Boeing secures $2.8bn US satellite contract
The Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications (ESS) programme will deliver space-based nuclear, command, control and communications for the US president and joint strategic global forces.
Boeing is set to deliver the first of two space vehicles by 2031.
When deployed in geostationary orbit, the ESS will provide persistent coverage to strategic warfighters worldwide.
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TimesLIVE
3 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Nasa Crew-10 astronauts depart space station after five months
Four astronauts from Nasa's Crew-10 mission departed the International Space Station (ISS) on Friday aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule, heading for a splashdown off the US west coast on Saturday morning after a five-month crew rotation mission at the orbiting lab. US astronauts Nichole Ayers and Anne McClain, the Crew-10 commander, boarded the gumdrop-shaped Dragon capsule on Friday afternoon along with Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi and Russian cosmonaut Kirill Peskov ahead of a 17.5-hour trek back to Earth to a splashdown site off the California coast. The four-person crew launched to the ISS on March 14 in a routine mission that replaced the Crew-9 crew, which included Nasa astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, the astronaut pair left on the station by Boeing's Starliner capsule. Five months after the Starliner mission's conclusion, Wilmore this week retired from Nasa after a 25-year career in which he flew four different spacecraft and logged a total of 464 days in space. Wilmore was a key technical adviser to Boeing's Starliner programme along with Williams, who remains at the agency in its astronaut corps. The four astronauts in the Crew-10 capsule are scheduled for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at 11.33am ET (3.33pm GMT) Saturday. Nasa said they are returning to Earth with "important and time-sensitive research" conducted in the microgravity environment of the ISS during the 146-day mission. The astronauts had over 200 science experiments on their to-do list. Reuters
TimesLIVE
28-07-2025
- TimesLIVE
Several US executives will visit China this week: sources
A high-level delegation of American executives will travel to China this week to meet senior Chinese officials in a trip organised by the US-China Business Council (USCBC), two sources with knowledge of the visit told Reuters on Monday. The visit coincides with the latest round of US-China trade negotiations in Sweden, where China's vice premier He Lifeng is meeting US officials from July 27 to 30 for a new round of economic and trade talks. The delegation will be led by FedEx CEO Rajesh Subramaniam, the council's board chair, one source briefed on the trip said. The South China Morning Post first reported the visit on Sunday, saying executives from firms including Boeing would be part of the delegation. Reuters could not confirm other CEO members of the delegation or which Chinese officials they would meet. Boeing declined to comment on the trip and deferred to USCBC. The US government was not involved in the organisation of the visit, one source said. The trip comes as Beijing and Washington work towards a summit between the two countries' leaders later this year, probably around the time of the Apec forum in South Korea from October 26 to November 1, sources previously told Reuters. The USCBC did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The business lobby organised similar visits to China by American CEO delegations in 2023 and 2024. The 2024 trip, also led by Subramaniam, included meetings with He and foreign minister Wang Yi, where executives discussed issues including market access. China faces an August 12 deadline to reach a durable deal with the White House or risk higher US tariffs. US officials are likely to extend the deadline by another 90 days as the two sides work towards a more comprehensive deal. An extension would prevent further escalation and help create conditions for a potential meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
eNCA
17-07-2025
- eNCA
Air India probe of Boeing 787 fuel control switches finds no issues
INDIA - Air India's inspection of the locking feature on the fuel control switches of its existing Boeing 787 aircraft found no issues, an internal communication circulated within the airline said. The switches have come under scrutiny following last month's crash of an Air India jet that killed 260 people after a preliminary probe by Indian investigators found that they had flipped from run position to cutoff shortly after takeoff. India's aviation regulator earlier this week ordered the country's airlines to investigate the locking feature on the switches of several Boeing models. The order came after Boeing notified operators that the fuel switch locks on its jets were safe. But it was in line with a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2018, which recommended inspection of the locks to ensure they could not be moved accidentally. Air India's probe, however, found no problems with the locking mechanism. "Over the weekend, our Engineering team initiated precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all our Boeing 787 aircraft," the airline's flight operations department said in a communication to its pilots. "The inspections have been completed and no issues were found," the communication said, noting that it had complied with the regulator's directives. It added that all of its Boeing 787-8 aircraft had also undergone "Throttle Control Module (TCM) replacement as per the Boeing maintenance schedule", adding that the FCS was part of this module. Other countries have also ordered their airlines to examine fuel switches on Boeing aircraft. Singapore found them all to be "functioning properly". "Our checks confirmed that all fuel switches on SIA (Singapore Airlines) and Scoot's Boeing 787 aircraft are functioning properly and comply with regulatory requirements," an SIA spokesperson told AFP earlier this week. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed last month was heading from Ahmedabad in western India to London, with the accident killing all but one of the 242 people on board as well as 19 people on the ground. In a letter to employees on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the investigation into the crash was ongoing and it would be unwise to jump to "premature conclusions".
