Topic
Future aircraft, including air taxis and eVTOLs, autonomous planes, and next-gen jets.
13 stories
Companies
Newest
On Sept. 24 BETA and Metro Aviation said the ALIA CTOL flew in Brenham with Washington County EMS. It was BETA's first Texas flight under the federal eVTOL pilot program. The job was moving disaster gear.
On Sept. 30 Shield AI put X-BAT flight test in Newton, Kansas, and production in Des Moines, Washington. Production is planned for 2029. Flight test is planned for later this year.
Assembly of the first certification Valo is planned to begin in Q4 2027, with type certification targeted for 2029.
HSR waiting period expired Sept. 18; Archer’s deal for Wisk, Insitu, and SkyGrid still aims to close by year-end 2026: eVTOL plus drones plus airspace software under one roof.
Under FAA’s eIPP in Virginia, Electra’s hybrid-electric EL2 used helicopter-style instrument procedures and off-runway pads: a blueprint for Ultra Short ops that skip congested runways.
A Sept. 15 production license lets hypersonic startup Hermeus manufacture the F100-PW-229 — second U.S. source for F-15/F-16 power, and vertical integration for Quarterhorse.
After a year of slipped 2026 dates, Tesla locked a Thursday Oct. 1 reveal in Waco at 8:30 p.m. ET — invites out, thruster teaser on, near SpaceX McGregor.
SpaceX retargeted its first orbital Starship attempt to as early as Monday, Sept. 28 — still pending regulatory approval. What that phrase means in the week before the window.
A converted Cessna crossed the U.S. with no safety-pilot inputs — 3,199 miles, official. The real product isn't the air taxi — it's autonomy for freight, defense, and remote logistics.
SpaceX is aiming Starship at Earth orbit for the first time — ~275 km, ~6 orbits, 26 Starlink V3 — with the FAA license still the gate and the window now sliding toward Sept. 28.
Joby flew its electric air taxi on real North Texas routes into Dallas Fort Worth airport airspace under a federal pilot program — ops data, not a skyline photo op.
Air taxis win or lose on regulators, noise, and unit economics — not another CGI flight over downtown.
Rockets get the hype. Ground stations, debris rules, and refueling decide who compounds.