November 20, 2017 - No. 091 In This Issue Aviation industry sees higher demand for pilots amidst shortage ICAO Council endorses first global aviation security plan VariFlight Makes A Splash at IATA Aviation Data Symposium Airlines embrace VR, biometrics and robots in push toward the future of flying Quebec biofuel company partners with Qantas in effort to cut emissions Boeing leads charge for Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel Airbus Selects Shenzhen for Its China Innovation Centre FL Technics Launches New Line Station at Zhukovsky International Airport (ZIA) in Moscow Boeing Expands Oman Air 787 Global Fleet Care Services to Include Engines SpaceX launch of mysterious Zuma mission postponed indefinitely Aviation industry sees higher demand for pilots amidst shortage ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - The aviation industry is seeing a higher demand for pilots as it currently faces a shortage. It comes after a recent report from Boeing that says in the next 20 years, more than 2 million new commercial airline pilots, maintenance technicians and cabin crew positions will need to be filled across the globe. The report says the industry worldwide will need 617,000 new commercial airline pilots, 679,000 new maintenance technicians and 814,000 new cabin crew over the next two decades. In a state where aviation plays a prevalent role in transportation, some are optimistic that Alaska will help meet that demand. At the University of Alaska Anchorage's aviation technology division, high school students are able to get that hands-on experience early on while attending King Career Center. "A program like the King program where we're bringing in high school students and they are going through courses, they are certified by UAA in mechanics and aviation mechanics and piloting and that would put those students a few steps ahead," said director Ralph Gibbs. Gibbs believes programs like UAA's will help bring more young talent in a field that's seeing an increase in demand. So why are there fewer pilots right now? "It's kind of a perfect storm," said Gibbs, who believes older pilots are retiring and a recent FAA change that increased hour requirements for co-pilots are both to blame. Commercial airline pilot Jacob Williams also believes expensive training and education is another factor. "I think the biggest thing is cost effectiveness. Where do we draw the line of how much it's going to cost?" said Williams. But there's optimism, especially over at UAA. "We may have more students than we can handle at this minute, we're ramping up are production capability to handle that and I would like to see us grow from 100 piloting students to 200 piloting students," Gibbs said. http://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Aviation-industry-seeing-higher-demand-for-pilots-admist-a- current-shortage-458344653.html Back to Top ICAO Council endorses first global aviation security plan The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Council has endorsed the first global aviation security plan. The plan focuses on improving international coordination, response and planning to help counter threats to civil aviation passengers, aircraft, cargo and facilities. ICAO Council president Dr Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu said: "This new strategic document will assist ICAO member states in their aviation security coordination with other states and applicable security agencies, as well as helping to nurture security cultures and capabilities, place greater focus on the role of new technologies and innovations, and refine related frameworks for oversight and quality assurance." In addition, the organisation has established a set of indicators and target dates. Considering all new and emerging aviation security threats, every associated target and outcome will be reviewed and adjusted by ICAO on a regular basis. Aliu added: "The council has encouraged the ICAO Secretariat to continue refining and improving this critical living document, on the basis of close continued cooperation with states and security stakeholders globally, and with due attention to all applicable implementation assistance and capacity-building requirements in ICAO's regions." ICAO Secretary General Dr Fang Liu said that the new global aviation security plan will be placed alongside the organisation's existing global plans for aviation safety and system-wide capacity and efficiency. The global aviation security plan directly addresses a wide range of resolutions and expectations regarding aviation security and terrorism that have been expressed to ICAO by the United Nations Security Council. Liu also added that a roadmap outlining 94 tasks and 32 actions under five key priority outcomes will play a major part in the rollout of the new plan. https://www.airport-technology.com/news/icao-council-endorses-first-global-aviation-security-plan/ Back to Top VariFlight Makes A Splash at IATA Aviation Data Symposium MIAMI, Nov. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- VariFlight, the leading aviation data service provider, is sharing its experience serving millions of customers and thousands of organizations within China's aviation industry at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Aviation Data Symposium (the Symposium) in Miami. Its presentations and discussions are to providing insight into big data's role in enhancing operational efficiency, reducing delays, and improving passenger experiences. The Symposium is an excellent platform for international airlines, third-party data solution providers and leading organizations in the sector, allowing players to come together and work to solve industry challenges including distribution, passenger service and security. "We are delighted to attend this Symposium," said Zheng Hongfeng, CEO of VariFlight. "It's a thrill for our team to be able to work with aviation and travel technology partners to better serve global flyers in an era where more accurate and transparent flight information is becoming an essential part for all travel-related businesses." VariFlight, the leading aviation data provider in APAC, is introducing the company's experience in improving flight punctuality with case studies centered on Changshui Airport in Kunming, Yunnan Province where the company helped the airport to optimize ground operations efficiency with multi- dimensional data. China's aviation industry is going through a remarkable growth period which calls for a series of potential improvements in flight punctuality, and ground services. According to an IATA report, the number of civil aviation aircraft in China has grown from 1,922 to 3,177 in the past five years, with annual flight time increasing from 6.19 million hours to 10.5 million hours. At this rate of development, IATA has predicted that China will become the world's largest air transport market by 2022. At the same time, supported by aviation data, the flight delay insurance business has expanded greatly in China. This automatic compensation mechanism allows passengers to be paid directly on their phones. Sales within this sector has grown 1,700% on major online travel agency websites in the past three years. "New challenges come with rapid development, and as Chinese passengers have come to expect a better flying experience, VariFlight is preparing to offer Flight Information Service Center (the FISC), a valuable data sharing service plan for global airlines, airports and air traffic management agencies, through which customers will be able to gain access to relevant aviation data that we collected from all the domestic flights as the milestone we achieved in 2009." said Zheng. Through comprehensive data collection and analytics covering over 1,163 airline companies at 9,971 airports, the FISC will provide international partners with aviation data including global flight tracking, weather information and airport traffic to amplify the value of the data. By November 2017, over 600 international partners benefit from enormous aviation data and analysis to modify their operations and retrench their operational costs. About VariFlight Founded in 2005, VariFlight - with a vision of "live on time" - is the leading brand providing aviation data services in China. Inspired by the goal of addressing the problem of flight delays, VariFlight has spearheaded the realization of Chinese flight data transparency. In 2009, the company released the first version of the VariFlight app and achieved the milestone of 100% coverage on China's domestic flights. Since then, VariFlight has scaled across the globe, reaching 94% coverage of the world's commercial flights by May 2017. VariFlight's data is used by over 300 million travelers and thousands of class-leading businesses around the world. VariFlight has become one of the most valuable technology brands in China. For more information, please visit: http://www.variflight.com/en/ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/variflight-makes-a-splash-at-iata-aviation-data- symposium-300558469.html Back to Top Airlines embrace VR, biometrics and robots in push toward the future of flying In the not-too-distant future, a traveller's face will replace a boarding pass and recognition software will replace the gate agent scanning each traveller's ticket. Airline executives separated by distance will be able to use virtual reality eyewear to walk together through an airplane cabin and solve design problems. In this same future, autonomous vehicles could help passengers check in and airplanes push back. The future is now as the aviation industry embraces new technology as enthusiastically as it does jumbo jets packed with well-behaved, premium-fare paying passengers. According to a 2017 survey by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), air travellers are just as excited about this modernization. About three-quarters of those interviewed by the association expect to be able to check their bag in three minutes (78 per cent), pass through immigration in 10 minutes (74 per cent) and browse the internet in flight (73 per cent). Another industry study reports that airlines and airports are consistently spending money to make technological advances happen because it is critical to meet ever-higher demands from passengers. "They've got expectations from shopping on Amazon," said Jim Peters, chief technology officer for the airline-owned technology company SITA. "They get information when they want it. They collaborate with friends and they expect that will be a natural way for them to be interacting as they travel." One of the newest developments in aviation evolved from consumer video games. As the visual product improved, virtual reality products using fine-tuned, realistic 3-D environments were incorporated for design, training and marketing in the air travel industry. In a computer lab in Winston-Salem, N.C., interior systems designers at Rockwell Collins use virtual reality to test the airline cabins they create, inviting customers to sit in seats, open overhead bins and tug rolling suitcases down the aisle. This allows them to discover and fix mistakes before the design is finalized. It would take "crazy-man money" to actually build a prototype and inspect it this way, said David Balfour, a visualization specialist with the company. Virtual reality allows airlines to "put a virtual- reality headset on and stand up and view an entire cabin." In the virtual-reality environment, to err is actually a good thing, said Glenn Johnson, director of the design studio at Rockwell Collins. Designs "fail quicker and cheaper," he said, which means improvements can come faster. This ability to create large and complex environments also makes virtual reality promising for training airfield staff members who work in hazardous environments, servicing airliners in all kinds of weather and light conditions. With RampVR, a program developed by the IATA, students wear goggles and identify problems as they virtually inspect an airplane and the ramp area around it. Experiential training sticks in the mind, according to Frederic Leger, airport passenger cargo and security product director for the association. "You are living the training because you are active in the training," Leger said. "It's like a game where you have a score at the end, so it goes to the emotional part of your brain." Considering that airline pilots do recurrent training in a simulator on a regular basis, bringing a simulated setting to other areas of the industry is not a new concept. It is only recently, however, that the improved quality and lower cost of virtual reality have made its widespread use practical. With all the showy advantages of virtual reality, some airlines are trying to turn the "wow" into revenue. At a pop-up cafe in London earlier this month, Air Canada invited visitors to watch a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight in virtual reality. The German airline Lufthansa prepared a 360 video of the interior of its long-haul aircraft, and its employees presented viewing goggles to ticketed passengers waiting at boarding gates in Newark, N.J., and Frankfurt, Germany, last year. After watching the show, Lufthansa asked if they wanted to purchase an upgrade to a premium economy seat. "How can you communicate a travel product? This is the problem in the industry," said Torsten Wingenter, Lufthansa's senior director of digital innovations. Virtual reality gave the company the "first chance to show the product in an emotional way." After the test, the emotion at the airline can be described as happy. A number of economy passengers paid $299 (U.S.) more to fly in premium economy after viewing the cabin in virtual reality. Wingenter would not say how many, but that it was "a significant number." In December, Lufthansa passengers flying out of Los Angeles will be able to use what JetBlue customers in Boston are already using - boarding gates that let passengers onto the airplane with no paper ticket or electronic boarding pass, just a face that matches their passport photo. On two JetBlue routes, from Boston to Aruba and the Dominican Republic, passengers stand in front of a camera that takes their picture and compares it to the traveller's image in the passport database of Customs and Border Protection. "We're seeing about three seconds for the photograph to be taken, transmitted and a positive response back," said Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue's executive vice president of customer experience. Facial recognition will be expanded. Geraghty said this was the beginning of a new era for travellers. "You can go into an airport and you won't need to show a boarding card, you won't need to pull out a passport," she said. "There will be no bag tag, no lines, you almost walk right onto an aircraft. That's the world I look forward to." Geraghty is like many aviation technology specialists who look at developments in other industries and think about how they could improve air travel. In a workshop in Geneva, SITA has several robots that travel to industry conferences around the world to start conversations about how autonomous vehicles might be used in aviation. One robot, named Kate, is a self-directed check-in kiosk that moves to areas of congestion as needed. The other robot, Leo, takes bags from passengers and deposits them where they need to be to get routed to the proper destination. Whether Kate or Leo end up at your local airport is not the point, said Peters, SITA's technology chief. "The robots are also demonstrators to get people talking about what is the future of autonomous vehicles in the airport," Peters said. But for all that technology has to offer, one of the most important tests is how well the next new gadget plays with people. "Some things can be prototyped and some things can't," he said. "Some things you have to have a physical interaction with to figure out what works." https://www.thestar.com/business/2017/11/17/airlines-embrace-vr-biometrics-and-robots-in-push- toward-the-future-of-flying.html Back to Top Quebec biofuel company partners with Qantas in effort to cut emissions A Quebec biofuels company has signed its first deal to power an airline's jets with energy grown from Canadian oilseeds. Agrisoma Biosciences Inc. of Gatineau will supply biofuel to Australia's Qantas Airways made from Carinata seed, a non-food, industrial type of mustard seed that produces oil suitable for aviation and diesel fuel. The partnership is the first of its kind in Australia and will see Agrisoma work with Australian farmers to grow Carinata. That will be complemented by seeds grown elsewhere to feed its global travel network. The long-term goal is to grow the crop on 400,000 hectares to produce more than 200 million litres of bio jet fuel and replace 30 to 50 per cent of the airline's annual fuel needs, said Agrisoma CEO Steven Fabijanski. He expects Qantas will begin to use the biofuel in 18 to 24 months. International fuel standards limit biofuels to replace up to half of fossil fuels, however traditional blends range between five and 30 per cent green fuel, he said. Fabijanski said the Agrisoma's partnership with the Australian carrier was a natural fit. "The ability to be able to look at accessing this type of fuel on a global basis was certainly attractive to them," he said. Qantas plans to conduct the world's first biofuel flight between the United States and Australia in January to show the benefits of the renewable fuel, Fabijanski added. Australia's national carrier conducted its first biofuel trial flights in 2012 using Airbus planes on two domestic routes. The fuel used was derived from cooking oil that was mixed evenly with conventional jet fuel. Qantas said it chose Agrisoma because the Carinata seed can be grown in Australia and the Canadian company has a proven track record and is committed to establishing a supply chain. "Carinata is a seed crop that can be developed at a scale," Alison Webster, Qantas International's chief executive, wrote in an email. "Tests have shown it to grow efficiently in our Australian climate and it provides biofuel that has as good an emissions reduction as any biofuel, if not better." Webster added the airline is always looking for ways to reduce its carbon footprint, something that is appreciated by customers. "We know that consumers expect businesses to take action to help reduce carbon emissions and using sustainable aviation biofuel is a key way for airlines to do this." 'Huge potential' Agrisoma said its oil produces 77 per cent lower greenhouse gas emissions than fossil fuels. Fabijanski said sales of Carinata will be helped by a global airline carbon reduction scheme and challenges other biofuel suppliers will face in obtaining enough animal fat and waste oil. "There's a huge potential because all airlines have signed on to a scheme where they're going to be carbon neutral by 2020 and then cut their carbon footprint by half by 2050," he said. The airline industry produced 781 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2015 or 12 per cent of emissions from transportation sources, according to the Air Transport Action Group. Less than five per cent of flights are currently flown using biofuel blended with traditional jet fuel, but Fabijanski hopes that half of the 300 billion litres of fuel used by the airline industry will eventually be replaced by biofuel. Biofuel blends currently cost five to 10 per cent more than traditional jet fuels depending on location. But Fabijanski said biofuel prices are more stable than fossil fuels and the cost differential should eventually disappear as supply expands with distribution hubs beyond Los Angeles and Oslo. http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/quebec-biofuel-partners-qantas-1.4407002 Back to Top Boeing leads charge for Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel Airplane maker The Boeing Co. is tightening its bond with The Wright Brothers, the pioneers of aviation and favorite sons of Dayton. Boeing will be the lead donor in the $18 million replacement of the Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel, located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The existing wind tunnel, which dates back to 1938, will be redesigned as the largest and most advanced academic wind tunnel in the United States, the company said in a release. Terms of the Boeing pledge were not disclosed. The gift forges a century-long relationship between MIT and Boeing, said Greg Hyslop, Boeing chief technology officer and senior vice president, Engineering Test & Technology. "Few relationships in aerospace can compare to the ties between MIT and Boeing, and we are thrilled and gratified to be part of this critically important renovation that will launch our relationship into the second century of aerospace," Hyslop said. "Several of Boeing's founding leaders studied at MIT, we have worked with the great people and facilities at MIT over the decades, and with this gift, we will continue in the years to come." A number of Boeing founding leaders studied at MIT, including Donald Douglas Sr., James McDonnell, and the first Boeing engineer, Wong Tsu, who designed Boeing's first commercially successful airplane, the Model C, in 1916. Currently, Boeing employs more than 800 MIT alumni around the world. In addition, more than 50 Boeing executives as well as more than 60 members of the Boeing Technical Fellowship hold MIT degrees. The new tunnel will be constructed on the site of the current tunnel. From its early days during World War II, when technicians worked around the clock designing military aircraft, testing in the tunnel has branched out to include ground antenna configurations, ski gear, space suits, wind turbines, ship sails and most recently, a design for clean, quiet and super-efficient commercial aircraft. The Wright Brothers - the aviation pioneers from Dayton - conducted wind tunnel tests in 1901 to perfect their aircraft design. The tests ultimately led to the revolutionary 1903 flyer. While the Wright Brothers' impact can be felt across the Miami Valley from schools and place names, Boeing also has ties to the Dayton region and the state of Ohio. The Buckeye State is the No. 1 supplier to Boeing, which spends $10.5 billion with 392 suppliers in the state, including many in the Dayton region, and supports some 34,000 jobs in Ohio through its spending with suppliers. Large suppliers to Boeing in the Dayton region include GE Aviation; UTC Aerospace Landing Systems in Troy, which has 700 employees; Projects Unlimited Inc., which has about 165 workers; Centerville-based SelectTech Services, which provides support in structural engineering; Troy- based Dare Electronics, which supplies devices that monitor voltage or perform sensing or control functions; as well as Honeywell Aerospace in Urbana that provides lighting for jets. https://www.bizjournals.com/dayton/news/2017/11/17/boeing-leads-charge-for-wright-brothers- wind.html Back to Top Airbus Selects Shenzhen for Its China Innovation Centre Airbus has selected the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, widely considered to be the Silicon Valley of China, to establish its Airbus China Innovation Centre (ACIC). Airbus has also signed a cooperation framework agreement with Invest Shenzhen to establish a long-term strategic partnership to accelerate innovation and shape the future of flight. The agreement was signed by LUO Gang, CEO of the Airbus China Innovation Centre and WANG Youming, Director General of Invest Shenzhen. The signature was witnessed by Paul EREMENKO, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Airbus, Eric CHEN, CEO of Airbus China, and Axel FLAIG, Senior Vice President of Research and Technology of Airbus, CHEN Rugui, Mayor of Shenzhen, GAO Zimin, Deputy Mayor of Shenzhen and LI Tingzhong, Secretary-General of Shenzhen Municipal People's Government. The cooperation agreement will: accelerate R&D, application; industrialization; of in-flight experience, connectivity, new energy, and urban air mobility (UAM); cultivate an integrated hardware and software ecosystem, relying on Shenzhen's high-end aviation R&D and advanced manufacturing industry value chain; establish a technological innovation system, relying on Shenzhen's innovation ability, talent resources, and business environment. LUO Gang, CEO of the Airbus China Innovation Centre said: "We are pleased with our strategic partnership with Shenzhen. The innovation centre will benefit from the advantages of policy planning, talent resources, and a favourable investment and financing environment from Shenzhen to impact global aviation innovation. The city boasts global competitive advantages in technology research and development, industrialization, and international expansion." Airbus appointed LUO Gang as CEO of the Airbus China Innovation Centre in July 2017. Gang's first mission is to set up the innovation centre to be fully operational for its official opening later in 2017. The centre already has a number of ongoing initiatives in autonomous flight, UAM, and in-flight experience and is also in discussion with top partners in relevant industries. The new Airbus China Innovation Centre will serve to strengthen Airbus' extended worldwide innovation ecosystem which already includes a Silicon Valley innovation centre, A3. http://aviationtribune.com/airlines/asia/airbus-selects-shenzhen-china-innovation-centre/ Back to Top FL Technics Launches New Line Station at Zhukovsky International Airport (ZIA) in Moscow FL Technics, a global provider of integrated aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services, has announced opening a brand new line maintenance station at Zhukovsky International Airport (ZIA) in Moscow, Russia. The newly established line station will be capable of handling A320FAM and B737NG aircraft types registered in Europe, Bermuda and Aruba as well as many other locations across the globe. It will offer a wide scope of services up to daily/weekly checks and defect rectification. This is the 4th line maintenance station opened by FL Technics in 2017, which now together with STORM Aviation, a Daughter Company, operates more than 30 line stations worldwide. "We are highly focused on bringing our services to the locations which are geographically convenient to our existing and potential customers. We already have an impressive list of clients and a wide network of partners in the region, so the launch of the new line maintenance station at Zhukovsky marks a logical step in our long-term expansion strategy," commented the CEO of FL Technics Zilvinas Lapinskas. Zhukovsky International Airport (ZIA) is the fourth largest international airport in Moscow. It is located in the town of Zhukovsky situated in Moscow Oblast, 40 km southeast of central Moscow. Following its reconstruction in 2014-2016, Zhukovsky International Airport was officially opened on May 30, 2016. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12381987/fl-technics-launches-new-line-station-at- zhukovsky-international-airport-zia-in-moscow Back to Top Boeing Expands Oman Air 787 Global Fleet Care Services to Include Engines DUBAI, Nov. 16, 2017 - Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced an agreement to provide custom services from the Boeing Global Fleet Care portfolio to Oman Air. The agreement, which provides Line Replaceable Unit support for 787 Dreamliner engines, builds on the foundation of a previously contracted Component Services Program with the airline in 2015 and strengthens the services commitment. "The ability to customize our propulsion support will augment our overall maintenance operations flexibility for our fleet," said Ali Redha Al-Lawatiya, executive vice president - engineering and maintenance, Oman Air. "It is a great addition to our long-term partnership." Under the terms of the agreement, Boeing will support Line Replaceable Units for the 787 engines of the Oman Air Dreamliner fleet. A Line Replaceable Unit is a component that is designed to be replaced quickly during maintenance or overhaul, such as a hydraulic pump or an integrated drive generator. The agreement covers 10 years of service. "Our work with Oman Air is a great example of how Global Services is providing flexibility to meet our customers' fleet care and propulsion needs with custom service offerings," said David Longridge, vice president of Commercial Services Sales for Boeing Global Services. "This agreement demonstrates how the Global Fleet Care portfolio serves the airline with tailored solutions." The Component Services Program includes exchange and repair services that increase efficiency in managing high-value rotable parts, components, and line-replaceable units (LRU). Boeing and its partners own, manage, and maintain a global exchange pool inventory for convenient airline access. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12381990/boeing-expands-oman-air-787-global-fleet- care-services-to-include-engines Back to Top SpaceX launch of mysterious Zuma mission postponed indefinitely Cape Canaveral - SpaceX on Thursday postponed again the launch of a secret government payload named Zuma. The mission is a mystery and no US agency has claimed responsibility for it. The planned launch was described in a recent Digital Journal article. Thursday launch called off just hours before take off Just about a mere two hours before the launch window was to open on Thursday SpaceX said in a statement: "We have decided to stand down and take a closer look at data from recent fairing testing for another customer. Though we have preserved the range opportunity for tomorrow, we will take the time we need to complete the data review and will then confirm a new launch date." The fairing is the nose cone part of the rocket that protects the payload. Neither SpaceX or the Pentagon would clarify the nature of the mission. The maker of the payload the US defense contractor Northrup Grumman said only that it was for the US government and would be delivered to low-Earth orbit. The company would not provide any other details. SpaceX has launched other classified payloads Space Exploration Technologies or SpaceX founded by Elon Musk in 2002 has the goal of reducing space transportation costs. Musk is also the founder of Tesla the EV maker. SpaceX has many firsts including a rocket which can land after delivering its payload. Earlier this year, SpaceX launched a spy satellite for the National Reconnaissance Office. It also launched an X-37B space plane for the US Air Force. When SpaceX finally does liftoff with its payload the first stage portion of the Falcon9 rocket will attempt to return to earth and land near Cape Canaveral. If the landing is successful this will represent that 20th time SpaceX has successfully landed the cone to be reused saving money on costly rocket parts. SpaceX concerned about possible payload fairing problems Wikipedia describes the fairings as follows:A payload fairing is a nose cone used to protect a spacecraft (launch vehicle payload) against the impact of dynamic pressure and aerodynamic heating during launch through an atmosphere... Outside the atmosphere the fairing is jettisoned, exposing the payload. ..The standard payload fairing is typically a cone-cylinder combination, due to aerodynamic considerations; however specialized fairings are in use as well. The type of fairing which separates into two halves upon jettisoning is called a clam-shell fairing by way of analogy to the bifurcating shell of a clam. The Zuma launch was postponed until SpaceX examined data from testing of the fairings. Failures of the fairings have caused problems with previous flights by other rockets. SpaceX had said on Thursday as mentioned earlier: "We have decided to stand down and take a closer look at data from recent fairing testing for another customer." The fairings encapsulate the payloads and are designed to protect it during and after launch. When the launch does take place, the first stage is scheduled to land at Cape Canaveral Landing Zone 1 about 8 minutes after liftoff. There is expected to be a loud sonic boom associated with the landing. However, there is no word when that will be. No doubt SpaceX is following the old adage: Better safe than sorry. http://www.digitaljournal.com/tech-and-science/technology/spacex-launch-of-mysterious-zuma- mission-postponed-indefinitely/article/507947 Curt Lewis