Space Debris Damage Leaves Shenzhou-21 Astronauts With No Ride Home

Three Chinese astronauts are back on Earth after a debris strike sidelined their return flight and forced an unplanned crew rotation. The Shenzhou-20 trio took the Shenzhou-21 spacecraft for their trip back to Earth, leaving the more recently arrived crew with no return vehicle and beginning what may be a long-endured cycle of stranded astronauts.

EH216-S Flies Passenger Between Port of Doha and Katara in Qatar Partnership

EHang has logged a major milestone in the development of its pilotless air taxi, logging its first human-carrying flight in the urban Middle East. Working alongside Qatar’s Ministry of Transport, the company flew its EH216-S autonomously between the Port of Doha and Katara Cultural Village in a series of trials designed to validate real-world air taxi operations.

11 Daher Team Members Supported Safety, Customer Service In Savannah

Daher Aircraft reinforced its long-term focus on excellent customer service and safe flight initiatives for the global TBM fleet at its 2025 Annual Convention of the TBM Owners and Pilots Association. The company attended in force with 11 team members including executives, the Daher Care support team, and sales and communications personnel.

Crewed-Uncrewed Operation Featured Pantera And Banshee Radios

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Lockheed Martin, and L3Harris collaborated on a successful demonstration of a Crewed-Uncrewed Teaming using an F-22 Raptor fighter jet, and a GA-ASI MQ-20 Avenger unmanned jet. The two aircraft demonstrated the use of their integrated L3Harris BANSHEE Advanced Tactical Datalinks with its Pantera software-defined radios via Lockheed Martin’s open radio architecture, all shared from the F-22 Raptor.

22 Bases Join in the Informational Picket With Contract Talks Nearing the Three-Year Mark

Allegiant’s long-running pilot contract dispute reached a new peak as crews at all 22 of its bases launched coordinated informational pickets. The action follows nearly three years of federally mediated negotiations and five years of work without a new contract.

Long-Haul Fleet Replacement Deal Announced At Dubai Airshow

Air Europa, Spain’s third-largest airline based in Mallorca, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus for up to 40 A350-900 aircraft. The deal was announced at the Dubai Airshow 2025 and the aircraft will form the foundation for Air Europa’s long-haul fleet replacement.

Also: Abu Dhabi’s 1st Vertiport Network, Anduril-EDGE Partner, Vertical Permit/eVTOL Regs

Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane has cleared another round of pre-flight milestones at Kennedy Space Center. The company has been running the spacecraft through a long list of test campaigns ahead of its debut under NASA’s CRS-2 cargo contract. The Dream Chaser’s most recent accomplishments include electromagnetic interference and compatibility testing inside the Space Systems Processing Facility, demonstrating that its avionics and subsystems behave properly in the kinds of charged environments it will encounter from launch to landing. Joby Aviation announced the first flight of its recently developed turbine-electric, autonomous VTOL aircraft. This comes just three months after the aircraft concept was announced in conjunction with L3Harris Technologies, who brings technologies and expertise to address defense application

Senator Flynn Proposes a Bill Creating a Whole New Legal Category for Flying Cars

Lawmakers may soon have to decide what, exactly, to do with vehicles that insist on being both cars and aircraft… and Pennsylvania Senator Marty Flynn seems insistent on getting ahead of the game. He has reintroduced Senate Bill 1077, better known as the Jetsons Act, to formally regulate “roadable aircraft” under state law.

Also: Elfin 20 Journey, BASE Jumper Rescue, Pipistrel Makes Waves, EAA Hall of Fame, Affordable Flying Expo 2026

Like most of the industry, kit manufacturer Sonex has been hit by the ever-increasing costs of parts and materials, and is being forced to pass some of the burden off to customers beginning December 15. Still, Sonex’s prices remain well under par, with many of its complete airframe kits available for under $40,000. The company detailed the price shifts for Complete Airframe Kits, Quick Build Kits, and AeroVee engine packages. Produced jointly by the Aero-News Network and SUN ’n FUN—in addition to the pre-show SNF Innovation Preview, the all-week SUN ’n FUN Digital Daily, Saturday Flight Live coverage, and our extensive daily news and video output—we are introducing something significant. MOSAIC Day Debuts Thursday at SUN ’n FUN and will designate Thursday as MOSAIC Day, featuring a full day of focused

Also: Flight Reductions End, E-7A Wedgetail Regrets, Air Senegal 737 MAX, China's Astro Dilemma

The work of Elfin.aero founder Dr. Reiner Stemme, who passed on October 31, 2025, is already being reignited to honor the designer’s years of dedication to the still-unfinished elfin20: a high-performance, two-seat, self-launching electric glider. Development of the prototype is well underway. Gulfstream Aerospace announced that its newly certified ultralong-range G800 achieved its eight city-pair speed record on its flight from Phuket, Thailand to the Dubai Airshow 2025 in the United Arab Emirates. The feat was accomplished in 5 hours 38 minutes. This latest record brings the city-pair speed record total for the Gulfstream fleet to over 760... SpaceX checked off another benchmark this week by completing the 500th orbital launch mission using a reusable rocket booster. Falcon 9 lifted off at 12:21 am on November 17, sending Europe’s Se