Germany’s Volocopter last year hatched a plan with international airport operator Groupe ADP to ferry spectators around the 2024 Paris Olympic Games using its VoloCity air taxi, which would mark the aircraft’s commercial rollout. The firm even extended an invite to French President Emmanuel Macron, whose government approved the flights earlier this year, to be its first passenger.

But the company was unable to certify its two-seat design, built for a pilot plus one passenger, in time to fly people at the global event.

Another eVTOL manufacturer, China’s AutoFlight, also partnered with Groupe ADP last year to demonstrate its self-flying Prosperity air taxi at the Games but has yet to announce any test flights.

Still, it wasn’t a total wash for Volocopter. The firm managed to complete two test flights, one on Wednesday and another on Sunday.

The first took place at the Aerodrome of Saint-Cyr-l’École (LFPZ), one of five sites where the partners are constructing vertiports to support commercial operations. These vertical takeoff and landing hubs, similar to heliports, are built with electric charging stations to support eVTOL aircraft.

Big Plans for Paris

Groupe ADP is developing additional vertiports at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (LFPG), Paris-Le Bourget Airport (LFPB), and Paris Heliport, as well as a special floating landing pad on the River Seine that Volocopter can use until the end of the year. These five locations will be linked by five eVTOL air taxi routes: three public transit routes and two round-trip tourism routes.

According to Volocopter, the vertiport at Saint-Cyr-l’École is the first bespoke commercial location within its approved Paris route network. Wednesday’s crewed test flight was conducted under a permit to fly awarded by France’s Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC), kicking off an operational validation test campaign.

The company will need to demonstrate flight maneuvers around the vertiport, ground handling, communication with air traffic control, battery charging, and more. The campaign is the culmination of years of testing at Pontoise airfield, the site of Paris’ first inaugurated vertiport.

“For now, test flights are carried out without passengers, but once the aircraft is certified, we will test emergency medical flights with AP-HP (Ile-de-France University Hospital Centre),” said Edward Arkwright, deputy CEO of Groupe ADP. “Innovation in the field of aeronautics needs time to remove obstacles regarding safety, but we remain convinced that new carbon-free air mobilities around eVTOLs will offer helpful services that go way beyond the transportation of passengers.”

Volocopter followed that test flight with a second at the World Heritage Palace of Versailles on Sunday, soaring over the palace’s lush gardens during a demonstration attended by Groupe ADP and DGAC officials.

The venue hosted several 2024 Olympic events and was the site of the first hot-air balloon flight by the Montgolfier brothers in 1783. Authorization for the flight was awarded on the final day of the Games by the Château de Versailles, City of Versailles, Yvelines Prefecture, and DGAC.

“The sustainable air mobility community is still at the start line, but today’s flight in this exceptional environment was the perfect closing ceremony to our summer, as we look forward to returning to Paris very soon,” said Dirk Hoke, CEO of Volocopter.

The company said it hopes to fly in central Paris later this year, with aspirations to launch passenger operations from its river barge vertiport on the Seine. A Groupe ADP official told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the partners hope to fly passengers over the river by the time Notre Dame Cathedral, which burned down more than five years ago, is reopened in December.

Volocopter next year also expects to begin trials of an emergency medical service in Germany with partner ADAC Luftrettung, which last year agreed to purchase two custom-built VoloCity aircraft and could buy as many as 150.

Why Didn’t They Fly?

Beyond test flights, the firm’s primary goal is to obtain type certification from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the elusive approval that would have allowed it to fly passengers at the Olympics. So far, only one eVTOL manufacturer—China’s EHang—has received type certification from its country’s aviation regulator, though many others have begun the process.

Arkwright told AFP that Volocopter’s VoloCity suffered “a delay of a few weeks” in certification due to issues affecting the aircraft’s motor. The air taxi features 18 motors and rotors powered by electricity from nine lithium-ion battery packs, giving it a range of about 19 nm at a cruise speed approaching 60 knots.

Hoke said the issue traces back to “an American supplier who was not capable of providing what he had promised.”

Passenger flights at the Olympics also faced political barriers from local French officials, many of whom characterized the project as environmentally harmful and air taxis as a service for the wealthy. In response, Volocopter and Groupe ADP have altered their tone by touting other use cases, such as emergency response.

Paris’ city hall even took legal action against the proposal, but according to AFP, French administrative officials ruled against it “pending a decision on the merits of the case, expected in the autumn.”

Though Volocopter failed to meet its goal, the company will have another chance to showcase its aircraft on the world stage at the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. By then, the FAA expects to have laid the groundwork for commercial air taxi routes to be flown routinely.

Manufacturer Archer Aviation earlier this month expressed its desire to be flying in the city by the time the Games begin, while competitors Joby Aviation and Wisk Aero, the eVTOL subsidiary of Boeing, plan to operate there as well. Wisk further intends to demonstrate its self-flying design at the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brisbane.

The companies’ objective is to boost public acceptance of the novel aircraft, which they claim will be far quieter and more sustainable than helicopters. Some have already managed to convince major U.S. airlines, including United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines, to make investments or commitments to the technology.

Among American manufacturers, Archer and Joby are the closest to receiving type certification. Both companies hope to begin flying passengers next year.

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The manufacturer’s EL-2 Goldfinch, which first flew in May, got its first off-runway action when it lifted off from a grassy area smaller than 300 feet near a company facility in Manassas, Virginia.

The company has multimillion dollar contracts across the military, with the Air Force, Army, and Navy all exploring the use of eSTOL technology. The relatively cheap, runway-independent aircraft are viewed as an attractive alternative to conventional fixed wing aircraft and rotorcraft

Electra said the demonstrator completed several takeoffs and landings, climbing at a steep angle of 32 degrees. The aircraft did not require electric charging infrastructure, as many electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxis do, because its propulsion unit charges the batteries in flight.

All the while, the Goldfinch produced just 55 decibels of noise, equivalent to the volume of a typical conversation, while flying overhead at 500 feet. Electra says its full-scale design, which will carry nine passengers or up to 2,500 pounds of cargo on trips up to 500 sm (434 nm), will be inaudible from the ground at its typical cruise altitude.

It seeks to certify a full-scale model under FAA Part 23 regulations by 2028.

“eSTOL technologies increase the number of available landing sites by orders of magnitude relative to traditional fixed wing aircraft while providing for higher cruise speeds, lower costs, and lower noise than vertical lift solutions,” said JP Stewart, vice president and general manager of Electra. “These first flights from a field demonstrate the beginnings of this strong capability that we will continue to develop.”

Electra’s eSTOL achieves its incredibly short runway requirement through the use of blown lift propulsion. Airflows are guided over the wing into flaps and ailerons that redirect them toward the ground, adding to thrust from the aircraft’s eight electric motors. This allows the vehicle to take off at what Electra describes as neighborhood driving speeds.

Though the manufacturer has several commercial customers lined up for its flagship design, it also views the eSTOL as ideal for airlift operations and agile combat employment, a U.S. Air Force doctrine that calls for the rapid deployment of assets to dispersed locations.

The military will be its first customer, but Electra in January surpassed 2,000 aircraft preorder sales from private partners including JSX, Bristow Group, and JetSetGo.

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Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner, a semireusable vessel to the ISS that has been marred by nearly a decade of delays, will finally make its first crewed flight test on Monday, barring any further hiccups. Boeing on Friday confirmed that NASA gave Starliner the “go to proceed.”

If the mission—intended to be Starliner’s final test flight—is successful, NASA will work to certify the spacecraft for routine, six-month crew rotation missions to the space station, beginning with Starliner-1, scheduled for 2025. Starliner’s crew capsule is designed to be reusable over 10 missions.

Commercial Crew is one of the linchpins of U.S. space exploration efforts. The program—a public-private partnership between NASA and companies such as Boeing, SpaceX, and Blue Origin—transports and swaps out the astronaut crews responsible for critical research on the orbital laboratory.

Used by astronauts and private companies from around the world, the space station is the only facility that allows researchers to investigate the effects of long duration spaceflight as NASA gears up for future missions to the moon, Mars, and beyond.

Since crew rotation missions began in 2020, all eight missions—including Crew-8, which is still in progress—have been facilitated by SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. The missions have also used the company’s Falcon 9 launch vehicle.

Boeing—which since 2014 has battled SpaceX for supremacy in the commercial crew program—has yet to launch a crewed flight of its Starliner, which NASA views as a redundant but important alternative to Crew Dragon. But the manufacturer on Monday has a chance to throw its hat in the ring.

“As the final flight test for Starliner, NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test will validate the transportation system, including the launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, in-orbit operational capabilities, and return to Earth with astronauts aboard,” NASA said in a mission profile on its website.

A successful crewed flight test would represent the final barrier to the start of Boeing’s commercial contract with NASA, under which the partners are obligated to complete six crew rotation missions. These would represent the manufacturer’s first commercial human spaceflight missions. SpaceX, so far, has flown astronauts to the space station 11 times.

A Decade of Delays

Commercial Crew is NASA’s effort to transport astronauts to the ISS from American soil, using U.S.-built rockets and spacecraft. By involving private companies such as Boeing, a rarity for the agency in years past, the idea was to reduce costs and complexity while keeping missions safe and on schedule.

Boeing unveiled the concept for the CST-100 Starliner—with CST standing for Crew Space Transportation and 100 denoting the Kármán Line, a boundary 100 kilometers above the Earth informally considered to be the edge of space—in 2010. The manufacturer claimed the spacecraft could be operational within five years.

That prediction did not come to fruition. By 2014, NASA had narrowed down its search for a reusable Commercial Crew capsule to two candidates: Starliner and SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.

Each company was awarded billions of dollars to build and certify an aircraft by 2017, the year they were expected to be ready for a first crewed flight test. Boeing’s $4.2 billion contract includes six service missions plus uncrewed and crewed test flights to the space station.

Neither company met its deadline. But Crew Dragon made its first flight with astronauts in 2020. The same can not be said for the Starliner program, which for nearly a decade has been bogged down by delays.

The first uncrewed Starliner Orbital Test Flight Mission, scheduled for 2017, was delayed three times to 2019. Half an hour into that flight, an anomaly forced NASA to abort a planned docking with the space station. Though the mission to the orbital laboratory was scrapped, the spacecraft was safely recovered.

A second uncrewed orbital test flight, OFT-2, was also delayed more than a year due to valve problems late in the initial countdown. It eventually launched in 2022, reaching the ISS for the first time and meeting all mission objectives.

The prelude to Starliner’s first crewed test flight sounds like a familiar tune. The mission was pushed back several times in 2023, culminating in an indefinite delay caused by a pair of issues discovered just weeks before a planned launch in July.

All told, the program has overrun planned costs by $1.5 billion. According to a NASA Office of the Inspector General report, the space agency committed to additional flights and payments not specified in its original contract, in a bid to keep Boeing as a contractor.

The delays to Starliner have forced NASA to put all of its eggs in SpaceX’s basket, jeopardizing Commercial Crew missions should Crew Dragon—which so far has proven reliable—experience issues. But with the agency giving its all clear last week, the long-awaited rocket spacecraft appears set to finally make its debut.

The Mission

Starliner was designed and built by Boeing with the help of more than 425 suppliers. Early missions, including next week’s planned flight, will be launched by United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V launch vehicle. But the spacecraft is billed as “launch vehicle agnostic,” compatible with vehicles in the medium-lift launch class.

Starliner’s unique weldless structure was devised with reusability in mind. Its service modules are expendable, but its crew module can be reused up to 10 times, according to Boeing. The crew module can fit seven crewmembers, but NASA missions will include four or five astronauts.

Combined, the crew and service modules have 40 reaction control system thrusters, which aid in control and steering. While the vehicle is designed to be autonomous, Boeing has trained the crew to be able to take over.

The service module has an additional 20 orbital maneuvering and attitude control thrusters and four launch abort engines, which, combined with a pusher abort system, provide an escape route in the case of emergency during launch or ascent. Stacked on top of Atlas V, the spacecraft stands just over 170 feet.

Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Pilot Sunita “Suni” Williams will command next week’s planned mission. Both are experienced NASA astronauts with multiple spaceflights in the books. During the crewed test flight, Wilmore and Williams will be the first to launch on Starliner and Atlas V and manually control Starliner.

The astronauts’ goal will be to validate the transportation system, including the launch pad, rocket, spacecraft, and in-orbit capabilities, for future missions. 

Before, during, and after their weeklong stay on the space station, the crew will perform an array of tests designed to support the spacecraft’s certification. These include evaluations of equipment such as suits and seats from prelaunch through ascent, as well as assessments of communications, manual and automated navigation, life support systems, and thrusters while aboard the orbital lab.

Boeing has been “tasked with operating the entire mission,” including launch, in-orbit operations, landing, recovery and refurbishment. The company is also responsible for crew training, mission planning, spacecraft and launch vehicle assembly, and testing and integration.

Starliner arrived at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on April 16, where it will launch from historic Space Launch Complex-41. To this point, the launch pad has only hosted uncrewed spacecraft. The spacecraft has already been stacked, with crew preparations well underway.

About 15 minutes into the mission, the Starliner capsule will separate from the booster. Orbital maneuvering and attitude control thrusters will kick in about 30 minutes in, performing an engine burn to align it in orbit and start the approximately daylong sojourn to the space station.

Cameras onboard the capsule will pick out the moving laboratory from among a sea of fixed stars as it approaches to within a few hundred feet over the following few hours. Once flight controllers give the all clear, Starliner will approach and dock autonomously with one of two Boeing-built docking adapters—another critical test.

NASA will provide continuous coverage leading up to the docking through the opening of the hatch. On Thursday, four crewmembers already aboard the space station will relocate a Crew Dragon capsule to a different docking port, making way for the SpaceX rival’s alternative.

After spending a few days evaluating the spacecraft and its systems, Wilmore and Williams will return to Starliner, which will slowly undock from the space station and position itself over the Pacific Ocean. The service module will slow it from orbital speeds of about 17,500 mph as the crew module detaches. It will then accelerate back to Earth into a parachute landing in the Western U.S., touching down at just 4 mph.

What It Means

Starliner’s first crewed test flight has plenty of implications for Boeing, NASA, and U.S. ambitions in space more broadly.

On the commercial side, failure could deal a blow to the aerospace giant, which is under contract for six NASA service missions following the flight. The company also has ambitions to attract other customers, such as Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, describing NASA as Starliner’s “anchor customer.”

The test flight comes as Boeing rival SpaceX continues to thrive. Before Boeing completes its first crewed mission to the space station, its rival has already completed 11 such missions—eight crew rotation missions and three private astronaut missions with customer Axiom Space—and is preparing to fly astronauts to the moon on NASA’s Artemis III.

In addition, Boeing plans to sell the extra fifth seat on its NASA missions to private and commercial- or government-sponsored astronauts. Any ambitions for private commercial spaceflight will depend on next week’s mission.

NASA would also suffer from another setback to Starliner. The space agency hopes for the space station to be continuously crewed as it uses the orbital laboratory to explore future missions to more distant destinations, such as the moon or Mars. At the moment, it is too reliant on SpaceX.

“Our hearts and souls are in this spacecraft, and a little part of us will be lifting off with Butch and Suni,” said Dana Hutcherson, deputy manager of NASA Commercial Crew and a 13-year veteran of the program.

NASA envisions visiting spacecraft such as Starliner being used as “safe havens” in the event of a contingency aboard the space station, such as depressurization, fire, or potential collision.

One such contingency took place in December 2022, when the Soyuz MS-22 capsule that transported NASA astronaut Frank Rubio to the space station sprung a coolant leak, stranding Rubio and two Roscosmos cosmonauts in orbit for months. Rubio’s 355 consecutive days aboard the ISS—his first stint in space—are now a NASA spaceflight record.

SpaceX has been a reliable partner for NASA, having not suffered an incident in service thus far. But the agency wants a contingency plan. For example, in Rubio’s case, NASA was prepared to get its astronaut home in an extra seat on a scheduled Crew Dragon launch. The backup spacecraft was not needed, but it could have rescued Rubio had Roscosmos not delivered a replacement Soyuz in time.

Boeing is also developing launch vehicles for planned NASA lunar landings during Artemis II and Artemis III. Starliner is further intended to transport personnel to the Orbital Reef, a new space station under development by Blue Origin in partnership with NASA.

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Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 jet demonstrator did not reach supersonic speeds during the test flight. But the inaugural flight of the aircraft—a precursor to Boom’s supersonic, sustainable aviation fuel-powered Overture—marks a key milestone nonetheless.

“When I last flew Concorde in 2003, I knew that this day would come,” said Captain Mike Bannister, former chief Concorde pilot for British Airways. “The first flight of the XB-1 supersonic demonstrator is a significant achievement toward making sustainable supersonic flight a reality.”

The XB-1, which Boom says is the world’s first independently developed civil supersonic jet, combines carbon fiber composites, advanced avionics, digitally optimized aerodynamics, and an advanced supersonic propulsion system. These technologies will also be present on Overture, which is being developed to carry 64-80 at twice the speed of subsonic airliners.

The demonstrator is 62.6 feet long with a 21-foot wingspan. Its three GE J85-15 engines produce a combined max thrust of 12,300 pounds of force. Boom chief test pilot Bill “Doc” Shoemaker took it off the runway at Mojave Air & Space Port, flying in the same airspace that has hosted many historic first flights.

“I’ve been looking forward to this flight since founding Boom in 2014, and it marks the most significant milestone yet on our path to bring supersonic travel to passengers worldwide,” said Blake Scholl, founder and CEO of Boom Supersonic.

A T-38 chase aircraft monitored the XB-1 in the air, verifying factors such as altitude, airspeed, and airworthiness during flight. The company performed an initial assessment of the XB-1’s handling qualities, including airspeed checks with the chase aircraft, and assessed its stability in the landing attitude at a high angle of attack.

According to Boom, the aircraft met all of its test objectives. These included achieving an altitude of 7,120 feet and speeds up to 238 knots (273 mph).

The test flight is meant to validate the XB-1’s key technologies, such as an augmented reality vision system comprising two nose-mounted cameras that feed a high-resolution pilot display.

Another crucial component tested was the engine, which converts kinetic energy to pressure energy with supersonic intakes that slow supersonic air to subsonic speeds. Boom says this will allow conventional jet engines to power Overture from takeoff through supersonic flight.

The next step for the engineering team will be expanding the flight envelope for the XB-1. That will allow it to validate its performance and handling qualities through and beyond Mach 1, speeds Overture is expected to reach.

Boom intends for Overture to fly at Mach 1.7, or just over 1,300 mph. For comparison, Concorde flew at Mach 2. But unlike Concorde, Overture is designed to run on 100 percent SAF.

Leonardo is the engineering lead for the Overture’s fuselage structural components integration and will manufacture the aircraft’s composite structure. Other parts that will come from suppliers include wings designed by Aernnova, nacelles manufactured by Collins Aerospace, and Honeywell’s Anthem flight deck.

Scholl previously told The New York Times that the company’s goal is to fly passengers anywhere in the world within four hours—for only $100. That’s inexpensive compared to most one-way commercial flights, let alone Concorde, which cost passengers thousands of dollars.

However, don’t worry about supersonic booms over your backyard. Overture will only fly supersonic on overwater routes, since the FAA has banned it over the continental U.S.

Boom’s order backlog for Overture includes 130 orders and preorders, including 15 aircraft for American Airlines and 20 apiece for United Airlines and Japan Airlines.

The manufacturer’s $60 million U.S. Air Force contract should help speed development of the aircraft, giving it a potential customer as well. Boom is also partnered with Northrop Grumman to design a special mission variant of Overture for potential U.S. military operations, disaster response, and high-speed surveillance.

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The FAA on Thursday initiated its third mishap investigation into Starship after the 400-foot-tall spacecraft and booster were lost during its third orbital test flight. Both components are intended to be reusable.

Starship will remain grounded until the FAA concludes its investigation and awards a fresh launch license. However, Thursday’s flight undoubtedly built on previous Starship missions, during which the rocket and booster exploded minutes after takeoff. This time around, they flew halfway around the planet.

Starship stands taller than the Statue of Liberty and on Thursday generated nearly twice the thrust of NASA’s Space Launch System, which owned the previous record. Orbital test flights are intended to evaluate the spacecraft’s capabilities for NASA Artemis moon missions, which aim to return humans to the lunar surface for the first time in half a century.

Starship and the Super Heavy booster lifted off Thursday morning from Starbase, SpaceX’s launch pad in Boca Chica, Texas. The spacecraft generated 16 million pounds of thrust from 33 Raptor engines, the most ever in a rocket booster.

Unlike past attempts, Thursday’s mission, OT-3, traveled nearly halfway around the Earth as intended. For the first time, Starship reached space. But when the rocket reentered the atmosphere about 45 minutes into the mission, SpaceX lost communications. The company later said the vehicle did not survive reentry. Starship was intended to splash down in the Indian Ocean, and the booster in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, while not fully completed, the mission was vastly more successful than previous flights. Starship for the first time demonstrated the ability to reach orbital speeds and open its payload door—which could one day deploy Starlink satellites and other cargo—during flight.

Another crucial feat was a liquid oxygen transfer between two tanks, part of a NASA tipping-point demonstration and a key capability for missions to the moon and beyond.

A SpaceX representative estimated the company will need to complete 10 refueling missions before its Starship Human Landing System (HLS)—the capsule that will transport astronauts to the moon during Artemis III—can land on the lunar surface. The representative did not convey how many orbital test flights will be required, but Starship will need to complete at least one mission in full before moving to the next phase.

With three orbital test flights under Starship’s belt, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday predicted the rocket will complete six more this year—an unprecedented number for a new super heavy lift rocket.

Though the flight undoubtedly builds upon Starship’s previous missions, the FAA will nevertheless investigate the loss of communications, which it said affected both the rocket and booster.

A mishap investigation is standard whenever a launch does not go according to plan. The goal is to determine the root cause of the event and identify corrective actions to keep it from happening again.

The regulator said it would be involved in every step of the process. It will need to approve SpaceX’s final report, including any corrective actions the company intends to take, before a license can be reissued.

“A return to flight is based on the FAA determining that any system, process, or procedure related to the mishap does not affect public safety,” the agency said. “In addition, SpaceX may need to modify its license to incorporate any corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements.”

No public injuries or property damage were reported from OT-3, the FAA said. That was not the case during Starship’s first test flight, which damaged buildings and sent plumes of ash and debris flying miles away.

The investigation into that incident closed within seven months, and the agency’s second inquiry was completed in just three months. Since Thursday’s test was far more successful than the previous two, and no injuries or damage were reported, the investigation timeline may be on the shorter side.

Accidents are not particularly uncommon for spacecraft. In fact, a Japanese rocket called Kairos and a Chinese model called Yuanzheng-1S both suffered anomalies this week. But the delays caused by Starship investigations may have implications for the Artemis missions.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX on Thursday’s test flight. But with Americans’ return to the moon aboard Artemis III now delayed to 2026, the agency will be expecting a usable Starship HLS by then. Jim Free, associate administrator of NASA, predicted vehicle’s development may take more time than previously thought.

Musk, meanwhile, has touted Starship as a ferry to Mars, envisioning trips to the Red Planet carrying hundreds of humans at a time. Those ambitions will depend on SpaceX ironing out the kinks with the 400-foot-tall rocket and booster.

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Last week, the U.S. Space Force launched the seventh mission of the X-37B: a secretive spaceplane or orbital test vehicle (OTV) project intended to prepare the country for the next era of space travel.

Almost nothing is known about the Boeing-built spacecraft’s specific purpose, payload, or final destination. But we do know that the most recent launch had more juice than any other, perhaps enough to send X-37B into deep orbit—or even to the neighborhood of the moon.

“The technological advancements we’re driving on X-37B will benefit the broader space community, especially as we see increased interest in space sustainability,” said Michelle Parker, vice president of space mission systems for Boeing Defense, Space & Security. “We are pushing innovation and capability that will influence the next generation of spacecraft.”

The mission, known as USSF-52 or OTV-7, departed Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39A last Thursday evening in Florida after a few weeks of delays because of weather and technical issues. SpaceX shut down its livestream of the launch at the request of the Space Force once X-37B reached orbit.

“My memories go back to the Gemini and Mercury programs,” said Frank Kendall, secretary of the U.S. Air Force. “This is an incredible event, and I think about the teamwork over all those decades that has led to what has been a revolutionary improvement in space travel capability. We have come so far, and it’s been teamwork by the government, the Air Force, and now the Space Force, which didn’t exist until a few years ago, NASA, industry teams, and so many others that all contributed to what we saw.”

For the first time, the reusable, self-flying spaceplane left the launchpad coupled to a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket—one of the most powerful launch vehicles in existence. The rocket’s three first-stage boosters are also reusable.

X-37B’s first five missions used Atlas V rockets made by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, while the sixth flew on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster. Each trip was confined to below 1,200 miles in altitude. Falcon Heavy, meanwhile, can reach 22,000 miles, fueling speculation that X-37B’s seventh mission may go deeper than ever before. But the Space Force has not disclosed the spaceplane’s flight plan.

The X-37B project—a collaboration between the Space Force and U.S. Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office under the National Security Space Launch program, with support from Boeing—is shrouded in secrecy.

Speculation on X-37B’s purpose ranges from new spying and reconnaissance capabilities to a weapons delivery system, the latter of which the Pentagon has denied. According to a Space Force statement, USSF-52 specifically will test operations in new “orbital regimes” and explore the effects of radiation on NASA payloads. Seeds, for example, will be exposed to the bitterness of space, perhaps to understand how humans could sustain interplanetary bases.

“The X-37B government and Boeing teams have worked together to produce a more responsive, flexible, and adaptive experimentation platform,” said William Bailey, director of the Rapid Capabilities Office. “The work they’ve done to streamline processes and adapt evolving technologies will help our nation learn a tremendous amount about operating in and returning from a space environment.”

In addition, the orbital test vehicle will experiment with “future space domain awareness technology,” which the Space Force explained is designed to enable safe and secure space operations for government and commercial users alike.

What Do We Know?

U.S. agencies have largely kept the details of X-37B under wraps, but there are a few clues as to its intended use.

The spaceplane has been in development for decades. Originally, it was a NASA-led project. In 1999, the agency enlisted Boeing’s Phantom Works—the manufacturer’s prototyping arm responsible for such cutting-edge designs as the A160 Hummingbird—to build the ambitious concept.

According to Boeing’s website, the design is an advanced reentry spacecraft geared for operations in low Earth orbit, about 150 to 500 miles above the ground. It’s the first vehicle since NASA’s space shuttle capable of returning experiments to Earth for analysis, landing on the runway like an airplane. Its goal, Boeing says, is to explore reusable technology for “long-term space objectives.”

X-37B introduced a handful of technologies that had previously never been used in spaceflight. Its state-of-the-art avionics, for example, automate de-orbiting and landing, considered some of the trickier maneuvers to make. The spaceplane’s flight controls and brakes replace hydraulics with electromechanical actuation, while a lighter composite structure stands in for traditional aluminum. The design also includes a new generation of high-durability tiles.

Not everything is new, however. The mysterious spacecraft’s landing profile and lifting body architecture—a fixed-wing configuration wherein the body itself provides lift for subsonic, supersonic, or hypersonic flight or spacecraft reentry, à la Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser—resemble the space shuttle’s.

Yet X-37B is only one-fourth as large, about the size of a small bus. It’s also much harder to track than its predecessor, capable of quickly changing orbit or “hiding” in the glare of the sun to keep its position secret.

Since its maiden voyage in April 2010, the spaceplane has spent more than 3,750 days in space, traveling an astounding 1.3 billion miles. In 2019, it won the Robert J. Collier Trophy, awarded by the National Aeronautic Association for the greatest American aeronautical or astronomical achievements of the year prior.

Another Space Race?

With each voyage, X-37B has flown farther and for longer. But at the same time, a foreign superpower is ramping up its own mysterious, state-of-the-art spaceplane project.

Boeing’s model was initially designed for a mission duration of 270 days. But since OTV-2 in 2011, each test flight has been longer than the last. 

Its sixth and most recent mission, which touched down in November 2022, lasted a record 908 days. If that’s any indication, OTV-7 will fly even longer. The mission was also the first to introduce an expanded service module that allowed the spacecraft to host more experiments than ever before, including payloads from the Naval Research Lab and more seeds from NASA.

X-37B’s seventh mission could be its last, according to comments from General B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations for the Space Force, in 2020. That could be consequential given activity across the Pacific. 

Earlier in December, China launched its Shenlong “Divine Dragon” on its third mission since 2020 aboard a Long March 2F rocket, which is less powerful than SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy. There are no photos available of the secretive spacecraft, but it’s thought to be similar to the X-37.

Like its American counterpart, not much is known about Shenlong’s purpose. But a few weeks ago, it reportedly deployed six mysterious objects into orbit. Though the project is covert, U.S. officials are already drawing links between it and the Space Force initiative. The close timing of the two launches, in particular, has raised eyebrows—if not for delays, X-37B and Shenlong would have reached orbit within days of each other.

“It’s no surprise that the Chinese are extremely interested in our spaceplane,” Saltzman told Air & Space Forces Magazine last month. “We’re extremely interested in theirs. These are two of the most watched objects on orbit while they’re on orbit. It’s probably no coincidence that they’re trying to match us in timing and sequence of this.”

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Aircraft manufacturer Electra.aero’s EL-2 Goldfinch demonstrator pays homage to its namesake’s golden hue. Unlike a bird, however, the hybrid-electric ultra-short takeoff and landing (eSTOL) aircraft took off from the runway like a conventional plane once on Nov. 11 and again on Sunday, marking its inaugural flights.

The former was an all-electric test. But Electra said the latter was the eSTOL design’s first in hybrid configuration. Both flights were piloted by Cody Allee, chief technology officer of ABSI Aerospace & Defense and a former U.S. Marine Corps pilot, at Manassas Regional Airport (KHEF) in Virginia.

“The first hybrid flight lasted 23 minutes, reached an altitude of 3,200 feet, and covered a distance of approximately 30 miles,” said JP Stewart, vice president and general manager of Electra. “We’re looking forward to further expanding the envelope of this aircraft and demonstrating the full capability of Electra’s technology.”

Electra said its two-seat Goldfinch demonstrator is the first blown-lift aircraft that uses distributed electric propulsion and a hybrid-electric propulsion system. Blown lift directs slipstream flows back over the wing into large flaps and ailerons. This directs flows downward to “multiply” lift, allowing the eSTOL to take off and land at “neighborhood driving speeds.” By the company’s estimate, the demonstrator needs just 300 feet of runway.

Unlike the tiltrotor design common to electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) models, Electra’s eSTOL has no hover or transition phase because it relies on fixed wings and rigid propellers. In addition to removing complexity from the design, the fixed-wing architecture gives Goldfinch a path to be certified as a multiengine, Level 3, low-speed airplane under FAR Part 23 and be operated with a standard pilot’s certificate in the airplane category.

The aircraft’s eight electric motors run on a small turbogenerator that uses hybrid-electric power to recharge its batteries. Electra says this reduces emissions (by 30 percent) and noise (75 dBA at 300 feet, equivalent to a vacuum cleaner) below those of traditional airplane or rotorcraft. There’s also the benefit of added range and payload, stemming from Goldfinch’s lack of reliance on ground-based electric chargers and the reduced energy requirements of blown lift.

The Goldfinch demonstrator that flew this month is a predecessor to Electra’s flagship, nine-passenger model for commercial and government customers. That full-scale design is expected to cruise at 175 knots for up to 500 sm (434 nm), while carrying twice the payload (up to 2,500 pounds) of eVTOL designs with the same energy requirements.

Its runway requirement is projected to be even shorter—just 150 feet, half the length of a football field. And all of this comes with the promise of 70 percent lower operating costs than “vertical alternatives.”

“The aim of Electra is to fill a gap in air travel between 50 and 500 miles, where most trips today are made by automobile,” said Electra founder and CEO John Langford. “The key to saving time is to operate close in, which means getting in and out of small spaces quietly and safely, while still being fast enough to cover long distances. Electra will be able to take you from downtown Manhattan not only to Kennedy Airport [KJFK], but to Washington, D.C. It will bring air service to thousands of communities where air travel today is not a practical or affordable option. It also opens vast new opportunities for middle-mile cargo logistics.”

The company so far has a backlog of more than 1,700 preorders of its flagship model from more than 30 customers, which it values at about $6 billion. Customers include Houston-based helicopter provider Bristow Group, airline Ravn Alaska, and Latin American on-demand private aviation platform Flapper. It also has plans to fly in Asia, Australia, and the Middle East.

In addition, Electra is developing a Goldfinch prototype for the U.S. Air Force under a contract with AFWERX, the department’s innovation arm. The agreement, worth up to $85 million, will see Air Force pilots take the aircraft out for testing and validation of operational use cases.

The Air Force has been a valuable partner for Electra, which as of August had six active Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBTT) Phase II and III contracts. Those agreements have allowed it to mature Goldfinch’s blown-lift aerodynamics, hybrid-electric powertrains, flight controls, and other features.

In addition to passenger transport, on-demand urban air mobility services, and defense applications, Electra expects Goldfinch to handle cargo logistics, executive transport, humanitarian aid, disaster response, and a variety of other use cases.

While the full-scale Goldfinch’s FAA certification isn’t expected until 2028, Sunday’s test flight was a promising development for Electra as it seeks to establish a new mode of regional transportation.

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“Was just informed that approval to launch should happen in time for a Friday launch,” Musk wrote in a post on his social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

The SpaceX CEO did not elaborate on who gave him that timeline, and some of his previous predictions have failed to come to fruition. This time, however, Musk’s timeline is backed by the FAA: The agency announced Wednesday afternoon that Starship and the Super Heavy booster are cleared for another takeoff.

“The FAA has given license authorization for the second launch of the SpaceX Starship Super Heavy vehicle,” the agency said in a statement viewed by FLYING. “The FAA determined SpaceX met all safety, environmental, policy and financial responsibility requirements.”

The regulator said the modified license applies to all phases of SpaceX’s proposed operation, from preflight preparation to splashdown, but only for one launch. According to an air traffic control advisory on its website, the launch and reentry mission, “Space X Starship Super Heavy Flt 2,” will take place in Boca Chica, Texas—the site of SpaceX’s Starbase launch pad—on Friday. Backup dates are listed as Saturday and Sunday.

Ready for Launch

On October 31, the FAA confirmed it had completed the safety review portion of its Starship license evaluation. A modified license could not be granted until the evaluation was finished.

The announcement came with the caveat that the agency was still working through an environmental review, which a spokesperson told FLYING is the “last major element” of the process. That step required coordination with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to produce an updated biological assessment of the potential impacts of a Starship launch on the surrounding environment.

Aubry Buzek, who runs public affairs for USFWS’s Texas office, confirmed to FLYING that the agency’s formal consultation with the FAA concluded on Tuesday, clearing the way for a license modification. On Wednesday, the FAA published a written reevaluation of Starship’s environmental assessment, concluding that there are “no significant environmental changes” compared to prior documentation.

According to USFWS, the environmental assessment focused on a new water deluge system that was installed on Starbase to shield the launch pad from the flames of Starship’s 33 Raptor engines. In April, the engines blew a massive crater under the launcher and scattered ash and debris as far as the town of Port Isabel, about 6 miles away.

Starbase did not have such a system for Starship’s inaugural launch, which may have contributed to the damage. Musk said plans to install a water-cooled steel plate beneath the launcher were scrapped because it “wasn’t ready in time,” adding that “we wrongly thought, based on static fire data, that Fondag [concrete] would make it through one launch.”

With a modified launch license in hand, Starship’s second test flight could follow in just a few days—the first one came less than a week after the FAA’s initial green light.

As was the case with that launch, the flight will be broadcast live on SpaceX’s website. In addition to the new flame deflector, it will debut a hot-stage separation system and thrust vector control system for the Super Heavy booster engines.

The flight itself is expected to last about 90 minutes, with the Starship upper stage splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai.

High Stakes

Plenty is riding on the success of the next Starship launch. NASA picked SpaceX to develop a version of the rocket that will land humans on the moon for the first time in half a century during the Artemis III mission, which is scheduled for 2025. Before then, the company will fly an uncrewed demonstration mission to the moon.

But NASA officials are already “concerned” about the number of test flights Starship must complete even before that demonstration. A top NASA manager said Artemis III will “probably” slip to 2026 as a result.

A delay to Artemis III could throw a wrench into NASA’s other mission timelines. The space agency has already enlisted SpaceX to conduct a second crewed landing demonstration in 2027 as part of the subsequent Artemis IV mission. The goal is to develop a lander “that meets NASA’s sustaining requirements for missions beyond Artemis III,” such as docking with the upcoming Gateway space station and accommodating up to four crew members.

Following Artemis, SpaceX said the ultimate objective for Starship is to ferry hundreds of humans at a time to the moon, Mars, and beyond. Musk himself has claimed the firm will land humans on Mars by 2029. The plan is for the first batch of astronauts to set up a small base, with the aim of one day supporting a colony of 1 million earthlings on the “Red Planet.”

For fans of science fiction, it’s an exciting prospect. To get there, SpaceX will first need to prove Starship can reach orbit without exploding, but the hope is for that litmus test to happen in the next few days.

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Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturer Wisk Aero, a subsidiary of Boeing, on Monday said it became the first in the industry to conduct public demonstration flights of an electric air taxi in Los Angeles County.

Wisk landed in the City of Angels earlier this month, beginning private flight testing out of Long Beach Airport (KLGB) with its fifth-generation eVTOL, also known as Cora. The tests allowed the firm to evaluate autonomous flight operations in a real-world commercial environment, right beside other passenger aircraft.

The flight program was capped off with a public, multitransition demonstration during the airport’s Festival of Flight on Saturday. The one-day event was free and open to the public.

“I am proud to see the future of flight becoming a reality in Long Beach,” said Rex Richardson, the city’s mayor. “Long Beach has been a leader in aviation for decades, and those careers helped build and sustain the middle class here for generations. I am looking forward to working with Wisk and Boeing to create good jobs and integrating a safe, quiet, and environmentally responsible transportation option in Long Beach.”

Unlike its core rivals (with the exception of China’s EHang), Wisk is looking to fly without onboard pilots from the jump, instead relying upon a combination of autonomy and human oversight. It’s also the exclusive provider of autonomy technology for Archer Aviation following the settlement of a prolonged legal battle between the two manufacturers.

As part of that agreement, Boeing contributed to a $215 million investment in Archer, which also included partners Stellantis and United Airlines.

Per Monday’s announcement, Wisk has now completed more than 1,700 test flights. Those include another public demonstration of Cora at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which the company said was the world’s first for an autonomous, fixed-wing eVTOL. EHang in 2020 made a public flight in South Korea, but its EH216-S is not a fixed-wing design.

Wisk also displayed its four-seat Gen 6 design for VIPs on Capitol Hill during the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Global Aerospace Summit in Washington, D.C., last month. But it did not take flight.

Over the weekend, company representatives met with Mayor Richardson, Los Angeles area officials, and leadership from Boeing—which became Wisk’s sole owner in June—to discuss the future of advanced air mobility (AAM) services in the area.

“Autonomous flight is possible today, and it’s happening now in LA,” said Brian Yutko, CEO of Wisk. “Los Angeles is a target launch city for many in our industry and we are extremely proud to be the first air taxi company to fly in LA—and to have done so with an autonomous aircraft. We are fortunate to have the partnership and support of Boeing throughout the area to help build relationships and advance our mission.”

A Crowded Market?

Though it will not necessarily launch in Los Angeles, Wisk in 2022 formed an alliance with the Long Beach Economic Partnership (LBEP) to evaluate how autonomous electric air taxis, expected to be part of a broader regional network, might impact the local economy.

The partners are also assessing local residents’ willingness to use eVTOL aircraft for short-hop flights over the city’s congested streets. One of the most traffic-heavy metros in North America, Los Angeles is quickly becoming a hot spot for electric air taxis, with Archer, Germany’s Volocopter, and Hyundai subsidiary Supernal all having worked with Urban Movement Labs—an LA government-community transportation partnership—for several years. A fourth firm, Overair, signed a deal with UML in 2022.

By the time Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Olympic Games, the FAA hopes to have enabled U.S. AAM operations at scale, as laid out in its Innovate28 plan. The city itself also anticipates robust operations by then—Joby Aviation, in partnership with Delta Airlines, is expected to be one of the early entrants.

Supernal is also eyeing the LA market, and competition could heat up further with the potential entry of Archer and United. A partnership between the two calls for the airline’s acquisition of up to 200 Midnight eVTOLs to fly passengers to United hub airports—Los Angeles International Airport (KLAX) is one of them.

California in general is something of a hub for eVTOL firms, with Wisk (Mountain View), Joby (Santa Cruz), and Archer (San Jose) all setting up headquarters in the Bay Area. Overair is based in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Ana with flight testing facilities in nearby Victorville. Supernal, based in D.C., has a research and development facility in nearby Fremont, as well as an engineering headquarters close to Los Angeles in Irvine. Both Joby and Archer have conducted flight testing in the state for years.

In addition, Joby, Overair and several of the aforementioned manufacturers played a pivotal role in the formation of a dedicated AAM advisory committee for the state with the passage of California SB 800, which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom earlier this month. Many of them expect to fly during the 2028 Olympic Games.

Why Los Angeles?

Wisk recently sponsored research, conducted by California State University at Long Beach, which found that the operation of a 20-vertiport network spanning the Greater Los Angeles-Orange County area could generate $2 million in economic output for every $1 million of initial expenditure. 

More specifically, researchers estimated such a network would create 943 jobs, deliver more than $90 million in labor income, and generate about $173 million in expenditures annually. Construction of the network alone could add more than 2,100 jobs and churn out more than $420 million in economic output, they approximated.

Supernal, meanwhile, is working with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory—within the U.S. Department of Energy—to explore the feasibility, challenges, and opportunities for AAM operations in the Los Angeles area, including the necessary infrastructure.

Besides the potential economic impact and the opportunity to eliminate traffic, LA is viewed by many manufacturers as a promising market for eVTOL aircraft for several reasons.

The city regularly scores an “F” in regard to managing air pollution, which zero-emissions vehicles such as eVTOL aircraft could mitigate. Weather conditions—often clear and sunny outside of the “June Gloom” period each summer—are also ideal for initial AAM operations. And historically, California has been a bastion for environmentally friendly tech, which could raise consumer confidence in the novel aircraft.

Los Angeles may also have a leg up on other U.S. cities when it comes to AAM infrastructure. A 2021 Georgia Tech University survey, published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, suggested six local airports (including Long Beach Airport and LAX) as potential waypoints for eVTOL passengers.

Additionally, infrastructure in downtown Los Angeles, such as rooftops, “could potentially be converted to vertiports,” the survey noted. Archer and Joby in 2021 each announced Los Angeles as a launch city for their respective vertiport networks. Both are working with parking garage operator Reef to convert parking garage roofs into eVTOL landing pads.

Wisk, too, will need to construct its own vertiports, enlist a partner to build them, or form agreements with airports or FBOs to allow vertical takeoffs and landings. The Boeing subsidiary does not have a firm commercial launch date but has said its Gen 6 model will enter service before the end of the decade.

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On Wednesday, Joby revealed that four test pilots have now completed flights aboard its air taxi, marking the firm’s transition to crewed flight testing. The addition of onboard pilots is a major boon to Joby’s efforts to type certify the aircraft with the FAA. The initial crewed tests, which took place at the company’s pilot production facility in Marina, California, covered free thrustborne hovers and forward transitions to semi-thrustborne flight.

Joby’s tiltrotor eVTOL is designed to carry a pilot and four passengers over a distance up to 100 sm (87 nm), cruising at 200 mph (174 knots). The company says the aircraft’s quiet noise profile will make it barely audible within a city’s soundscape.

The recent flights build on the surprise delivery of the first Joby eVTOL to Edwards Air Force Base in California, originally scheduled for early 2024. There, Joby and Air Force pilots will evaluate the aircraft’s capabilities in settings similar to those it will face when it begins flying air taxi routes with Delta Air Lines. That service is expected to launch in 2025, beginning in New York and Los Angeles.

James “Buddy” Denham, Joby’s chief test pilot, led the pilot-on-board campaign, which was designed to gather data on the air taxi’s handling abilities and pilot control interface. Denham left the Naval Air Systems Command—where he pioneered a concept for aircraft carrier precision landings and led research and development of the Unified Control Concept, which was integrated into F-35B STOVL aircraft—to join Joby in 2019. 

Joby credited Denham as a major influence in the development of its own flight controls. The chief test pilot had some nice things to say about the company as well.

“Having helped design and test flight controls for a wide variety of aircraft, including all three variants of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, nothing compares to the simplicity and grace of the Joby aircraft,” said Denham. “After completing more than 400 vertical takeoffs and landings from the ground, it is a privilege to sit in the cockpit of our aircraft and experience firsthand the ease and intuitive nature of the design that the Joby team has developed.”

During testing, pilots assessed the ease of conducting maneuvers that will become routine when commercial operations begin. These included vertical takeoffs, acceleration and transition to forward flight, runway centerline tracking, and deceleration into vertical landings. 

Joby said appraisals of the flights will aid its progress toward type certification, as well as its activities with the Air Force’s Agility Prime program. Agility Prime is the vertical lift division of AFWERX, the Air Force’s innovation arm. Earlier this year, Joby and Agility Prime extended their research and development contract, bringing its total value to $131 million.

Type Certification: On the Horizon?

Previously, Joby tested its eVTOL with pilots on the ground, using a ground control station equipped with state-of-the-art communications systems to guide it remotely. Those flights gave the company data on the aircraft’s performance in a wide array of operational conditions. But the beginning of crewed testing figures to be more consequential.

After pilot-on-board testing of the preproduction prototype is complete, the stage will be set for Joby to begin “for credit” flight testing with the FAA, using a full-scale production prototype. That model may be built at the company’s scaled manufacturing plant in Dayton, Ohio, which was first announced last month.

Dayton’s claim to fame is that the Wright brothers lived, worked, and opened the nation’s first airplane factory there (hence the Flyers mascot). It’s also home to Dayton International Airport (KDAY), where Joby will build its manufacturing plant on a 140-acre-site. The space is large enough for the company to one day install up to 2 million square feet of facilities. It is expected to produce 500 aircraft per year and create as many as 2,000 jobs.

Construction will begin next year, with full-scale operations scheduled for 2025. In the meantime, Joby will use nearby existing buildings to begin initial manufacturing activities. The goal will be to wheel the first service-ready aircraft off the production line within two years, in time for the company’s commercial launch with Delta.

In addition, Joby has commercial operational deals in place with Japan’s ANA Holdings and South Korea’s TMAP and SK Telecom to launch services in those countries. It also has an agreement with Uber—part of the 2020 acquisition of Uber Elevate—to integrate its ridesharing service into the company’s app.

However, all of this hinges on Joby’s ability to prove to the FAA that its air taxi is airworthy. Luckily, rivals such as Archer Aviation and Lilium are going through the same (lengthy) process. Archer, for its part, also received the FAA greenlight to begin flight testing its preproduction prototype in August. Lilium, meanwhile, is the only eVTOL manufacturer to obtain certification bases from both the FAA and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

The three firms—plus Boeing-owned Wisk Aero and Germany’s Volocopter—are all competing to be top dog in the advanced air mobility (AAM) industry, which is expected to take off soon with the FAA’s announcement of the Innovate28 plan for early eVTOL operations. Whichever firm achieves type certification first will realize a lot of lift.

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