Tag: Boeing

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Boeing to build broadband satellites for O3b

Boeing-built O3B mPower satellits
The O3b mPOWER satellites will be built using electronics from Boeing’s flight-proven 702 satellite platform. (Boeing Illustration)

Boeing Satellite Systems International has signed up to build a fleet of seven satellites that will provide broadband internet connectivity from medium Earth orbit for SES’ O3b network.

O3b was set up a decade ago to provide internet access to the “Other 3 Billion” in the world who have been left out because they’re too remote or too poor to get connected. Last year, SES took over majority ownership of O3b Networks, which currently has 12 first-generation satellites in a 5,000-mile-high orbit.

Eight more of the first-generation satellites, also built by Boeing, are to be launched in 2018 and 2019 on Russian-built Soyuz rockets by the European Arianespace consortium. Boeing’s next-generation O3b mPower satellites are due to go into orbit starting in 2021.

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Boeing claims edge in jet subsidy battle

Composite wing center
Boeing’s 777X composite wing center was built in Washington state after lawmakers approved tax incentives for the company. (Boeing Photo)

An appeals panel for the World Trade Organization has reversed an earlier ruling against an $8.7 billion Washington state tax incentive program that persuaded the Boeing Co. to build the 777X jet at its plant in Everett, Wash.

Boeing hailed the Sept. 4 reversal as a “significant victory” for the federal Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the U.S. aerospace industry, and a “resounding defeat” for the European Union’s efforts to justify subsidies to Airbus.

The ruling “confirms that the tax treatment Boeing and others are receiving in Washington state is not a prohibited subsidy,” Boeing said in a statement.

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House speaker talks taxes, tech – and Trump

Paul Ryan and Dennis Muilenburg
House Speaker Paul Ryan and Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg share the stage at a town hall meeting at Boeing’s Everett plant, with a nearly completed El Al 787 jet serving as a backdrop. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

EVERETT, Wash. – House Speaker Paul Ryan came to a town hall with workers at Boeing’s biggest airplane factory today to talk about taxes, but he also had to address another T-word: Trump.

The moment came when a Boeing worker noted that her company put a high value on respect, transparency and ethical behavior.

“I don’t know that every person sees that from our president right now. So my question for you, Speaker Ryan, is: How do you see yourself personally influencing, and are you confident that you can influence the president?” she said.

“It’s a day-by-day deal,” the Wisconsin Republican said. “I’m kind of joking.”

Then he turned more serious, lambasting “repulsive bigotry and racism in this country.”

“We can never get normal with this,” Ryan said. “We must always, every single time, stand up and repudiate it and condemn it unequivocally, every time.”

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Insitu joins effort to track wildfires 24/7

Insitu ScanEagle
Insitu’s winged ScanEagle drone is prepared for launch during a wildfire. (Insitu Photo)

There’s new cause for hope in the fight against wildfires, and it involves Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary that’s headquartered in Bingen, Wash., and specializes in unmanned aerial vehicles.

Today Insitu announced a partnership with FireWhat, a California-based company that focuses on monitoring natural resources with Geographic Information Systems; and Esri, the global market leader in GIS software.

The three companies will use Insitu’s ScanEagle drones, FireWhat’s fire-monitoring technology and Esri’s ArcGIS platform to provide near-real time, web-based video feeds to mobile command centers.

During the day, military-grade electro-optical cameras will help fire incident commanders monitor the battle against wildfires. During the night, infrared cameras will keep watch. The aerial reconnaissance system will make use of an integrated imaging system developed by Insitu’s INEXA Solutions.

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Air Force One discount deal goes through

Air Force One
An Air Force One 747 jet flies over the Statue of Liberty. (DOD Photo)

The U.S. Air Force says it’s getting a good deal on two Boeing 747s that were built for a now-bankrupt Russian airline and will now be converted into presidential Air Force One jets.

However, it’s not saying exactly how good the deal is, at Boeing’s insistence.

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Why pilots traced a plane across the country

787 outline
The flight path of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner traced the giant outline of a 787 during a test flight. (Flightradar24 Graphic)

It wasn’t a stunt: When Boeing’s test pilots flew a 787 Dreamliner jet for 18 hours and nearly 10,000 miles, tracing the outline of a 787 Dreamliner in the skies ranging from Michigan and Alabama to Wyoming, they were just adding a noteworthy twist to a routine requirement.

The flight, which began at Seattle’s Boeing Field on the afternoon of Aug. 2 and finished up in the same place at 9:40 a.m. today, served as an endurance test for the 787’s Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine, which is undergoing certification.

“Rather than fly in random patterns, the test team got creative, flying a route that outlined a 787-8 in the skies over 22 states,” Boeing explained in a statement. “The nose of the Dreamliner is pointing at the Puget Sound region, home to Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The wings stretch from northern Michigan near the Canadian border to southern Texas. The tail touches Huntsville, Alabama.”

No one on the ground would have known that the pilots were part of a performance art piece, unless they happened to match up their sighting with the flight plan mapped out for BOE004 (tail number N7874) on tracking websites such as FlightAware or Flightradar24.

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Russian leftovers may become Air Force One

Air Force One
First lady Melania Trump and President Donald Trump wave from the top of the stairway leading to Air Force One during a trip to Brussels in May. (White House Photo)

Two Boeing 747-8 jets that were given up before delivery by Russia’s bankrupt Transaero Airlines could well end up as the next presidential Air Force One aircraft.

The arrangement, first reported by Defense One, is one of the options being discussed as a response to President Donald Trump’s demand to reduce the multibillion-dollar cost of replacing today’s aging Air Force One planes. The Air Force is negotiating with Boeing over the terms and requirements for the switchover from the two nearly 30-year-old 747-200s that are currently being used.

“We’re still working closely with the Air Force toward a deal, with our focus being to provide the best value and price to the Air Force,” Boeing spokeswoman Caroline Hutcheson told GeekWire in an email.

Transaero ordered the 747-8s in 2013. Two years later, it declared bankruptcy. Russia’s flagship Aeroflot airlines picked up most of Transaero’s planes but declined to take delivery of the 747-8s. Last year, the planes were parked for long-term storage in Victorville, Calif., where the dry climate of California’s Mojave Desert preserves mothballed jets from corrosion.

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Boeing’s avionics unit reverses outsourcing

777X flight deck
Boeing’s wide-body 777X jet will have touchscreen controls on the flight deck. (Boeing Photo)

The Boeing Co. is creating an avionics unit that will build the kinds of electronics and aircraft control systems now being provided by outside suppliers.

The shift, unveiled in an internal statement sent to employees on July 31, runs counter to the historical trend of spreading out the work that goes into building the company’s multimillion-dollar jets.

But it’s consistent with Boeing’s decision to go after the market for servicing those jets after they’re sold. A similar motivation led to the creation of Boeing’s services unit last year.

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Boeing HorizonX backs SparkCognition AI

Predictive maintenance for wind turbines
One of SparkCognition’s AI products, SparkPredict, is designed to predict wind turbine failures before they occur. (SparkCognition via YouTube)

Boeing’s recently established venture arm, HorizonX, has joined with other investors in a $32.5 million funding round for SparkCognition, a Texas-based company focusing on artificial intelligence and machine learning in the fields of information technology security and industrial operations.

The Series B round is being led by Verizon Ventures. Boeing said it was among a group of strategic investors in SparkCognition, which counts aerospace and defense among its target markets.

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Small is big in Boeing’s 20-year plan

777 production line
A Boeing worker pushes a cart through the 777 production line at the company’s Everett plant. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)

EVERETT, Wash. – Boeing’s 20-year outlook for the airplane market is as sunny as ever, even though some analysts worry about a shift from more profitable wide-body jets to smaller, more economical single-aisle jets.

The way Boeing sees it, a steady rise in commercial air traffic and the start of a new replacement cycle in the 2021-2023 time frame will take care of any glut in the wide-body market. And between now and then, a hefty backlog of orders should bridge the gap, according to Randy Tinseth, vice president of marketing for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Tinseth accentuated the positive in Boeing’s latest Current Market Outlook, a 20-year forecast that was released today in connection with the Paris Air Show. He previewed the forecast for reporters earlier this month at Boeing’s Everett plant, on the condition that the information was held back until the show.

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