Also: MissionGO, NY Power Authority BVLOS, Second Soyuz Leak, Perseverance Rover

New York’s Blade Air Mobility and BETA Technologies conducted a recent successful test-flight of BETA’s ALIA-250 EVA (Electric Vertical Aircraft) at the Westchester County Airport (HPN) in White Plains, New York.

The flight marked the first test of a piloted EVA in the greater New York City area and instantiated an initial success of the two companies’ plan to bring safe, quiet, and sustainable air-transportation to commuter and commercial customers. A group of aerial hobbyists in northern Illinois is contending that an unidentified flying object shot out of U.S. skies last week by a $400,000 AIM-9 Sidewinder missile fired from a $334-million F-22 Raptor might have been their $12 balloon. On Wednesday, 15 February 2023 the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade declared one of its exploratory pico-balloons had gone missing. Virgin Orbit’s principal offering is its LauncherOne rocket, an air-launched, two-stage orbital launch vehicle designed to carry smallsat payloads of up to 660-pounds into Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) following air launch from a Boeing 747 carrier aircraft dubbed Cosmic Girl. On 09 January 2023, during the vehicle’s first attempted orbital launch from the United Kingdom, LauncherOne experienced an anomaly, leading to a premature shutdown. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-NextGen!!!

Airborne-NextGen 02.21.23 is chock full of info in this Weekly News Episode, Tuesday, February 21st, 2023... Presented by Aero-TV veteran videographer and Airborne Hosts Holland Lee, Sophie Hurlock, Brianne Cross, Christopher Odom, and Laura Hutson, and is supported by ANN CEO/Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell, and Chief Videographer Nathan Cremisino, this episode covers:

• Blade Air Mobility and BETA Complete eVTOL Test Flight
• Object Downed by USAF Possibly Launched by Hobbyists
• Virgin Orbit Reports on Anomalous U.K. Mission
• MissionGO Applauds Bipartisan Drone Legislation
• FAA Grants NY Power Authority BVLOS Waiver
• Leak in Second Soyuz Capsule Further Delays ISS Crew Rotation
• NASA’s Perseverance Rover Photographs its Accomplishments

Get Comprehensive, Real-Time, 24/7 coverage of the latest aviation and aerospace stories anytime, at aero-news.net. And be sure to join us again next week for the next edition of "Airborne-NextGen" here on Aero-TV. Thanks for watching. See you, again, next week!

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