September 9, 2019 - No. 072 In This Issue Russian and Italian stole GE Aviation trade secrets, feds charge EHang Makes First Passenger-carrying Autonomous Flight Government of Canada invests in pilot training at the First Nations Technical Institute Delta Air Lines will use facial recognition cameras at LAX boarding gates Airline execs put on hot seat over carbon emissions Urban Air Mobility Already Has 200 eVTOL Designs Walmart Challenges Amazon in International Patent Race for Drone Delivery Technology Dante and Volotea Team Up To Develop Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Volocopter raises $55M led by Volvo owner Geely, sets 3-year timeline for its flying taxi service It's Time to Regulate Outer Space Russian and Italian stole GE Aviation trade secrets, feds charge Two men conspired to steal an American business' trade secrets on behalf of a Russian state-owned aviation company, the FBI charged in a complaint unsealed this week. Italian national Maurizio Paolo Bianchi, 59, and Alexander Yuryevich Korshunov, a 57-year-old Russian national and former official in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have been charged in the scheme. Bianchi worked for a subsidiary of GE Aviation, where he was responsible for business in China, Russia and Asia, federal authorities said. When Bianchi left the company, he went to work for an Italian firm called Aernova, which contracted for Aviadvigatel, a branch of the Russian state-owned United Engine Corp. The U.S. Department of Commerce has listed UEC as acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the U.S. Korshunov worked for UEC and enlisted Bianchi to hire engineers from the GE Aviation subsidiary, authorities said. Between 2013 and 2018, Bianchi hired several former and current GE Aviation employees to work on jet engine components using trade secrets and intellectual property they took from GE Aviation, according to the complaint. The engineers contributed work on the Russian PD-14 engine, which has both military and commercial uses, and then worked on several larger engines for the Russian company and a Chinese company. Apparently wanting to avoid detection, Korshunov and Bianchi avoided referring to the engineers by name in emails, instead just calling them "the guys," according to the complaint. Korshunov paid the engineers to meet at air shows in Paris and Italy to discuss and revise their technical reports. One of the engineers, who's an American citizen, later provided the FBI with emails, contracts and other documents showing what had happened, an investigator said. Korshunov was arrested on Aug. 30 at Naples International Airport in Italy. If convicted of conspiring to and attempting to steal trade secrets, the men face up to 10 years in prison. This wasn't the only foreign effort to steal trade secrets from GE Aviation, according to federal authorities. An alleged Chinese intelligence officer was arrested last year on charges of economic espionage related to GE Aviation trade secrets. "The FBI is committed to protecting the economic and national security of the United States," said Todd Wickerham, special agent in charge of the FBI's Cincinnati office. "Schemes to steal technology and trade secrets threaten our economy across both public and private sector interests. These cases impact American workers, American businesses and the American economy. The FBI will continue its resolve to identify and address this threat wherever it is found." https://www.foxbusiness.com/industrials/russian-italian-stole-ge-aviation-trade-secrets-foreign-jet-engines Back to Top EHang Makes First Passenger-carrying Autonomous Flight EHang has conducted its first passenger-carrying flight demonstration with its 216 Autonomous Aerial Vehicle (AAV), it reported yesterday. According to the Chinese company, the eVTOL flew the aircraft autonomously with passengers during the 2019 Northeast Asia Expo, held in Changchun in China's Jilin province from August 23 to 27. The company has previously completed several other public demonstration flights, without passengers, in its home city of Guangzhou, as well as in Lianyungang, Luzhi, Taizhou, Yantai, and Shenyang. Since unveiling its first AAV prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in 2016, EHang has also conducted demonstration flights without passengers in Austria, the Netherlands, and Qatar. The EHang 216 can carry a payload of 485 pounds on flights of up to 22 miles and at speeds of up to 81 mph. Its single-seat sister aircraft, the 116, has the same range and speed limits. Last month, EHang received an unmanned aircraft system safety certificate from the China Academy of Civil Aviation Science and Technology, establishing that the 216 AAV can be safely operated within an electronic "fence" that the company developed to prevent autonomous aircraft from operating in restricted areas. This step is part of wider operational evaluation work now being conducted in the city of Guangzhou in partnership with local authorities. The company has not yet published dates for anticipated type certification of its first two AAV models. However, it does claim to have already received orders for more than 1,000 eVTOLs and said that it has delivered early examples of the aircraft to undisclosed partner companies in several countries for demonstration purposes. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2019-09-06/ehang-makes-first-passenger-carrying-autonomous-flight Back to Top Government of Canada invests in pilot training at the First Nations Technical Institute OTTAWA, Sept. 6, 2019 /CNW/ - Today, the Honourable Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport, on behalf of the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, announced a Government of Canada investment of up to $4.9 million over three years for the First Nations Technical Institute (FNTI). The FNTI is an Indigenous-owned post-secondary institute offering unique educational opportunities for Indigenous peoples.The First Peoples' Aviation Technology program at FNTI is the only Indigenous aviation post-secondary program of its kind in Canada. With this investment, the FNTI will strengthen its aviation training program. It will double the number of Indigenous students training to become commercial pilots, enabling more Indigenous peoples to take advantage of growing economic opportunities in the aviation sector. The Government of Canada investment will support Indigenous students through the purchase of five new training aircraft; hiring additional aircraft maintenance engineers, flight instructors, dispatch staff, academic faculty and student support facilitators; and acquiring innovative safety maintenance software. Quotes "The Government of Canada is pleased to support the First Nations Technical Institute in increasing its capacity while helping to break down some of the barriers currently facing Indigenous peoples in pursuing careers in aviation. This is an excellent time to help enable more candidates to enter this high demand field." The Honourable Marc Garneau Minister of Transport "FedDev Ontario's support for the expansion of this vital training program is so important. With new and more specialized capabilities, FNTI will be able to offer more Indigenous pilots the chance to join a dynamic and growing sector of the Canadian economy. This will not only bring benefits to communities right across the country, it will also help create good quality jobs for many years to come." The Honourable Navdeep Bains Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario "Today's investment in the First Peoples' Aviation Technology program is a game changer, and I share the excitement our friends and neighbours at FNTI as this program continues to grow. Programs like this are critical for the sustainability of Indigenous communities, particularly rural and northern ones, across Canada. The pilots and aviation experts trained by FNTI will have an incredible impact in helping deliver supplies to families, provide emergency support in times of need, and keep the communities reliant on aviation open and accessible when other forms of travel are unfeasible. With FNTI recently experiencing unprecedented student enrolment, particularly among women in the Aviation Technology Program, they are continuing to set themselves apart as leaders across Canada, and I am so proud that they are a fixture of our area." Mike Bossio Member of Parliament for Hastings-Lennox and Addington "Through this support FNTI will be able to create more educational opportunities for Indigenous learners, reduce our waiting list, and ensure pathways for Indigenous graduates into the aviation industry. More students and more graduates will assist with creating sustainability in remote communities across Canada and help increase role models for the next generation of Indigenous pilots in the aviation industry." Suzanne Brant President, First Nations Technical Institute Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory "We greatly appreciate the financial support of the Government of Canada for this project. The Government of Canada's investment in the First Nations Technical Institute shows that our communities succeed when we work together. Our partnership with Ministers Bains and Garneau is a strong one, and this initiative with FNTI will help increase labour force participation of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte community on and off the Territory, and help Indigenous students across Canada, find good, well-paying jobs." Chief R. Donald Maracle Tyendinaga Mohawk Council Quick Facts The Government of Canada is working with industry partners and stakeholders to explore how skill development programs can be enhanced for the transportation sector, particularly in aviation, and to develop strategies to increase participation of underrepresented groups including Indigenous peoples and women. The project also aligns with the Government of Canada's Economic Development Strategy for Rural Canada, by helping the FNTI improve programming that will benefit rural communities while increasing access to jobs, training and educational opportunities for Indigenous peoples. https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/19/09/n14393114/government-of-canada-invests-in-pilot-training-at-the-first-nations-technical-institute Back to Top Delta Air Lines will use facial recognition cameras at LAX boarding gates Delta Air Lines will begin using facial recognition technology at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, installing cameras to identify passengers at one boarding gate, with plans to add more. The move by the Atlanta-based carrier comes as a coalition of progressive groups, including Greenpeace, MoveOn and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, called for a federal ban on the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement agencies. Critics of the technology say that the images collected by the cameras can be stored and used to violate the privacy of innocent people, and that the technology is more likely to misidentify women and people of color than white men. Fight for the Future, a nonprofit group opposed to online censorship and a member of the coalition, said the group is opposed to the use of facial recognition for airlines. "There is no real oversight for how a private corporation can use our biometric information once they've collected it," said Evan Greer, deputy director of Fight for the Future. "We've already seen high-profile data breaches where airport facial recognition databases were hacked and exposed." Over the last 12 months, LAX has been a testing ground for facial recognition technology by various airlines and federal agencies. U.S. Customs and Border Protection began testing facial recognition technology in a 30-day trial last summer, calling the trial period a success. "Although CBP has a very thorough and robust biographic vetting system, biometrics provides additional assurance and confirmation of identity," the agency said in a statement. American Airlines indefinitely extended a 90-day test period for use of facial recognition technology that was first installed at LAX last winter. The Transportation Security Administration launched a three-week test last year of facial recognition cameras, but a TSA representative could not be reached to describe the results of the test. LAX kicked off a pilot program in January of facial recognition technology at three boarding gates used by several international carriers at Tom Bradley International Terminal. The testing is ongoing, airport officials said. Delta's deployment Friday of facial recognition technology in Terminal 2 won't be a test. The airline is permanently installing the cameras, planning an expansion to 13 of its 21 boarding gates. The cameras use facial recognition technology to match the faces of departing travelers with images and names already collected by Customs and Border Patrol and other government agencies. If the name that corresponds to the image captured by the cameras is on the flight manifest, the passenger is allowed to board. The technology can save an average of nine minutes when boarding a wide-body aircraft, or two seconds per customer when compared with traditional boarding, according to Delta. The carrier defended the use of the technology, saying the airline does not store the images taken at the checkpoint and gives passengers the option to instead have a gate agent visually confirm the passengers' identity. "Maintaining the privacy and security of customer information is a responsibility Delta takes very seriously," Delta spokeswoman Liz Savadelis said. Delta officials say that when Customs and Border Protection has tested facial recognition technology at other airports, fewer than 2% of passengers have opted out of using it. An audit released last year by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General found that pilot programs to test the technology at nine airports had a combined match rate of only 85% - below the agency's goal of a 97% to 100% match rate. The audit also blamed poor quality of digital images for difficulty matching travelers under the age of 29 and over the age of 70. In addition, the system had more difficulty matching certain nationalities - specifically U.S. citizens, Mexicans and Canadians - because the government's "digital gallery" had fewer photos of those nationalities than of other foreign travelers, the audit said. Delta, which has a reputation in the airline industry for its use of cutting-edge technology, announced plans in June to install facial recognition cameras at 49 boarding gates at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and Salt Lake City International Airport. American Airlines said earlier this week that it was adding facial recognition cameras to confirm the identity of international travelers at three boarding gates at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-09-05/delta-air-lines-will-use-facial-recognition-cameras-at-lax-boarding-gates Back to Top Airline execs put on hot seat over carbon emissions Airline bosses sought to defend their business against a rising tide of criticism over aircraft emissions as an upswell of activism threatens to overwhelm the industry before it can mount an effective response. The heads of carriers including Emirates, JetBlue Airways Corp. and EasyJet Plc, speaking at the World Aviation Festival in London, warned that reducing carbon emissions would take years, if not decades, given the limitations of current technology and expansion of air travel to an ever-wider slice of the global population. They also objected to punitive measures they maintain would be counter-productive or unintentionally hurt those who couldn't afford additional costs. While carriers are taking action to cut carbon emissions and mitigate the impact of flying, significant advances such as electric or hybrid jets are decades away from commercial flight, Emirates President Tim Clark told the audience at a standing-room-only session Thursday. "Let us not kid ourselves that the Holy Grail is going to come overnight," Clark said. "In the next couple of decades we might see some short-haul aircraft, but with long-haul it's much more difficult to do." Activists from Extinction Rebellion targeted the event, handing out leaflets and leading small protests outside on Wednesday and Thursday. (Bloomberg is keynote host of the World Aviation Festival.) The demonstrators are part of the growing "Flight Shaming" movement that's already dented air travel in Scandinavia. Formulating a quick response is particularly challenging for airlines, which rely on long development cycles for aircraft that can stay in service for decades. "Be careful about over-promising," Clark said, adding that he understands if customers ask airlines about their environmental priorities. "The automotive industry is well ahead, but then cars don't fly." Airlines put out close to 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year, and regulators around the world are considering levying taxes on carriers to reduce the number of people flying. Some people have begun to shun air travel for alternatives ranging from rail to videoconferencing, or just staying home. Swedish teen Greta Thunberg, who's inspired a global movement of so-called climate strikes, just crossed the Atlantic by sailboat to attend a United Nations climate summit in New York. "Twenty years from now, I want to tell my kids and grandkids that I truly tried my best to change things," said Lola Perrin, a piano teacher and Extinction Rebellion volunteer, who said she stopped flying years ago. "We have a global problem and we all need to come together to solve it." Alternatives to flying don't exist in the U.S., where there are no high-speed rail networks, JetBlue Chief Operating Officer Joanna Geraghty said in an interview. The low-cost carrier is switching to newer, more efficient Airbus A220 aircraft which consume 40 percent less fuel than the outgoing Embraer 190 jets, Geraghty said. Geraghty also pushed back against criticism - some of it coming from older carriers such as Deutsche Lufthansa - that discounters are adding unnecessary flights with ultra-low costs. That perception has helped stoke moves to increase taxes on air fares or create minimums for prices. "JetBlue's view is that air travel should not just be for the wealthy," Geraghty said on Bloomberg TV. "Air travel should be for anybody who wants to travel regardless of your economic level." Higher taxes will also reduce the pool of funds to invest in modern technology required for cleaner airplanes, said EasyJet Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren. Still, he said, airlines recognize the need to act. "There isn't one single technology that's going to solve this," he said. "We need to be putting pressure on the manufacturers and only then will we have credibility with consumers and politicians." https://www.sentinelsource.com/news/economy/airline-execs-put-on-hot-seat-over-carbon-emissions/article_f4c80cef-74e5-5d9f-a85f-7a04b63bc0dc.html Back to Top Urban Air Mobility Already Has 200 eVTOL Designs 200 eVTOL Programs Tackling UAM Perhaps the greatest human feats are those that seem impossible. Electric VTOL aircraft are up there in terms of stretching the capacity of lithium battery technology. But it is happening, as it has happened with cars, bicycles, and now more and more boats. And after all, if 3 men made it to the moon and 2 walked its surface using the equivalent of a modern pocket calculator, flying eVTOL aircraft and electric conventional airplanes must be fairly easier to handle. I visited Ampaire a week ago and was impressed by how far that company has come and also the unique energy and culture within the company. And It is not the only one. Jaunt Air Mobility already has its own deeply ingrained culture and has done an amazing job. Pipistrel has perhaps the most established electric aviation culture. And many more are on the scene with promising features and executive teams. n total, 200 fairly different eVTOL teams think their products will soon be ready to take to the skies, or hope so. The market has come about in a very short few years, something unheard of in the aviation world. Is it that much different from the automotive world? Not at all. The pace has exponentially quickened, leaving unsuspecting laggards with the need to use heavy-handed communications tactics to slow down fast-paced startups. VFS Adds 200th eVTOL To Database The Vertical Flight Society just added the 200th eVTOL aircraft concept to its online World eVTOL Aircraft Directory. It as been exciting watching the directory grow recently. Started in 2017, the directory aimed to become the world's most "comprehensive compendium of electric and hybrid/electric-powered VTOL." It tracks aircraft developed by aerospace companies, entrepreneurs, and inventors around the globe. Mike Hirschberg, VFS Executive Director, told CleanTechnica: "We recognized in 2013 that there was a rapid convergence of technologies - including advances in electric motors, batteries, power management systems, fly-by-wire flight controls, and lightweight composite structures - that would enable what we call the Electric VTOL Revolution." The VFS held the world's first technical meeting on eVTOL in 2014 and today the Society's 7th Annual Electric VTOL Symposium will be held in Silicon Valley this January where we count on being there for you. Hirschberg further added "Electric VTOL is one of the most exciting developments in aviation since the advent of the helicopter more than 75 years ago." Thousands of people are now engaged in eVTOL aircraft development technology, including more than 60% of the VFS's corporate members. It's safe to say that the electric VTOL revolution has captured the attention of the world's leading aerospace, technology, automotive, ridesharing, and distribution companies, as well government agencies, militaries, and academia. "The advent of distributed electric propulsion (DEP) has also led to radical new eVTOL aircraft configurations that don't resemble traditional fixed-wing aircraft or rotorcraft and will provide developers with exciting new opportunities to radically reduce the operating cost, noise and complexity of vertical flight," said Hirschberg. The Society compiled the World eVTOL Aircraft Directory in late 2016 with only a half-dozen electric-powered VTOL aircraft. The term "eVTOL" was only used by a small segment of the aerospace community. The free World eVTOL Directory is updated daily and features more than 200 articles and news items hosted on eVTOL.News. Jim Sherman, who recently became VFS Director of Strategic Development, said: "The Vertical Flight Society's role is to help these companies, engineers and inventors overcome the many barriers to commercial success, which include technology, regulations, infrastructure, air traffic management and system safety. We do this through the benefits of membership, but also by holding conferences and workshops to increase understanding and collaboration in this nascent field." The VFS will host its first workshop on defining the challenges of eVTOL aircraft from Sept. 10-12, 2019, at the US Navy Memorial Visitors Center in Washington, D.C. This 3-day meeting will identify the core elements needed to support this growing industry, focusing on infrastructure, air traffic management, and system safety. The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA), ASTM International, the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), SAE International, and the newly founded Community Air Mobility Initiative (CAMI) are actively engaged. The electric aviation revolution reminds me of the same rEVolution that happened roughly around 15 years ago on land. It was soon followed by the maritime industry and now UAM. Of all the conversations I've had with eVTOL & eCTOL key players, one constant remains: People think eVTOLs & eCTOLs are decades away. They are not. They are flying today and the aviation world is quickening its introduction. Maybe a positive aspect of those horrendous Boeing 737 MAX crashes is the realization that an overhaul is needed to the way businesses are run and their unhealthy relationships with our elected representatives. As Steve Hanley correctly said: Adults need to step up. "The Electric VTOL Revolution" Live Stream, March 6, 2019 https://cleantechnica.com/2019/09/07/urban-air-mobility-already-has-200-evtol-designs/ Back to Top Walmart Challenges Amazon in International Patent Race for Drone Delivery Technology While online giant Amazon has been in the news recently for asking the Federal Aviation Administration to ease restrictions for its planned drone-based delivery services, a battle is raging behind the scenes for the future of unmanned delivery vehicles. Walmart is combating the narrative of online retailers overtaking brick-and-mortar businesses by revamping its image and services. Besides using a hybrid of online shopping and manual pick-up at the store, the company is very interested in delivering its products to the customer directly-not only through traditional means, but with unmanned drone delivery couriers. Walmart Joins the Race From June 2018 to June 2019, Walmart filed for 97 new drone patents with the World Intellectual Property Organization (see sample U.S. patents below). This dwarfs Amazon's WIPO filings for drone technology, which only amounted to 54 during the same time period, according to the Financial Times. Of course, Chinese businesses far outpace the United States when it comes to drone patent filings, according to a report by BDO. In 2016, Goldman Sachs research predicted that, by 2020, a $100 billion market opportunity will exist for drones, stemming from pressure of both the commercial and civil government sectors. $70 billion of drone spending will be reserved for defense, $17 billion belongs to the consumer drone market, but a solid $13 billion will be spent between 2016 and 2020 by businesses and governments for commercial use. Those figures were mirrored by Adroit Market Research in May when it said that the drone market will grow to hit $144.38 billion by 2025. More Competition Means Quicker Regulation Hadas Bandel of Flytrex, a drone delivery startup based out of Israel, said that, while regulatory and privacy issues are still being worked out, "drone delivery technology exists and is perfectly operational," and that Flytrex welcomes the competition that Amazon and Walmart bring to the table. "The more competition, the greater the chance of regulations in favor of commercial drone operations," Bandel said. "Of course, there is a small chance that those companies will ultimately take over the market in a monopolistic way, but we believe the whole eCommerce market will have to adjust accordingly and join the drone delivery craze, once there will be one," Bandel added. Companies like Flytrex, Zipline, Flirtey and Matternet already operate in some areas, such as Iceland, where Flytrex makes food delivery runs for residents of the city of Reykjavik. With Amazon and now Walmart increasingly vying for drone delivery technology, there is little doubt that such services will soon play a key role in all of our lives-probably much sooner than we expect. However, it remains anyone's guess who will be ready to deliver the future to our doors first. Below are some representative U.S. drone patents filed by Walmart: U.S. Patent No. 10,301,021 titled Package Release System for Use in Delivery Packages, and Methods of Delivering Packages. It discloses a method in which a mechanical package release system comprised of a package release hanger configured to couple with and suspend from a drone (Unmanned Delivery Aircraft or UDA) then release the package once it has reached its destination. Stated to be an example of improved customer service, the method of delivery is described as being more convenient for the customer, as it will get the product to a delivery location without undesirable delays and added cost. U.S. Patent No. 10,301,020, titled Systems and Methods of Delivering Products with Unmanned Delivery Aircrafts. It describes a method in which a delivery system made up of a crane motor can control the spooling and detracting of a cord suspended from the drone. The crane motor is configured to operate by a control circuit that stops and starts the motor. That same control circuit is configured to receive a release signal from the package-release hanger. The patent also discloses method in which a sonar height detection system provides height information corresponding to the height the UDA is from the delivery area. This information is delivered to the control circuit that controls the crane motor to lower the package. Titled Apparatus and Method for Unmanned Flight, U.S. Patent No. 10,273,001 discloses a system in which an unmanned vehicle can exist. It includes a set of motors, wings, a sensor system and a control circuit. Accordingly, the control circuit would be programmed to perform a task assigned to the UDV, cause the motors to lift it, survey the environment condition through the sensor, and fly towards its goal. https://www.ipwatchdog.com/2019/09/07/walmart-challenges-amazon-in-international-patent-race-for-drone-delivery-technology/id=113000/ Back to Top Dante and Volotea Team Up To Develop Hybrid-Electric Aircraft Spanish low-cost carrier Volotea has announced that it has reached an agreement with Madrid-based aviation start-up Dante Aeronautical to help develop a hybrid-electric passenger aircraft. The project aims to reduce fuel emissions by 50% compared to current jet and propeller aircraft. Volotea intends to use the aircraft, which will carry between 19 and 35 passengers, to link mid- and small-sized European cities. These types of routes are not profitable for current aircraft, and often alternative means of transport are unavailable. Other participants in the project include global innovation and engineering consulting firm ALTRAN, as well as the Universities of Sydney and Adelaide in Australia. IATA's industry goal of reducing net aviation CO2 emissions by 50% by 2050 relies on the introduction of alternative technologies such as hybrid- and full-electric aircraft. Carlos Muñoz, Founder and CEO of Volotea had this to say about the project: "AS PART OF OUR PROACTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, VOLOTEA WILL ACTIVELY COLLABORATE WITH D?NTE AERONAUTICAL IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS HYBRID-ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT, IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THE REDUCTION OF CARBON EMISSIONS AND NOISE FROM AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS. VOLOTEA WILL PROVIDE D?NTE WITH MARKET ANALYSIS AND TECHNICAL DATA. VOLOTEA ENGINEERS AND COMMERCIAL SPECIALISTS HAVE BEEN APPOINTED AND MADE AVAILABLE TO VALIDATE THIS MARKET OPPORTUNITY AND PROVIDE TECHNICAL SUPPORT AS WELL." Volotea - Hybrid Aircraft Project More on Dante and Its Goals Dante, founded in Madrid, has a presence in both Spain and Australia. It was created to use the aviation electrification revolution to develop the best aircraft for connecting small and mid-sized communities point-to-point on thin routes. With all the hype around full-electric aircraft that Dante says "although technically viable will only have a small social, environmental and economic impact in niche markets for the foreseeable future," Dante has chosen a different path. The aircraft will be powered by Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP), batteries for energy storage, and an internal combustion turbo-generator, which will work as a "range extender". Dante's vision for full-electric aircraft Dante's plans involve a future retrofit to a battery only powerplant. However, they believe full-electric aircraft will not be commercially viable until the 2030s. Miguel Madinabeitia, the co-founder of Dante Aeronautical, said the following: "IF WE WANT TO MAKE AVIATION MORE SUSTAINABLE, WE NEED TO FIND THE SWEET SPOT BETWEEN AMBITIOUS EMISSIONS REDUCTION TARGETS AND REALISTIC ECONOMIC PROPOSITIONS. A FULL ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT IS A NICE LONG TERM GOAL, BUT IT WILL HAVE VERY LITTLE IMPACT IN THE NEAR TERM IF IT IS JUST A NICHE PRODUCT FOR WEALTHY INDIVIDUALS. ELECTRIC POWERPLANTS WITH ADDITIONAL HYBRID RANGE EXTENDERS REPRESENT INSTEAD A REAL OPPORTUNITY TO REDUCE EMISSIONS DRASTICALLY IN THE SHORTER TERM BECAUSE THEY ENABLE A NEW MARKET FOR DOOR TO DOOR REGIONAL AIR TRANSPORT WITH COMPETITIVE COSTS. IN D?NTE WE ARE DEVELOPING THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY, AND VOLOTEA IS SHOWING THE DRIVE AND INTEREST TO MAKE IT A COMMERCIAL REALITY." https://captainjetson.com/featured/dante-and-volotea-team-up-to-develop-hybrid-electric-aircraft/ Back to Top Volocopter raises $55M led by Volvo owner Geely, sets 3-year timeline for its flying taxi service The promise of flying cars has become an idea more synonymous with the tech world's shortcomings than its exciting potential, but today one of the startups that has been focused on actually trying to make small, airborne vehicles a reality is announcing a fundraise and says it's on track for a commercial launch in two to three years. Volocopter, which has been building drone-like autonomous electric flying taxis for its own (as-yet unlaunched) urban commercial passenger transportation service - the latest model is its two-passenger VoloCity announced earlier this summer - has closed €50 million ($55 million) in funding led by Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., Ltd, the Chinese automotive company that owns Volvo, Lotus and a number of other car brands. There are also plans for another significant tranche of money underway, likely to be closed later this year. In this latest round, a Series C that brings the total raised to €85 million, Geely is investing alongside other unnamed new and existing investors in the Bruchsal, Germany-based company. Previous backers include Intel and Daimler, the German car giant that owns Mercedes and a number of other brands. Valuation is not being disclosed but Rene Griemens, Volocopter's CFO, confirmed that the stake is under half of the €50 million and gives Geely a share of about 10 percent in the company, similar to that of other big co-investors, with co-founders Alexander Zosel and Stephan Wolf continuing to hold a majority of the company. Doing the math, it would imply a valuation of between €200 million and €250 million for the startup. Griemens also said in an interview that the German company intends to use the funding to continue working on its taxi R&D; meeting safety and other regulatory requirements for its small taxi vessels (which seat two); working other upcoming models such as those that can transport cargo; and business development around commercial launches. Indeed, part of this latest investment is paving the way for future business: Geely and Volocopter will be working on a joint venture to bring the Volocopter and its "Urban Air Mobility" concept to China. While there is no commercial airtaxi or other "flying car" services in existence today in any urban area, the market for hopefuls is a crowded one, with the likes of Lilium, Kitty Hawk, eHang, Uber, and many others building completely new styles of aircraft and hoping to play a role in offering short-range flights as an affordable alternative to road-based transportation. (Blade, an airtaxi service of sorts, is offering more conventional helicopters and other vessels in its limited launch for executives.) "Urban mobility needs to evolve in the next few years to meet rising demand," said Florian Reuter, CEO of Volocopter, in a statement. "With our Volocopter air taxis, we are adding a whole new level of mobility in the skies." Among its many potential competitors, Volocopter has been one of the more prolific when it comes to building and testing its drone-like vehicles, most recently in Helsinki where it became the first autonomous VTOL - vertical take-off and landing - aircraft to operate in the same airspace as other commercial aircraft. You might also recall when Intel brought the Volocopter on stage at CES in Las Vegas in 2018 for a flight demonstration during its keynote, still the only time the Volocopter has been airborne in the US. Griemens said the company was less focused on the US as a target market, in part because it didn't look like regulations for autonomous (or semi-autonomous) VTOL craft would be resolved any time soon. Details on how Volocopter's service would operate are still - pardon the expression - up in the air, but Griemens said that while Volocopter would own the aircraft, it would likely partner with local operators to help run the service. Similarly, the initial running of these autonomous craft would almost certainly involve "drivers" (the company says operating them is significantly less difficult than piloting other conventional aircraft) who are partially assisting and monitoring the autonomous operation. The overall price of each aircraft, meanwhile, would likely be one-fifth to one-quarter of the price since the cost of operating it ultimately would be significantly lower and the initial hardware cost would be, too. While initial rides would be more expensive, after five to 10 years, the company estimates that the price would come down to the cost of a taxi ride on the ground. "The goal was always to democratize flying," he said. Its first launch markets are likely to be Singapore, Dubai - where it has a partnership with the city - and an unspecified large European city. That could be somewhere in its home market of Germany, or Helsinki, but just as equally London, where the company has been engaging with city officials on what an airtaxi service could look like. (It's also part of a new experimental 'sandbox' launched by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority to test out technology related to air-based transportation and travel.) But even with regulatory frameworks in place, delays can come in many forms. This isn't even the first time that Volocopter has predicted commercial services in "two to three years." Nevertheless, startups like Volocopter represent a credible version of the future of transportation, so for companies like Geely, Daimler and Intel, which still have large legacy businesses, investing in and working with Volocopter gives them a shot at playing a key role (and having a financial stake) in that market. "Geely is transitioning from being an automotive manufacturer to a mobility technology group, investing in and developing a wide range of next-generation technologies," said Li Shufu, Geely's chairman, in a statement. "Our joint venture with Volocopter underlines our confidence in Volocopter air taxis as the next ambitious step in our wider expansion in both electrification and new mobility services." Geely, as it happens, also has around a 10 percent stake in Daimler and works with the Volcopter co-investor on other partnerships. Daimler has been a prolific investor in next-generation transportation services and is building a ride-sharing service with Geely in China. https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/08/volocopter-raises-55m-led-by-volvo-owner-geely-sets-3-year-timeline-for-its-flying-taxi-service/ Back to Top It's Time to Regulate Outer Space Last week, the European Space Agency reached out to to warn Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. that one of its satellites might collide with a SpaceX communications satellite. When ESA first raised such concerns in late August, the chances of a crash were 1 in 50,000; SpaceX had said then that it didn't think the risk was high enough to justify action. Now the odds had narrowed to 1 in 1,000. Yet ESA received no reply. Eventually the space agency unilaterally moved its satellite out of the way when it was barely half an orbit away from SpaceX's. Company officials later explained that they'd failed to respond because of "a bug in our on-call paging system." In short, they'd missed the message. For most of the six decades since humans first launched satellites into space, the risk of such collisions has generally been low. They're now rising rapidly, thanks to the growth of commercial space companies and the desire of more and more governments to exploit space. As last week's snafu suggests, self-regulation by countries and companies may no longer be sufficient to manage those risks. Spacefaring nations urgently need protocols to manage Earth orbit as the shared, limited resource that it is. Since 1957, humans have launched at least 9,000 satellites into orbit. Roughly 5,000 are still up there; a couple thousand remain functional. And satellites make up just a fraction of the manmade objects orbiting the Earth. The U.S. Air Force and other organizations are tracking at least 19,000 additional pieces of space junk, including debris from collisions, anti-satellite tests, and rocket launches. Then there are the millions of pieces of metal, some as small as a millimeter, that can cause significant damage to satellites when colliding at speeds exceeding 17,500 miles per hour. As far back as the 1970s, scientists had begun warning that the proliferation of satellites would increase the chances of orbital collisions. These days, operators of satellites and other spacecraft regularly maneuver around other objects in orbit. Since 1999, the International Space Station has had to shift course than two dozen times to avoid space junk. The problem is going to expand rapidly in coming years as SpaceX and other companies launch "mega-constellations" of hundreds and even thousands of small and medium-sized communication satellites into low-Earth orbit. SpaceX has plans to create a constellation of as many as 12,000 satellites, with the first 60 launched last May. Among these was the one ESA worried about running into last week. Companies and governments aren't oblivious to the challenge. As far back as 2011, reinsurance giant Swiss Re AG acknowledged debris as a satellite insurance risk. SpaceX is taking several steps to address the issue, including placing its mega-constellations in low-altitude orbits so that dead satellites will fall out of orbit and burn up on their own. Both the U.S. and the European Union are considering requiring that any new satellites be able to do the same automatically in the event of problems. The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space has issued voluntary guidelines on debris mitigation. Even so, only 30 percent of satellite operators are adhering to guidelines that they bring satellites out of orbit after 25 years. Meanwhile, a host of new spacefaring nations may or may not feel obligated to abide by U.S. regulations or UN guidelines written before they took flight. Worse, as the SpaceX-ESA incident proves, there's no internationally recognized air traffic control agency or protocols to regulate Earth orbit. The global community lacks even a legal definition of "space junk," much less agreed ways and means to pay for its removal. Reaching a global consensus won't be easy. Earth orbit has both civil and military uses, and the lines that divide them are often unclear and contentious. Nonetheless, a somewhat similar challenge was met in 1944, when 52 countries established the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN body that sets global safety norms for civil aviation. A global convention to regulate Earth orbit could have similar, industry-boosting benefits, by laying out protocols for satellite operators to communicate with each other, as well as binding standards for the creation, management and mitigation of space junk. New space powers, including India and Japan, would have a strong incentive to join such an organization, if only as a means to encourage nations such as the U.S. and Russia to clean up the messes they've already created. As the heavens become more crowded, leaders on earth are going to have to work together to keep them safe. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-09-08/regulations-are-needed-to-prevent-satellite-collisions Curt Lewis