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.

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Blue Origin finally logged a clean booster recovery with New Glenn, giving Jeff Bezos’ company proof that its heavy-lift rocket can reuse components the same way SpaceX has since October 2024. The flight also shipped two NASA satellites towards Mars as New Glenn’s first paying-customer science payload. The launch marked an impressive step forward in the long catch-up effort for New Glenn. Just over a month ahead of its potential ban in the US, DJI has launched its lightest and most compact drone to date… and for obvious reasons, it won’t be coming stateside anytime soon. The Neo 2 joins a lineup of DJI releases that have hit the market almost everywhere but the US this year, though the company’s spotlight in the US government runs much deeper. Joby Aviation announced the first flight of its recently developed turbine-electric,

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.

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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 Sentinel-

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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

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.

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The CAF Gulf Coast Wing’s AC-47 “Spooky” gunship has taken to the air once again. The Vietnam-era aircraft made its return to flight to honor fallen veteran Lt. Col. Paul Mendes. The flyover was held during the Vietnam Veteran Parkway Dedication ceremony. Mendes, a decorated Green Beret and three-tour Vietnam veteran, was among the last American soldiers evacuated from Saigon in 1975 and later played a key role in recovering missing US personnel. Boeing offered a new contract to the more than 3,200 workers at its facilities in the St. Louis area, with increased bonuses and adjusted terms as the company tries to end the walkout that has now lasted more than three months. NBAA is bluntly shutting down any claims that business aviation has been exempted from the FAA’s new traffic reduction measures. The cuts come

Also: Embraer Nixes Next-Gen Turboprop, Boeing $1B Expansion, 12 Class B Airports Closed To GA, Relief Flight Downed

The CAF Gulf Coast Wing’s AC-47 “Spooky” gunship has taken to the air once again. The Vietnam-era aircraft made its return to flight to honor fallen veteran Lt. Col. Paul Mendes. The flyover was held during the Vietnam Veteran Parkway Dedication ceremony. Mendes, a decorated Green Beret and three-tour Vietnam veteran, was among the last American soldiers evacuated from Saigon in 1975 and later played a key role in recovering missing US personnel. Boeing offered a new contract to the more than 3,200 workers at its facilities in the St. Louis area, with increased bonuses and adjusted terms as the company tries to end the walkout that has now lasted more than three months. NBAA is bluntly shutting down any claims that business aviation has been exempted from the FAA’s new traffic reduction measures. The cu

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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 applications for t