MINDEN, Nevada (AFP) - The space glider Perlan 2 is helping Airbus take on Silicon Valley's brightest innovators, even while pursuing technologies that might eventually lead to passenger flights in ...

Airbus (Toulouse, France) Perlan Mission II, the world’s first initiative to pilot an engineless aircraft to the edge of space, set a new gliding altitude world record – pending official validation.

It’s been 40 years since an American spy plane, the Lockheed SR-71 “Blackbird,” flew 85,069 feet above the surface of the earth, setting a record for sustained altitude that stands today. But records ...

Editor’s Note: CNN’s Thom Patterson covered the Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Follow him on Twitter at @thompatterson. Crowds of aviation enthusiasts ...

The only aircraft to make it to the edge of space thus far have been advanced military jets, but next year an engineless glider could reach a record altitude, at least that's the goal of the team ...

The Perlan 2 glider has successfully made its first test flight, preparing it for its eventual flight to the edge of space. The glider was launched by an agricultural airplane and flew to a height of ...

LOS ANGELES—The Airbus Perlan Mission II stratospheric glider project plans to dramatically expand its role in atmospheric and climate research by incorporating new sensors and working collaboratively ...

Airbus is undertaking the final tests of its Perlan 2 glider, an engineless aircraft that it hopes to fly close to the edge of space later in the year. The pressurised sailplane is designed to ride ...

Airbus Group CEO Tom Enders (R) shakes hands with chief pilot Jim Payne after the two landed a test flight of the Airbus Perlan 2 manned glider on May 7, 2016 at Minden-Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nevada ...

Flying in a glider, some pilots say, is the closest thing to flying like a bird—the aircraft, which has no engine, is towed off the runway by a powered aircraft, then disconnects and climbs currents ...