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☆ China is reportedly developing military drones that can split into 6 to overwhelm enemy defenses
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Polly Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The multiplying drones could expand into swarms that would confuse air defense systems, experts told Business Insider. But even when separated into single units, these drones' flight efficiency remains 40% higher than most small drones. Advertisement"When drones are detected, defense systems deploy a certain amount of resources proportional to the threat. If that threat suddenly multiplies, it provides an opportunity to overwhelm the air defense resources being deployed," Shumate said. Small, affordable drones are reshaping the modern battlefield in unprecedented ways, and forcing militaries to rapidly modernize their defense systems.

Persons: —, Getty, Will Shumate, Shumate, Huang, Sean Gallup, Admiral John Aquilino, Admiral Aquilino Organizations: Service, China Morning Post, Nanjing University of Aeronautics, Astronautics, Acta Aeronautica, Army, RAND, Getty, US Army, Pacific Command, Armed Locations: China, Russia, Ukraine

☆ SpaceX inked $1.8 billion deal with US intelligence agency to create a network of spy satellites, report says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-16 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

SpaceX's national security ties are deeper than previously known, a new Reuters report revealed. The astronautics company inked a $1.8 billion deal in 2021 with a US intelligence agency. Under the contract terms, SpaceX will build a network of spy satellites, the outlet reported. AdvertisementSpaceX's substantial ties to US national security are deeper than previously known, according to a new Reuters report. The astronautics company inked a $1.8 billion deal in 2021 with an American intelligence agency to create a network of spy satellites, the outlet reported, citing five sources familiar with the terms of the program.

Persons: — Organizations: Reuters, astronautics, SpaceX, Service, National Reconnaissance Office, Business Locations: American

☆ Japanese scientists want to send a wooden satellite into space
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-07 | by ( Rebecca Cairns | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Murata wondered if he “could build a wooden house on the moon or Mars,” and decided to test the theory — by creating a wooden satellite. Wooden satellites would be better for the planet while still providing the same functionality as their metal counterparts, says Murata. Now, they are working with Japan’s space agency (JAXA) and NASA to send the prototype satellite, called LingoSat, into orbit early next year. Engineers at Kyoto University are building a wooden satellite that will be launched into space in a joint mission with JAXA and NASA. Finnish startup Arctic Astronautics designed the WISA Woodsat, a wooden satellite that was supposed to be launched into space in 2021.

Persons: that’s, Koji Murata, Murata, ”, It’s, Jari Mäkinen, ” Mäkinen, Yarjan Abdul Samad, Samad, Tatsuhito Fujita, Fujita Organizations: CNN, Kyoto University, National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, “, JAXA, NASA, Murata, Engineers, Kyoto, NOAA, Astronautics, Khalifa University, United Arab Locations: Japan, East Asia, United Arab Emirates

☆ How riding rockets going 4,000 mph into suborbital space could slash international flight times from 22 hours to 2
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-16 | by ( Kelly Burch | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This idea of point-to-point rocket travel, however, could be uncomfortable and inconvenient. Space companies that are exploring the technologyWhile no one is going from Down Under to Big Ben in less than 24 hours these days, some space companies are already testing the technology needed for point-to-point rocket travel. No company has announced projected ticket prices for point-to-point rocket trips, but if other space travel is any indication they'll likely be super expensive. Currently, you can book a two-hour space flight with Virgin Galactic for $450,000. But he's not planning any future point-to-point rocket flights because it's not worth the hassle.

Persons: —, David Doughty, Admiral Jet, Doughty, Big Ben, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Joe Cassady, there's, Thompson, Cassady, It's, he's Organizations: SpaceX, Service, Qantas, Rockets, Passengers, Virgin Galactic, Rocket, astronautics, US Air Force, NASA, Astronauts, Travelers Locations: London, Sydney, New York, Boca Chica , Texas, Mexico

☆ JetBlue is painting its planes blue. Is that a good idea?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Dennis Green | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

JetBlue announced on Wednesday it's going to paint its planes blue. JetBlue's current white livery, for comparison's sake with the new blue one. JetBlue will be prominent on a plane's underside in the new livery. "The refreshed livery design was extensively reviewed and researched across the organization to ensure we will maintain our standard of great service. Southwest Airlines' paint scheme is the most similar to JetBlue's new one, with a blue fuselage and the airline's name in a large white typeface.

Persons: Jayne O'Brien, Lukas Wunderlich, John Hansman, It's, Hansman, it's, Kamil Krazaczynski Organizations: JetBlue, MIT Aeronautics, Astronautics, Getty, Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Sun, Frontier Locations: Delta, United, Alaska

☆ Meet the 17-year-old wonder kid who started coding at 7 and presented her app to Tim Cook last year. Now she's headed to NASA.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( Amanda Breen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Last year she was a winner in Apple's Swift Student Challenge and ended up presenting to Tim Cook. In the future she's looking towards aerospace cybersecurity and will be working for NASA. But at WWDC almost everybody is familiar with Apple software and products." "We see Tim Cook walking down the trail of Apple Park, heading towards us," Tsuboi says. Tsuboi is also building cybersecurity programs to ensure the cybersecurity of avionics (electronics as applied to aviation) on airplanes.

Persons: Angelina Tsuboi, Apple's, Tim Cook, —, She's, What's, Tsuboi, I'm, I've, she's, it's, Amanda Breen Organizations: NASA, Service, Developers, astronautics, Apple, MIT Locations: mechatronics, Japan, Los Angeles, Apple

☆ Factbox: Who are the three Russian scientists accused of state treason?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Lucy Papachristou | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

May 18 (Reuters) - Three Russian scientists who have worked on hypersonic missile technology face "very serious accusations" of state treason, the Kremlin says. Maslov was detained early in the morning of June 28 last year in Novosibirsk, according to an interview that his sons Nikolai and Alexei gave to local media. He declined to tell them anything about the possible reasons for his arrest, and they learned from his lawyer that he was being charged with state treason. Kommersant newspaper reported that Maslov was accused of divulging state secrets related to hypersonics, but provided no further details. Born in Siberia, he studied in the aircraft engineering department at Novosibirsk State Technical University.

☆ SpaceX’s Starship ‘Learning Experience’ Ends in Explosion
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Kenneth Chang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded above the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, minutes after lifting off from a launchpad in South Texas. There were no people aboard the spacecraft, the most powerful ever to launch. While it failed to reach orbit, it was not a fruitless failure for the private spaceflight company. Before the launch, Elon Musk, the company’s founder, had tamped down expectations, saying it might take several tries before Starship succeeds at this test flight. The brief flight produced reams of data for engineers to understand how the vehicle performed.

☆ Peace, love, and Hitler: How Lex Fridman's podcast became a safe space for the anti-woke tech elite
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +26 min

Seemingly overnight, episodes of Fridman's podcast began racking up millions of views. YouTube/Lex FridmanIn his podcast, Fridman asks world-renowned scientists, historians, artists, and engineers a series of wide-eyed questions ("Who is God? But recently, "The Lex Fridman Podcast" has become a haven for a growing — and powerful — sector looking to dismantle years of "wokeness" and cancel culture. Twitter"The Lex Fridman Podcast" offered a rare opportunity to listen to four-hour conversations with luminaries of tech and science. Bhaskar Sunkara, the founder and publisher of the socialist magazine Jacobin who appeared on Fridman's podcast in December, praised Fridman's interviewing style.

☆ Why SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket looks unlike anything the company has ever built before
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Rupendra Brahambhatt | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Not only is Starship the world's largest, most powerful rocket, it also looks unlike anything SpaceX has ever built. Veronica G. Cardenas/ReutersThis silver-black color scheme is a vast change from SpaceX's white Falcon 9 rockets or NASA's orange and white Space Launch System. SpaceX's silver rocket made of steelSpaceX's Starship rocket is made of stainless steel. SpaceX's black-studded Starship spacecraftStarship is covered on one side with black tiles to help protect it upon atmospheric re-entry. SPACEXSpaceX wouldn't comment on whether, or not, that's the reasoning for their silver Starship rocket.

☆ Starship: Elon Musk's SpaceX prepares to launch the most powerful rocket system ever built
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

SpaceX is in the final stages of testing the world's biggest and most powerful rocket. Elon Musk says the reusable Starship rocket could take its maiden flight in March. The billionaire has set his sights high: he wants to launch the world's biggest, most powerful rocket, and then use it to take humans to the moon and then Mars. After over 10 years of development, Musk announced SpaceX is ready to attempt the maiden flight of its Starship mega-rocket in March. "It's not just a cool rocket project, but literally it has the potential to change the fate of humanity," he said.

☆ I used to work on Mars rovers and now I develop self-driving cars. Here's how I made the pivot from NASA's JPL to Amazon's Zoox.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The former supervisor at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab now works at AV startup Zoox. I figured after all the startups, why not work for a big company, and what better big company than NASA? ZooxThe AV space is the next frontier of robotics. What we're trying to do here in the AV space, it's extremely multidisciplinary. You're doing perception, you're doing planning, you're doing prediction, doing simulation.

☆ U.S. FAA names experts to review Boeing safety culture after fatal crashes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said Thursday it had named 24 experts to review Boeing’s safety management processes and how they influence Boeing’s safety culture after two fatal 737 MAX crashes killed 346 people. Boeing did not immediately comment Thursday, but has previously emphasized it has made reforms to its safety culture that cost the company billions of dollars. In September, the FAA finalized a policy to protect aviation employees who perform government certification duties from interference by Boeing and others. In May, the FAA opted to renew Boeing's Organization Designation Authorization (ODA) program for three years rather than the five years Boeing sought. The FAA continues to subject Boeing to enhanced oversight, inspecting all new Boeing 737 MAXs and 787s before they can be delivered.

☆ SpaceX books another ride for a millionaire around the moon
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —SpaceX said Wednesday that it has booked yet another mission around the moon for a wealthy thrill-seeker on its forthcoming Starship spacecraft. He declined on Wednesday to share any financial information about the upcoming Starship mission. It’s not clear when the first crewed Starship mission will take off, however. But Starship is far bigger than anything that SpaceX — or any other rocket developer — has ever built. It’s expected to have more thrust than both NASA’s Saturn V rocket, which powered the moon landings of the mid-20th century, and the space agency’s new moon rocket, called SLS, or Space Launch System.

☆ Meet 11 people leading the aviation industry's push to slash emissions and ditch fossil fuels
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-31 | by ( Maia Anderson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Experts have estimated that aviation is responsible for nearly 2% of global greenhouse-gas emissions and 2.5% of carbon-dioxide emissions. Some aviation giants, like United, are signing purchase agreements to buy electric aircraft. Today he serves as CEO and chairman of the company, which aims to be a pioneer in electric aircraft. In 2000 he founded Aviation Technology Group, which developed the ATG Javelin very light jet before ceasing operations in 2007. He is also a founding member of the Nordic Network for Electric Aviation.

☆ В этом году в космос будет запущен первый деревянный спутник
▼ + stars: | 2021-05-09 | by ( Mld Media Srl | ) noi.md time to read: +1 min

Одно из подразделений финского предприятия по деревопереработке UPM совместно с аэрокосмическими компаниями в Международный день полета человека в космос объявило о готовности к выводу первого в истории деревянного спутника на орбиту Земли, сообщает компания UPM. "Наноспутник WISA Woodsat, разработанный и построенный компанией Arctic Astronautics, отправится до конца 2021 года туда, где раньше никогда не было древесины. Спутник будет выведен на полярную орбиту с помощью ракеты-носителя "Электрон" компании Rocket Lab. Спутник будет вращаться вокруг Земли на высоте 500-550 километров, совершая полный оборот примерно за 1,5 часа. UPM - глобальная финская компания по деревопереработке, развивает шесть направлений: UPM Biorefining, UPM Energy, UPM Raflatac, UPM Specialty Papers, UPM Communication Papers и UPM Plywood.

Persons: UPM Organizations: Arctic Astronautics, UPM Energy, NASDAQ Helsinki Ltd Locations: Arctic, Земля, Махия, Новая Зеландия, Россия

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