September 2, 2019 - No. 070 In This Issue Interest in new American Airlines jobs in Tulsa brisk, local base official says Bombardier Business Aircraft USA Maintenance and Operations Conference Highlights New Products Nexxiot, Unilode partner to digitize air cargo Airbus Agrees To Boost Malaysian MRO, Aerospace SA Express free to fly after it paid some of its debt This Dutch startup has developed an intelligent, self-learning system that inspects jet engines efficiently Expansion to Gulfstream's Appleton site includes new design centre Lockheed Martin celebrates 35 years in Greenville, S.C.,s positioned for growth with new F-16 production Cayman Islands approves ExecuJet MRO Services Malaysia for Dassault Aircraft Tata Steel hopes to convert waste gas into aviation fuel in Wales NASA photos reveal SpaceX is scouting these 9 places on Mars to land its first Starship rocket missions Interest in new American Airlines jobs in Tulsa brisk, local base official says American Airlines' recent announcement that it is adding 400 jobs to its maintenance base in Tulsa has been roundly embraced. By early Friday, just two days after the news broke, more than 800 people had applied for the positions, a good sign for the airline and Tech Ops Tulsa, American's largest aircraft maintenance facility, said Erik Olund, managing director of the base. "We're kind of fortunate at American that when we turn the hiring button on, we see a huge response from people who are interested to come work for us," he said. "But we are leveraging relationships across the region, both at the Department of Commerce in Oklahoma City and our folks at Tulsa Tech and Spartan (College of Aeronautics and Technology)." More than 140,000 pilots and technicians have matriculated at the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology since its inception in 1928. Tulsa Tech's aviation-aerospace training facility was built in 1999 for about $28.5 million. The institution also is several years into the establishment of an aerospace academy for high school students. "I can't speak enough about the Tulsa Tech team and how they have gotten to show the students how important and valuable an A&P (airframe and/or powerplant) license can be to people," Olund said. "Their enrollment is really important to our future, and we really just push people to get an A&P and get them on board and make them successful." Hiring largely for Federal Aviation Administration-licensed mechanics, the base will focus on areas that include aircraft overhaul, landing gear overhaul for the Boeing 737 and 777 aircraft and CFM56 engine maintenance and Airbus A321 interior modifications. The base will receive its first 787 aircraft to undergo scheduled maintenance checks late this year. Moreover, the base will increase its 777 and 787 maintenance work and will make investments in the Landing Gear Shop, enabling greater production. While the new Tulsa job postings have drawn interest from around the country, most of the applicants hail from the area, Olund said. There are 9,148 A&P mechanics in Oklahoma, with 2,832 living in Tulsa County, according to Federal Aviation Administration data. In May 2018, the median annual wage for aircraft mechanics and service technicians in scheduled air transportation was $83,870, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "That's a big piece of the pie that American is trying to pick up," Crystal Maguire, executive director of the Aviation Technician Education Council, said of the mechanics pool in the state. "I don't have anything to back this up, but I would think American would have a relatively easy time of it because their pay is going to be higher than some of the others. These are premier jobs, I would think." More than three-quarters of the job openings will be A&P mechanics, Olund said. Other positions include welders, machinists, overhaul shop mechanics and entry-level cleaners, who are responsible for cleaning the inside and outside of aircraft, he said. Persons may apply at aa.com/careers. "We are really looking for folks who are motivated and interested in growing their career," Olund said. "Across all the job applications, it has been very healthy." https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/interest-in-new-american-airlines-jobs-in-tulsa-brisk- local/article_2dc08f86-ea4d-5a13-becc-bbae60feb032.html Back to Top Bombardier Business Aircraft USA Maintenance and Operations Conference Highlights New Products Bombardier Business Aircraft is pleased to announce that the 2019 Maintenance and Operations (M&O) Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida was a resounding success, offering Bombardier customers and operators from around the world a unique opportunity to learn about Bombardier's latest in-service activities, world-class products and key program development updates - including the development of the new state-of-the-art Miami Service Centre in Miami-Dade County. This year's event brought together more than 125 customers/operators for two days of detailed educational sessions, including updates on key programs such as Global 7500 aircraft. Attendees also benefited from the platform-specific technical and operational discussions to gain and share insight with Bombardier and the operator community. M&O USA is just one of several high-profile customer events planned in 2019, aimed at enhancing customers' knowledge of in-service activities, world-class products and program development updates. "At Bombardier, we are always seeking ways to ensure customers receive an exceptional experience at all levels of the customer service journey," said Jean-Christophe Gallagher, vice president and general manager of customer experience, Bombardier Business Aircraft. "In-depth customer-driven events such as these offer an essential channel to share important information about our products and services. They are invaluable in helping us provide the best service experience possible." https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/maintenance-providers/press- release/21095022/bombardier-aerospace-bombardier-business-aircraft-usa-maintenance-and- operations-conference-highlights-new-products Back to Top Nexxiot, Unilode partner to digitize air cargo Zurich-based applied digital systems specialist Nexxiot has partnered with Unilode Aviation Solutions to digitize the entire fleet of Unilode loading devices by early 2021. Unilode owns and manages a fleet of about 125,000 unit load devices (ULDs) for use in the aviation industry and has a global network for maintenance and repair of ULDs and galley carts. Unilode focuses on the outsourced management and associated services for aviation containers, pallets and in-flight food service equipment and serves more than 90 airlines. All ULDs in the fleet will be equipped with Bluetooth sensors. Data will then be processed, analyzed and made available by Nexxiot for Unilode, enabling continuous, automated tracking of ULDs on the ground and in the air. Nexxiot maintains that the move into the air cargo market is a natural extension of the company's experience in the rail segment. Initial joint trials between the two companies have been running since September 2018. By the beginning of 2021, Nexxiot expects that all 125,000 ULDs supported by Unilode will be fitted with a digital twin. Currently, around 10,000 ULDs are equipped with corresponding Bluetooth technology and can be activated digitally by Nexxiot. In addition, Nexxiot has developed and maintains a neutral user interface for Unilode in which customers can view their ULD data and use various services, such as ULD location, temperature, shock, light and humidity measurement, as well as in-flight tracking. Based on the new partnership, Nexxiot plans to offer spot leasing for load carriers in the future. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nexxiot-unilode-partner-to-digitize-air-cargo Back to Top Airbus Agrees To Boost Malaysian MRO, Aerospace Airbus has announced new aerospace investments in Malaysia, including the expansion of its MRO subsidiary Sepang Aircraft Engineering (SAE). The initiatives were included in a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by executives from Airbus and AirAsia, and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. This coincided with AirAsia confirming a major order for Airbus A330neos and A321XLRs. Airbus said it will add a third hangar at the SAE facility at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), which will be able to accommodate four narrowbody or two widebody aircraft for heavy maintenance. New paint and component repair shops will also be added. Airbus said the new facilities will be "ready to incorporate the latest smart technologies," such as data analysis and planning with the Airbus Skywise platform, and "automated inspection techniques." SAE currently has one hangar with four narrowbody lines, and another with two narrowbody lines. SAE told Aviation Daily earlier this year that the company was considering adding a third hangar. AirAsia is SAE's largest customer, and it also serves Malaysia Airlines, Scoot, Indigo, Jetstar Asia, VietJet and Bangkok Airways. While SAE mainly performs heavy maintenance on A320s and ATR aircraft, it is certified to perform A330 maintenance and wants to expand such work. AirAsia has said it is considering establishing its own MRO base, although it stressed it would also continue to work with its existing maintenance providers. The airline said it was considering U- Tapao, Thailand as the location for its MRO base. AirAsia is understood to be waiting for the Thai government to offer an opportunity to bid to establish MRO facilities at U-Tapao. As well as the SAE expansion, the Airbus MOU covers the establishment of the Malaysia Digital Initiative, and the manufacturer's increased participation in the Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Center (AMIC). AirAsia said it has been "working with Airbus to identify the right initiatives that will support Malaysia's aerospace ambitions." Under the digital initiative, Airbus said it will "work with local stakeholders to develop a master plan and select and perform dedicated projects to enhance the competitiveness of the Malaysian aerospace sector through the application of new digital technologies." Airbus is a founding member of non-profit organization AMIC, and has now agreed to appoint an innovation technical director to support it. Airbus said it will also increase its funding for joint research programs, including studies on the potential production of alternative aviation biofuels in Malaysia. https://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/airbus-agrees-boost-malaysian-mro- aerospace Back to Top SA Express free to fly after it paid some of its debt Airports Company South Africa announced on Friday that it has lifted the suspension of SA Express after the airline made a "partial payment" of its R71m debt. The company's aircraft were grounded on Wednesday as it faced mounting financial and operational woes. "SA Express has now made a partial payment towards settling its debt to Airports Company South Africa with the balance expected on Monday," Acsa said in a brief statement. Acsa is owed R71m by SA Express, according to information tabled before the Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises. Briefing the committee on Wednesday, SA Express interim CEO, Siza Mzimela, attributed the grounding of the airline to historic financial challenges. The committee also heard that the state-owned airline faced a weak balance sheet, frozen credit lines, liquidity challenges, long outstanding debt and a significant monthly cash bill. "A number of contracts were also found in the system done via third parties, which resulted in additional costs to the airline," read a statement. The airline was last year granted a R1.2bn government guarantee to help it navigate its financial challenges. This is not the first time the troubled airline has had its wings clipped. The South African Civil Aviation Authority in May 2018 suspended the airline's Aircraft Maintenance Organisation certification and the Certificates of Airworthiness for nine of the 21 aircraft operated by the airline. SACAA cited non-compliance with safety measures for its decision. These were later reinstated. https://www.sierraleonetimes.com/news/262254696/sa-express-free-to-fly-after-it-paid-some-of- its-debt Back to Top This Dutch startup has developed an intelligent, self-learning system that inspects jet engines efficiently The aviation industry is super complicated and amazingly high stakes. Due to this exact reason governments across the globe made it mandatory for detailed inspections of aircraft at regular intervals. Some aspects of aircraft inspections can be performed quickly, while the remaining can only be accomplished with special instruments. $1800 million by 2025! According to a report from Global Market Insights, Inc 2019, the flight inspection market is poised to rise from $1500 million in 2018 to over $1800 million by 2025. The rapid technology evolution is expected to boost the flight inspection market growth over the projected timeframe. At present, there are lots of startups contributing to it, and one among them is the Amsterdam- based Aiir Innovations. Founded in 2016, this company creates advanced software solutions to make aircraft engine inspection faster, more efficient, and safer. Secured €500K to improve the product! Recently, Aiir Innovations has secured an investment of €500,000 from Mainport Innovation Fund II. The company wants to use the funding to improve the product in the coming years further, allowing inspections to be carried out even better and faster. Aiir Innovations uses AI! As we all know, maintaining aircraft engines is dependent mainly on human resources. The mechanic inspects each component, records any damage manually, and provides a recommendation. In this regard, the Dutch company is developing software that mechanics can use in so-called borescope inspections to detect anomalies, like cracks and dents. Bart Vredebregt, the co-founder, said: Think of it as an assistant with an extra pair of digital eyes analyzing videos and images at lightning. And all information is immediately processed into a digital report. Indicating and Self-learning! This way, the software increases the productivity of the inspection, which enables the mechanic to focus on assessing the damage. The software will get an indicating function and is self-learning. Vredebregt added: We can already reduce the full borescope inspection time from 16 hours to about 12 hours. But that's only the beginning. In four to six years, we expect to be able to perform the inspection in just 20% of the time it currently takes. Tie-up with KLM Aiir Innovations founders know each other from their master Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the University of Amsterdam. In fact, KLM invited them three years ago to come up with artificial intelligence solutions for carrying out borescope inspections. For the uninitiated, KLM was founded on October 7, 1919, and is the first airline in the world that still operates under its original name. Also, KLM is the core of the KLM Group, which further includes the wholly-owned subsidiaries KLM Cityhopper, transavia.com and Martinair. Furthermore, the Aiir Innovations team worked closely with engineers and mechanics on the KLM work floor over the past three years. Earlier this year, KLM Engineering Maintenance signed a five- year contract. Paul Chün, Vice President KLM Engine Services, said: Our engineers perceive working with the software as enjoyable. Thanks to the digital report, they spend less time on administrative tasks. This not only improves the way they record it also increases job satisfaction. Erik Swelheim, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer KLM: KLM sets the highest possible standards for aircraft maintenance. This software helps to improve quality further and thus contributes to air safety. Expansion on cards! In addition to KLM, Aiir Innovations also has several pilots with maintenance parties in Europe. Many more will be launched in the coming years. Vredebregt further added: We are, therefore using the investment of half a million euros to continue our expansion abroad. To achieve this, we need to set up a professional sales organization. Another challenge in the coming years will be to obtain the certification we need for the next version of our product. The laws and regulations in aviation are rightly stringent. If we want to use our artificial intelligence on a large scale, we will have to meet all the requirements https://siliconcanals.com/news/startups/aiir-innovations-aircraft-inspection-klm-funding/ Back to Top Expansion to Gulfstream's Appleton site includes new design centre Gulfstream Aerospace has built a new aircraft maintenance facility as an extension to its existing service centre at Appleton International Airport in Wisconsin. The facility is nearly 190,000ft² (17,652m²) in size and cost approximately US$40m. It began operations on 10 August 2019. The expansion to the Appleton service centre includes 101,853ft² (9,462m²) of hangar space, which will accommodate 12 G650ER or G650 aircraft. In addition to offices, backshops and general support space, the expansion adds a new sales and design centre and increased customer access to Gulfstream's design portfolio. The project, announced in February 2018, has resulted in nearly 100 new jobs at Gulfstream Appleton, with the potential for more in the next few years. "This is a very exciting day for Appleton and the entire Fox Valley," said Derek Zimmerman, president of Gulfstream Customer Support. "This beautiful facility represents the most significant expansion we've had in the 20 years we've been here. It is a tremendous asset to our site and the community. It will help us enhance the reliability of our growing fleet, support more customers and elevate their experience, continue to maintain a high level of safety and provide a world-class workplace for our employees. We are thankful to General Dynamics, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, the Fox Cities Chamber of Commerce Regional Partnership, the Outagamie County Executive, the Outagamie County Board of Supervisors and the town of Greenville Board for their essential support." Gulfstream will open four other expanded or new service centres in 2019 and 2020, in Savannah, Georgia; Van Nuys, California; Palm Beach, Florida; and Farnborough, UK. The Appleton site is home to a service centre and a large-cabin completions facility spread over approximately 500,000ft² (46,452m²). Services include major inspections, structural modifications, major avionics installations and safety upgrades. The MRO operation is certified by the US FAA, EASA, Civil Aviation Administration of China and seven other civil aviation authorities. In 2018, nearly 500 aircraft visited the site. Gulfstream says its new facility has several sustainable features, including sensitive land protection, a rainwater management system, enhanced control systems for heating and cooling, optimised energy performance and electric vehicle charging stations. It is expected to receive US Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification. https://www.businessjetinteriorsinternational.com/news/interior-design/expansion-to-gulfstreams- appleton-site-includes-new-design-centre.html Back to Top Lockheed Martin celebrates 35 years in Greenville, S.C.,s positioned for growth with new F-16 production line Lockheed Martin celebrates 35 years of operation in Greenville, S.C., this week. The Greenville facility provides nose-to-tail aircraft sustainment services, such as maintenance, modification, repair and overhaul, and is the new home of the F-16 Fighting Falcon production line. In August 1984, the company signed a lease with the Donaldson Development Commission to begin operations as the Lockheed Aeromod Center, Inc. Major players who worked to attract the company to South Carolina included Sen. Strom Thurmond, Rep. Carroll Campbell and Lt. Gov. Mike Daniel. The new Lockheed facility was the largest new industry to locate in Greenville County that year and among the largest in the last decade. The inaugural team occupied only two hangars and one office building at the start of the operations and quickly welcomed a P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft to the facility as the first aircraft in work. Over the past 35 years, the Lockheed Martin Greenville team delivered nearly 3,000 aircraft, volunteered thousands of hours with local organizations, provided millions of dollars in philanthropic donations and contributes an annual economic impact of $100 million to the surrounding area. "This is an exciting time for Lockheed Martin in Greenville," said Mike Fox, Lockheed Martin's site director. "We are proud to call South Carolina home for 35 years and look forward to an event brighter future ahead as we continue to grow and add more jobs to support the war fighter." The site currently spans 276 acres and 16 hangars at the South Carolina Technology and Aviation Center, employs a highly-skilled workforce of 500 people and will be hiring hundreds more to support its aircraft sustainment and F-16 production contracts. http://www.aerotechnews.com/blog/2019/08/30/lockheed-martin-celebrates-35-years-in- greenville-s-c-s-positioned-for-growth-with-new-f-16-production-line/ Back to Top Cayman Islands approves ExecuJet MRO Services Malaysia for Dassault Aircraft The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of the Cayman Islands has certified ExecuJet MRO Services Malaysia to provide light and heavy maintenance for Dassault 7X, 8X and 2000 aircraft. Vice President ExecuJet MRO Services Asia, Ivan Lim, says: "The Cayman Islands is one of the world's leading civil aviation regulators and registries for business aviation aircraft. A significant number of business aviation aircraft operating in Asia Pacific are in fact Cayman Islands registered aircraft," he says. "The approval we have gained means ExecuJet MRO Services Malaysia is permitted to work on any Dassault 7X, 8X and 2000 aircraft on the Cayman Islands registry. Many business jet owners around the world like to have their aircraft on Cayman Islands registry, because it is a regulator that is very in tune with the specific needs of business aircraft operators and it is well recognized internationally." Lim says ExecuJet MRO Services Malaysia has already been able to get some additional MRO business from Dassault operators in Southeast Asia, thanks to the certification from the Cayman Islands CAA. He says there are also Cayman Islands registered Dassault aircraft in Greater China, another market the Malaysian MRO company is targeting. "Having this certification provides a further boost to our Subang facility and reinforces Malaysia's growing status as an international centre for MRO in the region," says Lim. ExecuJet MRO Services Malaysia is a full-service, business jet maintenance facility. It is an Authorised Service Facility for Bombardier and a limited Authorised Warranty Facility for Gulfstream. It also represents some other major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as Authorised Service Centre or Dealer such as: General Electric and Rolls-Royce, on multiple engine types; Honeywell on engines, auxiliary power units and avionics; and Collins Aerospace on avionics. https://asianaviation.com/cayman-islands-approves-execujet-mro-services-malaysia-for-dassault- aircraft/ Back to Top Tata Steel hopes to convert waste gas into aviation fuel in Wales Tata Steel is hoping to convert waste gases from steel making into aviation fuel. The plan involves using gases from Tata's Port Talbot plant in Wales, which developers have suggested could be used for thousands of flights a year. A joint venture between Neath Port Talbot Council and American bioengineering firm LanzaTech is researching a potential biofuel production facility at the Port Talbot plant - the largest steelworks in the UK. The fuel would be produced using a fermentation process to turn carbon dioxide emissions from the plant into ethanol. It would then be transformed into chemical products including up to 30 million gallons of biofuel each year. The plans would form part of Neath Port Talbot Council's Decarbonisation and Renewable Energy Strategy, which is due to go out for consultation in September, according to a report by Materials Recycling World (MRW). Alongside the proposed biofuels facility, the strategy includes a proposal for geothermal energy using water from former coal mines, and the Swansea Bay Technology Centre producing energy for hydrogen fuel production. A Tata Steel spokesperson said that high performance and clean-burning fuel would help the aviation sector to meet its carbon reduction targets. He added: "Developing any technology to transform CO2 from our steelmaking into valuable resources for other industries is of huge importance. Neath Port Talbot Council's deputy leader Anthony Taylor added: "Economically, this is taking something that has previously been regarded as waste and harnessing it, giving Tata Steel the opportunity to make some money." MRW also reported that Neath Port Talbot Council produces the most renewable energy of all 22 Welsh local authorities, incorporating onshore wind farms, biomass and solar. https://www.bioenergy-news.com/news/tata-steel-hopes-to-convert-waste-gas-into-aviation-fuel- in-wales/ Back to Top NASA photos reveal SpaceX is scouting these 9 places on Mars to land its first Starship rocket missions SpaceX is scouting for prime real estate to populate Mars, according to a database of NASA spacecraft photography. The entries suggest the rocket company, founded by the tech mogul Elon Musk, is looking for relatively flat, warm, and hazard-free landing sites for its coming launch vehicle, called Starship. SpaceX is developing the towering two-stage rocket ship to land 150 tons and up to 100 people at a time on Mars, with the first missions starting in the mid-2020s. Each candidate landing site is a place where frozen water may be buried under just a bit of red dirt and thus accessible to robots and people. That ice could, in theory, be mined, melted, and turned into precious supplies such as water, air, and rocket fuel. The space-history writer Robert Zimmerman first posted about the images on his site, Beyond the Black, after perusing a fresh batch of data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Zimmerman noticed several photos with titles that included the words "Candidate Landing Site for SpaceX Starship." "To put it mildly, it is most intriguing to discover that SpaceX is beginning to research a place where it can land Starship on Mars," Zimmerman wrote, adding that each site was a probable location to find buried ice. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider, but the images appear to be authentic requests from the company via a NASA scientist. SpaceX is considering at least 9 landing sites for Starships The new pictures came from HiRISE, a telescope operated by the University of Arizona that's mounted on the MRO spacecraft. The telescope's camera can photograph surface features at a resolution as fine as 1 foot per pixel - three times the resolution that Google Maps provides of Earth and on par with spy satellites. HiRISE, however, can only take so many sizable images per orbit and beam them tens of millions of miles back to Earth. So scientists must file image requests for locations of interest to them months in advance. Though Zimmerman highlighted four Starship landing sites in the HiRISE catalog, Business Insider located nine SpaceX-related Mars image requests. The locations are plotted above inputting the data into Google Earth. All of the Starship image requests were filed by Nathan R. Williams, a planetary geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Williams has previously requested dozens of images in support of NASA's coming Mars 2020 rover mission, which will attempt a landing in Jezero crater. He has also asked for dozens of photos to support SpaceX's now- defunct Red Dragon mission to Mars. "He was bound by a nondisclosure agreement with SpaceX and could not comment," Zimmerman said after contacting Williams about the Starship image requests. (Neither Williams nor NASA JPL immediately responded to Business Insider's request for comment.) The HiRISE site shows that, on April 29, Williams requested 18 different images of Mars related to Starship. Specifically, he asked for two images each per site - each from a slightly different angle - to build stereo anaglyphs pairs. Such pairs can reveal finer 3D details about a location, including its terrain and landing hazards. Of the nine locations Williams asked HiRISE to observe, six have published images, two are not yet published, and one has yet to be imaged. The landing sites are all relatively flat, warm, boulder-free and presumably icy Musk has said in recent years that he wants SpaceX to help build a self-sustaining city on Mars by the mid-2050s - partly as a way of "backing up" humanity like a hard drive. To do that without going bankrupt, though, he needs a lot of Starships and an ability to refuel them on the red planet. The company hopes to make Starship fully reusable - the first such rocket of its kind - to lower launch costs by a factor of 100 or even more than 1,000. Refueling on Mars is key to making Musk's scheme work, which is why SpaceX chose methane as its fuel of choice. By using solar (or perhaps nuclear) energy, Musk says, a process called the Sabatier reaction could turn water and carbon dioxide in the thin Martian atmosphere into methane. That fuel, along with oxygen extracted from the water, could be used to refuel Starships for return flights to Earth as well as provide breathable air and drinking water. Eight of the nine possible landing sites are located on the border of two major regions called Arcadia Planitia (to the north) and Amazonis Planitia (to the south): These regions are most likely rich with sources of ice near-surface ice - possibly enough to comprise massive, rapidly buried glaciersthat remain mostly preserved after millions of years. Some evidence for this is in the shape of nearby craters, which appear to sink after a meteorite impact because they expose ice to Martian air, which is about 1% as thick as Earth's. Functionally that is a vacuum, causing the now-exposed ice to sublimate away into the air in the same way a block of dry ice does when it warms up. SpaceX's presumed candidate sites are also flat and relatively free of boulders, which are objects that you definitely do not want your spacecraft to land on or bang into. The sites are also distant from Mars' super-frigid polar caps, are a bit warmer, see quite a bit of sun (important for gathering solar energy), and are relatively low-laying. Because air sinks and gets denser at lower elevations, this might help Sabatier machines more efficiently suck carbon dioxide for creating methane fuel. SpaceX is just beginning to test Starship, though At this stage, SpaceX has not completed a Starship capable of reaching orbit, let alone landing on Mars. The company has also not commented on any work it may or may not be doing to come up with ways to mine ice, build habitats, or even keep people alive during the journey to and from Mars. But SpaceX has a solid start: It has built and thoroughly tested new methane-burning Raptor engines. SpaceX also strapped one such engine to an early prototype, called Starhopper, and soared it more than 490 feet, or 150 meters, into the air above South Texas on July 25. Workers are now building two bigger, orbit-capable prototypes: Starship Mark 1 in Boca Chica, Texas, and Starship Mark 2 in Cocoa, Florida. Musk tweeted on Friday that the company would attempt to launch them about 12.4 miles into the air in October and then around Earth "shortly thereafter." If all goes according to the CEO's "aspirational" timeline, the rocket company could be launching passengers around the moon and missions to Mars in the mid-2020s. Musk also plans to update the world on SpaceX's latest design for Starship and plans for the launch system on September 28. It's possible he may also say more about where, exactly, the company plans to land its first interplanetary Starships. https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starship-mars-landing-sites-map-hirise-2019-9 Curt Lewis