Tag: Aerospace

Boeing Closer to Understanding Thruster Failures After Latest Testing

AP News reports, “Boeing is closer to understanding what went wrong with its astronaut capsule in orbit, now that testing is complete on a spare thruster here on Earth. … Officials said Thursday there’s still no return date for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Engineers will first disassemble the thruster that was test-fired in New Mexico over the past couple of weeks. Then they’ll analyze the data before clearing Starliner for the trip home.”
Full story (AP News)

Communication Problems Cause Major US Carriers to Ground Flights

Reuters reports that top U.S. airlines including Delta, United, and American, issued ground stops on Friday citing communication issues, as a global outage roiled operations across a wide swathe of industries around the world. American Airlines, however, later said in a statement it had re-established operations. Frontier and Spirit too cancelled directives to ground planes. It was not clear if the groundings reported by the major U.S. airlines were related to outages at Microsoft, and cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike that affected “banking, healthcare and a number of other sectors globally on Friday.”
Full Story (Reuters)

AIAA Unveils ASCEND Diverse Dozen Op-Eds on Space Sustainability and Environmentalism

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 19, 2024 – Reston, Va. – AIAA published the 2024 ASCEND Diverse Dozen (D12) Op-Eds – a collection of unique perspectives on today’s most pressing space sustainability challenges. The 12 visionaries who comprise the D12 will present their ideas on the opening day of 2024 ASCEND, 30 July – 1 August, Las Vegas. Organized as rapid-fire lightning talks, the D12 will address burning topics from the challenges of balancing growth through responsible space sustainability to orbital debris risking human space exploration.

ASCEND is the world’s premier outcomes-focused, interdisciplinary space event designed to accelerate building our off-world future. In its fifth year, D12 is produced in partnership with astrodynamicist Moriba Jah, chief scientist and co-founder of Privateer. More than 50 people have participated in the D12 program since 2020. Read all their Op-Eds here.

This year, the D12 is supported by the Office of Space Commerce, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce helping amplify underrepresented voices as they promote messages on space sustainability.

The 2024 ASCEND D12 cohort includes startup founders, association leaders, aerospace and engineering scholars, and policy experts in the space industry. They hail from Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Pakistan, the United States and its territory, Puerto Rico.

The 2024 ASCEND Diverse Dozen are:

  • Nifemi Awe, Management Consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
  • Priyanka Dhopade, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Engineering, University of Auckland
  • Martina Dimoska, Founder and President, International Space Alliance
  • Jose Figueroa, Founder, Aqua/Sky Launch Innovations
  • Amir Gohardani, CEO, Springs of Dreams Corporation
  • Kim Macharia, Executive Director, Space Prize Foundation
  • Isabelle Mierau, Founder, Space Debris DAO
  • Sumbal Mushtaq, Founder, Astralbeam Organization
  • Alma Okpalefe, Executive Director, World Space Week Association
  • Carolyn Overmyer, Director, Orion Chief Engineer, Lockheed Martin Space
  • Olga Stelmakh-Drescher, Chief Policy, Legal & Government Relations Officer, Exolaunch
  • Salman Ali Thepdawala, Ph.D. Candidate and Munich Aerospace Scholar, University of Bundesweehr – Munich

Registration for 2024 ASCEND is open. Press passes are available.

Contact: Rebecca Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell

About AIAA
AIAA is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Commander of U.S. Space Command Conveys Confidence in Falcon 9’s Quick Return to Flight

Space News reports, “The head of U.S. Space Command expressed confidence July 17 that SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will soon return to flight following a recent mishap. Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of U.S. Space Command, revealed that he visited SpaceX’s Starlink satellite factory in Seattle the day after a July 11 incident that led to the grounding of the Falcon 9 fleet. ‘We showed up and some of their senior leaders were there and they were very transparent, giving us insight into what had happened,’” Whiting said.
Full Story (Space News)

 

Germany’s Lilium Earns Biggest Order Yet for Flying Taxis from Saudi Airline Group

Reuters reports, “Germany-based air taxi developer Lilium on Thursday clinched its biggest order yet in a deal for Saudi airline Saudia Group to purchase up to 100 of its all-electric flying shuttles, which are still in development. The state-owned airline made a firm order for 50 of Lilium’s electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) Jets with an option for an additional 50 later, Lilium said.”
Full Story (Reuters)

NASA Rolls Artemis 2 Booster Off Factory Floor In Preparation for 2025 Launch

SPACE reports, “The core stage of the first rocket to launch astronauts to the moon in over 50 years has left its manufacturing facility, and is bound for vehicle integration and assembly ahead of its launch next year. NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) Artemis 2 booster was rolled out of the space agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility, in New Orleans today (July 16), 55 years to the day of NASA’s Apollo 11 launch to the moon.”
Full Story (SPACE)

US Aviation Industry Asks Congress to Focus On ‘Neglected’ FAA Facilities

Reuters reports, “Major U.S. aviation groups and unions urged Congress to address persistent shortfalls in funding for FAA facilities after a series of reports raised alarm about aging air traffic control facilities. “Necessary maintenance of existing systems is being neglected,” said the letter signed by Airlines for America, Aerospace Industries Association, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Air Line Pilots Association and others.”
Full Story (Reuters)

NASA to Evaluate Astronaut Launch Schedule In Wake of SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Failure

SPACE reports, “NASA is waiting to see if there will be “schedule impacts” for its next astronaut mission aboard SpaceX after a rocket failure last week, the agency said in a recent statement. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket had a rare anomaly during a Starlink satellite launch on Thursday (July 11). The second stage on the rocket failed to work as planned, stranding the broadband satellites in an unusual orbit. As SpaceX and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigate why this occurred, an International Space Station (ISS) mission is under scrutiny.”
Full Story (SPACE)

 

Video

SpaceX Experiences Engine Failure In Flight
(The Launch Pad; YouTube)

Beta Electric Aircraft Conducts Two More ‘Real-Time’ Demos

Flying Magazine reports, “After wrapping up its first test and deployment campaign with the U.S. Air Force in January, electric aircraft manufacturer Beta Technologies on Monday said it completed two more real-time demonstrations, dispatching its Alia aircraft with only a few minutes’ notice. The company believes these were the first such deployments for an electric aircraft with major commands of the Air Force.”
Full Story (Flying Magazine)