Aerospace

Modeling and Analyzing Inter-Satellite Relative Motion

To address scalable control of orbital dynamics, NASA Ames Research Center has patented Swarm Orbital Dynamics Advisor (SODA) — a solution that accepts high-level configuration commands and provides the orbital maneuvers needed to achieve the desired type of swarm relative motion. Read on to learn more.

Recycling Defunct Satellite Material into a Fuel Source

A research team from the University of Waterloo’s Laboratory for Emerging Energy Research is looking into processing lunar regolith, the Moon’s top layer of soil and dust, into usable materials for life support, energy generation, and construction. This includes investigating the use of defunct satellite material as a fuel source when mixed with lunar regolith. Read on to learn more.

Prepare for Takeoff: NWI Aerostructures Thrusts Forward with CNC Control System

The aerospace industry is in an era of profound innovation. Airplanes and air travel are transforming in response to the needs of the global economy, necessitating the building of aircraft at an accelerated pace. Enter NWI. With over 50 years of long-bed machining expertise, NWI is a contract manufacturer of complex structural components, sub-assemblies, and complete major assemblies of wing structures. Read on to learn more.

Products of Tomorrow

See the products of tomorrow, including a 3D microwave antenna, smart CCTV systems trained to spot blockages in urban waterways, and a full-scale prototype for six telescopes that will enable, in the next decade, the space-based detection of gravitational waves.

Videos of the Month

See the videos of the month, including one on Michigan Engineering racing its 17th solar car, Astrum, across the Australian Outback; one on how NASA’s Europa Clipper — a 7,000-pound spacecraft — was packed and shipped from the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California to Kennedy Space Center in Florida; one on the MIT Media Lab’s Space Exploration Initiative; and one on leveraging precision growth to convert plants into biodegradable electronic devices.

Shedding Weight: Connectivity in Military-Aerospace Applications

Weight is among the most critical factors behind component choice when it comes to aerospace applications. Being among the bulkiest of components, connectors and cables need to embrace the latest scientific advances in order to reduce weight and enhance performance, fuel efficiency, and overall system reliability. This article outlines the recent advances enabling lighter connectors for aircraft, satellites, and drones.

Test Your Knowledge About Hydrogen-Powered Aircraft

How much do you know about how hydrogen-powered aircraft work and the companies that are researching and developing hydrogen-powered aircraft programs? Find out with this quiz.

Celebrating Innovation and Innovators at the 2024 Create the Future Design Contest

The Create the Future Design Contest has helped bring out the best technologies for the future throughout its 22-year run. The annual contest had the finalists in each of the seven categories pitch their ideas to a team of judges, who would then choose the Grand Prize winner. Read on to learn who won.

AI Helps UAVs Predict Oncoming Turbulence

Professor Animashree (Anima) Anandkumar and her team at The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have developed a control strategy for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that uses reinforcement learning to adaptively learn how turbulent wind can change over time and then uses that knowledge to control the UAV based on what it is experiencing.

The Unusual Machines Approach to Low-Cost Drones and Drone Components

Unusual Machines CEO Allan Evans is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast.

3D-Printed Engines Propel Next Industrial Revolution

The new possibility of 3D-printed aluminum engine parts will mean significant savings for NASA in terms of time, money, and, most importantly, the weight of future spacecraft. Elementum 3D Inc., a partner on the project, is now bringing the benefits of that technology to its customers.

Why the Air Force Is Using the Virtualitics AI Approach to Weapon Sustainment

Michael Amori, CEO and co-founder of Virtualitics, is the guest on this episode of the Aerospace & Defense Technology podcast to explain how the Air Force is using Integrated Readiness Optimization for weapons sustainment.

Aerospace & Defense Finalist: Laser-Generated Anti-Icing and Anti-Fogging Transparent Materials

AlchLight has invented and pioneered a non-coating laser surface processing (LSP) technology that turns regular transparent materials such as glass and polymers superhydrophobic. It's the Aerospace & Defense Finalist. Read on to learn more.

Robotics & Automation Finalist - AstroAnt: A Miniature Symbiotic Robotic Serving on the Outside Surfaces of Spacecraft, Rovers, and Landers for Inspection and Diagnostic Tasks

“AstroAnts” are small robots for inspection and diagnostic tasks on external spacecraft surfaces, both in orbit and on planetary surfaces. They're also the Robotics & Automation Finalist. Read on to learn more.

Unlock the Full Potential of Your CAD | An End-to-End Webinar Series

In this nine-part webinar series, attendees will learn how to unlock the full potential of CAD data and revolutionize engineering processes with an integrated business...

AI-Trained Vehicles Can Adjust to Extreme Turbulence on the Fly

In nature, flying animals sense coming changes in their surroundings, including the onset of sudden turbulence, and quickly adjust to stay safe. Engineers who design aircraft...

AUSA 2024: New Drones and Counter UAS Technology

Watch this video to see the new drones and counter UAS technology on display at AUSA 2024.

The Army's Vision for Space and Satellite Communications

Col. Pete Atkinson, Principal Space Advisor for the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, discusses the Army’s space vision at AUSA 2024.

A Hydrogen-Powered Airship Sets Course for Greener Aerial Inspections

A French startup, HyLight, has developed a hydrogen-powered airship that can precisely detect issues on energy infrastructure at an industrial scale without emitting greenhouse gases.

Announcing the Winners of the Rising Star Awards 2024

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the inaugural Women in Engineering: Rising Star Awards 2024! Read on to find out who won.

Folding NASA Experience into an Origamist’s Toolkit

How an engineer who holds dozens of patents for optoelectronics —technology that combines light and electricity — became one of world’s leading figures at the intersection of math and paper folding.

Building a Better Rocket with the Help of Piezoelectric Sensors

Specialized measurement technology helps aerospace engineers improve combustion chambers and fuel injectors. In Switzerland, two ambitious student organizations have been using iterative pressure measurements to develop and build a significantly more efficient next generation of rocket engines. Read on to learn more.

Shining the Spotlight on Rising Stars: WOMEN IN ENGINEERING

The Rising Star Awards program was launched in March 2024 as an initiative by SAE Media Group to recognize women engineers who are pushing boundaries, demonstrating outstanding innovation and leadership, as well as paving the way for countless others. In its inaugural year, the Rising Star Awards program received 205 nominations from organizations across the globe. Read on to learn about the winners.

Rising Star Award Winner 2024: Aerospace & Defense

Heather Cummings, Senior Engineer - Flight Controls & Autonomy, Sikorsky Aircraft, A Lockheed Martin Company in Middletown, Connecticut, is the 2024 Rising Star Award Winner for Aerospace & Defense.