site in Hainan province, continuing the rapid expansion of its satellite constellation just six days after a separate rocket failure rattled the country's…

China’s C919 jet makes first international flight

China's domestically built C919 passenger jet completed its first scheduled international commercial flight on Wednesday, departing Beijing Capital International Airport for Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in what analysts described as a largely symbolic milestone in Beijing's long-running effort to challenge the Boeing…

China’s Long March 7A rocket explodes after liftoff

China's Long March 7A rocket suffered a catastrophic failure shortly after liftoff from the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Monday evening, destroying the ChinaSat-4B communications satellite it was carrying and ending a years-long streak of successful missions for the newer-generation…

Musk claims Starship heat shield problem is solved

Elon Musk declared Starship's persistent heat shield problem "solved" during SpaceX's first-ever earnings call on Tuesday, marking what the CEO called a turning point for the rocket program that has spent years battling tile failures during reentry.

Satellite images show tugboats towing SpaceX Starship through Indian Ocean

Satellite images captured over the weekend reveal a fleet of recovery vessels working to tow SpaceX's Starship prototype through the Indian Ocean, more than a week after the 52-meter spacecraft splashed down following the company's 13th integrated test flight on…

A ton of space junk crashes to Earth every week, NYT investigation finds

More space debris is falling to Earth than ever before, a consequence of the accelerating race among governments and private companies to fill the skies with satellites and spacecraft. A new investigation by The New York Times published on July…

Airbus accelerates A400M firefighting role as wildfires sweep southern Europe

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said Wednesday that the company is accelerating efforts to enhance the firefighting capabilities of its A400M military transport aircraft as severe wildfires continue to ravage southern Europe, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate across…

Airbus Q2 profit jumps 54% as jet deliveries rebound

Airbus reported a 54% jump in second-quarter adjusted operating profit on Wednesday, beating analyst expectations as a rebound in commercial aircraft deliveries powered the European planemaker's strongest quarterly performance in over a year.

SpaceX launches Starship on 13th test flight after delays

SpaceX launched its Starship rocket on its 13th test flight from the company's Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas, on Friday, July 24, after a series of delays that included an engine abort and weather scrubs over the past week.…

NASA prices nuclear Mars mission at $2.1 billion

NASA has submitted a preliminary cost estimate of approximately $2.1 billion to Congress for Space Reactor-1 Freedom, the agency's first nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft, according to documents outlining spending plans across fiscal years 2026 through 2029. The mission, championed by Administrator…

Boeing and Airbus land 300+ orders on Farnborough day one

The Farnborough International Airshow opened on Monday with a burst of aircraft deals as Boeing The Boeing Company and Airbus collectively secured commitments for more than 300 jets, anchored by a landmark split order from one of the world's largest…

Farnborough Airshow opens as aircraft deliveries hit 8-year high

The 2026 Farnborough International Airshow opened its doors on Monday with a record footprint and a defense sector presence that reflects a transformed global security landscape, as fresh industry data confirmed commercial aircraft production is rebounding to levels not seen…

Boeing dismantled an unflown 777X jet rather than pay rework costs

Boeing The Boeing Company quietly dismantled one of its earliest-built 777-9 airframes — a jet that sat unflown at its Everett, Washington facility for roughly six years — rather than absorb the costs of bringing it up to the aircraft's…

Farnborough Airshow opens with Airbus, Boeing battling for orders

The Farnborough International Airshow opens Monday in Hampshire, England, setting the stage for an intense rivalry between Boeing and Airbus as both aerospace giants vie for multibillion-dollar orders in a market shaped by surging air travel demand and rising defense…

Air China orders 55 Airbus jets in $12.4 billion deal

Air China and its subsidiary Shenzhen Airlines have placed an order for 55 Airbus aircraft with a combined list price of $12.4 billion, according to a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange disclosed on Friday.

Boeing nears approval of 737 MAX anti-ice fix ahead of Farnborough

Boeing The Boeing Company is in the final stages of obtaining regulatory certification for a redesigned engine anti-ice system on its 737 MAX family, a milestone that would clear the path for deliveries of the long-delayed MAX 7 and MAX…

Intel unveils Starfire, its first space-grade chip on 18A

Intel has revealed its Starfire processor, a space-grade system-on-chip built on the company's 18A process node, marking the first time the chipmaker's most advanced manufacturing technology has been designed for use in orbit.