AIR TRANSPORT
Virgin Galactic | January 16, 2023
The aerospace and space travel company, Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc., recently announced a new leadership structure to strengthen the company's commercial spaceline operations. Before this revelation, Virgin Galactic had stated that commercial spaceline operations were on track for the second quarter of 2023.
The enhancements in the leadership structure will help Virgin Galactic's core near-team objectives deliver improved flight frequencies and develop a rapid fleet plan. As part of this leadership structure update, Swami Iyer, President of Aerospace Systems, vacated his position on January 12, 2023. However, to ensure a smooth transition, he will be serving as an Advisor to the company's CEO until March 2023.
The new face of the leadership team of Virgin Galactic's spaceline operations is being led by industry professionals, which include:
Mike Moses, President of Spaceline Missions and Safety. After seventeen years at NASA, he oversaw space shuttle launch operations until 2011.
Mike Moore, Executive Vice President of Spaceline Technical Operations. He spearheaded Virgin Galactic's flight and mission operations. He joined the company in 2022 after a successful Delta Airlines SVP Technical Operations career.
Steve Justice has been appointed Senior Vice President of Spaceline Programs and Engineering. He designed, engineered, and managed the development of Virgin Galactic's spaceflight system and fleet. He spent 39 years as a veteran with Lockheed Martin, where he was a 'legend' in the Skunk Works division.
Meanwhile, VMS Eve, a mothership carrier for Virgin Galactic, has been upgraded according to the plans. The mothership is likely to go for ground tests in the coming weeks before starting flight tests to verify the ship's enhancements.
Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, said, "With the completion of the enhancement program for our mothership at hand, our streamlined leadership structure will help propel the business forward as we prepare for commercial spaceline operations. Swami has been instrumental in establishing our future production strategy and in leading the work to prepare our initial ships for commercial flight, and we are incredibly grateful for his contribution." He added, "Our experienced leadership team brings deep expertise to the next exciting phase for the company flying our customers safely and regularly to space and expanding our future fleet."
(Source: Virgin Galactic)
About Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic,headquartered in Tustin (California), is a pioneer in the aerospace and space travel industries, providing private citizens and scientists with access to space in state-of-the-art aircraft. In addition, the company is working on a space travel system to share the amazement and excitement of space exploration with the globe and provide life-changing adventures for its customers.
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DEFENSE AND SPACE
Sidus Space | March 01, 2023
On February 28, 2023, a Space-as-a-Service satellite company, Sidus Space, Inc., announced the integration of edge AI capabilities in its planned satellite constellation, and focuses on commercial satellite design, launch, manufacture and space-based collection.
Sidus will utilize the FeatherEdge AI platform under an extended agreement with Expo-space to offer near real-time intelligence derived from Earth Observation data, including the opportunities to recognize and intervene against environmental emergencies. It can identify unregistered vessels contributing to illegal fishing, track natural disasters like wildfires or flood in real-time and warns prior with notifications for events which include oil spills or methane leaks.
Fast revisit rate satellite constellation and onboard high-performance edge AI computing’s integration is expected to allow Sidus to provide industry-leading data transmission speed, where the final users can receive analytics after image capture. In addition, edge AI capabilities enable ground operators to send updated tasking commands, AI models (corresponding to emerging events) and mission objectives (like regions of interest),to deliver intelligence that can adapt to changing challenges.
Founder and CEO of Sidus Space, Carol Craig, said, “By integrating edge AI into our Sidus fleet of satellites, we expect to be able to provide government and commercial customers with near-real-time intelligence.” She added, “Edge AI implements advanced analytic methods such as machine learning and artificial intelligence in an edge computing environment. Processing will occur in space, prior to transmitting data back to Earth, and will enable our constellation to learn to prioritize the retrieval of useful intelligence so we can deliver efficient, actionable insights for critical data driven decisions.”
(Source – Business Wire)
About Sidus Space
Based in Merritt Island, Florida, Sidus Space operates a 35,000 sqft manufacturing, assembly, integration, and testing facility specializing in commercial satellite design, production, launch, and data collection. Space-As-A-Service offerings Sidus Space provides include space-rated hardware manufacturing, satellite manufacturing and platform development, design engineering, data analytics services, launch and support services, and satellite constellation management. Its mission is Bringing Space to EarthTM. Its vision is to enable space flight heritage status for latest technologies while delivering data and predictive analytics to domestic and international clients.
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AIR TRANSPORT
Wind River | January 31, 2023
Wind River® is a mission-critical intelligent software system provider, recently announced it has worked with Airbus to support the Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) A330 aircraft for A3R automatic air-to-air refueling. The MRTT aircraft is one of the world's first tankers certified for automated air-to-air refueling boom operations in daylight.
VxWorks 653 is being used by Airbus for the A330 MRTT ARBS (air-to-air refueling boom system). It comprises multiple ARINC-653-compliant applications that operate at various safety-critical levels and accomplished DO-178C DAL A certification. Using the platform, it has proven to be a safety-critical application in the most challenging situations. Furthermore, meeting stringent safety certification requirements of IEC 61508, EN 50128, ISO 26262, and ED-12C / DO-178C, VxWorks 653 makes it easier and cost-effective for technology suppliers.
The development helped the Airbus A330 MRTT A3R capability to be certified by the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA). It also includes multiple DO-178C DAL A/ED-12C applications running at the same time on multiple cores on a multicore processor. With the automated A3R system, more efficient operation, low air fueling operator workload, a low inherent risk of operation and the rate of air-to-air refueling transfer optimization are enabled. In addition, advanced technologies in A3R can recognize the shape of the receiving aircraft, a refueling receptacle, then perform fuel transfer and automated contact while flying at a high altitude.
Avijit Sinha, chief product officer of Wind River, said, "A3R is a significant milestone in the evolution of airborne refueling systems. It is an honor to work with Airbus and play an important role in its latest A3R achievement." He added, "The use of our industry-leading technology demonstrates continuing Wind River leadership in safety-critical real-time software solutions for mission-critical systems. As a result, wind River is able to help customers successfully navigate the challenges and complexities around certification."
(Source: Business Wire)
About Wind River
One of the global leaders in providing software for mission-critical intelligent systems, Wind River, for the past 40 years, has been an innovator and pioneering billions of systems and devices which need the highest level of security, reliability, and safety. The company's software and expertise are booming digital transformation across industries which include defense, industrial, aerospace, telecommunications and medical. It is headquartered in Alameda (California) and offers a comprehensive portfolio supported by a broad part ecosystem and top-class global professional services and support.
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