January 7, 2019 - No. 002 In This Issue Monarch's engineering arm collapses with loss of 450 jobs What Honeywell's Ecommerce Platform Means For Blockchain In Aviation Officials commit $2.5 million to relocate MVCC aviation program Aviation experts concerned shutdown is impacting passenger safety Transport Canada May Ease MRO Regulations in 2019 DFW Instrument Merges with Red Aviation MRO Takes Centre Stage as Sector Expands in Thailand India will need nearly 1600 aircrafts worth $224 billion in the next 20 years Airline Automation Triggers Intensified Debate Over Safety Elon Musk teases final look of SpaceX's Starship test vehicle Monarch's engineering arm collapses with loss of 450 jobs The engineering arm of the collapsed airline Monarch has gone into administration, resulting in the loss of 450 jobs. KPMG was appointed to carry out the process after Monarch Aircraft Engineering (MAE), owned by the private equity firm Greybull Capital, ran into financial difficulties. The accounting firm said the business was unsustainable in its present form following a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) in October that led customers to seek alternative suppliers. David Pike, a restructuring partner at KPMG, said: "Following the administration of other Monarch entities in 2017, MAEL sought to build its customer base to replace the loss of business from the former airline. "Through the insolvency of the airline, however, the company inherited significant debts and claims. Every effort has been made to turn around the business, including launching a CVA which sought to resolve these legacy debts. "Unfortunately, following the CVA, a number of customers reduced or sought to terminate their relationship with MAEL, further adversely impacting the business." Founded in 1967 and headquartered at Luton airport, MAE provides aircraft maintenance services across four main divisions: base maintenance, line maintenance, fleet technical support and a training academy. Earlier this week, MAE said line maintenance operations at Gatwick, Birmingham, East Midlands, Newcastle and Glasgow airports would be largely transferred to Morson Group, with the Luton airport operations transferring to Storm Aviation. Some Gatwick-based employees had transferred to Boeing. Further operations at Manchester and Birmingham airports, including their employees, were transferred to Flybe in November. Collectively, those acquisitions safeguarded 182 jobs. Monarch Airlines, which was also owned by Greybull, collapsed in 2017, leading to 1,858 workers being made redundant and the flights and holidays of about 860,000 people being cancelled. The engineering arm is the last remaining entity of the failed carrier. KPMG is still seeking buyers for the fleet technical support division, which employs 27 people, and the training academy, which has 53 people on its books. Pike said: "We will also be making every effort to provide support to those employees who have been affected by redundancy. As following the failure of the airline, employment fairs will be held in the coming days in Luton and Birmingham, to help these employees secure new roles." https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jan/04/monarchs-engineering-arm-collapses-with- loss-of-450-jobs Back to Top What Honeywell's Ecommerce Platform Means For Blockchain In Aviation Honeywell recently announced the launch of its online buying and selling platform for new and used aircraft parts. Not only are online transactions in this space extremely rare, but Honeywell is also doing something even more uncommon: using blockchain technology. According to Lisa Butters, who leads the Honeywell Aerospace venture, "Currently, less than 2.5 percent of all transactions in this space are done online." She continues: "We are the first marketplace to enable customized seller storefronts, and we are the first to leverage blockchain technology to build trust between the buyer and seller." Why blockchain was adopted Honeywell believes the success of their platform depends on the blockchain factor-or as mentioned in the e-commerce platform: trust. Customers need a way to ensure the parts they are receiving are authentic, that they are getting the best prices and that they are safe from scams and potential problems. With blockchain, they are able to precisely track the parts, ensure they are accompanied by images and quality documents and that they are immediately available for sale and shipping. It seems like now that Honeywell has decided to try the new platform, they want to do it right. A valid concern According to Deloitte, the maintenance of an aircraft is a process that uses cumbersome databases at best and a paper-based system at worst. A commercial aircraft can be in use for up to 30 years and change five or six owners. Thus, tracking information (especially maintenance documents) and passing it to other parties becomes a tough and error-prone process. Blockchain creates an immutable record of the maintenance history of an aircraft, detailing and timestamping who performed what inspection and when. This also has another, equally important side effect. In 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration accused the American Airlines of committing maintenance fraud. The issue was reported by mechanics working in American Airlines who noticed "aircraft maintenance discrepancies in accordance with required manuals, procedures and the Federal Aviation Regulations." If a blockchain technology was adopted, chances for such deviations could be minimal (if not eliminated). https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidpetersson/2019/01/07/what-honeywells-ecommerce-platform- means-for-blockchain-in-aviation/#28f9f7b320bc Back to Top Officials commit $2.5 million to relocate MVCC aviation program ROME - Much like the industry it represents, Mohawk Valley Community College's Airframe and Powerplant Technology (A&P) program has grown over the last decade. And while the program has physically outgrown its training center at Griffiss International Airport, according to airport Commissioner Chad Lawrence, the college and Oneida County have committed to a multi-million-dollar solution. Plans are in the works to renovate one of the airport's hangar bays - nose dock 782 - to relocate the A&P program's training center. Lawrence said 782 currently is used by Mercy Flight, which would essentially trade bays with the A&P training center and relocate into the MVCC program's current space, hangar 221. "This addresses a lot of the needs that they have," Lawrence said of the MVCC program. "The layout is much better than it is in building 221." The $2.5 million project is still in the design phase led by the Syracuse-based C&S Companies. Lawrence said the goal is to open the renovated nose dock by the end of the year. An MVCC spokeswoman deferred comment to the county. As a one-year certification program, A&P is based on MVCC's Rome campus, though a majority of the instruction takes place at the airport. The program, according to the college website, is centered on preparing students for careers in aviation maintenance and other related mechanical industries, such as manufacturing equipment and railroad maintenance. It was first established in 2009. "It supports good maintainers," Lawrence said. "That doesn't just mean it goes into regular airplanes, but the (unmanned aircraft systems) market, as well." The existing training center has a few classrooms and other space occupied by implements including aircraft tooling, welding areas and power plant labs, Lawrence said. He said moving into nose dock 782 is expected to allow the A&P program to grow with five classrooms and more conducive program space. Lawrence said the total estimated cost is around $2.5 million. The project will be supported by a $1.5 million grant through the state Department of Transportation's Airport Improvement and Revitalization program. In addition, the county and MVCC have each committed approximately $500,000 in matching funds. Building 782 is one of five nose docks at Griffiss International Airport. Lawrence said the buildings are likely at least 30 years old, while the most recent renovations to 782 were limited to reconstructing the roof several years ago. The 28,000-square-foot nose dock is approximately 9,000 square feet larger than building 221. The transition between the A&P training center and Mercy Flight will be one of the last steps in the project, Lawrence said. "The school provides a service to the county folks here," he said. "I think it's a great program. They've shown that they can put out some good products out of the school." https://www.uticaod.com/news/20190105/officials-commit-25-million-to-relocate-mvcc-aviation- program Back to Top Aviation experts concerned shutdown is impacting passenger safety The government shutdown is flying into dangerous territory, according to several aviation leaders. The largest pilot union says the shutdown "is adversely affecting the safety, security and efficiency of our national airspace system." The National Air Traffic Controllers Association is also warning the shutdown is rapidly eliminating safety layers "in a system that has no room for error." "We're always worried about any kind of hiccup in the system," says James Marinitti, with the association. "We're doing this interview. We can do a second take. We can do a third take. But for air traffic controllers, you only get one take. They work in a mistake-free environment, where we are expected to be right 100 percent of the time." Right now, 3,000 support staff have been told not to come to work, which means fewer safety inspectors. That could lead to delay in repairing equipment, like a broken light on the runway that helps guide pilots and other equipment repairs. "Radar, preventative maintenance, these types of things that will get delayed as the shutdown continues, because the workers are not there to keep the system healthy," Marinitti says. The shutdown is hitting air traffic controllers especially hard because of a 30-year low staffing shortage. They're not only understaffed, but they're also currently working without pay and it's unknown when they'll get their next check. "The bills haven't come, yet, to be a problem, but we know that's there in the back of our heads," says air traffic controller Alex Navarro. "And as the day goes on and the shutdown, it's getting more pronounced, so we're worried about it. It's just trying to fight back the doubt and the worry of not getting that paycheck." The shutdown, causing stress as aviation workers try to navigate through turbulent times on and off the job. https://www.newschannel5.com/news/national/aviation-experts-concerned-shutdown-is-impacting- passenger-safety Back to Top Transport Canada May Ease MRO Regulations in 2019 Some milder regulatory winds may soon blow from the north of the Americas. In 2019, Transport Canada will re-evaluate its authority to issue monetary penalties for non-compliance with operator manuals, plans and procedures, predicts TC spokesperson Sau Sau Liu. Although Canadian aviation regulations require operators to develop these documents for certification purposes, Canada's Aeronautics Act does not explicitly authorize the agency to penalize operators for non-compliance with the documents they themselves developed, Liu notes. The coming year will also likely see a Miscellaneous Amendment Package from TC. These proposed amendments to various provisions of the aviation regulations will consist of issues that do not impose additional burdens on stakeholders and thus can be exempted from pre-publication in Canada Gazette, Part I. "This package will constitute a clean-up phase of the Canadian aviation regulation modernization initiative," Liu explains. Operators of aircraft under TC jurisdiction can also expect several changes to the Airworthiness Manual, changes that will be published in early 2019 as Notices of Proposed Amendment. These changes will include, under Standards 571 & 573 of the Airworthiness Manual dealing with undocumented parts, the removal of restrictive standards to allow appropriately rated Approved Maintenance Organizations to evaluate undocumented parts in order to recertify these parts for installation. Another proposed amendment will affect Chapter 566 of the Airworthiness Manual dealing with engineer licensing and training. Liu says this chapter needs to be amended to extend aircraft maintenance engineers licenses from six to 10 years, eliminate the photograph requirement and to clarify experience and skill requirements for M1- or M2-rated licenses. Down under, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia does not expect any significant changes in its regulations affecting maintenance of commercial aircraft, as CASA updated these regulations a few years ago, according to spokesman Peter Gibson. In 2019, CASA will focus on updating its regulations governing maintenance of general aviation aircraft. https://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/transport-canada-may-ease-mro- regulations-2019 Back to Top DFW Instrument Merges with Red Aviation Texas-based DFW Instrument and Red Aviation have just combined to form a new business entity called DFW Aviation, which aims to corner an opening in the business and general aviation markets for third-party aftermarket support. The two companies, which were originally brought together in mid-2015 after being purchased by the same private equity group, decided to officially combine into one business unit in March 2018. The merger entailed relocating Red Aviation's business and staff from its location in Georgetown, Texas to DFW Instrument's facilities at Addison Airport (ADS), which is strategically located between the DFW and Dallas Love Field airports. The company added new office space and a second hangar, giving it around 20,000 sq. ft. of adjoining hangar space as well as room to build a new structure shop. According to Josh Abelson, CEO of DFW Aviation, the decision to combine both companies came from the desire to reduce overlapping markets and customers, streamline the company's focus areas and create a new ability to provide a one-stop-shop opportunity to customers. Abelson says Red Aviation had primarily focused structural repairs and parts on business jets while DFW Instrument was largely specialized in instruments and avionics, so the merger provides DFW Aviation with a bigger repair footprint and broader service offerings for a "smoother, more satisfying experience." Additionally, says Abelson, the merger benefits from the Dallas/Fort Worth area's large aviation market. In addition to servicing Bombardier and Cessna aircraft, the company's maintenance side will focus heavily on Beechcraft King Air aircraft, which Abelson says are particularly prevalent in Texas. He adds that previously, operators were needing to leave the state to maintain the aircraft type since there were not any local companies focused on it. "One of the things we've been working on for the last couple of years is this business and general aviation aftermarket that hasn't had all the benefits of programs, products and services that the commercial market has had," explains Abelson. "Now you're seeing the OEMs really push customer service and increasing your customer service center footprint, but there hasn't been anybody on the aftermarket side to step up and try to offer something different, so we're trying to be that guy." Abelson says that up until now, the business and general aviation industries have been very reliant on OEMs for support, so the company is hoping to provide new alternatives to the market segment. Moving forward, Abelson says DFW Aviation plans to grow its programmatic service offerings for the operator community, such as supply chain solutions, component leasing, inventory pooling and a more robust exchange program. https://www.mro-network.com/maintenance-repair-overhaul/dfw-instrument-merges-red-aviation Back to Top MRO Takes Centre Stage as Sector Expands in Thailand Jan. 03--Thai aerospace is ready to take off with the huge opportunity of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services, but airline competition will continue to intensify as low-cost carriers broaden their networks. With the rapid growth of aviation and aerospace across Southeast Asia, Thailand is taking advantage of the trend with its central location and booming tourism industry. US plane maker Boeing forecasts demand for new aircraft in Asia-Pacific to increase 2.8 times over the next 18 years, from current demand of 6,139 to 16,977 aircraft. For Thailand, the number of aircraft movements at the six international airports operated by Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) grew by 5.4% to 833,084 flights in the budget year that ended in September 2018, while passenger numbers grew by 9.4% and freight and postal parcel volume rose by 9.7%. Aviation and related business apart from MRO, logistics, catering and land transport service will be developed. As a result, Thailand is expected to assume a new role as a regional hub for both aviation and non-aviation. Sumeth Damrongchaitham, president of Thai Airways International Plc (THAI), said maintenance services will generate more revenue for the company, alongside the commercial, catering and cargo business. THAI and its subsidiaries posted a net loss of 3.68 billion baht for the third quarter of 2018, narrowing by 1.87 billion baht compared with the same quarter a year earlier. The flag carrier remains optimistic about the future. THAI signed an agreement with Airbus on maintenance, repair and operations opportunities at U- tapao airport in 2017, and it inked a deal with Rolls-Royce in 2018 on Trent XWB engine research and development at THAI's maintenance centre in Bangkok. "Non-airline business is a new opportunity for THAI," Mr Sumeth said. "The collaboration with foreign partners will enable Thailand to become a service centre for the region." THAI's new MRO will have capacity to service 80-100 aircraft a year. In addition, the airline is developing its MRO campus near U-tapao airport for completion in 2023. The campus aims to become one of the most advanced aerospace centres in Asia. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president of Bangkok Airways Plc, said the carrier is eyeing investment in MRO facilities near U-tapao airport on the Eastern Seaboard. The "boutique" airline is also working on its second maintenance centre at Sukhothai airport, scheduled to open in 2019. The eastward drift of THAI and Bangkok Airways is aimed at taking advantage of the economic and logistical boom from the government's Eastern Economic Corridor initiative. Mr Puttipong said airline competition in Thailand and in the global market will continue to be tough because of global economic instability, the proliferation of budget airlines and rising jet fuel prices. "Thailand in particular will face even more difficulty in 2019, so we have to shift our focus from expanding domestic routes and opening new routes in Indochina, along with seeking new business like maintenance and duty-free," he said. International aviation experts are scheduled to discuss the outlook and challenges at the Civil Aviation Southeast Asia Summit in Bangkok next September. Topics will include how the region will prepare human resources, particularly pilots and technical experts, to cope with speedy growth. Besides aviation, Thailand's tourism industry is also predicted to continue its growth in 2019, despite experiencing a decline in the China market. With economic growth and more middle-class tourists, intra-regional air travel in Southeast Asia is forecast to increase 7.7% a year over the next 20 years. Hitoshi Morimoto, regional manager for Thailand, Indochina and the South Asian subcontinent at Japan Airlines, said the airline and tourism industries in the region will continue to face obstacles. More intensive marketing will be a difference maker in the market, he said, especially for low-cost airlines. Carriers will try to secure target markets and focus on emerging countries like Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia, Mr Morimoto said. https://www.aviationpros.com/news/12439745/mro-takes-centre-stage-as-sector-expands Back to Top India will need nearly 1600 aircrafts worth $224 billion in the next 20 years. New Delhi (Urban Transport News): India's aviation sector is fast moving forward in the world. It is said in a statement that in the next 20 years India will need about 1600 more aircraft. The Indian government's initiative UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Nagarik) scheme is to provide further momentum to the aviation sector. Under the scheme, the government has tried to make an ordinary person fly in the country as well. According to estimates, the vast aviation market side is stepping into the Indian aviation sector will need to buy planes of 224 billion dollars over the next 20 years. The scope of the Indian aviation sector will also increase in the area of care. The maintenance and repair of aircraft (MRO) business will now increase from $ 0.7 billion to $ 1.5 billion in the year 2020. In the coming years, there will be a lot of opportunities in the field of aviation. The most important part of aircraft maintenance and repair area is engine maintenance. This includes line maintenance, component maintenance, airframe heavy maintenance, and modification. At the moment is with the help of more than 40 MRO services provider in the world because of the weak infrastructure of MRO in India. The possibility of faster hike in air travelers The number of domestic air travelers in India has been steadily increasing in the last few years. It is believed that the number of 14.5 million passengers in Air Traffic in 2011 will increase to 35 million in 2020. Domestic air traffic has seen doubledigit increase since 2014. Since then, the average growth rate has been recorded at 17 percent. In the next few years, the number of flights is likely to double in comparison to the present. Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that we are continuously working to increase the capacity of the aviation sector. India's picture in Global Aviation Summit The Ministry of Civil Aviation is going to organize the Global Aviation Summit on 15-16 January, 2019. The Ministry is hosting this summit with the support of Airport Authority of India (AAI) and FICCI. The theme of this summit will be- Flying for All. The aim of this event is to present India in the form of a world that has the potential to become an aviation hub in India. Also, to bring all the stakeholders together on a platform so that the future can be worked for the development of the aviation sector. https://urbantransportnews.com/india-will-need-nearly-1600-aircrafts-worth-224-billion-in-the- next-20-years/ Back to Top Airline Automation Triggers Intensified Debate Over Safety The fatal Lion Air crash has revved up debate about the biggest quandary in airline safety: how best to meld increasingly sophisticated computer controls, designed to prevent tragedies, with traditional piloting skills. Ever-more-powerful cockpit automation and ultrareliable jet engines have contributed to record-low accident rates in recent years. For example, in 2017, there were fewer than three major accidents per one million commercial flights globally, and not a single scheduled jet airliner went down. But the accident this past October involving Lion Air Flight 610, which killed 189 people in Indonesia, dramatically highlighted the hazards when automated flight-control features fail or misfire, and pilots aren't able to respond properly. The crash of the new Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane contributed to an erosion of the industry's safety record last year-though it was still the third safest in terms of total airliner crashes. It amplifies the pressure on airplane makers like Airbus SE and Boeing Co. to calibrate the right mix of computer automation and pilot control. "The industry must figure out new ways to effectively develop flying skills and enhance training so pilots can better respond to emergencies," said consultant William Voss, a former U.S. and international safety official who also served as president of the nonprofit Flight Safety Foundation. From takeoff to landing in virtually zero visibility, computers can operate the plane's key systems. Pilots are supposed to monitor them and prepare for anything unexpected, typically spending only a few minutes per trip manually flying the plane. During the 11-minute flight, the Lion Air pilots struggled to counteract a new stall-prevention system that repeatedly pushed down the plane's nose due to erroneous sensor signals likely stemming from a maintenance lapse. The Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, which investigators believe wasn't actually in danger of stalling, plunged into the Java Sea. Following the accident, U.S. and European aviation regulators have been exchanging data about sensor failures leading to severe automation problems. Patrick Ky, executive director of the European Aviation Safety Agency, said information exchanged with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration focuses on how powerful automation systems should be able to cope with inaccurate sensor signals. "We have very automated machines," he said. "But if something goes wrong, how do you allow the pilot to take over?" Aircraft designers and training experts are considering how to ensure that future generations of pilots-steeped in touch-screen technology featuring supposedly infallible software-retain essential hand-flying and decision-making skills historically prized by the industry. Adding to that challenge, Boeing estimates a global need for more than 750,000 new commercial pilots over the next two decades with substantially fewer hires coming from the military than before, resulting in generally lower experience levels. Industry experts say enhanced cockpit automation is essential to produce aircraft geared toward even those pilots with only rudimentary skills, sometimes described as "least-common- denominator" crews. Above all, they say today's jetliners and training programs are supposed to ensure all pilots, regardless of background, adhere to common safety practices. However, some experts see this drive toward predictability producing highly scripted pilot training that doesn't prepare aviators for rare dangers that can be bewildering. Because planes effectively fly themselves for long periods, pilots can become lulled into losing awareness of system functions. But when displays show a torrent of fault messages accompanied by a cacophony of warning sounds, crews can become overwhelmed trying to simultaneously control the plane and manage the automation that is supposed to be in charge, said Mike Doiron, president of the consulting firm Cirrus Aviation Safety Services. Roots of this automation dilemma stretch back nearly three decades, to when European plane maker Airbus first devised so-called fly-by-wire automated protections to prevent accidents. No matter what commands pilots give, under normal circumstances, computers on board won't let them turn a plane too sharply or raise the nose to a dangerously high angle. Since then, Airbus has embraced more computer-driven safeguards, from automated midair collision-avoidance maneuvers to digital helpers alerting landing pilots about inadequate stopping distance. Boeing, in contrast, has focused more on giving crews ultimate power to override almost any automated protections without disabling underlying systems. Regarding automation on 737 MAX models, Boeing has said it relied on its usual process to include all the information pilots need to safely operate the jets. After the crash, Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg has said the planes don't represent any change to the company's design philosophy. But in recent years, the two rivals have moved closer to each other with regard to cockpit automation. Airbus, for example, has devised training programs for its A350 long-range models calling for pilots to get accustomed to the manual feel of the plane's controls in initial simulator sessions, before activating normal automated systems. Senior Airbus safety officials, who years ago argued it was their duty to install the most automation feasible on every new model, now say they spend more time worrying about potential unintended consequences of such decisions. Boeing, for its part, has devised a host of advanced automated systems to take over if pilots or equipment err. If an engine fails on one of the company's 777 jetliners at the moment of takeoff- generally considered the riskiest part of any plane trip-computers are designed to handle everything. They can adjust thrust on the remaining engine, move the rudder and initiate a smooth climb away from danger without any human input. In the future, Boeing may embrace certain semiautonomous operations and artificial intelligence to prevent accidents. But Greg Hyslop, the company's chief technical officer, pointedly asked at an aviation conference earlier this year in Seattle: "How do I certify that as safe?" Airlines in the U.S., Europe and other mature aviation markets have urged pilots to spend more time manually flying aircraft as a way to prevent overreliance on automation. The aim is to enable crews to react more quickly and confidently when startled. But such recommendations aren't realistic for many fast-growing carriers in Asia and elsewhere scrambling to find enough fresh hires to fill crew rosters. "These pilots may lack the confidence to manually fly the aircraft," said Cirrus Aviation's Mr. Doiron. Annemarie Landman, who has conducted research on pilot reaction for the Dutch research institute TNO, sees the growing complexity of automation itself as a huge hurdle. "When something goes wrong," she said, "things get very confusing." AUTOMATION IN RECENT CRASHES While increased cockpit automation has contributed to record-low accident rates in recent years, some of the highest-profile airliner crashes have been prompted, in part, by pilots who didn't fully understand the complexities and interplay of automated safeguards. U.S. government and industry experts have concluded, after studying years of airliner accidents involving pilot errors, that roughly two-thirds occurred after automated systems clicked off or operated in an unforeseen fashion. Excessive reliance on computers can make pilots complacent, according to safety experts, and in response to the distress, it can take crews too long to troubleshoot and choose the most effective response to emergencies they haven't experienced in ground simulators. In 2009, an Air France Airbus SE A330 wide-body crashed into the Atlantic Ocean en route to Paris from Rio de Janeiro, killing all 228 people aboard. Investigators determined sudden icing of a flight- control sensor-considered a temporary problem with a typically simple resolution-prompted cockpit confusion. The result was a series of mistakes by pilots unaccustomed to manually controlling the jet, particularly at cruise altitude. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines-operated Boeing 777 crash-landed at San Francisco International Airport partly because of the crew's lack of awareness about precisely how autothrottle and autopilot systems functioned. In September 2007, pilots of a Boeing 737 climbing away from a botched landing attempt at Bournemouth Airport in the U.K. couldn't keep the plane's nose from pitching up to a dangerously high angle. British investigators, who didn't identify the airline, said the crew failed to realize the autothrottle had disengaged during the approach, and the passenger jet's nose ended up 44 degrees above level flight before pilots regained control and touched down without injuries. https://www.wsj.com/articles/man-vs-machine-at-40-000-feet-11546776000 Back to Top Elon Musk teases final look of SpaceX's Starship test vehicle It's no secret that SpaceX has been constructing its Starship test vehicle -- it's easy for curious onlookers to snap photos. But what will it look like when it's finished? You don't have to wonder. Elon Musk has postedconcept artwork showing what the completed vehicle will look like. It's surprisingly pretty for a prototype, if borrowing more than a few cues from 1950s sci-fi with its gleaming stainless steel body. The test mule will be 30 feet across like the completed Starship, but it'll be shorter and will unsurprisingly go without windows. It's intended to fly suborbital 'Grasshopper' flights and prove that the basic formula is sound before moving on to orbital missions in 2020. You might not have to wait long to see how well the concept lines up with reality. SpaceX currently expects to fly the test craft sometime in March or April, or about half a year earlier than first thought. While you'll still have to be patient before you have a glimpse at the finished Starship, this is a good a sign as any that SpaceX's plans are solidifying. https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/05/elon-musk-teases-spacex-starship-test-vehicle/ Curt Lewis