Fly Future 2026 is organized by Ifimedia, Università di Roma Tor Vergata, and Mediarkè in collaboration with ENAV.

Maurizio Cheli became an astronaut with the European Space Agency after a career as a pilot and test pilot in the Italian Air Force.

Fly Future 2026 will be held on 12 and 13 February 2026 at the Macroarea di Ingegneria of the Università di Roma Tor Vergata.

Fly Future 2026 will include a conference titled "Lavorare nello spazio. Il futuro delle attività spaziali, tra nuove stazioni orbitanti e missioni sulla Luna" scheduled for Friday, 13 February 2026.

The STS-75 mission carried the Italian tethered satellite experiment TSS-1R and performed the second test of that tethered satellite during the flight.

Fly Future 2026 will host an exhibition area with desks from approximately 25 aerospace companies and associations.

Fly Future 2026 will feature eleven conferences and seminars with participation from civilian and military pilots, flight school managers, aerospace industry executives, and other professionals and experts.

Maurizio Cheli and Umberto Guidoni will participate in the Fly Future 2026 conference on 13 February 2026.

Fly Future 2026 sponsors include Aeroitalia, Urbe Aero Flight Academy, Avio, Quick Turn Engine Center Europe, and ITS Academy for Sustainable Mobility and Aerospace Puglia.

Fly Future 2026 will include two aeromodelling exhibits: one on aircraft used by the Frecce Tricolori over 65 years and one on historic Alitalia aircraft.

Fly Future 2026 partners include Professional Aviation Academy, Cantor Air, Aeroitalia Aviation Academy, FlyBy Aviation Academy, Aero Club di Roma, Mobilita ITS Academy Lombardia, and ITS Meccatronico Lazio Academy.

Maurizio Cheli launched aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-75 on 22 February 1996 and returned from that flight on 9 March 1996.

Further information about Fly Future 2026 is available at www.flyfuture.it.

AST SpaceMobile, Inc. is listed on NASDAQ under the ticker ASTS.

AST SpaceMobile plans to launch BlueBird 7 aboard Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket no earlier than late February 2026.

BlueBird 6 is the first of AST SpaceMobile’s larger production satellites to reach full operational configuration in 2026.

The successful unfolding of BlueBird 6 provides technical validation for AST SpaceMobile’s 95% vertically integrated manufacturing process.

AST SpaceMobile’s manufacturing capacity goal is to build six satellites per month.

AST SpaceMobile is building a constellation intended to provide intermittent nationwide service in the United States with support from AT&T and Verizon.

BlueBird 6 successfully unfolded its satellite antenna.

BlueBird 6 uses AST SpaceMobile’s next-generation Block 2 architecture for the company’s direct-to-device cellular broadband network.

AST SpaceMobile currently operates 500,000 square feet of manufacturing space in Texas to support its satellite production.

Abel Avellan is Founder, Chairman, and CEO of AST SpaceMobile.

AST SpaceMobile has a year-end goal of placing 45 to 60 satellites in orbit to transition from intermittent to continuous cellular broadband service.

AST SpaceMobile aims to enable continuous cellular broadband service across the United States, Europe, and Japan by late 2026 if it reaches its 45-to-60-satellite goal.

The New Glenn mission carrying BlueBird 7 is expected to carry multiple satellites to accelerate AST SpaceMobile’s deployment rate.

AST SpaceMobile’s Block 2 BlueBird satellites represent a significant leap in capacity over the original BlueBird 1–5 satellites.

BlueBird 6 launched in late December 2025.

Shares of AST SpaceMobile climbed as much as 6.9% in premarket trading on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

AST SpaceMobile is targeting several high-stakes deployments scheduled for the first quarter of 2026.

The FCC intends to eliminate surety bond requirements for constellations with fewer than 200 satellites provided those constellations are not part of a specific processing round.

The FCC adopted a Foreign Adversary Reporting Regime on January 29 requiring license holders to disclose ownership interests of 10% or more held by entities from specified nations including China and Russia.

Drew Svor is a Sheppard Mullin partner who outlined the FCC’s plan to replace Part 25 with Part 100 at the SmallSat Symposium.

Under the proposed rules, the public comment window would be seven days for applications meeting all bright-line criteria.

Under the proposed rules, compliant applications would be placed on public notice within 30 days of filing.

Under the proposed rules, the FCC aims to act on an application within 60 days after the public notice period closes or to justify any delay.

The NPRM proposes moving earth-station licensing toward a nationwide license model that allows operators to register individual antenna sites in a database after deployment.

The Part 100 rulemaking creates a Variable Trajectory Spacecraft System category intended for dynamic missions such as on-orbit servicing and manufacturing.

SpaceX filed a modification request on January 30 for a constellation of up to one million satellites to support an Orbital Data Center network.

The Part 100 proposal replaces narrative-based applications with a standardized, component-based licensing architecture that separates applications into modular components such as debris mitigation, spectrum usage, and ownership.

The Federal Communications Commission plans to retire legacy Part 25 rules in favor of a modular Part 100 framework.

The Variable Trajectory Spacecraft System category would allow operators to update trajectory data dynamically for missions that do not maintain fixed orbits.

The nationwide earth-station license model would allow operators to add or register additional antenna sites under a blanket license without applying for new licenses for each location.

The NPRM’s ground-station licensing changes directly support the Ground-Station-as-a-Service business model by enabling infrastructure providers to rapidly activate sites.

The Space Modernization for the 21st Century Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is the FCC initiative proposing the Part 100 framework.

More than 420 aircraft are online with Gilat’s Sidewinder electronically steerable antenna.

Gilat Satellite Networks reported $452 million in revenue in 2025.

Gilat is expanding the Gilat Defense sales team and increasing R&D investment in Gilat Defense.

Gilat is working to secure linefit for the Sidewinder antenna with both Boeing and Airbus.

Gilat Satellite Networks grew revenue by 48% in 2025 driven by in-flight connectivity technology and its acquisition of Stellar Blu.