May 13, 2021 - No. 37 In This Issue : Collins Aerospace provides avionics for Nasa’s X-59 QueSST aircraft : Flight Path: BTV’s Beta Technologies Is on the Cusp of a Breakthrough for Electric Aviation : Fredonia professor receives U.S. patent for pioneering flight tracking technology : British Airways trials digital queuing technology for check-in : BA Eyes Virtual Queuing As IATA Chief Predicts Airport Chaos : Collins Aerospace Building Ram Air Turbine Wind Tunnel : Wright demonstrates inverter for electric narrowbody airliner : Autonomous aircraft ‘brain’ completes first Skyborg flights : Next-gen fuel for regional operators ‘will take time’: ATR : Russian-Founded Space Start-Up Faces National Security Pressure : Proposed bill aims to toss a new wrench in NASA’s Moon lander plan Collins Aerospace provides avionics for Nasa’s X-59 QueSST aircraft Raytheon Technologies unit Collins Aerospace has delivered a Large Format Display system for Nasa’s X-59 Quiet Supersonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft. The company was contracted by Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor of the X-59 project, to develop a customised avionics solution. Collins Aerospace worked closely with Lockheed Martin Skunk Works and Nasa to jointly develop software applications. The solution includes touchscreen primary flight displays equipped with multi-function windows, head-up display symbology, and synthetic vision. It also features ARC-210 communication radios, an Enhanced Vision System (EVS-3600), and navigation and surveillance equipment. The multi-spectral EVS-3600 uses visual sensors and multiple wavelength, infrared technology that allow pilots to land the aircraft in all weather and low-visibility conditions. Two cameras are installed outside the aircraft that provide images for the eXternal Visibility System (eXVS) visible through a 4K monitor. Collins Aerospace military avionics and helicopters vice-president and general secretary Dave Schreck said: “The X-59 is expected to create a noise about as loud as a car door closing instead of a sonic boom when it breaks the sound barrier. “This aircraft has the ability to shape the future of supersonic travel and our avionics are helping make this revolutionary aircraft a reality. We’re excited as we count down the days until we see it fly.” Lockheed Martin is currently developing X-59 QueSST at its Skunk Works factory in Palmdale, California, US, under the $247.5m cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. The development and construction of X-59 QueSST are managed under the Low Boom Flight Demonstrator project, which is part of Nasa’s Integrated Aviation Systems programme. The aircraft is slated to perform its initial flight next year. https://www.aerospace-technology.com/news/collin-aerospace-x-59-quesst-nasa/ Flight Path: BTV’s Beta Technologies Is on the Cusp of a Breakthrough for Electric Aviation Beta Technologies' two prized prototypes take up the center of its bustling headquarters inside a hangar at Burlington International Airport. Around the upper rim of the airy space, employee workstations overlook the lustrous white machines through long walls of glass. During a recent tour, a group of engineers studied aircraft designs on a projection screen in one conference room. Next door, two others played Ping-Pong. The open office layout isn't to imitate Silicon Valley, or even to show off Beta's aircraft, founder and CEO Kyle Clark insisted. He thinks the glass helps get engineers talking to each other, which leads to a better plane. And Clark is obsessed with building a better plane. The prototypes parked in the hangar are the first two iterations of Beta's latest, most promising design. With a 50-foot wingspan and a tall V-shaped tail, the aircraft dubbed Alia uses four propellers to lift like a drone and a fifth to fly forward like a plane. It's designed to carry six people or three pallets of cargo up to 250 miles, powered entirely by rechargeable electric batteries. "The mission of the business is to create a sustainable aviation future." KYLE CLARK Alia represents an aviation breakthrough-in-waiting, physical evidence of how the far-off vision of flight without fossil fuel has become tantalizingly close. For many, the nascent electric aviation field is synonymous with a fascination for flying cars. A new class of experimental aircraft called electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL), which includes Alia, promises quiet, efficient propulsion and the nimbleness of a helicopter. Add in advances toward pilotless operation, and the aircraft could usher in radically different skyscapes and personal transportation networks, the thinking goes. Accordingly, Silicon Valley has jumped in to fuel a race to create the first big electric air taxi company. Beta, homegrown in the less-vaunted Champlain Valley, has leapt toward the front of the pack by charting a different flight path. Since founding the startup in 2017, Clark has been focused not on the Jetsons but on the planet. The quickest way to begin moving air travel away from fossil fuels, Clark said at a recent conference, is to build "insanely reliable" aircraft that are capable of more straightforward uses, such as transporting cargo. Much of the work to achieve that goal takes place in labs on the South Burlington hangar's first floor, where there's considerably less glass than the trendy office space above. Here, Beta's engineers continue to refine the cutting-edge electric motors and control systems they've been developing quietly for the last few years. Between an electronics lab and the 3D printing shop is a pair of rooms that Clark — a slightly scruffy, six-foot-six engineer, serial entrepreneur and former pro hockey draft pick — introduces with a mechanic's charm as the "torture chambers." In these tiny thunderdomes, Beta's most precious components get stuffed into cages and pushed toward their breaking point. They're cooked and frozen and shocked with the same voltage as a lightning strike. They're also strapped to a vibration table and rattled according to computer-programmed frequencies, "maybe a Metallica song, or maybe an airplane vibration modal spectrum," Clark said. In separate containers on airport grounds, Beta's electric motors spin on 13 testing devices called dynamometers to gauge their durability. "We just beat the shit out of motors continuously," Clark said. The company's first-things-first approach is beginning to pay off. Since its unveiling last June, Alia has undertaken some of the most advanced flight testing in the industry and now regularly flies 100-mile practice routes over Chittenden County. Last week, the U.S. Air Force granted Alia approval to fly on behalf of the military, only the second electric aircraft authorized to do so. In April, Beta signed a deal to sell at least 10 of its roughly $4 million aircraft to United Parcel Service by 2024; UPS says it will use them on some of its regional express delivery routes, flying packages between warehouses instead of airports. Beta's also committed to delivering up to 20 planes to Blade, a company that currently offers $800 helicopter rides from Manhattan to the Hamptons. Beta's workforce has grown from 75 employees a year ago to more than 230 and counting, as the company plans a big push toward flight certification and production. "It's a program that's more likely to make it than others. But it's still, like many of them, somewhat precarious." BRIAN FOLEY On the cusp of pioneering commercial electric aviation, Beta could quickly become one of Vermont's largest companies if it can successfully compete in a new global market. Clark and his wife, Katie, met in middle school in Essex and dream of their community becoming a "green aviation stronghold." But the startup is far from alone in its quest, and its flurry of achievements comes as competitors have raked in gobs of investor cash — more than $4 billion in 2021 so far. Beta raised $143 million in new private capital in March and was in the process of raising $190 million more, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure filed April 1 but unreported until now. Some industry analysts believe the cost to bring a new plane to market is even greater, but they nonetheless consider Beta a top contender because of its tangible progress in a speculative industry. "It's a program that's more likely to make it than others," said Brian Foley, a longtime aerospace consultant, offering a levelheaded assessment. "But it's still, like many of them, somewhat precarious." Clark, 41, has been imagining different ways of flying for a long time. As a senior at Harvard University in 2004, he exuded confidence when his thesis project was named best in his engineering class. The young airplane and motorcycle enthusiast built a flight simulator based on a motorcycle chassis that could more intuitively match the roll and pitch pilots experience while flying. "I have every intention of taking this project through to completion," he told the university's newswire, the Harvard Gazette. By "completion," Clark meant producing a functional aircraft that the pilot can roll a sport bike into, use it to pilot the plane, and upon landing ride it out — in other words, a flying motorcycle. "The feasibility study is complete, and the concept is indeed realistic," he was quoted as saying. The project didn't materialize, nor did his other ambition, professional hockey. The Washington Capitals drafted the Harvard winger in 1999. He played a couple of seasons on its minor league affiliates but proved a better enforcer than goal scorer. The Clarks moved back to Vermont, where Kyle cofounded iTherm Technologies, a maker of induction heating power supplies, in Colchester. He sold the company to Dynapower in South Burlington and became that company's director of engineering, working on power electronics and battery systems. He and another Dynapower alum later started Designbook, now Venture.co, as a social networking and investment-seeking platform for tech entrepreneurs. Kyle's collegiate "cycleplane" concept resurfaced as the example he liked to use of a business venture that could benefit from Designbook. In March 2017, Clark was giving a presentation on batteries for an aviation company in Philadelphia when someone in the audience stopped him. "Who are you, and why are you here?" Clark recalled being asked. His interrogator was Martine Rothblatt, the author, entrepreneur and futurist who is one of the more interesting rich people in the world. Rothblatt, who has a home in Vermont, founded Sirius Satellite Radio and, after her daughter was diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension, started the now-publicly traded biotechnology company United Therapeutics to cure her disease. As a trans woman, Rothblatt has advocated for the rights of trans and gender-nonconforming people. She and her wife, Bina Aspen, launched the Terasem Movement, a group of educational and religious organizations that seek to transplant human consciousness through technology and that operate out of Lincoln. One of Terasem's projects involved replicating Bina as an artificial intelligence robot named Bina48. Rothblatt took note of Clark's enthusiasm and their shared Vermont ties and invited him for coffee the next time she was around. She wanted to know how he would go about developing an electric aircraft, Clark said. Electric aviation was having a moment. In October 2016, the ride-hailing giant Uber issued a white paper that laid out a vision for a network of on-demand, pilotless electric air taxis within a decade. The small aircraft would be able to take off from and land on helipads atop buildings, shortening urban commutes. Rothblatt, a helicopter pilot, was exploring electric flight, as well, but for her own reasons. She wanted a fleet of carbon-neutral aircraft that could transport the human organs that United Therapeutics hopes to manufacture before 2030. She'd worked with a team of California engineers in 2016 to test fly a conventional helicopter retrofitted with a rechargeable battery. That same year, United Therapeutics subsidiary Lung Biotechnology invested $10 million in a Chinese startup, EHang, that is developing eVTOL planes. But Rothblatt was still looking to place another bet. She was in Philadelphia that day, she told Seven Days, to hear from another company that was looking into the technology; Clark was there as one of its potential contractors. "It's kind of my nature as a technologist to always have multiple shots on goal," she said. Clark struck Rothblatt as having the "perfect mixture" of the skills she was looking for: "somebody who completely understands how to build and execute businesses for electric power," she recalled, "and somebody who is also a pilot and completely understands flying." Their coffee date turned into a daylong visit and a request that Clark put some ideas in writing, he recalled. He returned to his Underhill home and drew up a business proposal, accenting it with watercolors to make it pop. The document, which he sent her at 4 a.m. the next day, asked United Therapeutics to put up $1.5 million in initial funding while Clark would contribute an equivalent value toward a rather conceptual goal: "elicit critical thinking in electric aviation." Later that morning, he recalled, Rothblatt texted him: "You're on." Rothblatt's backing helped Beta bring other investors and advisers aboard, including Dean Kamen, the New Hampshire-based creator of the Segway; Stone Point Capital CEO and Vermont native Charles Davis; and Boston Scientific cofounder and Shelburne resident John Abele. Clark was able to recruit top Vermont talent, including Steve Arms, founder of Williston sensor maker MicroStrain, who joined Beta in its first year. Clark also tapped locals, such as Ben Colbourn, who said he was working in Burlington's Generator maker space when Clark called looking for anyone knowledgeable about drones. Colbourn now oversees Beta's 3D printers, making sophisticated shapes from specialty materials at a rapid pace. Early on, Clark approached Burlington International Airport in search of space for his startup. Airport director of aviation Gene Richards agreed to lease an aging hangar used by maintenance staff in exchange for repairs and improvements. To run flight tests, Beta also leased space across Lake Champlain at Plattsburgh International Airport, site of a former U.S. Air Force base. Within 10 months, Beta's small team had designed, built and hovered its first eVTOL prototype in virtual secrecy. Ava, a somewhat spindly craft that wielded eight tilting propellers, served as a demonstration project. Its successful hover testing reeled in a $48 million contract from Rothblatt's company. Once Ava was aloft, Clark said, he sent his first investor and potential customer sketches of what would become Alia. More importantly, Clark said, he pitched Rothblatt on his approach to making an aircraft that would have real-world use. "It is focusing really deep into the motors, batteries, inverters, and being relatively conventional on the stuff that doesn't deserve innovation quite yet," he said late last month. "The materials science, the interiors, the avionics, the flight controls — those things are not going to take us from guzzling fuel in a jet engine to a new form of aviation. But the electric propulsion is." Commercial air travel accounts for roughly 3 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The relatively small figure is expected to grow, and unlike the auto industry, aviation hasn't had a clear path to renewable alternatives. Electric flight is limited by both the amount of energy today's batteries can store relative to their weight — far less than jet fuel — and the immense power that aircraft need their propulsion systems to deliver to stay in the air. Advancements in battery technology and the efficiency of electric motors in recent years have made electric-powered flight more plausible for small aircraft capable of carrying light loads for relatively short distances. "The amount of power density you can get at any one time is better than it has been before, and the amount of power you need is less than it has been before," said Nicholas Roy, a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "So if the question is, 'Well, why now?,' it's the convergence of those two things. Do I think it has converged enough to really make this viable? That I don't know." Beta has designed its electric propulsion system from the ground up. Alia uses powerful and efficient permanent magnet motors, the same family of motors used in today's electric cars. Clark said the company's 400-horsepower motors, which are air-cooled and don't require a gearbox, are capable of converting about 95 percent of electric energy into thrust. "This is our core technology internally," Clark said as he showed off the motor's components. Circuit boards for the inverters that control the motors are also designed in-house, while employees assemble massive battery packs from lithium-ion cells in a series of shipping containers next to the hangar. Beta's decision to develop its own propulsion components distinguishes it from many of its competitors, who have partnered with legacy aviation firms such as Rolls-Royce and Safran, said Foley, the aviation analyst. Alia's design takes advantage of Beta's in-house propulsion expertise. Whereas Ava, like many of the air taxis in development, used tiltable propellers to lift vertically and move forward, Alia has separate systems for lift and cruise that use motors specifically designed for each function. The design reflects Clark's emphasis on pragmatic thinking. "Real innovation happens as you say, 'How do I get that performance without increasing complexity?'" he said. Alia is one of the largest, heaviest and most aerodynamic eVTOL designs to be built, said Mike Hirschberg, executive director of the Vertical Flight Society, a nonprofit industry educational group. Simplicity isn't typically a marker of strong performance in aviation, Hirschberg said, "but I think Beta has a nice balance." He considers the company one of the leading eVTOL developers, out of more than 200 who have put forward designs. Last year, Beta got permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to begin initial test flights for Alia within a designated patch of airspace around the Plattsburgh airport. Clark, who also serves as one of Beta's four test pilots, flew the prototype off airport property for the first time on New Year's Day this year. By March, the company had done enough successful testing that the FAA allowed Alia to fly beyond the initial flight area. Another pilot flew the aircraft across Lake Champlain back to BTV, where testing continues almost daily. Most of the flight testing so far has been in fixed-wing mode, with the lift propellers detached and wheels installed under the fuselage. Alia had completed its 101st fixed-wing flight on the day that Clark took Seven Days for a tour of the hangar. Publicly available flight data from FlightAware tracked the aircraft flying more than 90 miles back and forth over Essex at a peak altitude of 5,900 feet and a top speed of 150 miles per hour. Beta is one of the first companies working with the U.S. Air Force through an unusual public-private program intended to accelerate eVTOL development. Launched in 2020, Agility Prime makes Department of Defense funding and resources available to eVTOL developers and helps the Air Force evaluate whether the new forms of aircraft may have military applications. Knowing a homegrown company was working in the field, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) helped funnel an extra $25 million into Agility Prime last year, his office said. The Air Force conducted ground tests on Alia last year to help establish its airworthiness, while Beta installed immersive flight simulators in Springfield, Ohio, and Washington, D.C., so officials can explore scenarios in which the aircraft might be useful. With the military airworthiness authorization granted to Alia last month, the company can now conduct flight tests on the Air Force's dime as part of a contract that will pay Beta up to $44 million, Clark said. In a press release, Air Force Col. Nathan Diller said Beta's progress "shows the high level of maturity" of the company and emerging eVTOL technology. Going to Market Not everyone is sold. Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at Virginia-based aerospace and defense analyst Teal Group, isn't necessarily skeptical about the progress in electric-aviation technology. He just thinks the notion that today's electric aircraft developers are revolutionizing travel is absurd. Aboulafia is amused by what he considers an increasingly collective amnesia about the lessons of aviation's past. At the turn of the millennium, Eclipse Aviation, a dot-com-era darling, attracted hundreds of millions in investment to develop superlight, inexpensive personal jets that promised to democratize flight. The jets, it turned out, were not so cheap to make, and the company collapsed with $1 billion in debt. To Aboulafia, today's ventures seem awfully familiar. Electric air taxi proponents, he argues, are overstating the market for a product that's still incredibly expensive to build. Helicopters are a niche industry, and it's hard to see electric equivalents — even though they are quieter and cheaper to maintain — expanding the market as dramatically as tech futurists and the people who give them money imagine. "This is a recipe for carnage," he said. "Absolute carnage." The last few months have seen a massive acceleration in funding for flying car startups, according to Robin Riedel, a more bullish analyst for McKinsey & Company. The consulting firm has tracked more than $4 billion in eVTOL investment so far in 2021, far more than last year or the $1 billion that was publicly disclosed in 2019. Most of the recent capital has been provided through Wall Street's latest craze: special-purpose acquisition companies. SPACs, sometimes called blank-check companies, are publicly traded shells that exist solely to find a private company with which to merge. In the last couple of years they've become attractive as shortcuts to a traditional public offering. Three eVTOL makers have used the tool since February to raise as much as $1.6 billion each. McKinsey projects that the global market for passenger eVTOL flights could be at least $300 billion annually. Others have estimated even larger revenue potential. "The investments that are going into this are reasonable," Riedel said, "if that is actually the market." All that cash is crucial for startups to get a new kind of aircraft certified by the FAA and into production for commercial flight, which likely would cost more than $750 million, several analysts told Seven Days. Some eVTOL makers have said they can get it done within the next two to three years. Clark asserts that Beta doesn't need as much money as the other companies because it has a clearer, quicker path to regulatory approval and a more straightforward business model. Unlike some other companies, Beta isn't trying to also establish a new passenger airline — it's just selling aircraft. Asked during an interview in late April whether he was considering taking the company public to raise more money, Clark said that doing so would bring a "whole boatload of disadvantages," namely the requirement to communicate with public investors. "We have the fortunate advantage of only having to convince our customers and the FAA that we have a safe, reliable aircraft that serves our mission," he said. "Not only do you get deposits and down payments from the customers, but you get credibility with alternative sources of funds." Though Alia can be outfitted for pilotless urban travel, Beta is working primarily with UPS and United Therapeutics for regional piloted flights. Clark expects that the barriers to using the aircraft for cargo will be significantly lower. Its contract with UPS has an option to expand to 150 aircraft; Rothblatt said her company is seeking to deploy 60 aircraft in 2026. "Kyle has designed a path for Beta which is challenging ... but definitely doable." MARTINE ROTHBLATT eVTOL developers focusing on cargo uses have yet to attract investors to the same degree as those working on passenger applications, Riedel noted. Part of the reason is that planes are currently a small part of logistics and shipping businesses; the time they save usually isn't worth the cost. "The cargo case really requires much more of a shift that is unknown," he said. United Therapeutics is looking for planes that can fulfill organ delivery missions, but Rothblatt said the company's primary interest in eVTOL designs stems from its commitment to sustainability. "It's no sense for us to be saving people's lives with organ transplants if we're trashing the whole world environment," she said. Of her several bets on eVTOL, Rothblatt said Beta is poised to offer the longest flight range with a feasible route to certification. "Kyle has designed a path for Beta which is challenging to get the FAA certification but definitely doable," she said. "And when he gets it, his aircraft will have the best performance characteristics, in my opinion, of any of the others." Building Out Rothblatt's backing, Clark said, has allowed him to design the company according to his own vision, with a culture to reflect it. Some aspects of Beta's organizational ethos can seem like tech startup gimmicks. Beta's many job postings seek engineers and technicians but also "gurus" and "ninjas." Yet once they join the company, employees refer to their job titles almost universally as "teammate." Clark insists there's merit to the idea. For example, taking time off doesn't hinge on supervisor approval but on teammates' agreement that the absence of a fellow worker won't leave them in the lurch. The result is a cadre of entrepreneurial employees who, Clark said, "just care a whole hell of a lot about what they're doing, as opposed to a bunch of people that are trying to follow instructions or conform to something or climb the corporate ladder." Since the beginning, Beta has encouraged all of its "teammates" to attain a pilot's license on company time under the tutelage of its several certified instructors. More than 30 have licenses, and 100 more are in training. The program has helped instill broader affection for and understanding of aviation, which leads, Clark believes, to smarter design. Katie Clark oversees marketing, though she recently refashioned the marketing meetings as "band practice" to avoid boxing in their thinking. She hired a local chef to make lunch each day for the growing staff, who on a recent Wednesday stood in the rain for lunch at the company food truck. Katie and Kyle's four children, whom they homeschool, spend a lot of time at the office, too. Their 18-year-old daughter, Willa, has been working at Beta since she was 16. She said she started flying planes before she learned to drive. As flight testing continues, the company is also gearing up to attain FAA certification and to manufacture Alia. Last fall Beta hired Matt Cherouny, a 35-year-old manufacturing engineer, to assess how to bring Alia into production. Cherouny grew up in South Burlington, attended the University of Vermont and worked for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters before going to work for Tesla in California several years ago. He's one of many Beta engineers who earned their degrees in Vermont. "Visiting Beta made me realize I can move back to Vermont and I don't have to sacrifice my career and my personal beliefs" about sustainability, Cherouny said. He piloted his first solo flight last month, which was celebrated according to aviation tradition: by cutting off a piece of the shirt he was wearing. Beta has not yet decided where to set up manufacturing operations, though it may well be at BTV. Vermont Business Magazine recently quoted a local contractor who said the company was eyeing a manufacturing facility there. Airport director Richards said Beta has an option to expand onto an open, nearly 40-acre parcel at the south end of the property. He confirmed "informal negotiations" with Beta about using it. Clark's goal, he said, is to continue growing the business in Vermont, the home state of both his family and more than half of Beta's employees. He sees advantages to locating manufacturing operations near the engineering, so long as it also makes business sense. "Obviously, that requires everything from local community support to political support to financial reasons to make all that happen," he said. "Beta has a very bright future, and I want that future to be based right here in Vermont." SEN. PATRICK LEAHY Public officials are eager to help. Beta was approved over the winter for a Vermont Employment Growth Incentive payment of up to $2.8 million, according to state records. Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said in an interview that Beta is on track to have a "very significant economic impact" in the region doing work that dovetails with the city's climate priorities. "We will work hard to make the opportunity right when Beta is ready to make that decision," he said. After Leahy visited Beta last week, a spokesperson said he will urge Congress to consider boosting the country's electric aircraft industry through President Joe Biden's proposed infrastructure bill. "Beta has a very bright future," Leahy said in a statement, "and I want that future to be based right here in Vermont." In the meantime, Beta is laying the literal groundwork to support its vision of electric flight. Like electric cars, an electric air network requires places to charge. The company has devised an all-in-one landing and recharging system that can be installed at airports, warehouses and other locations. The units can charge any kind of electric vehicle and use battery banks to limit how much energy is pulled from the grid at any given time. Alia can be recharged in less than an hour, Beta says. The company has already built out a network of recharging stations from Burlington to Springfield, Ohio, through small airports in western New York State that will enable Alia to make a longer trek. Clark plans to expand the network up and down the East and West coasts and eventually establish landing and recharging infrastructure nationwide. A Beta-funded project to electrify Rutland's airport was under way last month, state aviation manager Dan Delabruere said. Some regional governments are already considering pursuing federal funds to add infrastructure to support electric aircraft. The recharging stations, constructed in Williston, feature a landing deck perched above four containers that provide resting quarters, battery supply and a repair shop. The interior spaces are created from recycled shipping containers — a characteristically resourceful touch. The station at BTV is visible along Airport Drive to motorists heading to the airport terminal. It looks cool, if a little provisional. Most people probably didn't imagine flying cars would be parked atop salvaged steel boxes. But Beta's clunky pads could be where that future finally gets off the ground. https://www.sevendaysvt.com/vermont/flight-path-btvs-beta-technologies-is-on-the-cusp-of-a-breakthrough-for-electric-aviation/Content?oid=32957639 Fredonia professor receives U.S. patent for pioneering flight tracking technology A revolutionary technology, developed by Junaid Zubairi, professor of Computer and Information Sciences, has the potential to render obsolete the so-called “black box” – an essential investigation tool used in all airplane accidents and incidents – through the real-time transmission of vital flight data to ground-level sensors. The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent to Dr. Zubairi for the Flight Data Tracker that he designed, with the assistance from undergraduate students, to track and save flight data that’s currently accessed from an aircraft’s black box. Zubairi’s software would eliminate the need, following a crash, to mount what can be an expensive and time-consuming search to recover the flight data recorder that stores the vital information. “If the flight ends abruptly due to an accident, the data available in the (ground-based) server would allow the investigation into the crash to start immediately instead of searching for the black box,” Zubairi explained. Accident scene searches can take several days to complete. “In case of a crash, this real time component is really useful because instead of looking for the black box, we can reach out to the information immediately and we can start looking into the reasons why the plane crashed,” Zubairi said. Dr. Joseph (Andy) Karafa, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, indicated Zubairi’s ground-breaking software is a prime example of the caliber of scholarship at Fredonia. “And, although exceptional, it highlights one of the things we at Fredonia do so well and so often: We engage students in meaningful hands-on experiences. In fact, we pride ourselves on creating a community of scholars where members of the faculty remain professionally engaged and undergraduate students play significant roles in research and creative endeavors." The real time component of the Flight Data Tracker also makes it extremely useful for ground-based monitoring of flights. This feature, Zubairi believes, has the potential to avoid situations, such as the Northwest Airlines Flight 188 that missed its designated airport by 150 miles, or disasters such Colgan Air Flight 3407 that crashed near Buffalo, by continually monitoring flight data and triggering alarms. Information to be sent to ground-level servers includes engine data, such as oil pressure and airspeed, as well as altitude, roll, pitch, thrust, heading, and other parameters. Flights within the continental United States can safely and reliably transmit data to a string of servers, located at airports along the aircraft’s flight path, through existing UHF radio links. Satellite links could be utilized on international flights when UHF radio links are not available. The Flight Data Tracker is scalable, so it can handle any number of flights – even thousands – without modification. The system allows several flights to send their data simultaneously to different servers. It is also “fault-tolerant,” so it can continue to function even if a few servers are down. Unlike other patented flight tracking systems, Zubairi’s system does not require installation of new hardware devices on each aircraft, does not direct and store data to a single ground-based server or use proprietary algorithms. Four Fredonia undergraduate students assisted Zubairi in various development aspects. These students, who have since received their degrees, and their projects and the course each attended, included: Ahenk Er, whose thesis was “An Investigation into the Feasibility of Replacing the Black Box with Glass Box,” for CSIT 497; Zhoujun Fu and Sean Wignall, who worked on flight tracker programming in CSIT 435; and Iago De Silva, “Integration and Routing of FlightTracker,” for CSIT 499. Zubairi worked with Ms. Er to design the flight data tracker at the theoretical level using flowcharts and diagrams. He later built prototype software that simulated the working of the tracker. “I always try to get the students involved in my research. That is the hallmark of my research,” Zubairi said. Zubairi, who began work to develop the new technology in the 2010-2011 academic year, suggests use of black boxes could begin to be phased out within the next two years. The SUNY Research Foundation and technology incubators at SUNY Binghamton and the University at Buffalo have provided marketing assistance that involves reaching out to aviation companies and aircraft manufacturers, such as Boeing, and regulators, including the Federal Aviation Agency and International Civil Aviation Organization. Zubairi, who holds a Ph.D. and M.S., both in computer engineering from Syracuse University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from NED University of Engineering, Pakistan, sees the Flight Data Tracker as “potentially disruptive” because it has the potential to disrupt the status quo and force the aviation industry to redesign flight data tracking with new features and new possibilities. Zubairi has been a member of Fredonia’s Department of Computer and Information Sciences since 1999. “I have been working on research for saving lives. Flight Data Tracker and medical emergency patient management projects are my humble contributions,” Zubairi said. “I am inspired by the quote, ‘Whoever saves one life, it is written as if he has saved all humanity.' from Holy Quran and Old Testament.” https://www.fredonia.edu/news/articles/fredonia-professor-receives-us-patent-pioneering-flight-tracking-technology British Airways trials digital queuing technology for check-in British Airways will be trialling new intelligent queuing technology from Qmatic, that will enable customers to virtually queue at check-in by pre-booking their slot time in advance of arriving at the airport. The technology, which is optional for customers, will be trialled by British Airways for three months on selected flights departing from Heathrow Terminal 5. Customers will be sent an email before travel inviting them to book their personal check-in time. When it is time for a customer to check in, the Qmatic system will notify them that it is their turn, allowing them to then simply go to the dedicated desk and the airline’s customer service team will be able to assist. Customers who have not booked a check-in slot through Qmatic, can proceed as normal, or have the option to join a virtual queue when they arrive at the airport by scanning a QR code. British Airways will be the first airline to trial Qmatic, which is currently used extensively in the public sector, retail, healthcare and financial organisations around the world, including BP Service Stations, the Tate Modern and the Post Office in the UK, to help manage the flow of customers. Declan Pollard, British Airways’ Head of Heathrow Customer Experience, said “In this new Covid-19 era we know that customers have been travelling less frequently than they normally would, and in most cases not at all. We understand many people will feel unfamiliar with the airport journey, so we are committed to exploring how technology can simplify that experience for them. This technology means that our customers can plan their departure knowing that they have a personalised check-in time. We think this technology, coupled with digital travel apps, will help efficiently manage the flow of customers in the airport at any one time and give our customers reassurance.” Mark Brackley, Managing Director of Jade Solutions, the exclusive supplier of Qmatic in the UK, added “The intelligent queuing solution will provide British Airways’ customers with the ability to add themselves to a virtual queue and see their position change in real-time, all from their phone. We are excited to be working with British Airways to trial this technology.” Elsewhere, British Airways is also trialling digital travel apps to ensure customers meet the entry requirements for their destination before arriving at the airport. The airline’s customers can currently use VeriFLY on all flights to the US, Canada and France as well as on all inbound flights and the airline has been assisting in the development of IATA’s travel pass. British Airways’ customers also travelling to Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, can now also upload their negative Covid-19 test result and other documentation directly into ba.com for verification before travel. British Airways will continue to explore how it integrates other technologies, such as VeriFLY, into its systems to further streamline the customer experience. https://www.aviation24.be/airlines/international-airlines-group-iag/british-airways/british-airways-trials-digital-queuing-technology-for-check-in/ BA Eyes Virtual Queuing As IATA Chief Predicts Airport Chaos British Airways is set to launch a new virtual queuing app for its Heathrow Terminal 5 check-in desks. The news comes on the same day that the airline’s former CEO, Willie Walsh, warned that airports wouldn’t be able to handle the volume of passengers if everybody needs to visit a check-in desk. Across the world, countries are reopening their borders. While travel is more accessible than it has been for a long time, many hurdles remain. These include proving COVID status before travel. This creates a lot of extra work for airlines, with many like Etihad launching processes to verify such data before arrival at the airport. The problem Many countries currently require all passengers to provide a COVID-19 certificate on entry. It is generally up to the airline to check this before travel, with some countries fining airlines which fly non-compliant passengers. This process takes time, typically at a check-in desk. The issue arises with the design of airports. With the rise of mobile boarding passes and online check-in, the check-in desk has become obsolete for many passengers. Former British Airways CEO turned IATA chief Willie Walsh warned that suddenly requiring every passenger to visit a check-in desk will cause chaos, “If every customer traveling has to go to an airline check-in desk and show evidence in using paper of having filled in forms, of having evidence of a PCR test, and that these have to be checked by people at check-in counters. The processing time alone goes way beyond the average processing time of that we’re used to.” He added, “Don’t forget, most people actually don’t go to a check-in desk or haven’t. If you go back, I think in 2019 most people were actually checking in online or checking in using the airline app.” British Airways to the rescue? Many airlines are asking passengers to undergo document verification ahead of arrival at the airport. IATA has launched its Travel Pass app, which it is encouraging member airlines to trial on select routes. Some airlines, such as British Airways, have also launched their own initiative, while the British flag carrier is also using the VeriFLY verification platform. British Airways is now throwing a new app into the mix. Customers checking in for select flights at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 will be able to join a virtual queue for the check-in desks. Customers will prebook a timeslot for check-in ahead of their arrival. They will then have to mill around until it is their turn to check in, at which point they will get a QR code to allow them to skip the queue. For those not using the system, customers can either queue up as usual or join a virtual line on arrival by scanning another QR code. Commenting on the new app, Declan Pollard, British Airways’ Head of Heathrow Customer Experience, said, “In this new Covid-19 era we know that customers have been travelling less frequently than they normally would, and in most cases not at all. We understand many people will feel unfamiliar with the airport journey, so we are committed to exploring how technology can simplify that experience for them.” https://simpleflying.com/british-airways-virtual-queuing-airport-chaos/ Collins Aerospace Building Ram Air Turbine Wind Tunnel Collins Aerospace broke ground Wednesday on an $18 million ram air turbine (RAT) wind tunnel facility that the company said will help streamline its testing process at its Electric Power Systems center of excellence in Rockford, Illinois. Collins’s RAT products are designed to act as the “small but mighty heart” of an aircraft emergency power system, the company said. Deploying from the wing or fuselage, the system rotates a small turbine to extract power from the airstream in cases when the aircraft loses electrical power in flight. Equipped with new automated technology and greater quality controls, the wind tunnel will use a fan that can create a wind speed of up to 170 knots to simulate the environment of an in-flight power loss. The wind tunnel can test RAT systems for all sizes of business, regional, commercial, and military aircraft platforms. “By helping pilots land airplanes safely after losing power in flight, Collins’s ram air turbines have saved more than 2,000 lives to date,” said Stan Kottke, v-p of Collins Aerospace Electric Power Systems. “It’s a critical product and one that we’ll now be able to produce faster for our customers and more safely for our employees once our new wind tunnel becomes operational around summer 2022.” https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2021-05-12/collins-aerospace-building-ram-air-turbine-wind-tunnel Wright demonstrates inverter for electric narrowbody airliner US-based electric aircraft developer Wright Electric has successfully tested and demonstrated the megawatt-scale power inverter it will use in its commercial airliner. Wright Electric, which was founded in 2016, aims for its Wright 1 narrowbody airliner to have 186 seats, a range of 800 miles and is targeting a 2030 entry into service for the aircraft. The company has so far focused on developing it propulsion system. Wright plans to start flight testing technology for the Wright 1 during 2023 on a Boeing 747 testbed. In October last year the company received a $650,000 grant from the US Department of Energy’s Electric Aircraft Program to help develop the propulsion system An inverter converts DC power to AC power suitable for use in a propulsion system’s electric motors. According to Wright its inverter, which is designed to be scalable for use in 500 kw to 20MW electrical systems is a key building block towards development and certification of the Wright 1 whether it is battery or hydrogen powered. Wright said its inverter has a 99.5% efficiency – a six times improvement in heat loss over current in-production aviation inverters resulting in significantly lower thermal management loads. It said it has also achieved a 30 kw/kg power density in the inverter, in contrast to current technology which delivers 10-20 kw/kg. On a standard single-aisle aircraft, the reduced footprint achievable with Wright’s inverter would result in a weight savings equivalent to adding up to 10 extra passengers the company claims. Jeff Engler, CEO of Wright said, “The level of performance demonstrated with our new inverter will become the baseline for any new electric aircraft and is a key technology in our megawatt system. “In January 2020, we announced the start of our megawatt scale electric motor program for a single-aisle commercial airliner. Over the coming months, Wright will be making additional announcements regarding the progress of our integrated propulsion system. “Zero-emissions commercial aircraft are the future, and Wright is focused on delivering on the promise.” Wright’s engineers will next integrate the inverter with an in-house developed 2 MW motor and perform high altitude chamber testing before it is qualified for flight. https://www.aerospacetestinginternational.com/news/electric-hybrid/wright-1-demonstrates-inverter-for-wright-1-electric-narrowbody-airliner.html Autonomous aircraft ‘brain’ completes first Skyborg flights The 96th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., took part in a series of flight tests using a 19-foot unmanned aircraft launched from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., from April 29 to May 5, 2021. Inside the aircraft, the Autonomy Core System, the “brain” of the autonomous aircraft, made its first three flights for the Autonomous Attritable Aircraft Experiment. The ACS is part of the AFRL Skyborg Vanguard program. Skyborg’s goal is to develop low cost, unmanned aircraft to provide increased combat capability by teaming those aircraft with traditional manned fighters. The ACS operates by receiving basic commands from a ground station or airborne fighter and flies the aircraft by deciding on the best flight path and throttle settings to comply with the command. With this testing, autonomy technology moved from research to reality. “The execution of this flight test is a great milestone for our closely integrated development and acquisition team. Safely executing this test and providing the knowledge needed to advance the technology is at the heart of what we do. And as always, we’re highly motivated to help bring war-winning technology to the next fight,” said Brig. Gen. Scott Cain, 96th TW commander. Aircraft controllers on the ground provided commands to the Skyborg ACS during this test series. In the future, the plan is for direct manned-unmanned teaming via commands sent from a manned F-16 Fighting Falcon to the ACS onboard the unmanned aircraft. These commands could task the ACS “brain” to find and track targets by flying the aircraft to the area of interest and reporting enemy contact locations to the manned fighter. “This test is a significant step toward teaming manned and unmanned aircraft in combat in the not-too-distant future,” said Maj. Nathan McCaskey, 40th Flight Test Squadron Test Pilot and AAAx Project Pilot. “Unmanned aircraft using the autonomy system developed for this experiment could go places where manned fighters can’t go, providing sensor information back to manned teammates, increasing the power projection capability of the Air Force.” McCaskey, the lead pilot for the AAAx missions, flew the closest ever manned fighter to an unmanned aircraft under autonomous control in DOD history. This test demonstrated the building blocks of the autonomous capability. The ACS demonstrated proficiency in basic aviation abilities and responded to commands while navigating in a shared airspace with up to four manned fighter aircraft, including both F-16s and F-15Es from the 40th FLTS. Planning efforts by Air Force Research Laboratory Strategic Development Planning and Experimentation office, combined with test wing expertise helped make this Skyborg autonomy test a reality. “SDPE’s experience with rapid experimentation coupled with 40th expertise in planning and executing complex test resulted in a successful test on an accelerated timeline.” said Lt. Col. Richard Turner, 40th FLTS commander. Several other organizations also substantially contributed to the success of the test series, including the 46th Test Squadron here and the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron at Tyndall. https://www.aerotechnews.com/blog/2021/05/12/autonomous-aircraft-brain-completes-first-skyborg-flights/ Next-gen fuel for regional operators ‘will take time’: ATR Turboprop manufacturer ATR has highlighted the difficulty of establishing a supply infrastructure for next-generation aviation fuels in remote areas that are served by regional aircraft. Establishing a global infrastructure for the production and distribution of more environmentally friendly fuel – be it sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), hydrogen or electrical power – is a central challenge for the aviation sector as a whole in its effort to move away from the traditional, fossil-based kerosene. “It will take time,” said ATR senior vice-president commercial Fabrice Vautier in a podcast hosted by the airframer. “It will take even more time for our product [because] we operate in very remote areas. Before you can bring these new sources of energy to small islands [and] small communities, it will take time,” he adds. Much of ATR’s business in recent years has been with operators serving small islands or remote areas with limited ground transport infrastructure. A short take-off and landing (STOL) version of the ATR 42-600 currently under development – deliveries are scheduled to begin during second half 2022 – is testimony to that demand. Vautier says that these operators provide essential transport links to remote communities. “[If] you remove them, you remove essential services and [economic activity] for many people,” he says. The Toulouse-based manufacturer, which is jointly owned by Airbus and Italian aerospace group Leonardo, asserts that the ATR 42-600 and ATR 72-600 burn 40% less fuel than similarly sized regional jets on routes of 300nm (550km). Vautier describes that benefit as a “starting point” in the aviation sector’s decarbonisation effort. “We intend to reinforce that advantage over years…with disruptive technology,” he says. In the meantime, ATR predicts that replacement of ageing legacy turboprops will provide demand for its production line during a recovery from the pandemic. Vautier estimates that nearly 900 turboprops with 30-50 seats will need to be replaced by 2028. A replacement wave for 70-seat turboprops will follow thereafter, he says. The ATR 42-600 is the sole Western-built 50-seat turboprop still in production. The ATR 72-600, which accommodates 78 passengers, competes against the slightly larger De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400. In February, the Canadian manufacturer said that it would, during the first half of this year, “pause” Dash 8 production for an unspecified period, citing “the impact of the pandemic on demand for new aircraft globally”. https://www.flightglobal.com/programmes/next-gen-fuel-for-regional-operators-will-take-time-atr/143708.article Russian-Founded Space Start-Up Faces National Security Pressure The Biden administration is worried that a Silicon Valley space start-up backed by Russian founders could be helping Moscow make off with U.S. technological secrets, a U.S. official briefed on the matter told Foreign Policy. Momentus, which helps ferry commercial satellites between orbits by means of an unconventional water-based propulsion system, is seen as a major boon to expanding the business, drawing comparisons to Uber and FedEx for outer space. But it has faced trouble at nearly every turn, due to its former Russian owners, as the Biden administration becomes more aware of a technology race with Russia and China. The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive investigation, said government agencies are particularly concerned about the water plasma propulsion system onboard Momentus’s space transportation vehicle that could help make satellites less detectable in space. If the Russian government obtained the technology, it could be used to improve the ability of Russian satellites to tail and destroy their U.S. counterparts, the official added. The U.S. Defense Department believes that Russia began testing technologies last year that could be used to destroy other satellites already in orbit. The issue has come front and center for U.S. regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Momentus, a California-based space transportation company co-founded by the Russian exile Mikhail Kokorich, will vote Wednesday to determine whether the company can go public through a reverse merger that cannot be blocked by the U.S. government. That’s despite a U.S. government review into the foreign capital behind the company and a ruling by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Monday nixing a June test launch, the latest blow to the company’s ambition to become the go-to provider for dropping off satellites in space. But the merger could also be another sign of foreign entities and adversarial capital breaching the U.S. national security sector in ways that the Biden administration is unprepared to stop. Though the Momentus satellite project so far hasn’t broken any U.S. laws, it points to a growing fear inside the government that Russia and China will increasingly catch up by leveraging U.S. research and development money to buy and expand their technology. The U.S. official compared the situation to being handcuffed while the gates of Rome were raised to let in the Visigoths. “China and Russia are not looking at us as competitors or an economy that they can evolve with and evolve into a peaceful future,” said Steven Kwast, a retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general, who last led the service’s air education and training command. “They are looking at us as the king of the hill that they need to take down.” Already, national security concerns arising from the Russian origins of the company have given pause to industry partners. In April, Lockheed Martin dropped Momentus from a NASA contract to develop technologies for lunar exploration. And the FAA-ordered delay of the Momentus test launch, which the company said in a filing to the SEC on Tuesday was due to ongoing U.S. government concerns about the firm’s corporate structure, is raising new questions about its commercial viability. The departure of Kokorich, who left the company amid concerns of foreign ownership in January, could help Momentus get around onerous U.S. export control regulations that prevent U.S. companies from sharing sensitive technology with foreign nationals. The Delaware-based Brainyspace, owned by the wife of an executive in the Russian state-owned SberBank, also placed its shares in the company into a trust that would divest within three years. In a statement, Momentus President Fred Kennedy said the company’s objective was to “be above reproach” and that the California-based firm was “completely committed” to resolving any U.S. government concerns about its operations, technology, and ownership. “Since being notified of concerns by the U.S. government in January, Momentus has been open and transparent throughout the U.S. government review process and has sought to obtain more information from the U.S. government regarding the exact nature of the concerns,” Kennedy said. “Momentus also has taken the extraordinary measures to obtain the resignation of its co-founder and former CEO and to ensure that the shares of its co-founders can only be voted by U.S. citizens, voluntarily filed for CFIUS review to enable CFIUS and its member agencies to scrutinize any and all records of Momentus, and proactively proposed a U.S. national security mitigation plan intended to resolve all of the national security concerns that CFIUS and its member agencies have raised.” But officials and industry sources who spoke to Foreign Policy still have doubts that the firm will be cut off from Russian money entirely. The U.S. official briefed on the matter said the company is currently funded by overseas capital that washes up through limited liability corporations. “When you peel the onion of Russian ownership, I think it’s very rare that you see true divestiture of [ownership positions],” a space industry source, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, told Foreign Policy. “Some foreign money that’s flowed into the industry, you’ve got to peel the onion three or four times to find out who the ultimate stakeholders are.” “I don’t believe they’ve been scrubbed clean, and even if they have been, it takes a while for the scent to dissipate,” the source added. But despite the concerns, Momentus has gained momentum, including with a spot in the coveted Y Combinator start-up program, a start-up accelerator that has helped launch companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, and Reddit. It markets itself almost like a ride-sharing company for the booming space industry. CNBC reported last year that Momentus, which was founded in 2017, had raised nearly $50 million in capital. And by some estimates, it is valued at more than $1.2 billion. Even though U.S. government concerns have managed to slow down the project, Momentus still plans to vote to go public on a Wednesday deadline, using a vehicle called a “special purpose acquisition company,” or SPAC, a blank-check company with no operations or business plan designed to help accelerate a firm’s push to the public market. Some experts are worried that the billion-dollar boom in these ventures is creating a market bubble in the space industry. The U.S. official said SPACs can enable companies to move quickly to market before federal investigations are finished. The combination of possibly adversarial capital entering the U.S. market while Russia and China look to move further ahead in space weaponry has put U.S. officials further on edge. The U.S. Space Force, the Pentagon’s nascent space service, has become increasingly worried about Russia’s efforts to test space-based weapons systems. Gen. Jay Raymond, the leader of the service, first called out Moscow when two Russian satellites appeared to stalk a U.S. spy satellite early last year. But the July 2020 release of a mysterious object by a Russian satellite in orbit has raised further concerns, with Raymond condemning the launch as evidence of a test of a weapons system. “If there is significant influence over things like launch vehicles and space transportation systems, one person’s access to space is another person’s potential weapon,” the space industry source said. “That can get really scary very quickly.” https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/05/12/russia-space-momentus-biden-spacs/ Proposed bill aims to toss a new wrench in NASA’s Moon lander plan A senior lawmaker proposed a controversial piece of legislation on Wednesday that directs NASA to pick a second company to build the agency’s next Moon landers — in addition to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which was awarded a $2.9 billion NASA contract to build a lander earlier this year. The bill hasn’t passed the full Senate yet, but it marks a new front in an ongoing effort to overturn or rejig NASA’s decision. It also sets up the first political challenge for NASA’s new administrator, former Sen. Bill Nelson. NASA’s choice of SpaceX last month to build the agency’s first lunar lander since 1972 spawned a wave of opposition from some lawmakers and the two losing companies in the running: Jeff Bezos’ space firm Blue Origin and Dynetics. Those companies lodged formal protests against NASA’s decision, triggering a procedural pause on SpaceX’s new contract. Among other things, the protests maintain that NASA should have picked two firms instead of one. Amid a lobbying effort from Blue Origin, those calls have found their way into a NASA authorization bill, proposed as an amendment to the Endless Frontier Act by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee overseeing NASA. Cantwell represents Blue Origin’s home state of Washington. Under Cantwell’s language, NASA would be required to reopen the competition within 30 days and allow it to use $10 billion of its budget to pick a second lunar lander provider. Before choosing SpaceX, NASA had been expected to pick two companies, a strategy that guaranteed a backup in case one lander fell behind. But the agency went only with SpaceX — its bid was half of Blue Origin’s — after funding shortfalls from Congress. “It was in NASA’s best interest, along with the budget that was there, for us to award to one,” NASA’s human spaceflight chief, Kathy Lueders, who led the decision to pick SpaceX, said last month. Simply adding another company to build NASA’s Moon lander, as proposed in Cantwell’s amendment, could run afoul of the existing agreements with SpaceX, agency officials say. “It’s not as simple as picking the next in line,” says one person familiar with the process, speaking anonymously to chat frankly about legal matters. Going through the long and protracted process of picking another company would also endanger NASA’s rush to get to the Moon by 2024, agency staff say. (Blue Origin argues the opposite: that not picking a second company risks the 2024 goal.) NASA declined to comment on the bill, citing the ongoing litigation from Blue Origin and Dynetics’ protests. Blue Origin argues NASA can simply add another company, and it’s well within the agency’s ability to do so legally. That’s because, company employees say, SpaceX’s award falls under a kind of research and development category of government contracting that would permit another player to join, unlike more legally rigid contract programs for routine transportation services. It’s unclear what specific legal jargon could (or could not) permit NASA to pick another company to develop a lunar lander alongside SpaceX. But Cantwell’s proposed amendment aims to assert a straightforward solution. SpaceX’s $2.9 billion award is for two flights to the Moon using Starship, the company’s fully reusable rocket system that’s still under development in Texas. The first mission would require Starship to make an uncrewed lunar landing, followed by another landing carrying astronauts. https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/12/22432236/cantwell-authorization-bill-nasa-moon-lander-bezos-blue-origin Curt Lewis