2026 brings plenty of anniversaries, perhaps most notably the centennial of Robert Goddard’s first test flight of a liquid-powered rocket. It also marks the 65th anniversary of the first human in space, when Yuri Gagarin rode a liquid-powered rocket on his 108-minute orbit of the planet, and the 25th anniversary of the first space tourist, when AIAA member Dennis Tito traveled to the International Space Station. In that vein, it’s been five years since the establishment of routine commercial suborbital flights.
It’s interesting to look back and acknowledge how developments over the decades build upon one another. We are now witness to commercial orbital flights, on the precipice of commercial space stations and Tito has signed a deal to orbit the moon with his wife and 10 others when SpaceX’s Starship is ready.
To realize this progress, consider that the space shuttle Columbia, the first reusable spacecraft, made its inaugural launch only 45 years ago. Today, such craft are common: the European ATV, Japan’s H-II, the Chinese reusable experimental spaceplane, the X-37B OTB, and SpaceX’s Cargo and Crew Dragons. Looking ahead, Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spaceplane awaits its first flight and, though they have already flown, we’ll start to see reuse of Starships and Orion capsules. The list grows when you factor in the Falcon 9 and New Glenn launch vehicles.
Key to many of these milestones has been cooperation. Indeed, this year marks 51 years of international space cooperation, which began with the Apollo-Soyuz mission. In the last 25 years of continuous human presence in space, representatives of at least 47 different countries have traveled to space — 55, if you include suborbital and commercial flights.
However, cooperation in space hasn’t always been key to progress. Initially, it was a race between nations that pushed advances in space travel. Today, we are seeing competition among private companies pursuing different approaches that is advancing human presence in space. This is akin to how progress was made in early aviation, where such competition spurred the capabilities we take for granted today.
On that note, aviation is marking the 115th anniversary of the first transcontinental flight, which took Perry Rodgers 49 days and over 70 stops (including more than 16 crashes) in the “Vin Fiz” biplane. Soon after, airlines including American and Lufthansa were founded; they will all celebrate their centennials this year. Similarly, it’s been 100 years since widespread U.S. airmail service was initiated, connecting major cities including Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland.
Many of these anniversaries are themselves built upon prior achievements. Even before those airlines were established, there was the first aerial refueling, which paved the way for longer and longer flights. For that initial demonstration 105 years ago, wing walker Wesley May climbed out of a Lincoln Standard biplane with a 5-gallon can of fuel strapped to his back and walked along the wing to a Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” plane flying in formation. He then poured the fuel into the tank of the Jenny. Two years later, refueling was demonstrated with a hose between aircraft.
Today, aerial refueling is a key enabler to projection of air power by militaries across the globe, and technology is being developed to conduct refueling in orbit to extend the operating life of satellites. It also could be critical to the future of human exploration of the universe.
Yet another anniversary reminds us of the days when refueling wasn’t always an option: the 95th anniversary of the first nonstop, non-refueled flight across the Pacific. Clyde Pangborn and Hugh Herndon Jr. flew from Japan with more than 900 gallons of fuel onboard to Washington state in 41 hours. We also celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Rutan Voyager, designed by AIAA Fellow Burt Rutan and piloted by his brother, Dick, along with Jeana Yeager, which circumnavigated the globe without refueling on a flight that took a little over nine days.
Those and other efforts to extend the range of aircraft were crucial to ensuring that air travel could connect the continents. This year, we are set to reach the ultimate goal of range expansion with the first delivery of aircraft for Project Sunrise. That initiative’s goal is a 240-passenger airliner with the range to connect any two commercial airports in the world — flights that may take up to 22 hours.
2026 also brings several key speed anniversaries, including 50 years since regularly scheduled supersonic service began with the Concorde, connecting continents in only a few short hours. We are now on the cusp of the reemergence of commercial supersonic flight, with NASA’s flight tests of the X-59 demonstrator and Boom Supersonic’s development of its Overture airliner.
If these endeavors succeed, we could see the expansion of hyper-fast travel, including hypersonic ambitions. This holds the prospect of both range and speed.
These anniversaries, whether in aerospace or elsewhere, matter because they remind us to reflect on the path that got us to where we are. They are landmarks toward the future that we have envisioned. They validate that advancements are made in incremental steps.
We are encouraged to remember the motivations that led to the status we have achieved, acknowledge the challenges overcome to reach each milestone, and reflect upon the aspirations we had then for the future — and perhaps reinvigorate those aspirations again.
