Airborne-NextGen 04.18.23: Starship!, SkyDrop in NZ, Merlin Autonomous Flights | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-11.24.25

AirborneNextGen-
11.18.25

Airborne-Unlimited-11.19.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-11.20.25

AirborneUnlimited-11.21.25

LIVE MOSAIC Town Hall (Archived): www.airborne-live.net

Wed, Apr 26, 2023

Airborne-NextGen 04.18.23: Starship!, SkyDrop in NZ, Merlin Autonomous Flights

Also: VFS Enjoys Growth, Airlines V Rockets, MQ-20 UAS, New Bell Prez

The FAA has granted SpaceX final regulatory approval to carry out the first orbital flight test of the company’s Starship super-heavy-lift launch vehicle. 

The inaugural space-flight MAY see the Starship SN24 prototype blasted spaceward atop SpaceX’s Super Heavy Booster-7 later this week after a halted attempt on Monday. The mission will launch from SpaceX’s Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas. SkyDrop, neé Flirtey, has obtained its Part 102 approval from the New Zealand CAA to launch the firm's first drone hub in Huntly, New Zealand. The new location will allow them to provide “live store to door drone delivery” in the country, operating BVLOS in a revenue-generating manner. The FAA has awarded Merlin a $1-million contract for purpose of demonstrating the capabilities of its Merlin Pilot product under the auspices of onboard safety pilots. Flight-testing of the autonomous flight system will be conducted along three test routes, the entirety of which originate from the University of Alaska Fairbanks’s  FAA-designated UAS test site. The flights will be conducted in cooperation with Everts Air Cargo. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-NextGen!!!

Airborne-NextGen 04.11.23 is chock full of info in this Weekly News Episode, Tuesday, April 11th, 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:

  • First Orbital Flight of SpaceX’s Starship Imminent
  • SkyDrop Obtains New Zealand Approval for Drone Delivery Hub  
  • Merlin to Vet Autonomous Flight System  
  • VFS Enjoys Continuing Growth in 2023  
  • Airline Complaints Compel FAA to Delay Space Launches
  • General Atomics Flies MQ-20 UAS via LEO SATCOM Datalink 
  • Lisa Atherton Named Bell Helicopter President & CEO  

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!

@2023 Aero-News Network, Inc., ALL Rights Reserved.

FMI: www.airbornetv.net, www.aero-news.net, www.aero-tv.net, www.youtube.com/aerotvnetwork, https://vimeo.com/aerotvnetwork, http://twitter.com/AeroNews

 


Advertisement

More News

Classic Aero-TV: Pure Aerial Precision - The Snowbirds at AirVenture 2016

From 2016 (YouTube Edition): The Canadian Forces Snowbirds Can Best Be Described As ‘Elegant’… EAA AirVenture 2016 was a great show and, in no small part, it was>[...]

NTSB Final Report: Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecna P2012 Traveller

Airplane Lunged Forward When It Was Stuck From Behind By A Tug That Was Towing An Unoccupied Airliner Analysis: At the conclusion of the air taxi flight, the flight crew were taxii>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (11.23.25)

Aero Linx: International Stinson Club So you want to buy a Stinson. Well the Stinson is a GREAT value aircraft. The goal of the International Stinson Club is to preserve informatio>[...]

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (11.23.25): Request Full Route Clearance

Request Full Route Clearance Used by pilots to request that the entire route of flight be read verbatim in an ATC clearance. Such request should be made to preclude receiving an AT>[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (11.23.25)

"Today's battlefield is adapting rapidly. By teaching our soldiers to understand how drones work and are built, we are giving them the skills to think creatively and apply emerging>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC