Aviation technology analysis with Vector. Electric aircraft, avionics advances, eVTOL certification, satellite connectivity, and the engineering innovations shaping the future of flight.
How NASA's wingless lifting body program - from a Pontiac-towed prototype to Bruce Peterson's 1967 crash - defined the aerodynamics behind all 133 Space Shuttle landings.
NASA's X-59 QueSST is the first credible scientific attempt to lift America's 53-year civil supersonic overland ban by proving quiet supersonic flight is achievable.
The FAA's ADS-B system runs on two incompatible frequencies - UAT and 1090ES - creating real traffic display gaps every GA pilot should understand.
Wisk Aero is building a fully autonomous four-passenger air taxi with no pilot onboard - a fundamentally different regulatory and technical bet than every other eVTOL program.
Aireon's ADS-B receivers aboard Iridium NEXT satellites deliver 8-second position updates over every ocean on Earth, replacing decades of procedural oceanic control.
Heart Aerospace's ES-30 uses a turbogenerator hybrid architecture to solve the battery energy density problem blocking electric regional aviation.
Reliable Robotics has flown an uncrewed Cessna Caravan and is pursuing an STC - not a new type certificate - to bring autonomous cargo operations to market years faster than any clean-sheet design could.
The Current Icing Product is a probabilistic sensor-fusion tool - understanding what its colors mean, and where it fails, is what separates safe icing decisions from dangerous ones.
Garmin's Emergency Autoland, certified in October 2020 on the Piper M600 SLS, lets an untrained passenger land a turboprop by pressing a single button.
Lilium burned $1 billion and went bankrupt in October 2024 before being revived - revealing eVTOL's real certification and capital challenges.
Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser traces its aerodynamic DNA to NASA's 1960s lifting body research at Edwards AFB, built to land on a runway like a conventional aircraft.
Beta Technologies pairs a 250-mile electric aircraft with its own charging network - a systems-first approach that separates it from every other electric aviation startup.
Electra's EL Nine combines blown lift with a hybrid-electric turbine architecture to target a 150-foot takeoff roll for nine-seat regional service.
GPS spoofing in conflict zones can feed false positions into ADS-B transponders, corrupting the surveillance picture for controllers and crews with no cockpit warning.
Honeywell Anthem replaces up to 25 separate certified avionics boxes with a single integrated computing platform, now shipping on new-build ATR 72 aircraft.
How Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne used aviation-first engineering to win the 2004 Ansari X Prize and permanently expand what aviation can claim as its territory.
Archer Aviation's Midnight eVTOL earned a Part 135 air carrier certificate in October 2024 - the first major regulatory milestone for electric vertical flight in the U.S.
The GE Catalyst is the first clean-sheet turboprop engine design in roughly 50 years, promising 20% better fuel efficiency and single-lever FADEC control for the Cessna Denali.
Wisk Aero is pursuing FAA certification for a fully pilotless passenger aircraft, arguing redundant automation can be statistically safer than a human pilot.
How Aireon's ADS-B receivers on 66 Iridium NEXT satellites ended decades of oceanic surveillance gaps and transformed global air traffic control.