March 21, 2022 - No. 19 In This Issue : French aerospace company Gama raises $2M to develop a solar sail spacecraft : Collins Aerospace job fair Wednesday : Air bp To Supply Rolls-Royce with SAF : Aviation Maintenance Career Fair Scheduled Amid High Demand : What investigators will likely look for after the 737 plane crash in China : POSITION: Professor/Associate Professor/Assistant Professor in Aviation Engineering : Starlink reaches 250,000 subscribers as it targets aviation and other markets French aerospace company Gama raises $2M to develop a solar sail spacecraft Just as sea breezes propel sailboats across the sea on Earth, solar radiation might one day be able to propel spacecraft between the stars. Or at least that’s the hope of French startup Gama. The aerospace company was founded in 2020 by Louis de Gouyon Matignon, Thibaud Elziere and Andrew Nutter, whose goal is to develop a low-cost solar sail that would use light as a means of propulsion for spacecraft. Gama has collected $2 million in funding from the French Public Investment Bank (BPI), the French Space Agency (CNES) and angel investors to demonstrate its technology in space in October. That mission will see a CubeSat launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, after which a 789-square-foot solar sail will deploy at an altitude of 342 miles. “We can test a lot of things on Earth, but testing deployment at these dimensions can only be done in the zero gravity of space,” Nutter tells TechCrunch. (The dimensions suggest the sail should be about 10 meters across.) Solar sails are not exactly a new invention. They were first theorized by astronomer Johannes Kepler, who mused about them in a letter to fellow astronomer Galileo Galilei in 1608. But the first successful deployment of a solar sail didn’t occur until 2010: the IKAROS “space yacht,” a mission by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). That same year, NASA launched NanoSail-D, and in 2019, the space advocacy group Planetary Society launched LightSail 2. Now multiple organizations apart from Gama are developing new solar sail missions. NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) will have Illinois-based NanoAvionics design a spacecraft with an 800-square-foot solar sail. Breakthrough Initiatives’ Breakthrough Starshot mission, which has received $100 million in funding, plans to send a fleet of hundreds of tiny solar sail-powered spacecraft to the star system Alpha Centauri, located 4.7 light years away. Gama differs in two ways from previous and current missions. “First, the team at Gama strives to iterate and move extremely fast, launching the first of many solar sails in record time,” says Nutter. “Second, we are deploying the sail by gently spinning the satellite, and using the resultant centrifugal force to deploy the petals of our sail. This allows us to save on structural weight and deploy much larger surfaces in due course.” Well ahead of its first launch, the company is already designing its second mission — one that will deploy at higher altitude and will “demonstrate we can steer the sail and provide a reliable low-cost alternative to traditional propulsion technologies,” per Nutter. Solar sails operate almost identically to traditional sails, except that they use photons for propulsion rather than the air molecules making up the wind. Though photons don’t have mass, their momentum as they travel through space can be transferred to a reflective surface — a solar sail made of Mylar or a polyamide — which can propel a spacecraft. The force is slight, but in the vacuum of space, it can add up quickly. It’s possible that a solar sail could propel a spacecraft to 20% of the speed of light — though it would take a while. This would allow spacecraft to eliminate (or at least reduce) the amount of propellant it needs to carry, freeing up mass aboard for other uses. Using solar sails could also prolong the mission duration of a spacecraft, since the vehicle theoretically could be propelled indefinitely. This would be crucial for long-duration deep-space missions, which explains why there’s such an interest in developing the technology further. https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/21/french-aerospace-company-gama-raises-2m-to-develop-a-solar-sail-spacecraft/ Collins Aerospace job fair Wednesday ROME, NY — Collins Aerospace, a leading supplier of power transmission systems for helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, seeks to hire a number of hourly and salary positions at its facility in the Griffiss Business and Technology Park. As part of this effort, the company will hold a career fair from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 23, at the Griffiss Institute, 592 Hangar Road. For more information on the openings online, visit: rtx.com/careers and search for the Rome location. Collins Aerospace’s local facility can be found at 104 Otis St. in Griffiss Park. https://romesentinel.com/stories/collins-aerospace-job-fair-wednesday,131342 Air bp To Supply Rolls-Royce with SAF Rolls-Royce Trent engine, the first to be docked on testbed 80, mounted in Derby UK test facility surrounded by Rolls-Royce employees in high-vis yellow vests. Tests of Rolls-Royce engines such as the Trent will be run on an SAF blend provided by Air bp starting this summer at the powerplant maker's test centers in the UK and Germany. Air bp has signed an agreement with Rolls-Royce that will see it furnish the UK-based engine maker with sustainable aviation fuel to power its engine testing programs. First deliveries of a 10 percent SAF blend will commence in the second quarter to the three Rolls-Royce testing areas in Derby (civil aviation), Bristol (defense), and Dahlewitz, Germany (business aviation). https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/aerospace/2022-03-21/air-bp-supply-rolls-royce-saf Aviation Maintenance Career Fair Scheduled Amid High Demand YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Job-seekers interested in aviation maintenance careers will have a chance to meet one-on-one with major employers at a Thursday morning career fair. The Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics is hosting a career fair from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. March 17 at its Youngstown campus at 1453 Youngstown-Kingsville Road NE. Employers will be on hand to meet with current students and alumni to discuss aviation maintenance career education and available jobs. “Employers are traveling to PIA to begin the recruiting process as early as first semester and even partnering to raise career awareness prior to enrollment which is indicative of high demand,” said Suzanne Markle, president and CEO of the nonprofit PIA. “As students advance in their education, employers are more frequently following students’ progress to graduation, and it’s becoming more common for a student to receive an employment offer prior to graduation contingent on successfully completing the federal certification.” Among the employers scheduled to be on hand include Ames, Endeavor, PSA, Commut, Republic, Air Methods, Skywest, Constant Aviation, Air Wisconsin, Lockheed Martin, GE Aviation, Gulfstream, Delta Techops, Goodyear and Crown. On average, PIA graduates accept a full-time job within 50 days of graduation. Factors such as an aging aviation maintenance workforce and shortage of trained airframe and powerplant technicians have employers looking to recruit serious candidates as early as pre-enrollment, according to a press release. “Additionally, employers are extending employment offers prior to graduation contingent on successfully completing the federal exam, often with signing bonuses starting at $2,500 and higher, as well as relocation packages, job growth and management planning, and in-kind donations such as maintenance tools are becoming more common to support graduates in choosing an employer,” said Mindy L. Pavilonis, PIA’s associate director of career services. https://businessjournaldaily.com/aviation-maintenance-career-fair-scheduled-amid-high-demand/ What investigators will likely look for after the 737 plane crash in China The aviation disaster in a 737-800 has claimed a reported 132 lives. In crashes like these, investigators will follow a "holistic" approach, one expert says. More than 130 people are believed to have died following the crash on Monday of a Boeing 737-800 passenger jet operated by China Eastern Airlines, Reuters and other news organizations have reported. The plane took off from the city of Kunming with a destination of Guangzhou. According to CNN, the airline said: “The cause of the plane crash is still under investigation. The company expresses its sorrowful condolences to the passengers and crew members who died in this plane crash.” The flight, number MU5737, was cruising at an altitude of 29,100 feet, according to a playback from Flightradar24, but suddenly descended at a rate that at moments hit around 31,000 feet per minute. A data visualization of the aircraft’s altitude depicts a rapid downwards trajectory, with a brief climb and leveling off below 10,000 feet, and then another final descent. Video shared on Twitter (caution: some readers may find the footage in the link upsetting) appears to show an aircraft plummeting straight downwards. Other video, via The New York Times, shows smoke, fire, and debris on the ground. “That rapid descent really caught my attention,” says Anthony Brickhouse, an associate professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and an expert in aviation safety. In the aftermath of aviation disasters like this one, investigators will consider a variety of sources to try to determine what went wrong. “I think the investigators will be looking at this holistically,” says Hassan Shahidi, the president of the nonprofit Flight Safety Foundation. “They will be looking at all aspects associated with this airplane.” Those aspects might include the specific aircraft’s maintenance history, its engines and their history, the pilots and their training level, and more. “They’ll be looking at the air traffic communications between the pilots and air traffic controllers,” he adds. Those recordings can come from the air-traffic control side of the communications, which is a different source from what’s recorded within the aircraft from the black boxes. “All of these [sources] are going to be information that’s going to be critical to investigators to find out what happened to this flight,” he says. Like Shahidi, Brickhouse says that investigators will examine a “plethora of different areas,” from aircraft maintenance to weather in the area when working to figure out what happened. And of course, the black boxes will be important in figuring out the cause. “If the video that we’ve seen is accurate, this would be what investigators would consider to be a high velocity, high angle-type impact,” Brickhouse says. “And with that, you don’t get a lot of wreckage.” “The black boxes are designed to withstand a tremendous amount of force,” he says. “I would suspect that they’ll recover the black boxes, and hopefully they’ll get good data.” In most aircraft, the black boxes are two separate devices—a cockpit voice recorder, and a flight data recorder—located in the tail, Brickhouse says. The aircraft involved in the crash of flight MU5737 in China was a Boeing 737-800, which is a different model from the 737 MAX jets, and their MCAS software, which were involved in two separate disasters, in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019. Boeing addressed the recent accident in two tweets on Monday: “There are thousands of these [Boeing 737-800s] in the fleet that are flying on a daily basis, all over the world, including the US, and Asia, and Latin American, and Europe,” Shahidi says. “It is a very, very solid airplane, with a solid background over many years.” He notes that records indicate the specific aircraft involved in this crash was about six or seven years old. In a detailed blog item about the crash, Flightradar24 pegs the aircraft’s delivery date to the customer as June 2015 and notes that it was a new aircraft at that time. “There is really no connection to the MAX model, which is a completely different model,” Shahidi says. “This airplane has had an excellent safety track [record] worldwide.” https://www.popsci.com/technology/china-eastern-airlines-crash/ POSITION: Professor/Associate Professor/Assistant Professor in Aviation Engineering Recruiter: THE HONG KONG POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY Location: Hong Kong The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is a government-funded tertiary institution in Hong Kong. It offers programmes at various levels including Doctorate, Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees. It has a full-time academic staff strength of around 1,200. The total annual consolidated expenditure budget of the University is in excess of HK$7.6 billion. DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICAL AND AVIATION ENGINEERING Professor / Associate Professor / Assistant Professor in Aviation Engineering (two posts) (Ref. 22031104) In line with the strategic development of the University and to lead the development of the aeronautical and aviation engineering discipline in teaching and research activities, the Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering was established in the Faculty of Engineering. The Department currently offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and actively engages in various research and consultancy work. Please visit the website at https://www.polyu.edu.hk/aae/ for more information about the Department. Applications are now invited from academics who are actively involved in aviation engineering to fill the vacancies for academic staff. Duties The appointees for the post will be required to: • teach at undergraduate and postgraduate levels; • conduct research that leads to publications in top-tier refereed journals and awards of research grants; • undertake research, programme/curriculum development and administration; • supervise student projects and theses; • engage in industrial and scholarly research/consultancy activities; • undertake academic and departmental administrative duties; and • perform any other duties as assigned by the Head of Department or his delegates. Qualifications Applicants should have: • a PhD in the area of airline operations / aircraft performance and fleet management / aviation sustainability / network modelling, reliability engineering and system safety in aviation / data-driven and demand modelling in aviation or relevant disciplines; • strong commitment to excellence in teaching and research; • good publication records; • good networking ability; and • excellent communication skills and the ability to use English as the medium of instruction. Remuneration and Conditions of Service A highly competitive remuneration package will be offered. Initial appointment for Assistant Professor will be on a fixed-term gratuity-bearing contract. Re-engagement thereafter is subject to mutual agreement. An appropriate term will be provided for appointment at Associate Professor / Professor levels. For general information on terms and conditions for appointment of academic staff in the University, please visit the website at https://www.polyu.edu.hk/hro/docdrive/careers/doc/Prof.pdf. Applicants should state their current and expected salary in the application. Application Please send a completed application form by post, nominate three referees from different institutions/organisations by providing their names, addresses and relationship with the applicants, to Human Resources Office, 13/F, Li Ka Shing Tower, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong or via email to hrstaff@polyu.edu.hk. Application forms can be downloaded from https://www.polyu.edu.hk/hro/careers/guidelines_and_forms/forms. If a separate curriculum vitae is to be provided, please still complete the application form which will help speed up the recruitment process. Consideration of applications will commence in mid-March 2022 until the positions are filled. The University’s Personal Information Collection Statement for recruitment can be found at https://www.polyu.edu.hk/hro/careers/guidelines_and_forms/pics_for_recruitment. PolyU is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusivity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to gender, ethnicity, nationality, family status or physical or mental disabilities. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/unijobs/listing/286123/professor-associate-professor-assistant-professor-in-aviation-engineering/ Starlink reaches 250,000 subscribers as it targets aviation and other markets A SpaceX executive said March 22 the company has 250,000 Starlink subscribers, a figure that includes both consumer broadband customers as well as enterprise and other users. WASHINGTON — SpaceX now has a quarter of a million subscribers for its Starlink satellite broadband service as it looks to move into new markets like aviation. Jonathan Hofeller, vice president of Starlink commercial sales at SpaceX, said during a panel at the Satellite 2022 conference March 22 that while Starlink is best known for its consumer broadband service, it was also working to provide services for enterprises and other sectors. “We currently have 250,000 subscribers, and that’s across consumer, enterprise and many businesses,” he said. SpaceX is manufacturing “close to eight satellites a day” at its Redmond, Washington, facility as the company builds out its constellation. Beyond consumer broadband, he cited demand for Starlink from other markets, such as cellular backhaul and services for schools. “There’s just a number of different people coming out of the woodwork that need connectivity,” he said. One of those emerging markets for Starlink is aviation. “Connectivity on airplanes is something we think is ripe for an overhaul,” Hofeller said. “The expectation has changed faster than the technology has changed.” SpaceX has developed an aviation antenna currently being tested, he said, and is working to get it certified on “various aircraft.” He didn’t give an anticipated schedule for completing that, but said the company planned to offer a service for commercial airliners that would be indistinguishable from conventional internet access. “We’re designing a service where every single passenger on that plane can stream simultaneously.” Hofeller, asked how many subscribers the company needs for Starlink to be profitable, declined to give a number. However, he said the profitability of the system would improve with as second generation of satellites, something that company founder Elon Musk had previously suggested. “I think we have a successful architecture,” he said. “Version one is sustainable but, from where we want to get from a profit standpoint, version two will be much more profitable.” Pandemic and Ukraine Hofeller and other panelists said they have seen a sharp increase in demand for satellite broadband services prompted by the pandemic. “We found out how many people in our market were relying on broadband at their place of work or at school, and suddenly they couldn’t do that,” said Evan Dixon, president of global fixed broadband at Viasat. “It led us to double down on the idea that people want more bandwidth.” Ruth Pritchard-Kelly, senior adviser for regulatory and space policy at OneWeb, said she believed the financial community became convinced of the market for satellite broadband when, at the start of the pandemic two years ago, executives decamped from New York and London to rural areas, only to find spotty connectivity. “It really proved to the money people that this was a need, a real need, for everybody in the world.” Financiers, she added, were also convinced by the relatively late entry of Amazon into the satellite broadband business, a move made by former chief executive Jeff Bezos with its Project Kuiper system. “If he thinks he can be last and beat all of these competitors and be a viable competitor, this is a real business. This is not just a niche,” she said. While governments are investing more into expanding broadband services, Hofeller was critical of some approaches that funded infrastructure over results, he argued. “We support architectures where they’ve designed the funding to support the end user. The end user needs affordable internet,” he said. Satellite, he added, can provide broadband service far more quickly than building out fiber. “We had folks who would call us on a Friday and their school would be connected on Monday,” he said. “That sort of instant gratification is not something governments know how to react to.” Starlink has also garnered attention for providing services in Ukraine in response to a request from a government minister after Russia’s invasion of the country. Hofeller didn’t discuss the company’s work in Ukraine but Dixon appeared to criticize the publicity SpaceX generated for its work there. “The important thing for us, though, is not what we’re doing in Ukraine. We’re doing plenty in Ukraine, but it’s not something we publicize and we’re not going to. We’re certainly not going to make publicity out of a war,” Dixon said. He did, though, discuss Viasat’s work providing connectivity to Ukrainian refugees in Slovakia. Satellites can help refugees from war zones or natural disasters, said Pritchard-Kelly. “I think we’re all being approached by various government entities, seeing what can be done, both in and nearby Ukraine,” she said. “But I don’t think it’s that significantly different from other emergencies.” https://spacenews.com/starlink-reaches-250000-subscribers-as-it-targets-aviation-and-other-markets/ Curt Lewis