Aeronautics
The aeronautics community is continuing to chase the horizon. Innovators are pushing technology to deliver new products and services for the benefit of society. In the next 5–10 years, many new capabilities will be introduced, and the next generation will experience flight in ways we are just imagining. We stand at the precipice of urban flight, integrating ground and air vehicles in new ways. The industry is building on the advances made since the early 20th century taking us further, faster, safer, and cleaner. AIAA advances these opportunities through its focus on the Aeronautics Domain.
Aeronautics in the 21st Century: Safe, Sustainable, and Smart
By AIAA Executive Director Dan Dumbacher
The aeronautics industry is embracing opportunities in the near term that will contribute to its enduring legacy of changing society and reshaping everyday life as we know it.
Priority Areas in Aeronautics
Carbon Emissions and Sustainability The global community is focused on achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from the aviation sector by 2050. The AIAA community plays an integral role in this effort that will make a substantial difference to benefit our planet.
AIAA is working with the industry toward several steps, including:
- Advocacy for more government support for the goal of carbon-free aviation by 2050
- Deployment of SAF for current airline fleets, while also addressing fleet recapitalization
- Adoption of hydrogen fuel cells and other clean, renewable energy sources
- Focus on new R&D
- Development of the “green” aviation workforce
Certification The widespread use of UAVs and drones—both commercial and recreational—prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to adapt its certification processes. Similarly, the FAA must facilitate safe use of AAM systems for passenger and cargo transport. As the FAA refreshes its certification strategy, we expect to see clear specifications, regulations, and standards emerge that will strike an appropriate balance between safety and innovation.
Space launches are close to a daily occurrence and launch sites are infringing on urban environments and large metropolitan areas. The integration of commercial air traffic, AAM, and space launch traffic must receive government attention to help drive global regulatory and certification strategies that ensure safety and continued smooth sustainable economic growth for all stakeholders.
- Is sustainable civil high-speed endo-atmospheric flight achievable?
- What role does the government have in promoting hypersonic and/or supersonic flight?
- What technologies are needed to develop and mature efficient and low environmental impact hypersonic and supersonic flight?
Events
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33rd Congress of the International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences (ICAS)
4 September - 9 September 2022
Stockholm, Sweden
ICAS is an international, non-government, non-profit scientific organization with the mission to advance knowledge and facilitate collaboration in aeronautics. ICAS is the only international support organization to representative aeronautical engineering professional societies and their members in 30 countries. -
41st Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC)
18 September - 22 September 2022
Portsmouth, Virginia, USA
Join us in Portsmouth, Virginia for the 41st AIAA/IEEE Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC), the preeminent R&D conference in the field of digital avionics offered by two distinguished professional societies, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). -
2023 AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (AIAA SciTech Forum)
23 January - 27 January 2023
National Harbor, MD & Online
AIAA SciTech Forum is the world’s largest event for aerospace research and development.
Courses
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Design of Modern Aircraft Structures – Online Course (Starts March 21, 2023)
21 March - 20 April 2023
Open for registration. Register Now
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AI for Air Traffic Safety Enhancement (Online Short Course - Starts Feb 7, 2023)
7 February - 2 March 2023
This course aims to provide unique big data analytics with artificial intelligence approach to leverage various knowledge and data sources for a system-wide prognostics framework for proactive health management of evolving NextGen NAS.
Open for registration. Register Now
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eVTOL Infrastructure Considerations for Advanced Air Mobility - Online Short Course (Starts Nov 1, 2022)
1 November - 10 November 2022
Providing the latest information and data for vertiport & heliport design considerations. Differentiating aviation reality from marketing hype and animated fiction.
Open for registration. Register Now
News
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AIAA Statement on White House Summit on Advanced Air Mobility
3 August 2022
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AIAA Statement on the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022
29 July 2022
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Press Passes Available for 2022 AIAA AVIATION Forum
16 June 2022
Past Events
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AVIATIONx Webinar: Automation and Autonomy in General Aviation: Opportunities and Challenges for Safety, Accessibility and Sustainability
13 July 2022 1200 - 1330 (Eastern Daylight Time)
Virtual
How introducing more automation and/or autonomy for general aviation could increase safety, accessibility and sustainability. -
2022 AIAA Aviation and Aeronautics Forum and Exposition (AIAA AVIATION Forum)
27 June - 1 July 2022
Chicago, Illinois and Online
The AIAA AVIATION Forum is the only aviation event that covers the entire integrated spectrum of aviation business, research, development, and technology. -
28th AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conference
14 June - 17 June 2022
Southampton, UK
The AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conference is the premier international forum for the field of aeroacoustics.
Aeronautics Playlist
Task Forces
The AIAA Advanced Air Mobility Task Force is guiding the implementation of the AIAA plan for advanced air mobility (AAM) systems capabilities. AAM could embody the single greatest transformation for aviation business, science, and policy—and
public perceptions—since the emergence of mainstream commercial aviation in the mid-20th century. With clear operational guidelines, regulations, and standards for accommodating and incorporating autonomy, AIAA sees a thriving integrated urban
and regional airspace in the next decade. The benefits of autonomy will enhance safety for everyone and enable capabilities we are only just imagining.
The AIAA Carbon Emission and Sustainability Task Force is addressing efforts across AIAA to drive progress toward net zero carbon emissions by 2050. In 2019, commercial aviation produced ~2% of global human-induced carbon dioxide emissions. Many aviation industry stakeholders and AIAA members are taking on generational-scale challenges that require broad collaboration and support. AIAA sees the need and opportunity for the aviation industry to pursue technology development, product and services development, and operational changes to reduce the impact to climate change.
AIAA Aeronautics Lead
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Ming Chang
AIAA Domain Lead for Aeronautics; Senior Director of Flight Technologies, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (Retired)