Tag: Transportation
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Starship point-to-point: a potential future application or a capability flex?
Officially announced by SpaceX as a future goal of Starship, Point-to-Point proposes utilizing its rapidly reusable Starship launch vehicle as an Earth-focused fast transportation system, allowing people to travel anywhere in the world in under one hour. While the capability is undeniably exciting and futuristic, its viability remains questionable due to the numerous technical and…
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After ownership change, Stratolaunch confirms that it’s still working on hypersonic vehicles
Stratolaunch’s swept-wing hypersonic testbed would be propelled by a liquid-fueled rocket engine. (Stratolaunch Illustration) It’s been three months since ownership of the Stratolaunch space venture was transferred from the late Seattle billionaire Paul Allen’s estate to a private equity firm, but the new owners say they’re still pursuing one of the old owner’s dreams: hypersonic…
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Year in Aerospace: Looking back at Boeing’s troubles, looking ahead to commercial triumphs
The first 737 MAX 8 plane undergoes final assembly at Boeing’s Renton plant in 2015. (Boeing Photo) 2019 was a tough year for the aerospace industry — a year when a control system flaw caused the second catastrophic crash of a 737 MAX jet and sparked a worldwide grounding of Boeing’s fastest-selling plane. Nine months…
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Hermeus wins seed funding for hypersonic aircraft, with former Blue Origin president as adviser
This artist’s conception shows Hermeus’ hypersonic aircraft. (Hermeus Illustration) Atlanta-based Hermeus Corp. says it’s won some high-profile seed funding for its effort to develop aircraft capable of flying more than five times the speed of sound The startup’s advisers includes Rob Meyerson, the former president of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture in…
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Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg lays out his vision for space airplanes and aerospace traffic system
GeekWire’s Alan Boyle listens to Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg during a fireside chat at the GeekWire Summit in Seattle. (Photo by Dan DeLong for GeekWire) A decade from now, Boeing will still be primarily known as an airplane company, the company’s CEO says. But some of the things we’ll call airplanes might be what we’d…
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Zunum Aero strikes deal with JetSuite for debut of hybrid electric airplanes in 2022
An artist’s conception shows Zunum Aero’s hybrid-electric airplane in JetSuite’s livery. (Zunum Aero Illustration) Zunum Aero says its first hybrid-to-electric airplanes will wear the colors of JetSuite, a private aviation company that’s a partner of JetBlue Airways. Kirkland, Wash.-based Zunum Aero, which has financial backing from JetBlue Technology Ventures as well as Boeing HorizonX and…
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Going hypersonic: Boeing joins in $37.3M investment round for Reaction Engines
An artist’s conception shows a space plane powered by Reaction Engines’ SABRE system deploying an upper stage with a payload heading to orbit. (Reaction Engines Illustration) Boeing’s HorizonX venture investment arm is placing a big bet on hypersonic flight. Today it announced that it’s going in with Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems on a $37.3 million…
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Worlds collide! Rocket engineer adds a Seafair tribute to Blue Origin on racing boat
The black feather next to Jimmy Shane’s name on the Miss HomeStreet racing boat is used by Blue Origin to symbolize the freedom of flight. The worlds of rocketry and hydroplane racing crashed together in Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos’ Twitter feed today, and it’s all because of Jimmy Shane. Shane’s workaday job title is integration…
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NASA and Honeywell boost supersonic flight by tackling sonic boom problem
An artist’s concept of a possible Low Boom Flight Demonstration Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) X-plane design. (Photo courtesy of Lockheed Martin) The historic Concorde supersonic airliner set a record flying from New York to Seattle in just under four hours, but after retiring at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, no successors were waiting in the wings…
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It’s T-minus-2 months to solar eclipse: Officials brace for totality traffic jams
The moon’s shadow cones during a total solar eclipse. Observers on Earthwithin the smaller, central shadow, or umbra, see a total eclipse. Within the larger shadow, thepenumbra, observers see a partial eclipse. Credit: NASA The all-American total solar eclipse is still two months away, but federal and state agencies are already getting the word out…