Also: Starship Set To Launch, Nexus eVTOL, Merlin, SPRINT X-Plane

The Drone industry has raised its hackles regarding the Drones for First Responders Act introduced by Congressional rep Elise Stefanik, describing it as a boon to the EMS/Fire/Police crowd at the expense of the recreational and commercial drone industries.

Pivotal signed an 'Other Transaction Authority' contract with the US Air Force and its AFWERX Agility Prime program, providing them with access to testing facilities, segregated airspace, and "expert resources" for a 2-year term. The firm sees the contract as a very solid step in the right direction, where they'll be able to make the best use of government testing facilities and space to keep up developmental pace on their Helix eVTOL. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, in many ways America's flagship combat UAV manufacturer, has finished up durability testing on a new 200-hp engine. The firm calls it the "Heavy Fuel Engine (HFE) 2.0", designed to provide 2,500 hours between overhauls and chug along for long flights with nary a complaint. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne-NextGen!!!

Airborne-NextGen 06.04.24 is chock full of info in this Weekly News Episode, Tuesday, June 4th, 2024... 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:

• Drone Bill H.R. 8416 Would Inflate Drone Prices by More Than 50%  
• Pivotal Gains Access to USAF Resources Under OTA Contract
• Gray Eagle Engine Passes Muster with 2,500-Hour Torture Test
• Will They Beat Starliner? Starship Set To Launch Thursday
• It's A Match -- Nexus eVTOL Demonstrator Comes Together
• Merlin Begins Flight Studies in KC-135
• Bell Snags DARPA Contract for Preliminary Design Work on SPRINT X-Plane

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!

@2024 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