Voting Underway Until May 3, 90% Support Incorporating

SpaceX’s Starbase facility may become Starbase City soon, as residents voting on whether to incorporate as a city have until May 3, 2025 to cast their ballots. Starbase is the home of SpaceX’s Starship facility and its current population is less than 300, including 120 children.

Bringing Stability To Commercial Aircraft Programs

Airbus has finalized a definitive deal to acquire all industrial assets and certain sites of Spirit AeroSystems pertaining to production of airframe parts and components for its commercial aircraft production programs. The divestiture is expected to close concurrently with Spirit’s previously announced acquisition by the Boeing Company, approximately in Q3 2025.

Reaches 250 Satellite Missions, 20th For Falcon 9 Booster

SpaceX continues to add to its megaconstellation of Starlink satellites with its 48th launch of 2025 that carried 23 more on Sunday April 27. The mission lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at 10:09 pm EDT from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

CAF Volunteers Help “Bringing The Boys Back Home” Effort

Volunteers from the Commemorative Air Force are honoring the legacy of the 423 British servicemen who were killed in the U.S. during training for World War II and were buried on American soil. The aim of the “Bringing the Boys Back Home” project is to reconnect the fallen heroes with their families in the UK.

Pilot’s Failure To Maintain Airplane Control During Final Approach After Encountering An Unexpected Windshear

Analysis: According to the pilot, about 150 ft above ground level, the airplane encountered an unexpected windshear which resulted in a “significant sink rate” and loss of about 10 knots of airspeed. The pilot attempted to arrest the descent by adding engine power but was unsuccessful. The airplane landed hard, bounced, and then settled on the runway. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed substantial damage to the firewall. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

From 2016 (YouTube Edition): Who You Gonna Call When You Have a Rocket Engine that Needs a Spacecraft?

While at EAA AirVenture 2016, ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell, sat down to talk with an old acquaintance about rocket flight and the spaceflight industry. He met up with Jeff Greason, who is the CEO of a new company called Agile Aero. Greason had been previously connected with XCOR Aerospace, and Jim asked about his venture in this new direction. You really have to watch the video to get the whole story about what Agile Aero is going to accomplish, but in a brief explanation, it could best be described as an organization that helps other companies find quick solutions to prototype spacecraft. 

New Variant Enables Conventional Takeoff & Landing

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions revealed an artist’s rendering of what will become the distinguishing feature of its new variant of the XQ-58 Valkyrie: retractable landing gear. The illustration was posted on X by the company.

Make Sure You NEVER Miss A New Story From Aero-News Network

Do you ever feel like you never see posts from a certain person or page on Facebook or Instagram? Here’s how you can turn on “post notifications” that will send you an update when new stories are posted on the Aero-News Network Facebook or Instagram pages.

Aero Linx: Aviators Code Initiative (ACI) Innovative tools advancing aviation safety and offering a vision of excellence for aviators. The ACI materials are for use by aviation practitioners -- pilots, mechanics, organizations, and the entire aviation community.  Designed to be adaptable by the implementer, they are provided without charge and periodically updated.

Expedite Used by ATC when prompt compliance is required to avoid the development of an imminent situation. Expedite climb/descent normally indicates to a pilot that the approximate best rate of climb/descent should be used without requiring an exceptional change in aircraft handling characteristics.