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Philippines, US air forces back together for Cope Thunder
The Philippine Air Force and the US Pacific Air Force are set to embark on joint exercises – involving their advanced fighter jets – from April 8 to 19 for this year’s iteration of Cope Thunder, an annual air defense and offense training event to be held in Luzon......»»
Boeing Issues Directive for Airlines to Inspect 787 Cockpit Seats Following Latam Incident
Boeing Issues Safety Reminder for Airlines Following Incident on Dreamliner Flight Boeing has instructed airlines to check the cockpit seats of its 787 Dreamliner plane.....»»
Boeings safety culture falls short despite companys efforts to fix it, experts say
A recent report by a panel of outside experts has highlighted concerns about safety culture at aircraft manufacturer Boeing. The panel found a “disconnect” between.....»»
New FAA report highlights ‘disconnect’ at Boeing surrounding safety culture
A recent report commissioned by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has shed light on safety issues at Boeing, one of the world’s leading aerospace companies......»»
China’s first homegrown airliner makes international debut in Singapore
SINGAPORE – China’s challenger to Airbus and Boeing’s passenger jets, the narrow-body C919 manufactured by the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), has made its first trip outside Chinese territory, staging a fly-by at the Singapore Airshow on Sunday. China has invested heavily in its attempt to break the hold of the dominant two Western.....»»
Cebu Pacific negotiating P1-T plane purchase order with Boeing and Airbus
Cebu Pacific confirmed a report that it was in talks with both Airbus and Boeing for a 150-plane order worth approximately US $18 billion (~P1.0 trillion).....»»
First moon lander in five decades launches to space
WASHINGTON—A robotic lander built by a private company was bound for the moon on Monday in an attempt to make the first U.S. lunar soft landing in half a century, after launching to space aboard a new Vulcan rocket debuted by a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Space robotics firm Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar.....»»
Federal officials order grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners after plane suffers a blowout
Federal officials order grounding of some Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners after plane suffers a blowout.....»»
Cebu Pacific readies biggest plane order
Cebu Pacific is in talks with plane makers Airbus and Boeing for an order of 150 aircraft worth at least $18 billion—the single biggest plane order in the country’s aviation history......»»
Emirates Places Order for 95 Boeing 777 Widebody Jets in $52B Deal
Title: Emirates Places $52 Billion Order for 95 Boeing Aircraft, Boosting Fleet and Network Strategy Dubai, UAE – Emirates, the largest operator of Boeing 777.....»»
Boeing assessing Lockbit hacking gang threat of sensitive data leak
The Lockbit hacking group posts a countdown clock on its data leak website with a message saying, 'Sensitive data was exfiltrated and ready to be published if Boeing do not contact within the deadline!'.....»»
Amazon launches test satellites in challenge to Musk’s Starlink
Amazon launched two satellites on Friday as part of its plan to deliver the internet from space and compete with Elon Musk's Starlink service. The Atlas V rocket carrying the satellites lifted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 2:06 pm local time (6:06 pm GMT). The launch was carried out by the United Launch Alliance (ULA) industrial group, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. Once up and running, the company founded by Jeff Bezos says its Project Kuiper will provide "fast, affordable broadband to unserved and underserved communities around the world," with a constellation of more than 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). "We've done extensive testing here in our lab and have a high degree of confidence in our satellite design, but there's no substitute for on-orbit testing," said Rajeev Badyal, Project Kuiper's vice president of technology. The company has said it would invest $10 billion in the project and has booked 77 heavy-lift launches with commercial providers Arianespace, ULA, and Bezos-owned Blue Origin. The first operational satellites of the Kuiper project are due to be launched in early 2024, according to Amazon, which hopes for initial tests with customers at the end of next year. The test on Friday attempted to establish contact between the probes and Earth, deploy their solar panels, and confirm that all instruments are operating correctly and at the desired temperatures. The two prototypes will then be removed from orbit and disintegrated in the Earth's atmosphere at the end of the test mission. These services are designed to provide internet access to even the most remote and underserved areas around the world, including war zones or disaster-struck areas. Musk's SpaceX launched the first batch of its more than 3,700 operational Starlink satellites in 2019 and is by far the biggest player. Musk's ownership of Starlink caused uproar in Ukraine last month when it was revealed that he refused to turn on the service for a planned attack by Kyiv forces on Russia's Black Sea navy fleet last year. London-headquartered OneWeb is another early entrant in the emerging sector. Given the technology's strategic importance, governments are also keen to join the rush into the sector. China plans to launch 13,000 satellites as part of its GuoWang constellation, while Canada's Telesat will add 300 and German start-up Rivada is eyeing 600. That will be in addition to the European Union's Iris project -- 170 satellites -- and the 300-500 satellites planned to be launched by the US military's Space Development Agency. The post Amazon launches test satellites in challenge to Musk’s Starlink appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Phl not dependent on US in boosting defense posture in WPS
The Philippines has no “dependence relations” with other countries to bolster its defense posture in the West Philippine Sea. National Security Council Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, who is also the concurrent spokesperson of National Task Force West Philippine Sea, particularly said the country is not dependent on the United States to secure the country’s exclusive economic zone in WPS. “Hindi ko maintindihan ‘yung konsepto ng umaasa sa kaalyado kasi hindi naman ‘yung Estados Unidos ang nagdadala ng supplies sa Ayungin Shoal, sa BRP Sierra Madre (I don’t understand the concept that we are just relying on our allies because the US was not the one bringing the supplies to BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal),” Malaya said in a radio interview over the weekend. Malaya was pertaining to the recent rotation and resupply mission of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard in the BRP Sierra Madre, the country’s military outpost in Ayungin Shoal, which was questioned by Senator Robin Padilla because of the presence a maritime surveillance aircraft of the US Navy. Padilla said the event may have provoked China to escalate tensions in WPS, pointing out that the country could do the resupply mission on its own sans US presence. On 8 September, a Boeing P-8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft was seen accompanying a RoRe mission of the AFP’s Western Command and PCG while escorting the Philippine Navy boats traversing the Ayungin waters. “Walang dependence relationship dito. Ito ay Philippine mission. Philippine troops ang pupunta doon, nagro-rotate, ‘yung mga vessel lahat Philippine Navy o PCG. Ang ginagawa lang ng US is to monitor what’s happening there (There was no dependence relationship here. This is a Philippine mission. Philippine troops as well as Philippine Navy or PCG vessels involved. What the US is doing is only monitoring what’s happening there),” Malaya stressed. In a separate television interview on Monday, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Jay Tarriela earlier confirmed that there was no coordination made with the United States about the flight of surveillance along with the RoRe mission. During the Senate joint committee inquiry Tuesday, Defense Undersecretary Ignacio Madriaga told senators that the AFP coordinated with the US. Defense Chief Gilberto Teodoro said the aircraft was flying in the international airspace. “Anybody can fly over there…There is freedom of navigation and overflight over the international airspace notwithstanding Ayungin is Philippine territory,” he added. Teodoro further pressed that the Philippines is just proactively asserting its sovereign rights in WPS. Meanwhile, AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the presence of US surveillance aircraft was just some kind of “technical support” from an ally under the Mutual Defense Treaty. “If you are referring to the airplanes that were seen during the resupply missions, let me tell you that this is nothing new. During the Marawi siege we also received the same kind of technical support from our ally the United States and even our partner the Australian Defense Force,” he said. Brawner noted the same aircraft had contributed to the success of government forces against the Daesh-inspired Maute group in Marawi City. “I could say that we have been successful because of the technical assistance that we received through the airplanes that were flying above and giving us the technical and intelligence information that was very critical in identifying the positions of the Maute-ISIS and for us to be able to really neutralize them because we were very precise in our targeting,” he said. Asked if the same presence of the US assets in the RoRe mission would become a regular thing between the two countries, US Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. John Aquilino expressed full support for the Philippines' missions in securing its territory. “The security environment is extremely challenging right now and I wanna thank my friend and partner, Gen. Brawner, for his leadership, as he works to protect his force and execute the missions that he's been tasked by his leadership and as a mutual defense treaty—we coordinate every day on operations and anywhere possible that I can support my friend and partner we will,” Aquilino told the defense reporters. The post Phl not dependent on US in boosting defense posture in WPS appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Biden leads US tech push in Vietnam
President Joe Biden and senior executives from top US tech firms including Google and Intel met Vietnamese business leaders Monday after the two countries agreed to deepen cooperation as Washington seeks to counter China's growing clout. Biden and Vietnam's ruling Communist Party chief -- the country's paramount leader -- struck a "comprehensive strategic partnership" as Washington pushes to boost its network of allies around Asia and the Pacific. The United States sees manufacturing dynamo Vietnam as an important part of its plan to decrease reliance on China for supplies of strategic resources, and the new pact includes agreements on semiconductors and rare earths. Executives from tech behemoth Google, chip makers Intel and GlobalFoundries, and aviation giant Boeing joined Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for an "innovation and investment summit". They held talks with senior figures from a host of leading Vietnamese tech and manufacturing companies including electric car maker VinFast, internet firm VNG and digital wallet Momo. At the talks, Biden announced that flag-carrier Vietnam Airlines had agreed a $7.8-billion deal with Boeing to buy 50 medium-haul 737 airliners. Other deals announced include Microsoft developing a "generative AI-based solution tailored for Vietnam" and NVIDIA teaming up with local companies to deploy artificial intelligence in the cloud, automotive and healthcare sectors. Semiconductor security The new partnership includes an agreement on semiconductors, with the United States committing to help Vietnam develop its capabilities and expand production, including by funding workforce training. Tiny semiconductors are vital to modern life, found in every electronic device from children's toys and smartphones to electric cars and sophisticated weapon systems. Biden moved last month to restrict US investment in Chinese technology in sensitive areas including semiconductors, quantum computing and AI. With Washington looking to diversify and strengthen its supply chains after a series of shocks hit the global economy, it is increasingly looking to Vietnam, which has the world's second-largest deposits of rare earths -- another strategically vital resource -- after China. The White House highlighted US investment in chipmaking in Vietnam, pointing to a new $1.6 billion factory near Hanoi due to start operations soon. China difficulties Biden insisted Sunday that he did not want to "contain" China, but accused Beijing of seeking to change the rules of the international order. And in their joint statement, Biden and Trong launched a fresh broadside at Beijing in the sprawling, multi-state territorial row over the South China Sea. They warned against "threat or the use of force", days after the latest clash involving Chinese vessels, and insisted the competing claims to the strategic waterway must be settled under international norms. Beijing claims almost the entire sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually, and has ignored an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. The president met Chinese Premier Li Qiang -- the country's number two leader -- on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Delhi on Sunday. Biden said the major economic problems Beijing was wrestling with would limit its scope for action, particularly on Taiwan -- which China regards as a renegade province. "China has a difficult economic problem right now for a whole range of reasons that relate to the international growth and lack thereof and the policies that China has followed," he said, pointing to high youth unemployment and real estate issues. "I don't think it's going to cause China to invade Taiwan. As a matter of fact, the opposite -- it probably doesn't have the same capacity that it had before." Vietnam has its own squabbles with Beijing, notably over the contested South China Sea. Hanoi's state media on Monday hailed the deal with former war foe the United States as "historic". Biden will end his visit by paying his respects at a memorial to his friend John McCain, the former US Senator shot down in Hanoi as a pilot during the Vietnam War. The post Biden leads US tech push in Vietnam appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
NASA and SpaceX re-attempt launch of four crew to ISS
NASA and SpaceX will try again on Saturday to send the next crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station. Dubbed Crew-7, the mission will be commanded by American Jasmin Moghbeli and includes Andreas Mogensen of Denmark, Satoshi Furukawa of Japan, and Konstantin Borisov of Russia. Liftoff is planned for 3:27 am (0727 GMT) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with a backup opportunity on Sunday. The launch was pushed back to Saturday to give engineers an extra day to review a component of the Crew Dragon capsule's environmental control and life support system, NASA said in a blog post. It will be the first space mission for both Moghbeli and Borisov. "This is something I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember," said Moghbeli, a Naval test pilot, during a media call last month. "One of the things I'm most excited about is looking back at our beautiful planet," added the 40-year-old of Iranian heritage. "Everyone who I've talked to who has flown already has said that was a life-changing perspective -- and also floating around in space, it seems really fun." Crew-7 is set to be the seventh routine mission to the orbital platform for Elon Musk's SpaceX, with the first coming in 2020. NASA pays SpaceX for the taxi service as part of a commercial crew program that it put in place to reduce dependency on Russian rockets for astronaut transport after the space shuttle program ended in 2011. Boeing is the other contracted private partner, but its program remains mired in delays and technical difficulties. It has not yet flown any crew. Borisov will be the third Russian to fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, fixed atop a Falcon 9 rocket. Space remains a rare area of cooperation between the United States and Russia despite Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, with Americans also continuing to fly aboard Russian Soyuz rockets that launch from Kazakhstan. The crew will spend six months aboard the ISS, where they will carry out science experiments including collecting samples during a spacewalk to determine whether the station releases microorganisms through its life support system vents. The goal is to understand if microorganisms can survive and reproduce in space. Another experiment will aim to assess the physiological differences between sleep on Earth and in space. "I'm looking forward to coping with all the tasks. This is a very interesting profession: you are preparing for something that you haven't tried yet, and you really want to do it well," said Borisov. Crew-7 will join the seven people already aboard the ISS, before members of Crew-6 leave for Earth a few days later. The first segment of the ISS was launched in 1998, and it has been continuously inhabited by an international crew since 2001. Its operations are set to continue until at least 2030, after which it will be decommissioned and crash into the ocean. Several private companies are working on commercial space stations to replace it. The post NASA and SpaceX re-attempt launch of four crew to ISS appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Top-of-the-line bling: Drake reveals he bought Tupac’s crown ring
Canadian rapper Drake revealed Friday that he is the buyer of a crown-shaped ring that belonged to slain hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur, which sold at auction this week for a record $1 million. Drake shared an Instagram story that showed him wearing the bauble, which sold Tuesday at Sotheby's for a total of $1.016 million, including commission and fees. That was well above the pre-sale estimate of between $200,000 and $300,000, making it the most valuable hip-hop artifact ever sold, the auction house said. Drake -- the best-selling artist behind hits such as "Hotline Bling" and "Nice For What" -- has spent lavishly in the past, including buying a Boeing 767 for personal use and paying $104 million for a Los Angeles home once owned by singer Robbie Williams. The New York-born Shakur wore the ring during his final public appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards on September 4, 1996. Widely regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time with 75 million records sold, he was shot dead by an unidentified assailant in Las Vegas just days later. He was 25. Shakur, whose hits included "California Love," designed the ring over the course of a few months, Sotheby's said. He did so through his godmother Yaasmyn Fula, who put the ring up for sale. A gold circlet studded with a central cabochon ruby flanked by two pave-cut diamonds sits atop a diamond-encrusted gold band. Shakur was influenced by 16th century Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli's political manifesto "The Prince," which he read while in prison on sex abuse charges. He modeled the design on the crowns of the medieval kings of Europe, Sotheby's added. The post Top-of-the-line bling: Drake reveals he bought Tupac’s crown ring appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Biggest-ever airliner order marks first day of Paris Air Show
European aircraft maker Airbus got the Paris Air Show off to a soaring start on Monday with the announcement of the biggest-ever order for civil aircraft, as the French president joined a big crowd for the event's return after a four-year Covid hiatus. The 500-plane deal with low-cost Indian carrier IndiGo kicked off what organizers have billed as the "recovery airshow" after the coronavirus ravaged the sector and the biennial trade fair was canceled in 2021. Fighter jets and civilian aircraft streaked across the sky while suited and uniformed delegations, including Ukrainian military officials and President Emmanuel Macron, toured the stands. This year's airshow has a new focus on defence following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, as well as the industry's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, with French President Emmanuel Macron arriving in a helicopter partly using sustainable aviation fuel. Macron called for "restraint" to protect the environment but said measures for aviation should be "reasonable" rather than "punitive", adding that the world shouldn't "give up on growth". Huge traffic jams around Le Bourget airport outside Paris were a testament to the interest in this year's show, as aircraft makers field hundreds of orders and airlines brace for a near-record number of passengers this year. The Ukraine conflict has also prompted countries to boost military spending, which could benefit aerospace defense firms. While Russia has been excluded from the event, Ukrainian military officials toured the huge exhibition space at Paris-Le Bourget airport, some taking photos of missiles on display. Passion for air hasn't disappeared Macron announced that Belgium is to be admitted as an observer to the French-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System program, which is seeking to develop the next generation of air combat technology. Macron, closing a ministerial conference on European air defense, called it a " major development". The FCAS is due to come into service by 2040 but has already suffered numerous delays. Also on the military front, Macron said that France, Estonia, Hungary, Belgium, and Cyprus are to jointly purchase Mistral short-range surface-to-air missiles. "This is a very fine example of sovereign cooperation between Europeans on a range that is entirely relevant and that was not sufficiently covered", the French leader said. There was star turns for the Rafale fighter made by France's Dassault and the American F-35 jet, with hundreds of visitors turning their phone cameras skyward and some plugging their ears against the deafening flypasts. Le Bourget offers a forum to announce deals with some 2,500 firms lining up to show off their latest planes, drones, helicopters and prototypes such as flying taxis. With 125,000 square meters (1,350,000 square feet) of exhibition space -- the equivalent of nearly 18 football pitches -- around 320,000 visitors are expected during the week-long event. "Passion for the air hasn't disappeared, that's good news," said Bertrand Godinot, easyJet's Netherlands and France director. Big deals Along with the Farnborough airshow in England, which takes place in even-numbered years, Le Bourget is a key sales event for the civil and defence industries. Airbus and rival Boeing compete fiercely in announcing orders for aircraft running into the billions of dollars. Monday's IndiGo-Airbus deal covers A320 family planes at a list price of $55 billion. Although closely held actual sale prices are usually lower, it marks the largest ever civil aviation order by volume, hailed by Airbus chief executive Guillaume Faury as "an enormous milestone". Airbus and Boeing are also battling to solidify supply chains as they increase production to meet growing demand. The United States has a strong presence with 425 exhibitors, while firms from 46 other nations are present. China, which lifted Covid restrictions only at the beginning of this year, is also represented. However, Beijing is not displaying its first homegrown medium-haul passenger jet, the C919, built to compete with the Airbus A320neo and Boeing 737 MAX. Flying taxis The airshow also hopes to open a window into the future as projects for flying taxis and other vertical take-off aircraft abound. Several prototypes will be on display as part of a "Paris Air Mobility" exhibition to showcase the latest innovations that developers hope will change how people travel. Macron arrived aboard Airbus' latest helicopter, the H160, in a flight fuelled with 30 percent sustainable aviation fuel before visiting the European group's stand where it laid out its net-zero-by-2050 plan. Macron had on Friday announced $2.2 billion to help develop technologies to reduce aircraft emissions. Air travel accounts for nearly three percent of global CO2 emissions but serves only a small minority of the world's population. With the industry targeting net zero emissions by mid-century, firms are turbocharging efforts to achieve it. The initial focus is on SAF, made from sources such as municipal waste and agricultural waste. But companies are also working to develop battery- and hydrogen-powered aircraft. The post Biggest-ever airliner order marks first day of Paris Air Show appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
Boeing’s crewed launch delayed anew
Boeing has once again delayed the first crewed flight of its Starliner space capsule after discovering new technical issues, officials said Thursday. The troubled CST-100 Starliner program has experienced numerous postponements but was finally meant to send humans on a test flight to the International Space Station on 21 July. During testing, Boeing engineers identified new issues relating to a faulty parachute system and wire harness tape used extensively through the capsule that was found to be flammable under some conditions. After internal deliberations, they decided to abandon the test flight and report the new issues to the US space agency, which has contracted Boeing to provide a taxi service to the ISS. “We’ve decided to stand down the preparation for the CFT (Crewed Flight Mission) mission in order to correct these problems,” Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of Boeing told reporters on a press call. No new date has been proposed. Boeing had hoped to make its first manned flight of the CST-100 Starliner in 2022. The company finally succeeded in May 2022 in reaching the ISS for the first time — without a crew on board. NASA awarded fixed-price contracts of $4.2 billion to Boeing and $2.6 billion to SpaceX in 2014, shortly after the end of the Space Shuttle program, during a time when the United States was left reliant on Russian Soyuz rockets for rides to the ISS. NASA is looking to certify Starliner as a second “taxi” service for its astronauts to the space station — a role that Elon Musk’s SpaceX has provided since succeeding in a test mission of its Dragon capsule in 2020. The post Boeing’s crewed launch delayed anew appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
At its 787 Dreamliner factory, Boeing prepares for takeoff
As airlines seek to fulfill customers' growing post-pandemic appetites for long-haul travel, Boeing is aiming to speed up production of its 787 Dreamliners after a period plagued by repeated delivery interruptions due to manufacturing defects. At a hangar in the US East Coast state of South Carolina, the plane begins to take shape on its first assembly line -- here, the wings, cockpit, cabin and tail are still in separate pieces. It will take about a month for the entire aircraft to come together, with the final touches added later, in the parking lot. The US aerospace giant has already managed to up its manufacturing rate from fewer than two 787s per month in 2021 to four, and is hoping to get up to five by the end of the year. On the second assembly line in the hangar, located in the city of North Charleston, three completed airplanes are inspected. They had to be returned for adjustments, after the discovery of several production flaws beginning in 2020. There are still several dozen other planes under inspection, but Boeing plans to move that review process to its factory in Everett, in Washington state, by the end of the year. That will allow them to devote the second assembly line in South Carolina solely to plane construction, meaning they can ramp up to 10 787s per month by 2025 or 2026. That would bring the factory close to Boeing's pre-pandemic production rate of 14 jets per month, which was achieved by splitting 787 construction between South Carolina and Washington state, before it was all consolidated to the East Coast in 2021. Boeing says it's not worried about potential cancelations from airline clients unhappy with the delays. "Our problem right now is more to just getting these planes in the hands of the customers," Lane Ballard, the 787 program's general manager said during a press visit to Boeing's South Carolina locations Tuesday and Wednesday, ahead of the Paris Air Show later this month. Despite the rebound in sales of its flagship medium-haul 737 MAX last year -- giving the company its best delivery numbers since 2018 -- Boeing is pinning its financial hopes on the 787, after four consecutive years in the red. Recent months have finally seen an uptick in orders for large planes, the market for which was already suffering before the drop in long-haul air traffic during Covid lockdowns. Boeing has historically dominated the high-margin long-haul manufacturing scene with its 787 and 777 configurations, competing with Airbus's A350 and A330. Now, with Boeing no longer producing its 747 jumbo jet, the lag on its 777 passenger model and the five-year delay in certification for its 777X, set for 2025, the company is counting on the 787. It took a gamble on the 787 line -- which launched in 2004 and began flying in 2011 -- by increasing its use of carbon fiber composites for the fuselage and wings. As a result, the plane is lighter and requires less fuel. Many of the aircraft's major parts are shipped in from Italy, Japan and Kansas in one of Boeing's so-called Dreamlifters -- modified 747s specially designed for carrying cumbersome equipment. And back in South Carolina, the back of the aircraft is built in an adjacent hangar next door. Betting on the 787 seems to have paid off so far: Boeing has received 250 orders for the plane just in the last six months. "By the end of this year, it's almost guaranteed the 787 will be the most popular passenger wide-body in history," with even more total purchases than the 777 or Airbus A330, Boeing vice president of commercial marketing Darren Hulst predicted. The post At its 787 Dreamliner factory, Boeing prepares for takeoff appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
After SpaceX, NASA taps Bezos’s Blue Origin to build Moon lander
Two years after awarding Elon Musk's SpaceX a contract to ferry astronauts to the surface of the Moon, NASA on Friday announced it had chosen Blue Origin, a rival space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, to build a second lunar lander. Blue Origin's lander was selected for the Artemis 5 mission, currently scheduled to take place in 2029. The company will first have to demonstrate it can safely land on the Moon without a crew. Bezos, the founder and former CEO of Amazon, said on Twitter he was "honored to be on this journey with @NASA to land astronauts on the Moon -- this time to stay." The contract amounts to $3.4 billion, but John Couluris, vice president in charge of lunar transport at Blue Origin, said during a press conference that the company would itself contribute "well north" of that amount to develop the craft. The Artemis program marks NASA's return to the Moon after more than 50 years and is made up of several missions, each with increasing complexity. In 2021, the US agency chose SpaceX to build a lander for Artemis 3, the first mission in the series to have actual astronauts set foot on the lunar surface. The contract was worth $2.9 billion, although SpaceX is supplementing that amount with its own funding. Blue Origin had also competed for the first contract and filed an unsuccessful lawsuit against NASA when SpaceX was chosen as the sole lander provider. The space agency had originally intended to offer two contracts, a practice commonly used to guard against the possibility one fails, but said it had been constrained by budget concerns. NASA in 2022 also chose the SpaceX lander for its Artemis 4 mission, but at the same time requested submissions from other companies for the rest of the program. "We want more competition. We want two landers," NASA boss Bill Nelson said on Friday. "It means that you have reliability. You have backups." Blue Origin's lander, dubbed Blue Moon, is being developed with several partner companies, including Draper, Boeing, Astrobotic, Honeybee Robotics, and Lockheed Martin. The latter will be responsible for developing a crucial element. Once in lunar orbit, Blue Moon will need to be refueled before it can descend and collect the astronauts from the surface of the Moon. Therefore Lockheed Martin has to develop a kind of shuttle to refuel Blue Moon around the Moon. Blue Origin plans to use its New Glenn rocket, which has never flown before, to launch both its lander and this refueling shuttle. Artemis 4, scheduled for 2028, and Artemis 5 a year later will both land on the Moon, but will first pass through a new space station in lunar orbit, called Gateway, which has yet to be constructed. Prelude to Mars Artemis astronauts will take off aboard NASA's Orion capsule, propelled to the Moon by the agency's new SLS mega-rocket. Both these elements were tested uncrewed when Artemis 1 took place six months ago and will be tested with the crew during Artemis 2. For Artemis 3, Orion will dock directly to SpaceX's lander. Two astronauts will then descend on the Moon for about a week, while two others will remain on board Orion. Once their experiments are over, the two adventurers will go back in the lander to Orion, which will bring the four crew members back to Earth. Afterward, Orion will attach to the Gateway space station, and the astronauts will pass through it before boarding the SpaceX lander, for Artemis 4, or Blue Origin for Artemis 5. All of these missions target the south pole of the Moon, where there is water in the form of ice. SpaceX's lander will be a modified version of its Starship spacecraft, currently under development in Texas. It exploded in flight during a first major test in April. The goal of the Artemis program is to learn to live on the Moon, in order to test out all the technologies necessary for an even more perilous journey: to Mars. The post After SpaceX, NASA taps Bezos’s Blue Origin to build Moon lander appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»