JUNE 13, 2019 - No. 047 In This Issue Dallas Airmotive, a BBA Aviation company, Joins MRO Insider's Network of Maintenance Providers Liberty University addressing the aviation shortage Robotic Skies Set to Guide the Future of UAS Maintenance Textron Aviation Gives Thumbs Up to Traxxall Mx Tracker Airbus Partners with United Airlines to Manage Aircraft Data and Enhance Predictive Maintenance Bombardier Expands Mx to California with New ASF FAA safety inspector charged with taking cash bribes faces jury verdict in Miami. Lockheed launches interactive tool for Apache aircraft maintainers NCAA issues licence to new aircraft maintenance organisation SpaceX launches 3 satellites to monitor Canadian territory, impact of climate change Dallas Airmotive, a BBA Aviation company, Joins MRO Insider's Network of Maintenance Providers Tecumseh, MI - Aviation maintenance quoting website MRO Insider has announced the addition of Dallas Airmotive to their list of subscribed marketplace facilities. Dallas Airmotive is the company's second international MRO, with facility locations in North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia. Andy Nixon, Co-founder and VP of Sales commented, "Adding Dallas Airmotive to our network allows us to continue to expand the resources available to our growing list of over 600 registered corporate aircraft." He also commented that "Despite having a handful of engine maintenance providers already subscribed, we hope to really begin to ramp up the number of engine and APU work being requested through the site, especially the TFE731, JT15D, and PW300/PW500 lines". "As a leading independent engine MRO provider, we're proud to represent our 11 facilities and AOG field services to MRO Insider's userbase," Mark Stubbs, Chief Commercial Officer of Dallas Airmotive said. "We hope the online platform will allow operators to discover our engine services as solutions to their maintenance needs." https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/business-general-aviation/press-release/21084591/dallas- airmotive-a-bba-aviation-company-joins-mro-insiders-network-of-maintenance-providers Back to Top Liberty University addressing the aviation shortage LYNCHBURG, Va. - Aviation officials say that, in the next 20 years they will need more than 750,000 thousand mechanics to work on planes. The shortage is hitting close to home. The Aviation Maintenance program at Liberty University can take up to 75 students and still has plenty of spots to fill. The program takes new students in January, May and August. School officials said students can receive their Federal Aviation Administration certifications in a year and are guaranteed a job after graduation. Program directors said, most of their students have no problem finding work and are hired by such airlines as: Piedmont, American and SkyWest. "Employers really love our students because of the level of integrity and the high level of character that they have coming out of this program," Steven Brinly, chair of the Aerospace Technology Department, said. "Although we're a private institution our tuition rates are significantly cheaper than the other private aviation maintenance training facilities." To learn more about the program at LU and about starting pay and benefits, go to https://www.liberty.edu/aeronautics/aviation-maintenance/. https://www.wsls.com/news/virginia/lynchburg/liberty-university-addressing-the-aviation- mechanics-shortage Back to Top Robotic Skies Set to Guide the Future of UAS Maintenance Robotic Skies, a service provider who supports manufacturers and operators of commercial UAS by keeping UAS flying safely, efficiently and affordably around the world, has received an investment from Boeing. This investment will help to expand the company's, and the world's only, global network of more than 170 civil aviation authority-certified UAS maintenance centers. It's a development that underscores Robotic Skies' fundamental belief that the high-end commercial UAS industry will ultimately be regulated much like the existing manned aviation industry, with maintenance being a foundational pillar for safe operations. As both manned and unmanned aircraft start to share the same airspace the importance of regulations in order to ensure safe operations for everyone as well as to avoid incidents and accidents, becomes more evident. According to Robotic Skies' CEO, Brad Hayden, receiving an investment from a company like Boeing validates the company's belief around where the technology and industry are ultimately headed. "Nobody understands the aviation industry like Boeing does, and we are honored that they believe in our vision to support the commercial UAS industry enough to put capital into Robotic Skies," Hayden mentioned. "Both manned and unmanned aircraft will share the same airspace, and to ensure safe operations for everyone, all aircraft will need to be held to the same, or nearly the same, regulatory requirements to avoid incidents and accidents. Some modifications and exceptions will have to be made to the existing manned regulations to meet the very unique requirements of unmanned aircraft, but the foundations for safe operations, including maintenance, will largely be the same. In the recent releases from the civil aviation authorities around the world, we are already seeing this take shape as they are enabling more advanced unmanned operations by leveraging the existing framework from manned aviation." However, this is not the first time both of these companies have come together. In 2018, Boeing and its subsidiaries, Jeppesen and Aviall, entered into a partnership with Robotic Skies to develop and deliver industry-leading supply chain management and optimization, analytics, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for the commercial and civil UAS markets. "Our existing partnership with Boeing's Global Services (BGS) division allows Robotic Skies to bring a more robust services offering to our customers allowing them to develop competitive advantages in the commercial UAS industry by getting aircraft in their customer's hands more quickly, simplifying their operations and delivering a higher level of customer service," Hayden told Commercial UAV News. "This new investment will allow Robotic Skies to grow our company and network, and to continue to be a thought leader in the industry as the only company focused on providing a global maintenance and repair service." Led by Boeing HorizonX Ventures, with participation from Thayer Ventures, Sun Mountain Capital and KickStart Seed Fund, this recent investment will allow Robotic Skies' network to expand, and the company to grow and continue to provide a global maintenance and repair service. "Without a rational regulatory environment, it is challenging for OEMs and operators to really scale their operations," Hayden commented. "We are starting to see these regulatory developments, and believe the industry is about to realize considerable growth. We will be there to help these companies as they scale." https://www.expouav.com/news/latest/robotic-skies-set-to-guide-the-future-of-uas-maintenance/ Back to Top Textron Aviation Gives Thumbs Up to Traxxall Mx Tracker Textron Aviation named Traxxall a recommended maintenance-tracking provider. Under the recognition, customers of new and preowned factory-delivered Cessna and Beechcraft aircraft will have the option of receiving the first year of Traxxall maintenance-tracking services for free. "This service is an excellent opportunity for our shared customers," said Traxxall president Mark Steinbeck. "Textron Aviation models account for a majority of all business aircraft in service today. We look forward to working with a growing number of new and existing Cessna, Hawker, and Beechcraft owners worldwide." In addition to Cessna and Beechcraft aircraft, Traxxall programs also support in-service Hawkers. Traxxall said its programs will provide aircraft owners with operational efficiencies, reduction in downtimes, and strengthened residual values. The recognition reinforces Traxxall's rapidly growing client base. Based in Montreal, Traxxall has been named to the Startup 50 list of Canada's top new growth companies for two consecutive years, the most recent list recognizing two-year revenue growth of 688 percent for the period ending in December 2017. This growth has spurred Traxxall to recently open a third office in Denver, alongside its bases in Montreal and Jacksonville, Florida. The company additionally has offices in London and Marseilles. Founded in 2013, the company provides a cloud-based customizable aircraft maintenance tracking and inventory-management system for both fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. The company has built templates for more than 180 aircraft. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2019-06-11/textron-aviation-gives- thumbs-traxxall-mx-tracker Back to Top Airbus Partners with United Airlines to Manage Aircraft Data and Enhance Predictive Maintenance Capabilities United Airlines has become the latest US airline to connect to Airbus' open-data platform, Skywise, following an agreement recently signed between the airline and Airbus. United will leverage Skywise to enhance all aspects of its maintenance and engineering operations on its Airbus fleet. With flexible and visual tools, Skywise enables airlines to store, access, manage, and analyze data more efficiently while also benchmarking against other airline users' trends. Skywise provides all technology elements in one place, including data warehousing, visualization, alerting, and even machine learning packages, allowing United and other airlines to nimbly develop and deploy their own analytical products. In addition, Skywise seamlessly connects with the data integration platform, Palantir Foundry. United began using this platform in 2018, and the combination of Palantir Foundry and Airbus' Skywise will provide United with the data and tools to enhance its operational reliability. "We are proud to partner with Airbus and Palantir on this new data platform, which will allow us to maximize the performance of our Airbus fleet by analyzing the best data we have available and using those insights to continuously improve our operation," said Praveen Sharma, United's Vice President of Digital Products and Analytics. Marc Fontaine, Airbus' Digital Transformation Officer said, "Skywise will bring significant value by unlocking data, which will power operational efficiency in aircraft maintenance and flight operations for United Airlines' fleet. He added, "By extending Skywise to other company business functions, with Palantir, the potential for United will be even bigger." Launched in 2017, Skywise is fast becoming the platform of reference used by all major aviation players to improve operational performance, ensuring complete data continuity with benefits across the entire value chain. Today over 70 airlines around the world are connected to Skywise. Skywise provides all users with one single access point to their aggregated and anonymized aviation data, enriched from multiple sources across the industry into one secure, cloudbased platform. The more data that airlines or OEMs share into the Skywise Core platform, the more accurate the predictions and models for customers connected. https://www.aviationpros.com/aircraft/maintenance-providers/mro/press- release/21084548/airbus-partners-with-united-airlines-to-manage-aircraft-data-and-enhance- predictive-maintenance-capabilities Back to Top Bombardier Expands Mx to California with New ASF Bombardier has expanded its aircraft maintenance support footprint to California for the first time, selecting San Luis Obispo-based ACI Jet as its latest authorized service facility (ASF). The location will be authorized to perform line maintenance on the Global and Challenger families. For the airframer, the designation marks its first new ASF in the U.S. in more than five years. "What we see with ACI Jet is the quality and the reputation that they bring to the table is completely in line with the brand and the reputation that we have in the marketplace," noted William Molloy, Bombardier Business Aircraft's vice president of aftermarket sales. The company was one of the major proponents of the recent trend of OEMs bringing their maintenance support back in house, with a recent major expansion at its Tucson location, and new customer service center under construction in Miami, which will bring it to five Bombardier-owned service centers in the U.S., along with 10 ASFs in North America. "Another part of our strategy has been to look at our authorized service facilities and kind of streamline not only where we think it makes sense, but also where we believe there are opportunities," explained Molloy, noting the new ASF will benefit the OEM's clients on the West Coast. "We have relationships with a lot of providers throughout the U.S., but we don't have them as an approved line maintenance provider where they can conduct warranty work on our behalf, for example," Molloy told AIN. "This arrangement with ACI is about a partner that we've identified that we trust and that we feel can add value to not only our in-service aircraft but also new customers." Centrally located in the state, the San Luis Obispo location could also be a time saver for the more than 2,900 North America-based Bombardier Business Aircraft requiring maintenance. "Tucson, I think for a Bombardier customer who owns a plane in L.A. or San Francisco, is anywhere from a 90- minute to two-hour flight," stated ACI Jet president and CEO William Borgsmiller, "as opposed to San Luis Obispo, which is about a 30-minute flight from either of those major metropolitan areas." Currently, the facility can handle heavy checks on three Global-size aircraft simultaneously. ACI itself operates a quartet of Globals, along with four Challenger 600-series twinjets in its own charter fleet. The news comes as ACI has begun a more-than-$18.5 million expansion of its 18-acre complex at San Luis County Regional Airport (KSBP), where it also operates the lone FBO. In addition to a new terminal, the company will be adding another approximately 12,000 sq ft of maintenance hangar space (which will bring it to 80,000 sq ft of aircraft repair, storage and tenant hangars), a 4,000- sq-ft parts warehouse increase and expanded interior, avionics, sheet metal, and wheel-overhaul shops-more than doubling their size, plus additional office space, which is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020. "California is a place where it's expensive to build hangars, so you really have to make sure you use every square foot wisely," said Borgsmiller. "I think San Luis Obispo is a unique spot because we've been here for 20 years. "We got in when the time was right, and it's given us access to property and real estate at competitive rates where it still makes sense to do maintenance in California and build a new hangar." To support the influx of Bombardier-focused support work-an expected increase of 30 percent for each of the next two years-Borgsmiller's company is recruiting to fill 15 additional full-time technical positions including A&P and avionics technicians, management positions, inspectors, and a project manager. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2019-06-12/bombardier-expands-mx- california-new-asf Back to Top FAA safety inspector charged with taking cash bribes faces jury verdict in Miami For more than three years, a federal aviation safety inspector moonlighted for a private contractor he was supposed to keep an eye on but instead did favors for in an unusual bribery scheme even by South Florida standards, prosecutors said Tuesday at the end of a corruption trial in Miami. The Federal Aviation Administration inspector accepted more than $150,000 in cash bribes from a Doral avionics firm, including arranging for his mother to work as a "ghost" employee at the company to receive some of the payments for him, they said during closing arguments. As an FAA safety inspector, Manuel R. Fernandez didn't disclose that he was working on the side for the aviation electronics repair company, didn't reveal the money he illegally made in bribes, and didn't perform his actual government job between early 2010 and mid-2013, according to an indictment. In exchange for the payoffs, Fernandez is accused of supplying a variety of aviation maintenance manuals that normally cost from $100 to $15,000 to FAA-certified AVCOM Avionics and Instruments. He is also accused of providing insider information about pending FAA safety inspections of its facility in Doral, which specialized in repairing aviation electronics equipment. "He sold out on his official duties," prosecutor Michael Davis told the 12-person Miami federal jury, describing Fernandez as a "corrupt public official" who "lined his pockets" at the expense of aviation safety. Fernandez's defense attorney, Ronald Gainor, countered that the prosecutors distorted the reality of Fernandez's conduct, saying the violations may have been civil or ethical in nature but certainly not criminal. "This is a case where the government is criminalizing civil violations," Gainor said, as he urged the jurors "not to jump to conclusions" based on the government's cherry-picking of evidence to make Fernandez look like a criminal. After the closing arguments before U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke, the jury began deliberations late Tuesday, took a break Wednesday and will resume Thursday. Fernandez, 41, who had worked at the FAA for seven years and earned more than $100,000 annually, was charged in 2017 with conspiring to commit bribery, multiple bribery counts and related offenses. If convicted, the Miami man faces a lengthy prison sentence. The U.S. Attorney's Office, along with federal agents from the FBI and Department of Transportation, made the case against Fernandez by initially flipping the owners of AVCOM, Rolando Suarez, who was sentenced to two years in prison, and his ex-wife, Patricia Suarez, who was sentenced to five years' probation. Both were ordered to repay the U.S. government more than $700,000, including money from the alleged bribery scheme. The company is still in business but under a different owner. Rolando Suarez testified against Fernandez at the nearly monthlong trial, claiming the FAA safety inspector saved his avionics firm substantial costs by illegally supplying "unauthorized" manuals by "original equipment manufacturers," such as Honeywell International Inc. Fernandez obtained the manuals from a colleague who worked at Delta Airlines and from the FAA, and he transmitted the publications electronically to Suarez's company, AVCOM. Suarez said that Fernandez helped AVCOM cover up the unlawful practice by erasing words like "confidential," "copyrighted" and "trade secret material" from the manufacturers' technical publications. Suarez also testified that Fernandez tipped off his firm to FAA inspections not only of his firm but its competitors, and furnished secrets about the aviation industry as well. He also said that Fernandez withheld AVCOM's safety and other regulatory violations from his bosses at the FAA's South Florida safety inspection office in Miramar. In exchange, Suarez said his company paid Fernandez with cash, checks, credit cards, cruise tickets, and airline tickets. Suarez even hired the FAA safety inspector while he was still working for the government, giving him job titles such as "vice president of operations." AVCOM signed a contract to hire Fernandez full time after he left the FAA in June 2013. But Fernandez's attorney, Gainor, portrayed Suarez as an "off-balance" business executive with a paranoid personality who accused the FAA inspector of having an affair with his wife. "He lied to you," Gainor told the jurors, as he described the testimony by the government's main witness. The defense attorney insisted Fernandez didn't break the law, suggesting he only violated some FAA regulations on outside employment in the aviation industry. "He's a family man, who belongs with his family," Gainor said of his client. "Leave him there." Another federal prosecutor, however, refocused the jury on Fernandez's profile as a "corrupt public official" who betrayed the FAA to enrich himself. Prosecutor Yeney Hernandez said there are not "two sides" to the evidence, as the defense argued in closing arguments. "The truth is, Mr. Fernandez was taking bribes and violating his duties as an FAA safety inspector," Hernandez told the jurors. "The defendant was paid lots and lots of money." Hernandez pointed out that Fernandez's bank account received $72,000 in cash payments from AVCOM over the 3 1/2 years of the bribery scheme, while his mother's account received another $86,000 in cash payments from the firm. The prosecutor described the bribes as a "river of cash," arguing it was "money that would separate this from a civil case to outright criminal." She also cited a video showing Fernandez working at his desk at AVCOM in mid-May 2013 when he was supposed to be at his FAA safety inspector job. The video further shows Fernandez frantically rushing out of the AVCOM office when learning that an FAA inspector has shown up unannounced at the avionics company in Doral. A few weeks later, she said, Fernandez illegally cashed in on some unused sick time at his FAA job by forging the signature of a doctor and claiming he had "severe back pain" as an excuse to take the time off. He joined AVCOM as a full-time employee in June 2013. "Lies beget more lies," Hernandez told the jurors, saying "the truth fits the bank records." https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article231430283.html Back to Top Lockheed launches interactive tool for Apache aircraft maintainers Lockheed Martin has launched a new version of its RELY3D interactive suite of applications that supports Apache aircraft maintainers. RELY3D is the company's advanced visualisation and training tool designed to support Apache AH- 64 sensor system maintainers. It provides aids such as modernised target acquisition designation sight / pilot night vision sensor (M-TADS/PNVS) virtual guides, 3D animations and wiring diagrams. The advanced tool is aimed at reducing maintenance time on the Apache M-TADS/PNVS system. Lockheed Martin developed RELY3D based on an employee idea to improve maintenance efficiency through interactive training content. The tool makes use of capabilities from commercial gaming technology to create advanced visualisation modules for training purposes. This approach helps reduce training time for Apache aircraft maintainers by up to 60%, the company noted. Lockheed Martin Apache fire control programme director Matt Hoffman said: "RELY3D is an invaluable tool for our new employees who are just learning about our sensors, as well as field maintainers. "With this tool, maintainers can troubleshoot and perform maintenance on the flight line, dramatically reducing cost and increasing system availability. "As the industry pushes to advance training capabilities, we continue to innovate advanced technology and deliver affordable solutions for the Apache aviation community." The tool offers an intuitive interface with accurate 3D models to maintainers through a handheld device such as a mobile tablet. This helps reduce maintenance and repair time on the Apache M-TADS/PNVS and Longbow Fire Control Radar (FCR) systems. Lockheed Martin will also expand the tool to accommodate other rotary and fixed-wing aircraft sensors and weapons systems. The M-TADS/PNVS system is designed to deliver long-range, precision engagement and pilotage capabilities to Apache helicopter pilots. The company has so far supplied more than 1,400 M-TADS/PNVS systems and spares to the US Army and 16 international customers in 15 nations. Developed by Boeing, the AH-64 Apache multi-role combat helicopter is in service with the US Army and other nations, including Egypt, Greece, India, Japan, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Qatar, Singapore, the UAE and the UK. https://www.army-technology.com/news/lockheed-tool-apache-aircraft-maintainers/ Back to Top NCAA issues licence to new aircraft maintenance organisation The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has issued an Approved Maintenance Organisation Certificate on Non-Destructive Testing to an indigenous firm, DAV-AAKY Nigeria Limited. The firm is expected to carry out Non- Destructive Testing inspection to ensure airworthiness and serviceability of aircraft and aircraft components with specifications covering Eddy Current Testing, Magnetic Testing, Dye Penetrant and Ultrasonic Testing inspection. According to the Chief Executive Officer of DAV-AAKY Nigeria Limited, Mr Ayoola Stephen, the firm, with AMO/5N/DAV, is the first NDT AMO holder of its kind in Nigeria. Ayoola told journalists after the brief AMO certification ceremony that the NDT tests were carried out on aircraft whole or components to detect cracks, corrosion, among others on the aircraft or aircraft components. He said the firm had trained competent NDT personnel with certification to EN4179 and/or NAS410, which were internationally recognised. He said, "And as a result, they can carry out NDT inspections internationally. The NDT tests are not restricted to aviation as they are carried out in the automobile, sea, rail, oil and gas industry. "We carry out NDT inspection on aircraft and its components to ascertain its serviceability. Also, not really on only aircraft, we also carry out an inspection on automobile, in the sea, marine, ships, bridges and the rest but presently, NCAA has given us an AMO on NDT inspection in aviation and this is the first of its kind in this country. "DAV-AAKY Nigeria Limited is approved to offer NDT inspection services. You don't need to come to our base for us to carry out inspection, if your aircraft is in Kaduna, Maiduguri, Port Harcourt, anywhere your aircraft is or anywhere the equipment or part you want us to work on is, we will come down there and carry out your job which makes it the first mobile NDT service provider in the country." He said the firm was filling a gap and that it was a good advantage to its clients. "Our services make it easier for us to reach you and also for you to reach us; it cuts costs for airlines because you don't need to fly the aircraft down. It reduces a lot of cost for clients who would want to employ the services of DAV-AAKY Nigeria Limited, plus we are affordable, reliable and efficient," he said. https://punchng.com/ncaa-issues-licence-to-new-aircraft-maintenance-organisation/ Back to Top SpaceX launches 3 satellites to monitor Canadian territory, impact of climate change A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from a foggy California coast Wednesday, launching three Canadian radar satellites on a $900 million mission focused on maritime surveillance, resource management, disaster relief and the effects of climate change. Using a C-band synthetic aperture radar system, the Radarsat Constellation Mission satellites will operate day and night, peering through cloud cover to monitor the vast northern reaches of the continent, Canada's long shoreline and maritime approaches. "We have a very large country, and most of the population density is on the southern border," said Steve Iris, the RCM mission manager. "So we have a large part of the northern part of Canada that has a low-density population, and there's not a lot of infrastructure there to do monitoring. That's where there is the most impact from climate change, especially on the permafrost. "So with the (Radarsat) mission, we'll be able to monitor that region every day, and to monitor subtle changes like ground deformation due to permafrost melting. We'll be able to do that (four times per day across the arctic), which is a big advantage compared to what we do now." With morning fog shrouding space launch complex 4-East at Vandenberg Air Force Base, the Falcon 9 thundered to life at 7:17 a.m. PDT (10:17 EDT), its nine Merlin 1D engines throttling up to full power with a brilliant rush of flame. An instant later, the 229-foot-tall rocket was released from its firing stand to begin the climb to space. Arcing away to the south over the Pacific Ocean, the slender booster quickly accelerated as it consumed its load of first stage propellants and lost weight, powering the rocket out of the dense lower atmosphere with 1.2 million pounds of thrust. About two minutes and 17 seconds after liftoff, the previously flown first stage fell away, flipped around, restarted three engines to reverse course and headed back to Vandenberg. After another brief rocket firing to slow down for re-entry, the stage homed in on Landing Zone 4 at the Air Force base, restarting a single engine and settling to a pinpoint touchdown just a few hundred feet from the launch pad. It was SpaceX's 41st successful booster recovery overall since December 2015. The company's record now stands at 26 landings on offshore drone ships, 13 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and two at Vandenberg. While the first stage was completing its return to Earth, the Falcon 9's single-engine second stage was completing the first of two firings to reach the intended orbit. The three RCM satellites were successfully released one at a time starting about 54 minutes after liftoff. Tests and checkout are expected to take several months. Once complete, the satellites will begin routine observations under control of the Canadian Space Agency. At a cost of about $1.2 billion Canadian dollars ($904 million U.S.), the RCM payload is one of the most expensive ever booked on a SpaceX Falcon 9. Evenly spaced around the planet in a 373-mile-high polar orbit, the satellites will complete one trip around the planet every 96 minutes, beaming back 250,000 images per year and flying over the same point on the ground every four days. It took the earlier Radarsat 2 satellite 24 days to fly back over a given site. "Why is this important? It's because we can use these images to measure changes in ground movement, for example, which can help us understand what's happening on the Earth better," said Magdalena Wierus, the Radarsat Constellation project management engineer. "The RCM has the capacity to image any given location on 90 percent of the Earth's surface daily, but will be primarily imaging Canadian territory." Canada has the longest coastline in the world, she said, and the second largest land mass. With a low-population density, space-based environmental monitoring is "a natural choice for monitoring our assets." "In addition to our resource-based economy requiring monitoring of our forests, mining, energy, and agricultural industries, our northern latitudes that are sensitive to climate change gain from space-based radar systems that can observe the Earth day and night in any weather conditions," she said. Along with the synthetic aperture radar instrument, the three satellites also carry Automatic Identification System -- AIS -- technology to record identification signals from ships at sea. "Overlaid on top of the radar images this can help pinpoint ships that may be in trouble, or rogue ships that do not want to be found," Wierus said. Over the next five days, each satellite's solar panels and radar antenna will unfold and lock into place. Tests and checkout will take another three to six months before routine operations begin. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-launches-three-canadian-earth-observation-satellites/ Curt Lewis