Aviation technology analysis with Vector. Electric aircraft, avionics advances, eVTOL certification, satellite connectivity, and the engineering innovations shaping the future of flight.
Beta Technologies is building a fixed-wing eVTOL and an open charging network that may define commercial electric aviation's infrastructure layer before its competitors do.
Boom Supersonic's Overture airliner and Symphony engine represent the most credible attempt at commercial supersonic travel since Concorde retired in 2003.
The Boeing X-37B has logged over 2,200 days in orbit across seven classified missions, landing itself on a runway - and its guidance systems foreshadow where civil aviation autopilots are headed.
The FAA's LADD program lets private aircraft disappear from public tracking apps while still broadcasting ADS-B - and the safety research tradeoff is rarely discussed.
WAAS delivers precision approach capability to over 4,000 U.S. airports through satellite-based corrections and integrity monitoring, without any ground equipment at the airport.
ZeroAvia flew a 19-seat Dornier 228 on a hydrogen-electric powertrain in January 2023, marking a credible step toward zero-emission regional aviation.
ZeroAvia has flown a 19-seat Dornier 228 on hydrogen-electric power, marking the most advanced real-world test of zero-emission regional aviation propulsion to date.
ACAS X replaces TCAS II's fixed logic tables with probabilistic optimization, reducing nuisance alerts and enabling collision avoidance for unmanned aircraft in shared airspace.
How Don Bateman's Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System used GPS and a global terrain database to eliminate controlled flight into terrain from modern commercial aviation.
How a two-person Houston startup founded in 2007 became the dominant electronic flight bag platform for over 500,000 pilots - and what Boeing's 2019 acquisition means for GA.
The ADS-B technology in your panel today traces directly to the FAA's Capstone Program, a field test in one of the most dangerous stretches of airspace in the United States.
CFM International's RISE program is developing an open-fan engine targeting over 20% better fuel efficiency than the LEAP, with entry into service aimed at the mid-2030s.
Dream Chaser carries six decades of NASA lifting body research into commercial spaceflight, designed to return from orbit and land on a runway like an aircraft.
The Garmin GFC 500 brings certified envelope protection and one-button upset recovery to legacy piston aircraft, directly targeting loss of control - the leading cause of fatal GA accidents.
NASA and Boeing's X-66A Sustainable Flight Demonstrator tests a radical wing geometry that could cut single-aisle fuel burn by up to 30% by the 2040s.
Boom Supersonic's XB-1 broke the sound barrier in March 2024, making a 2029 return of commercial supersonic flight plausible - if an unproven in-house engine delivers.
Electra Aero is developing a 9-passenger hybrid-electric aircraft that takes off and lands in 150 feet using blown lift - potentially restoring air service to 1,500 underserved U.S. communities.
GPS spoofing corrupts ADS-B position data silently, placing phantom aircraft on ATC scopes while flight crews remain unaware - a structural flaw at the heart of modern aviation surveillance.
The Air Force's Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System has saved at least eight F-16 pilots from controlled flight into terrain since 2014 - and the technology is pushing aviation toward a fundamental question about who, or what, has final authority over the controls.
NASA's X-59 QueSST has demonstrated shaped sonic boom technology that could challenge the FAA's 53-year overland supersonic ban with real community overflight data.