All articles by Dan Thisdell – Page 7
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: For Arianespace, one launch is just the beginning
It took four attempts to get it off the ground, but all involved can be rightly delighted to have Europe’s latest Earth observation satellite, Sentinel 1-B, safely in orbit following a successful Soyuz launch from French Guiana. In the rocket launching business, after all, the alternative to a good outcome ...
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News
Solar Impulse resumes round-world solar-powered challenge
After a nine-month delay for repairs in Hawaii, the Solar Impulse round-the-world flight attempt resumed with a two-day, 14hr flight to NASA’s Moffett Field, near San Francisco.
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News
INTERIORS: Geven's 'Sofa' bed set to fly with SAA
For a lie-down bet on an economy class budget, Italian seats specialiast Geven has an answer in its Piuma Sofa – a row of four that converts to a bed.
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News
INTERIORS: AirAsia calls on F1 link to launch UK seats start-up
A UK start-up determined to bring Formula 1-style high technology to aircraft seating is set to take off in dramatic style with a massive launch order from AirAsia to retrofit all 386 of its in-service and on-order Airbus A320s and A320neos with its lightweight Hawk economy class seat – a ...
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News
INTERIORS: ATR lightens up with titanium seat option
ATR operators now have the option of saving up to 300kg over current -600 cabin layouts, by choosing a titanium seat. A buyer-furnished equipment (BFE) agreement deal signed yesterday at AIX between the turboprop maker and French seat maker Expliseat will give ATR customers access to the new seats before ...
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News
INTERIORS: Electronic window dimming is 'key to cool'
A combination of electronically dimmable window and IFE technologies is being touted as a new way to enhance the revenue-generating value of window seats – by integrating a window with a transparent video display with an interactive moving map.
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: Finmeccanica's long road to renaissance
As Mauro Moretti puts it, 2015 marked “the end of an era” at Finmeccanica, and so a new age begins, appropriately, with a new identity. The fact Italy’s resurgent national aerospace champion will adopt the name of one of the country's greatest sons – no less than Leonardo, as in ...
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News
Finmeccanica completes renaissance with return to profit and Leonardo rebrand
Italy's aerospace and defence champion has completed the latest stage of its transformation, posting a set of strong full-year results for 2015 as well as unveiling its new proposed identity, with the group from 1 January 2017 to be known as Leonardo.
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: How to stay ahead in the 21st century innovation game
For a company as large as Airbus Group, the loss of any one employee should not pose a particular threat; well-managed operations will carry on and typically have many, indeed many good, options for succession via promotion or external recruitment. But for Europe’s aerospace champion, the imminent departure of one ...
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AnalysisANALYSIS: Ariane 6 launch cost assault is a revolution behind the scenes
Europe's Ariane 5 is a launch market leader; now Ariane 6 promises a cost revolution
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NewsAriane 6 plan comes under anti-competition scrutiny
A key aspect of the plan to ensure Europe’s market-leading space launch industry meets ambitious cost targets has come under scrutiny from competition regulators in Brussels.
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NewsVirgin Galactic satellite launch plans advance with carrier aircraft modifications
Virgin Galactic’s bid to enter the small satellite launch business is building momentum on two fronts, with heavy work now under way in Texas on modifications to the 747-400 that will serve as a dedicated air-launch carrier while colleagues in California work to increase the payload capacity of the in-development ...
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AnalysisANALYSIS: ESA's Moon man looks beyond the Space Station
When Jan Woerner took his seat at European Space Agency headquarters in Paris for his first-ever January press conference as director general, the former head of Germany’s DLR aerospace agency had plenty of good news to talk about.
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News
Vega light rocket makes sixth successful launch
The European Space Agency’s Vega light rocket has made its sixth successful launch, from Kourou, French Guiana with a payload to test high-precision measurement technologies scientists hope will pave the way for the detection of so-far undiscovered gravitational waves.
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News
NBAA: Gogo's plan powers up wireless updates for IFE
In-flight connectivity wizard Gogo announced at NBAA a plan to power up its onboard video offering with the rollout of a wireless content update system that works automatically, inside the hangar.
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News
Aviation has 'no hope' of carbon-neutral growth: study
Oil demand for aviation is set to grow faster than for any other sector through 2040, leaving no hope for the industry to achieve its goal of carbon-neutral growth after 2020 without offsets from other sectors, the International Energy Agency has warned.
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AnalysisANALYSIS: British spaceplane engine concept gets cash boost
British newspaper readers last week could be excused for believing that humankind is poised on the cusp of a new Concorde era – indeed, an era of Concorde on steroids. As the Daily Mail put it with typically breathless excitement: “Could we soon fly London to Sydney in FOUR HOURS? ...
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NewsTim Peake displays the 'Right Stuff' for astronauts in 2015
When Tim Peake blasts off for the International Space Station on 15 December, the first British astronaut since Helen Sharman in 1991 will be flying more flags than just the Union Jack. Aviators of all nations will see, roaring to orbit, affirmation of their very own version of the "Right ...
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News
Alcoa extends Indiana jet-engine parts plant
Alcoa today (29 October 2015) formally opened a $100 million extension to its La Porte, Indiana jet-engine parts facility. This is to enable the manufacture of larger structural components, including for the PurePower family of geared turbofans from Pratt & Whitney, with whom it has a 10-year, $1.1 billion contract ...
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AnalysisANALYSIS: UAE sets sights on Mars
For a growing number of developing countries looking to bolster their scientific and educational base and deliver an increasingly powerful array of services on the ground, there is no substitute for looking to space. Not surprisingly, the UAE is one among this number – but the Gulf country set its ...