American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 3, 2026 – AIAA announced its 2025-2026 section award winners during a virtual awards presentation on 1 September. The section awards honor particularly notable achievements made by members of AIAA’s 58 sections around the world in a range of activities that help fulfill the Institute’s mission. Section awards are given annually in eight categories based on the size of each section’s membership. Each winning section receives a certificate and a cash award.

Concepts of the uncrewed fighter aircraft YFQ-42A (bottom) and the YFQ-44A. | Credit: General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. and Anduril Industries;  US Air Force Defense Daily reports the U.S. Navy is offering new insight into its plans for a future carrier-based Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA). A notice published this week “revealed several details of what the service is seeking,” including plans to test two fully functional unmanned autonomous prototype air vehicles. Full Story ()

A SpaceX Falcon 9 launches September 2, 2026, from California with 27 Starlink satellites. Liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base occurred at 1:42 a.m. PDT (4:42 a.m. EDT). | Credit: Spaceflight Now; YouTube; Framegrab SPACE reports a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 27 Starlink satellites from California early this morning (Sept. 2). It was the 35th flight for the rocket’s first stage, Booster 1063, “just two shy of the SpaceX reuse record,” Space.com reports.

Aerotime reports U.S. firm Sceye, which develops High-Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) for communications and surveillance, announced it has completed its “first ever transpacific deployment” of the ST1, an airship-like, long-endurance vehicle. The HAPS traveled more than 15,000 km through the stratosphere from New Mexico to Japan over 13 days before conducting operational trials over Japan. Full Story (Aerotime) Sceye HAPS Launch Sceye Inc.; YouTube

Aerovel (Airbus acquired the company in May 2024) Flexrotor | Credit: Guymca; Wikipedia; CC BY-SA 4.0 Aviation News Daily reports Airbus Helicopters has “commenced operational maritime surveillance missions” using its U030 Flexrotor uncrewed aerial system on behalf of the European Maritime Safety Agency. The long-endurance VTOL aircraft operates from naval patrol vessels, providing real-time intelligence to national coast guards and border authorities. Full Story (Aviation News Daily)

Expedition 74 flight engineers Sophie Adenot of ESA and Jessica Meir of NASA work together inside the ISS’s Quest airlock. | Credit: ESA/Sophie Adenot; NASA SPACE reports NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot completed a 6-hour, 49-minute spacewalk outside the International Space Station, replacing an external camera and a docking aid during the sixth all-female spacewalk in history, “which lasted six hours and 49 minutes.” Full Story (SPACE)

Elroy Air’s Chaparral Drone. | Credit: Elroy Air; ; Public Domain Aerospace Global News reports, “The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced a significant milestone” in next-generation aviation with demonstrations of a remotely piloted hybrid-electric aircraft designed for cargo operations, advancing efforts to integrate new propulsion and autonomous technologies into the National Airspace System. Full Story (Aerospace Global News)

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launches with NASA’S Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope onboard from Launch Complex 39A, Sunday, August 30, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

American Airlines Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner at LAX. | Source: Wikimedia Commons; CC BY 2.0 Aerospace Global News reports the FAA has ordered inspections of 77 Boeing 787 Dreamliners worldwide after identifying improperly installed shims in the wing structure that could contribute to fatigue-related damage over time. Full Story (Aerospace Global News)

SPACE reports “Europe’s most powerful rocket flew again today (Aug. 27). An Ariane 6 launched the MTG-I2 weather satellite from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana today (Aug. 27) at 4:10 p.m. EDT (2010 GMT; 5:10 p.m. local time in Kourou), right at the beginning of a 2.5-hour window.” Full Story (SPACE) Video Ariane 6 rocket launches weather satellite August 27, 2026 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. (Launch occurs at the 0:12 mark) VideoFromSpace; YouTube