All news – Page 6466
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Millennium force
Singapore's air force is raising its international profile through plans to host a global air forces' summit Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE The island republic of Singapore has a reputation as an oasis of relative calm in a region rocked by economic and political upheaval. With a population of 3 million and no ...
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The black hole
The secretive investigation into the crash of a SilkAir 737-300 in Indonesia shows up major cultural differences in dealing with accidents Andrzej Jeziorski/JAKARTA The thing about black holes, in astronomical terms, is that nothing ever comes out of them. Some people liken the controversial investigation into the crash in ...
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Indian ambition
India's determination to become a commercial space power is beginning to pay dividendsTim Furniss/LONDON India has underscored its determination to become "a space power in the next century" by developing a geostationary satellite launch vehicle (GSLV) with which to enter the international commercial launch market. Not only is ...
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New steps to orbit
With a sixth commercial launch planned by year-end, the Euro-Russian Starsem has hit the market with a bang Tim Furniss/LONDON The Euro-Russian Starsem commercial satellite launcher consortium is an international success story. Starsem plans three more commercial Soyuz launches of 12,450kg (27,400lb) Globalstar low earth orbit (LEO) mobile ...
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Shuttle changes
New cockpits will bring the Shuttle into the space age Tim Furniss/LONDON Milliseconds can make a big difference during a Space Shuttle launch. The faster the crew can react to a problem, the greater possibility of avoiding disaster. That is where "glass cockpits" - cockpits with digital displays - come ...
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Expendable evolution
Expendable launcher makers are trying to keep their concept alive Andrzej Jeziorski/PARIS Amid predictions of a satellite launch boom in the coming decade, space industry executives, financiers and insurers from around the world gathered in Paris in May for the first world summit on the space transportation business. ...
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High concepts, low risk
Private enterprise is driving the future of space transport with a wealth of reusable launch vehicle concepts Andrzej Jeziorski/PARIS From man's earliest forays into space up to the arrival of NASA's Space Shuttle, every launch, manned or unmanned, necessarily destroyed the launch vehicle. Even today, the Shuttle is the only ...
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Discovery paves way for first crew to join the Space Station
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Space Shuttle Discovery landed at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on 6 June after the nine-day, 19h mission STS96 to prepare the International Space Station (ISS) for the first resident crew next March. This date depends on the successful launch in November of Russia's Zvezda ...
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Rotary delays Roton flight
Rotary Rocket has delayed the initial test flight of its Roton atmospheric test vehicle (ATV) to at least July after the failure of a critical flight instrument during preflight trials of the vehicle's four-bladed rotor system. The first flight was expected in April. The ATV was on the verge ...
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Air Ukraine orders An-140s and signs commitment for more
Air Ukraine has ordered four Antonov An-140 regional airliners and has signed a letter of intent for 40 more. The Ukrainian national airline, which controls more than 10 regional carriers in the country, will use the 46-52/seat An-140s to replace 60 An-24s, An-26s and An-30s. Air Ukraine has specified ...
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Launch failures prompt Boeing to form review team
Boeing has formed a mission assurance review team to examine the company's Delta, Sea Launch and Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) programmes following recent launch vehicle failures. A Delta III failed this May as did an IUS, aboard a Titan IVB, in April. The team will examine organisational roles ...
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Sea Launch first
The first commercial payload aboard the Boeing-led Sea Launch's Zenit 3SL booster - set for August - will be the Hughes-built DirecTV-1R, HS 601 HP spacecraft. The launch will be made from the Sea Launch offshore platform at 154º on the Equator in the Pacific Ocean. Sea Launch has ...
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Ireland blocks Ryan's plan for fixed base at military site
Gerry Byrne/DUBLIN Ireland's Minister for Defence has halted plans by Ryanair chairman Tony Ryan to establish a commercial fixed base operation (FBO)at the Irish Air Corps' Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel, West Dublin. Ryan's company, Tara Aerospace, which is separate from the airline company, had planned to construct a business ...
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Maule picks PZL's Franklin as new engine option
In an effort to keep down prices and improve aircraft performance, tailwheel aircraft manufacturer Maule Air is test flying a new version of its MX-7 Rocket light utility aircraft powered by a PZL-Franklin six-cylinder 150kW (205hp) 6A-350-C1R. The single-engined aircraft had its maiden flight this month, kick-starting the type certification ...
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Masquito will fly at le Bourget
Masquito Aircraft of Belgium will display its pre-production M80 two-seat lightweight helicopter at the Paris air show this month. Tests continue with the original prototype, powered by a single Rotax two-stroke engine, at Moorsele Airfield, Belgium. Production models will be powered by the enhanced 60kW (80hp) Jabiru four-stroke powerplant, recently ...
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Cirrus SR20 training
Cirrus Design's single-engined SR20 is due for first delivery by the end of the month. Seven aircraft are in the final assembly process at the company's Duluth, Minnesota base. Cirrus will offer a two-day transition-training course for all SR20 customers through its authorised flight training, which will cover aircraft, systems, ...
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JAA makes decision on business ETOPS
Kate Sarsfield/LONDON The European Joint Aviation Authorities technical operations committee has issued a notice of proposed amendment on extended range twin-engined operations (ETOPS) for business aircraft. The release of the notice draws to a close months of lobbying conducted by the general aviation community, which has been pressing the ...
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Aerostar finishes IAK-52W tests
Aerostar has completed flight testing of its IAK-52W, an enhanced derivative of its licence-built Yakovlev Yak-52 designed for the Western market. "Essentially, the new IAK-52W offers the same performance as that of the IAK-52, but in an aircraft with twice as much range, more compatibility and easier maintenance and ...
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NASA cloud research flights completed
A series of pioneering atmospheric research flights has been completed by NASA and the US Department of Energy (DoE) at the US Navy's Pacific Missile Range at Kaua'i, Hawaii, using the General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Altus unmanned air vehicle (UAV). The flights were the first to measure characteristics of ...
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SITA commits to new datalink
Emma Kelly/GENEVA Airline telecommunication giant SITA has committed itself to the next generation of aeronautical datalink services - VHF datalink mode 2 (VDL-2) - by awarding a $23 million contract to Harris for a global network of VHF ground stations (VGS). The VDL-2 aircraft-to-ground datalink protocol will provide a ...