July 06, 2017 - No. 054 In This Issue StandardAero Eyes Vector Aerospace Acquisition Airline MRO Parts selects Ramco Systems for its Enterprise Resource Planning system Honeywell Upgrades Avionics Repair Capability In Asia Pacific Region, Shortening Repair Turnaround DAC International Signs Distribution Agreement With Thommen Aircraft Equipment LTD SIA Engineering taking flight with its partners American Top U. S. MRO Spender, Still Outsources Smallest Share Military MRO: solving the maintenance skills shortage with augmented reality 3rd time's the charm for SpaceX comsat launch StandardAero Eyes Vector Aerospace Acquisition StandardAero has entered exclusive negotiations to acquire Vector Aerospace Holdings from Airbus in a move that would cement StandardAero's position among the largest global maintenance, repair and overhaul providers. The companies still must sign definitive agreements and receive workers' council and regulatory clearances for such an acquisition. StandardAero already is a major presence in the MRO community, with more than 3,500 employees working in a dozen major facilities in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia, and an additional 13 regional service and support centers. Acquiring Vector would add 2,200 employees at 22 locations across Canada, the U.S., the UK, France, Kenya, South Africa, Australia and Singapore. Toronto-based Vector, which generated $704.8 million in revenues in 2016, would bring expertise in turbine engines, dynamic components, airframe composites and avionics, as well as a business in conversions, modifications and refurbishments for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft. The company counts corporate and private operators, government agencies, defense departments and commercial/airline operators among its 3,000 customers. The negotiations come two years after private equity firm Veritas Capital purchased Scottsdale, Arizona-based StandardAero from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise for $2.1 billion and could lead to the second announced agreement this year for StandardAero. In March, it detailed plans to acquire PAS Technologies, which provides support services for the oil-and-gas sector, industrial- gas-turbine and aerospace markets. Airbus, formerly EADS, acquired Vector in 2011 for $625 million, but in late 2015 reportedly began shopping the firm. https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2017-07-05/standardaero-eyes- vector-aerospace-acquisition Back to Top Airline MRO Parts selects Ramco Systems for its Enterprise Resource Planning system Ramco Systems, a leading provider of Aviation & Maintenance software on Cloud, Mobile, and Tablets, today announced that it has secured an order from Airline MRO Parts (AMP) for its Aviation offering. The deployment of Ramco Aviation M&E MRO Suite V5.8 will provide AMP with a state-of-the-art, scalable platform on which to manage its parts distribution and trading business. AMP helps MROs and airlines manage their inventories, both with purchasing consolidation programs on the buy side and innovative surplus solutions for overstocked and obsolete parts on the sell side. By utilizing Ramco's modules for Supply Chain Management, Part Sales Management, Finance & Accounting, and by maximizing the use of connectors to Aeroxchange. Buy, Sell, and Consignment products, AMP will be able to effortlessly manage procurement processes for its growing list of distribution and consignment customers. Upon signing the agreement, Wayne Mihailov, CEO of AMP, said, "Our continued strong business growth has brought us to the point where traditional ways of managing operations will no longer suffice. We came to the realization that we needed an integrated, digital business model which would give us complete visibility of our supply chain, real-time order processing, and complete control of our inventories. We evaluated multiple leading ERPs and found Ramco's offering to be the best solution for the automation and connectivity required to run our business." Ramco Aviation Suite fulfils AMP's requirements by offering tools around B2B Connectivity, Automation, Mobility, Hubs, and advanced visualization which bring unparalleled power to the hands of the users, along with a highly-effective dashboard which provides easy visibility into the health of key business processes. Ramco's integrated solution across various product lines, its strong support platform, and its continued adaptability are key components of a system needed to support a rapidly-growing and evolving business model like AMP. Commenting on the win, Virender Aggarwal, CEO, Ramco Systems, said, "AMP marks the entry of Ramco into a new segment, the Parts Trading organizations within Aviation. The flexibility and comprehensive nature of the application has enabled us to win the trust of this global business. AMP's efforts to achieve a highly efficient digital business model is commendable, and Ramco is happy to be a part of it. With innovative features like Mobility and Chatbots, AMP will now experience automation not only within its own organization, but also across its customer operations." Designed to be accessible on cloud and mobile, Ramco Aviation Software continues to add technological innovations with 'Anywhere Apps', redefining the power of Mobility, to significantly reduce transaction time both during AOG conditions and critical aircraft turnarounds. The software helps aviation companies ensure zero tolerance to error, with higher safety standards. Ramco is changing the paradigm of enterprise software with ZERO UI powered by cool new features such as Chatbots, Mail bots, HUBs and Cognitive solutions. Furthering this, the company has also developed application compatibility on Microsoft HoloLens to bring Augmented Reality which improves efficiency in maintenance operations. With 75+ Aviation leaders onboard, Ramco is the solution of choice for several large airlines and top heli-operators and multiple MROs in the world. http://www.equitybulls.com/admin/news2006/news_det.asp?id=210168 Back to Top Honeywell Upgrades Avionics Repair Capability In Asia Pacific Region, Shortening Repair Turnaround Time By More Than 60 Percent SHANGHAI, July 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Honeywell (NYSE: HON) Avionics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. announced that it has recently upgraded its product repair capabilities to provide more rapid repair turnaround time, more convenient customer communication, and more effective technical support for a variety of Honeywell products, including the traffic alert and collision avoidance system and IntuVueŽ 3D weather radar. These services can help operators reduce maintenance time and save on cost. Honeywell's product repair upgrade further improves its aftermarket services in mainland China and improves the relationships between Honeywell and its Chinese customers. With expansion of Honeywell Avionics Shanghai, Chinese customers do not need to transfer aircraft to Honeywell sites in America or Singapore for repair; timely technical support at home will be available immediately. On average, repair turnaround time will be reduced by more than 60 percent and the China service center will provide one-stop for services in-region. The center provides comprehensive, high-quality services to customers, allowing them to reduce the safety stocks of backup facilities and further lowering their costs. "There are big opportunities in the region's maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) market. According to ICF International's MRO Forecast and Market Trend, the Asia Pacific MRO market is expected to nearly double to approximately $32.2 billion by 2025, at 6 percent per annum," said Brian Davis, vice president, Airlines, Asia Pacific, Honeywell Aerospace. "In the Asia Pacific region, Honeywell has seven aftermarket service sites. Honeywell is committed to improving our operating and repair capabilities to provide local customers with better support in the Asia Pacificaviation market." Currently, Honeywell's traffic alert and collision avoidance system (TCAS) TPA100D and its RDR4000 IntuVue 3D weather radar are widely outfitted on many Boeing and Airbus fleets across the region. The TCAS system helps enhance the airborne situational awareness to ensure flight safety and efficiency, and thus reduce operational costs for airlines. The IntuVue 3D weather radar provides the most complete, accurate and intuitive view of airborne weather hazards, resulting in improved hazard avoidance and increased safety. Adverse weather costs the aerospace industry billions of dollars each year through weather-related delays, including cancellations, diversions, disasters and turbulence. Honeywell's weather radar will help limit that. Air China, China Eastern Airlines, 9 Air and Chengdu Airlines are among the airlines that are equipped with Honeywell's IntuVue 3D weather radar. Founded in 2005, Honeywell Avionics Shanghai is dedicated to providing leading avionics repair and support services in the domestic China market. As part of the Shanghai avionics company, the ATEC 6 Series Test Station has already been certified by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC), U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Honeywell Aerospace products and services are found on virtually every commercial, defense and space aircraft, and its turbochargers are used by nearly every automaker and truck manufacturer around the world. The Aerospace business unit develops innovative solutions for more fuel-efficient automobiles and airplanes, more direct and on-time flights, safer flying and runway traffic, along with aircraft engines, cockpit and cabin electronics, wireless connectivity services, logistics, and more. The business delivers safer, faster, and more efficient and comfortable transportation-related experiences worldwide. For more information, visit www.honeywell.com or follow us at @Honeywell_Aero and @Honeywell_Turbo. Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 software-industrial company that delivers industry specific solutions that include aerospace and automotive products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help everything from aircraft, cars, homes and buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom. http://news.sys-con.com/node/4116745 Back to Top DAC International Signs Distribution Agreement With Thommen Aircraft Equipment LTD DAC INTERNATIONAL INC. (DAC), a subsidiary of Aero Precision Holdings LP, announced today that it has signed a distribution agreement with Thommen Aircraft Equipment Ltd. to promote and sale its products. Thommen Aircraft Equipment Ltd. is a world-leading manufacturer of Mission Equipment, Displays, Air Data Displays, Air Data Computers, Digital Clocks and Chronographs for Helicopters, Fixed Wing Aircraft & UAV's. "We are proud to add Thommen products to our aftermarket support programs and the ability to distribute these products to our current customers" said Cisco Hernandez, President of DAC International. "The distribution agreement between Thommen and DAC International opens new opportunities for Thommen to deliver products worldwide," said Sebastian Sattler, Director of Business Development for Thommen Aircraft Equipment Ltd. http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/12349255/dac-international-signs-distribution- agreement-with-thommen-aircraft-equipment-ltd Back to Top SIA Engineering taking flight with its partners SINGAPORE (July 4): OCBC Investment Research is maintaining its "hold" recommendation on SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC) with a fair value of S$3.75. This comes after its joint venture (JV) with Pratt & Whitney (P&W) was selected as a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility, while SIAEC has also set up a new JV with GE Aviation (GE). Eagle Services Asia (ESA) - a JV between SIAEC and P&W (Pratt & Whitney) - has been selected as an MRO facility in Singapore for P&W's PW1100G-JM PurePower Geared Turbofan (GTF) engines, which is one of the two engine options that powers the A320neo aircraft family. ESA will be investing about US$85 million (S$117 million) to equip their facility to perform MRO services on the GTF engines. In a Tuesday report, analyst Eugene Chua says, "We view this positively as it creates a new revenue stream for ESA, especially since profit contributions from ESA have been on a declining trend mainly due to the retirement of the older four-engine B747-400 aircraft, which is powered by P&W's PW4000 engines." Chua also noted that PW4000 engines used to be ESA's main revenue driver. The A320neo aircraft family has been increasing in demand and according to Airbus, as at May 31, there is a backlog order of 4,937 for the aircraft, of which 30% are orders from Asian-Pacific airlines. The GTF engine production backlog orders will take ESA about eight years to clear. "In our view, the data clearly indicate the expected strong growth in demand for the MRO services of the GTF engines over the longer-term, as more A320neo aircraft are delivered over time," says Chua. SIAEC have also established a new JV with GE to provide engine MRO services for the GE90 and GE9X engines. In this new JV, GE will hold 51% stake, while SIAEC holds 49%, which will establish a state-of- the-art facility to combine advanced technologies with data analytics to enhance productivity. Chua believes that this JV will become the main MRO facility to serve these aircrafts in the region. However, as time is needed to build up the business, Chua does not expect any near-term impact from the JV, but views this positively as it will contribute to SIAEC's growth over the longer-term. http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/sia-engineering-taking-flight-its-partners Back to Top American Top U. S. MRO Spender, Still Outsources Smallest Share The latest FAA Form 41 figures on maintenance outsourcing by U. S. airlines show some things have changed and some things remain remarkably stable. Among the stable trends, the three U.S. major network carriers, American Airlines, United and Delta, in total outsourced the same portion of their maintenance, 44%, in 2016 as did their predecessor airlines in 2006, a decade before. But there were some interesting changes within this group. American Airlines spent the most on maintenance, $3.5 billion in 2016, and outsourced the smallest portion, 38%. That share was up from the 33% spent in 2016 by American and US Airways, which already included America West. American's scale enables it to do many kinds of maintenance efficiently in-house. But the carrier is apparently looking a bit more closely at the outsource option. Delta, on the other hand, decreased its outsourcing, from 57% by Delta and Northwest in 2006 to 43% by the combined carriers in 2016. United and Continental, which were already outsourcing a substantial 46% of maintenance a decade ago, pushed that share up to 51% in 2016 after their merger. The Three top low-cost carriers taken as a group outsourced 57% of maintenance in 2016, up only slightly from 56% in 2006. That share is higher than the equivalent share of network MRO spend, but not as dramatically higher as it once was. Southwest was the biggest MRO spender, at $1.7 billion in 2016. But Southwest's outsource share declined from 58% in 2006, including AirTran, to 52% in 2016. That is almost exactly the same as the outsource share for United. With all its engineering, line work and in-house C checks, Southwest does a good portion of MRO inside. And major LCCs and leaner network carriers have been converging in several ways over the past decade. Jetblue, in contrast, increased its outsource share from 44% to 74% over the decade. Frontier trimmed its outsource spend from 55% of maintenance in 2006 to 51% in 2016. These figures may be affected by shifts in fleet, aircraft maintenance cycles and reporting conventions. But they demonstrate there are no simple rules that determine outsourcing choices, for either majors or LCCs. Carriers are continually hunting for the best combination of cost, quality and turnaround time, inside and outside their own hangars. http://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/american-top-u-s-mro-spender- still-outsources-smallest-share Back to Top Military MRO: solving the maintenance skills shortage with augmented reality Maintaining sophisticated military equipment across land, sea and air is a difficult enough challenge when the required resources are readily available. So how can the military balance equipment availability with a reactive and compliant maintenance strategy and supply chain when the number of skilled engineers is limited? The market for virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) is growing - one report from Digi-Capital predicts the VR/AR market to be worth $120 billion by 2020. Virtual reality has hit the consumer world with a bang, and the defence sector is now starting to see the power of the technology, and its close 'relation' augmented reality, in action. Training for maintenance a real opportunity The technologies have been used to simulate training exercises to speed up and reduce the costs associated with readying military personnel for deployment. For example, the Dismounted Soldier Training System for the US Army was the first ever fully immersive virtual simulation training system aimed at giving soldiers more training time before being deployed in the battlefield. But only now are we seeing them implemented to fulfil a growing requirement for defence organizations - the global issue of effectively and flexibly deploying scarce and expensive maintenance personnel. Growing asset complexity requires skilled engineers Military assets continue to grow in complexity. Forces across the globe are beginning to take delivery of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, the most complex and capable military jet ever manufactured. Larger assets such as the Nimitz-class super aircraft carriers also pose significant maintenance challenges. It's estimated the USS Theodore Roosevelt contains over 1000 miles of electrical cable and an air conditioning plant capable of sustaining 500 houses. It's no surprise that it took some four years to complete the mid-life refuelling and complex overhaul (RCOH) of the carrier from 2009 to 2013. Increasing asset complexity, the decline in defence personnel numbers and a maintenance training lag means having the right engineers in place to keep equipment available is becoming a difficult management task. Supply loses out to demand from booming commercial aviation market On one hand, the sophisticated equipment entering defence supply chains requires significantly longer lead times on training. Maintenance personnel are trained - and qualified - to perform specific repairs on specific equipment and, particularly on aerospace assets, nothing else. On the other hand, the military cannot compete with the booming commercial aviation industry, especially in the fast-growing Middle East and Asia-pacific where airline operators and MROs can headhunt military personnel with attractive salary offers, work hours and safer environments. The demand for maintenance is rapidly outpacing supply. In a 2014 report, the UK Military Aviation Authority (MAA) reported that the RAF was missing 411 tradesmen for aircraft maintenance - a 12% shortfall in the number of trained engineers the MOD required. New, innovative solutions are needed to help bridge this gap. Globalization provides a huge logistics footprint Add to this the fact that military engagements are less-predictable now than ever before. Insurgency-based threats can arise anywhere at any time, and counter-terror warfare requires defence organizations to be prepared to respond as quickly as possible. Sending a fully effective defence force forward requires maintenance expertise to be available close to the area of equipment operation. Maintenance personnel then need transport, food and shelter, not to mention force protection - quickly becoming the start of an ever-growing logistics footprint. It's worth remembering that in the Crimean war there were no logisticians involved. Major developments since then means that across the three services of a mature defence organization such as the UK MOD, 1 in 6 personnel are now directly involved in logistics. In a modern air force organization, such as the USAF and RAF, 95% of trades are non-pilot supporting roles. When positioning maintenance personnel to maximize force readiness, defence organizations are faced with three options: 1.Strategically position maintenance engineers geographically One option for defence forces is to deploy units and maintenance personnel in likely areas of conflict. With insurgency-type threats arising without notice in any given area, second-guessing these potential conflicts would require deployment of many maintenance troops and engineering equipment, not to mention life support in different locations. However, even deploying a small force involves a spiraling logistics footprint - and cost - involving equipment, fuel, food, ammunition, security, spare parts and more, plus the transport infrastructure to rotate them. A small deployment soon becomes a long-term camp - witness the UK MOD Camp Bastion in Afghanistan which is estimated to have cost $1 billion over its lifespan, supporting 28,000 troops, 4,032 contractors and 3,080 vehicles. 2.Operate a 'fix when required' approach Should defence forces risk leaving a vehicle, weapon or plane sitting idle in a remote location and fly a qualified engineer out to fix it on an as-required basis? With forces spread in remote locations, flying a skilled engineer out to the front line to repair stricken equipment can take time - time which defence forces simply cannot afford. In many cases, it may be too dangerous to deploy a maintenance engineer in the field, leaving squads cut off without mission-critical equipment. In addition, until a maintenance assessment has been completed at the asset, it's not always obvious which engineer role, qualification and equipment is needed to affect the repair. 3.Augmented and virtual reality Using remote guidance via a wearable or mobile device, engineer skills can be 'augmented' as more qualified technicians provide expertise from any location in the world. Virtual reality simulation can even speed the training process itself. At the 2016 MRO Europe conference in Amsterdam, ICF International vice-president Jonathan Berger predicted virtual reality could shave one or two years off traditional maintenance engineer training programs. AR and VR could be of particular interest to the military in the coming years as the technology continues to mature. A one-to-many delivery of expertise from a central hub to remotely deployed engineers has the potential to drastically reduce training times, improve maintenance efficiency and bring huge cost savings. Maintenance personnel could of course contact senior technicians via cell phone, but there is no way of seeing or demonstrating how a task should be executed. Integrating the latest technology with a configuration-controlled solution adds the necessary rigor to remote maintenance tasks. Augmented reality specialist XMReality has been working on remote guidance in the field, enabling junior engineers involved in a repair to instantly contact experts back at base. The company has designed an augmented reality solution for the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV) because of the increased efficiency the technology offered organizations in other industries. Using remote guidance, a support technician can see the asset in real-time and guide the engineer through every step of the repair with augmented hands and tools - all without having to leave base. Using smart glasses, mobile devices or tablets, engineers can see a real-time and interactive demonstration of the repair job right in front of their eyes. These skills can be leveraged anywhere, any time with the capability of modern mobile technology, helping improve first-time fix rates and decrease the chance of error. What's next - keeping soldiers safe and missions on-course When these AR and VR technologies are integrated with a supporting enterprise asset management or MRO solution, the maintenance operator can quickly report and complete repair jobs - getting mission-critical equipment back up and running as soon as possible. The next step will be to develop these solutions to the point where they can be feasibly used on the frontline or in the bowels of an aircraft carrier, without compromising repair time, soldier safety and mission success. Functionality must be tailored for ease of use in the field, keeping in mind the conditions a soldier or front-line engineer may be operating in - possibly kitted up in chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear equipment or in the dark bilge of an at-sea submarine. With augmented reality maximizing engineer efficiency, defence forces will no longer have to watch the gap when it comes to maintenance resource shortage. http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48468:military- mro-solving-the-maintenance-skills-shortage-with-augmented- reality&catid=47:Logistics&Itemid=110 Back to Top 3rd time's the charm for SpaceX comsat launch After last-second delays Sunday and Monday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket finally roared to life and streaked away from the Kennedy Space Center Wednesday evening, boosting a high-power Intelsat communications satellite into orbit in the California rocket builder's third flight in less than two weeks. The launching capped a particularly intense few days for SpaceX, beginning with the successful recovery of a Dragon cargo ship that splashed down early Sunday in the Pacific Ocean, bringing back more than 4,100 pounds of experiment samples and other equipment after a month-long visit to the International Space Station. With the Dragon safely back on Earth, company engineers in Florida attempted to launch the Falcon 9 that evening only to be stopped at the T-minus 10-second mark because of a guidance and navigation system glitch. A second attempt Monday also was aborted at the 10-second point because of an unrelated problem. SpaceX founder Elon Musk ruled out a July Fourth launch attempt, instead ordering company engineers to spend the holiday reviewing telemetry and critical systems because, as he tweeted, "only one chance to get it right." The Falcon 9 was cleared early Wednesday for a third launch try and this time around, it was clear sailing and the 229-foot-tall rocket thundered to life at 7:38 p.m. EDT (GMT-4) and climbed away from historic pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center atop 1.7 million pounds of thrust. Mounted in a protective nose cone at the top of the rocket was the Boeing-built Intelsat 35e communications satellite, the fourth in a series of all-digital relay stations, this one bound for an orbital slot 22,300 miles above the Atlantic Ocean to provide service to the eastern United States, the Caribbean, western Europe and Africa. Trailing a plume of fiery exhaust visible for miles around, the Falcon 9 quickly accelerated as it consumed propellant and shed weight, arcing to the east over the Atlantic Ocean and putting on a spectacular sunset show before fading from view. About two minutes and 46 seconds after liftoff, the first stage fell away and the single engine powering the rocket's second stage ignited to continue the push to orbit. Unlike the three most recent Falcon 9 flights, no attempt was made to recover the rocket's first stage, which was not equipped with landing legs or steering fins. Because of the weight of the Intelsat payload -- nearly 15,000 pounds -- and the high-altitude demands of its orbit, the first stage consumed virtually all of its available propellant, leaving no reserves for a landing try. Instead, the spent stage simply fell back into the atmosphere to break up on the way to ocean impact. So far this year, SpaceX has launched 10 Falcon 9s and recovered seven booster stages, three at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and four on off-shore drone ships. No attempt was made to recover the other three stages due to the payload weights and trajectories, including the one launched Monday. In any case, after the first stage separated, the second stage engine fired for another five minutes and 44 seconds or so to complete the climb to a highly elliptical orbit. After coasting for nearly 18 minutes, the second stage engine fired a second time for less than a minute to complete the launch phase of the mission. A few minutes later, the Intelsat 35e Epic spacecraft was released into a so-called transfer orbit. SpaceX's contract with Intelsat guaranteed a minimum apogee, or high point, of at least 19,405 miles and a low point of around 135 miles. The actual orbit depended on the precise performance of the Falcon 9. The goal was to use up all of the available propellant in both stages and the apogee may have been significantly above the contracted minimum. Whatever the actual numbers, on-board thrusters will be used to put the relay station into a circular orbit 22,300 miles above the equator where all such comsats operate. At that altitude, satellites take 24 hours to complete one orbit, thus appearing as stationary targets for antennas on the ground. Company officials would not disclose the exact cost of the Intelsat 35e satellite, saying only that spacecraft in the EPIC series run between $300 million and $425 million each and that the launching was fully insured. The Intelsat 35e spacecraft is equipped with C-band and Ku-band wide and spot beams to provide high-speed communications services primarily to wireless customers across Latin America, Africa and the Caribbean, including cruise ships, with a dedicated Ku-band system for direct-to-home television in the Caribbean. Ken Lee, vice president of space systems for Intelsat, said the spacecraft's all digital equipment is unique in the industry. "As you recall from the old cellphone days, you used to have analogue phones, now we have all digital phones with so much more capability," he said in an interview with Spaceflight Now and CBS News. "Even though it's (state-of-the-art) technology, it's also backwards compatible. So our existing customers do not have to change their equipment to utilize our system." Lee said Intelsat satellites are generally too heavy for the current version of the Falcon 9 rocket and no other SpaceX launches are currently planned. But he said Intelsat considers SpaceX "a viable option for us, and we'll engage them. If the payload works out right for them, then we don't have any reservation using SpaceX." He also said he supports SpaceX's drive to lower launch costs by recovering, refurbishing and relaunching spent stages, adding that he expects the cost of a used stage to continue dropping as SpaceX perfects recovery procedures and techniques. But that doesn't mean Intelsat is ready to fly on a previously-flown rocket. "I am convinced that a reusable rocket sytem is a viable option in the future," he said. "I am not convinced, today, that we are willing to get on the rocket. Having said that, as they demonstrate their successes, and of course it comes with a price in schedule assurance and quality, if all those terms are correct then we'll definitely consider that in the future." This was the 38th launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the 10th so far this year and the ninth from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. SpaceX's next launch is a Dragon space station resupply mission scheduled for takeoff Aug. 10. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/spacex-falcon9-comsat-launch-successful-july-5-2017/ Curt Lewis