flight

China already has its “flying truck.” The HH-200 has just completed its first test flight

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China has just put into the air one of those machines that, by concept and ambition, do not go unnoticed. It is not a new fighter jet like the J-35Abut rather a commercial unmanned aerial system for transportation, completed its first test flight on April 15. There is still no logistics network deployed, but there is a movement that allows us to understand where the Asian giant wants to move in the pilotless air transport of goods, especially within the framework of its commitment to the so-called low-altitude economy. First flight. After the entire development phase, the program has already left paper behind. CCTV places the inaugural test in Puchengin the province of Shaanxi, and explains that it lasted for 22 minutes, with correct operation of the onboard systems and stable evolution of the device during the journey. To be precise, this is the first real flight evaluation, and it has been completed satisfactorily. The figures of the device. Once the test is confirmed, the next thing is to take a closer look at what kind of aircraft China has in its hands. It is a system with a square section fuselage, high wing, double engine and double boom, with dimensions of 12.2 meters long, 16.8 meters wide and 3.7 meters high. In the operational section, it boasts a maximum load capacity of 1.5 tons and a maximum range of 2,360 kilometers. Furthermore, according to official information, it is capable of reaching a maximum cruising speed of 310 kilometers per hour. The logistics part. Beyond dimensions or scope, one of the keys to the HH-200 is how its operations on the ground and in flight are planned. China News assures that the system has been designed with civil aviation standards and that it can perform the flight intelligently and autonomously from start to finish, with obstacle avoidance functions supported by AI. Added to this is a direct passage fuselage and a rear configuration designed to facilitate loading operations, allowing work with pallets, loading platforms and conventional forklifts, to the point that two operators could complete loading or unloading in five minutes. Where do you want to operate. The device is not only designed to move goods from one point to another under ideal conditions. Instead, it has a strong environmental adaptation capacity and can execute missions on short runways, high-altitude airports, extreme temperatures and adverse weather. China News gives us some interesting concrete examples: cargo routes in coastal and border areas, internal logistics routes between specific points and operations between islands in Southeast Asia, before opening the door to uses such as emergency rescue, remote sensing or agricultural and forestry tasks. From trial to market. After this first milestone, the next step will not be an immediate implementation, but an additional testing phase. It is expected that the vehicle will continue to accumulate flight tests before its eventual entry into service, an important nuance to avoid confusing initial technical success with operational maturity. Even in this scenario, according to China News, the project has 20 order intentions and closer cooperation with several firms. We have to wait to see if we will see the HH-200 beyond the testing scope. Images | CCTV In Xataka | Boeing has surpassed Airbus after years behind. That doesn’t mean I’ve regained control.

The massive flight of investors and millionaires suggests that he has achieved it

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For years, Dubai has been the promised land for millionaires from all over the planet who saw the United Arab Emirates as a idyllic place to live without paying taxes. The Iranian attacks with missiles and drones on different infrastructures in Dubai in recent weeks have changed that perception and the financial elite, especially Asian millionaires, are putting their feet (and fortunes) on the run. The city that seduced more than 81,000 millionaires Since 2014, it is now facing an unprecedented flight of capital and talent. The prestige that took decades to build is being tested in a matter of days. ​Explosions in the heart of the city. The last few weeks have left us images that few would have imagined in February. The Fairmont The Palm hotel, located in one of the artificial islands off the coast of Dubai, was hit for an explosion. Days later the remains of an Iranian drone demolished set fire to the iconic Burj Al Arab, the international airport has suffered damage from drone attacks and the american consulate has been the target of another drone attack. The city that boasted of being the safest in the world, in a matter of weeks, has become a scene of war. “The US-Israel war against Iran is undermining that crucial sense of security in Dubai. Dubai’s economic model relies on expatriate residents providing talent, muscle and investment capital. Stability and security are needed to attract skilled foreigners.”, assured to CNBC Jim Krane, researcher at the Baker Institute at Rice University. ​Asian money in retreat. However, the most visible impact is being felt among Asian investors, who had become one of the pillars of Dubai’s financial growth. According to data by Henley & Partners, Dubai is currently home to 237 centimillionaires (people with wealth of $100 million or more) and at least 20 billionaires Asia accounted for 47% of all multinational companies attracted to Dubai International Chamber in 2025, and around a quarter of the more than 2,270 foundations created in the Emirates have Asian ownership, according to data from the consulting firm BSA Law. Bloomberg published that the United Arab Emirates had attracted some 700 billion dollars from millionaires around the world, especially Asians. Singapore and Hong Kong, new chosen destinations. Grace Tang, CEO of Phillip Private Equity, pointed out to Reuters that between 10 and 20 of their customers, mostly Asian, are asking about how transfer your assets to Singapore to protect the value of its assets. Hong Kong also emerges as an alternative. For his part, Felix Lai, from the consulting firm JMS Group, counted to Bloomberg who had organized a private jet flight to transport 15 clients from Oman to Hong Kong at a cost of approximately $300,000. “They didn’t even care about the price,” Lai explained. “They just wanted to leave.” An advisor in Singapore who declined to be identified added that more than half of his 13 clients in the Emirates are seriously considering moving their assets: “Flying back and forth will be complicated even if the conflict ends tomorrow. It’s about trust.” Dubai’s economic model faces its biggest test. Dubai does not depend as directly on the oil industry as its neighbors, but its economy is based on its ability to attract expatriates, your investments and his talent. At the beginning of the year, the Dubai International Finance Center housed 1,289 entities linked to family offices (61% more than the previous year), and the 120 main families in the center jointly managed more than 1.2 billion dollars, according to CNBC. Although stock markets around the world have felt the earthquake resulting from the attacks in an area of ​​strategic resources for trade and energy, the impact of the conflict with Iran has been much more severe and direct for the Gulf markets. The Dubai Stock Exchange (DFM) has fallen more than 16.6% since the start of the war between the US and Israel against Iran. Fitch Ratings had already predicted before the war a real estate correction of up to 15% in 2025 and 2026. Everything indicates that they have fallen short the worst estimates of the financial consequences. Passing panic or structural change? Not all actors in the sector believe that this will lead to a permanent mass flight. Dhruba Jyoti Sengupta, CEO of Wrise Private Middle East in Dubai, pointed out to Reuters that his firm had not observed “serious conversations about capital flight” as its clients remain confident in the country’s long-term resilience. ​Nirbhay Handa, CEO of migration agency for millionaires Multipolitanpointed in Bloomberg “If uncertainty lasts a few weeks, some companies may pause their expansion, but stability will likely return quickly to Dubai as the situation improves.” What does seem clear is that the city will have to rebuild something much more difficult to build than its skyscrapers for millionaires: trust of those who chose it as a home for their money. In Xataka | A company wants to build a €4 billion megacasino in Dubai. The problem is that Dubai prohibits gambling Image | Unsplash (Wael Hneini)

United can kick you off the flight for doing so

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You’re so calm in your seat, and suddenly, you start to hear something nearby. It’s a TikTok video or a WhatsApp voice message that someone is playing at full volume. Because? Who knows. Maybe because that person wants everyone to enjoy that audio. Or maybe because he just doesn’t care. This habit of using your cell phone on speakerphone even when there are people around and you can be annoying is spreading like wildfire, but United Airlines has said enough is enough. If you want to use your cell phone, put on headphones. Until now it was a simple rule of elementary education, but at United Airlines they have turned it into a legal clause with drastic consequences. The American airline has updated their terms of service to make it clear that the use of headphones with a mobile phone, tablet or laptop in the cabin is no longer an option, but a safety requirement. Either you use them, or we kick you off the plane. The measure is not a suggestion from the company, but rather a novelty in its terms, according to which United Airlines reserves the right to deny transportation of a passenger, to expel them from the plane and even to permanently ban any passenger who refuses to use headphones while consuming audio or multimedia content. Now generating annoying noises is placed on the same level as serious infractions such as tobacco consumption. More and more connected in flight. United confirmed that update to its terms in a email to USA Todayand added that the inclusion of Wi-Fi connectivity on its flights already recommended the use of headphones. Now being connected to the internet on flights is more common, which means that passengers can consume content on streaming platforms or social networks, or use messaging apps normally. The key: Starlink. But now they are also beginning to offer additional connectivity through the Starlink satellite network. The more bandwidth, the greater the risk that the plane cabin will become chaos with WhatsApp audio or YouTube videos at full volume that can disturb the rest of the passengers. In fact, they explain in United: “With the expansion of Starlink, it seemed like a good time to make it even clearer by adding it to the transportation contract.” Legal support. On CBS Travel expert Scott Keyes indicated that he was not aware of other airlines having adopted this rule, but he saw it as reasonable. The update is specifically included under the “Security” section of your contract of carriage. By categorizing it this way, the company obtains solid legal support to act if this problem arises. Shapes matter. The rise of mobility and social networks has meant that little by little we have seen how in many spaces people use their mobile phones with speakers without worrying about whether or not they are disturbing other people around them. That’s common on public transportation like trains, subways and buses, and United Airlines’ move could set an interesting precedent for re-educating users and reminding them that, as Keyes says, “This is in line with the way the vast majority of travelers behave and the way they would like others to behave.” If you don’t have helmets, they give you some. At United Airlines they understand that some users may not have their own headphones, and in those cases they offer a simple solution: offer free ones that, although of low quality, will at least avoid inconvenience to the rest of the passengers and allow the affected person to comply with the regulations. We will see, of course, what types of headphones they provide, because nowadays mobile phones rarely include 3.5 mm connectors. No video calls. At United they already had rules in this regard: in their terms of use as well make it clear that it is prohibited for passengers to make video calls after the cabin doors are closed. With Starlink, these types of calls via WhatsApp or FaceTime, for example, are technically possible, but United prefers to “protect the silence.” Noise as a logistical challenge. This movement, we insist, could mark a before and after for the rest of the air transport industry, and perhaps also for other means of transport. Airlines know that entertainment screens can end up losing a lot of meaning if users can have an internet connection on their devices. That becomes quite a challenge, which makes a regulation so that we don’t bother each other seems reasonable. In Xataka | Ryanair has left Seville without many flights. In exchange he has given him 500 million euros to repair engines

Dubai was a mecca for expats. Now they are driving 10 hours and paying thousands of dollars for a flight to escape from there

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Iran has shown it needs very little to upend Middle East air traffic and hit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where it hurts the most: the image of reliability that has been built for years at an international level, with great benefitsby the way. The wave of attacks launched by Tehran to neighboring countries that facilitate US military deployment in the region, such as Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait or the UAE itself, has affected thousands of flights and left a curious image: expats desperate to leave Dubai. There are those who are shelling out large sums to fly on private jets and those who have even driven 10 hours to get to Riyadh and get on a plane there. What has happened? If Tehran wanted to damage the image of stability of neighbors like the UAE, it was completely right. Although the country managed to intercept most of the drones and missiles launched by Iran, the truth is that some of the projectiles reached Dubai, the tourist and financial heart of the region. In practice, this translated into fires in luxury hotels, towers with windows shattered by explosions, a knocked out airport and, above all, considerable reputational damage for a city that has spent years building the image of a safe and comfortable destination for expats. Sums it up beautifully Elizabeth Rayment, a consultant caught off guard by the Iranian attack in Palm Islands: “You never expect to hear missiles flying overhead in Dubai.” Have there been more consequences? Yes. The most serious are undoubtedly the victims. Arab News I was talking yesterday about three deceased and 58 injured in the United Arab Emirates. There are not many if you take into account that the country’s authorities claim to have detected a total of 156 ballistic missiles and several cruise missiles, in addition to more than half a thousand drones, most of them intercepted and destroyed. The other consequence is the chaos generated in air traffic in the Persian Gulf, where some airports and airlines have had to suspend their operations, affecting both customers in the region and others who had planned to pass through Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Qatar to take connecting flights between Europe and Asia. Have many been cancelled? FlightAware estimates that around 2,800 operations and on Sunday more than 3,1500. Added to these are the flights canceled and suspended today by Gulf airlines. For reference, Financial Times assured this morning that more than half of the services that had been booked for today in the region have been cancelled. The Iranian attacks have altered to a greater or lesser extent the programming of Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways and the airports of Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, as well as other terminals in Kuwait and Bahrain. The BBC has chatted with travelers who have found flights canceled upon arriving at the terminal. There are those who already talk about the biggest crisis aviation since the pandemic. How do I leave the country? That is the question that expats and tourists have been asking themselves since Saturday. The Iranian attacks have surprised them in the region and now they find that there are few (or no) regular flights that take them to other parts of the globe. Faced with such a scenario, there are those who have armed themselves with patience, those who have drawn on their checkbook and those who have resigned themselves to traveling kilometers and kilometers to reach airports with flights. So I told it a few hours ago FTwhich speaks of “tens of thousands of passengers” stranded in the region and assures that there are Dubai residents who have traveled to neighboring Oman to get a flight. What’s more, some have even driven 10 hours to get on a plane in Riyadh. They don’t have it easy. Most scheduled flights these days between Muscat (Oman) and Europe are reserved. And what do they do? The wealthiest, pull out their checkbook and try their luck with private jet companies. EnterJet, which is dedicated to intermediating between customers and available planes, says that reservations have skyrocketed 40% since the weekend. The problem is that the sector also has its limitations. Its founder explains to Financial Times that “the only viable option” to operate is the Muscat terminal, which makes it difficult to obtain landing slots. Added to this are the difficulties in finding ships. The businessman hopes that as traffic recovers in the Gulf, private flights will increase. Are they very expensive? The situation in the Gulf has caused a curious effect: while the price of airlines such as International Airlines Group or Air France-KLM they resent the price of private services skyrockets. The JetVip agency (Oman) explains to Guardian that a flight to Istanbul on a small Nextant jet costs around 85,000 euros, about three times the normal price. The same media reveals that seats on private charter flights to Moscow are paid for about 20,000 euros… per person. Rates vary depending on the company, but they usually always range in the five digits, or even more. It may sound strange, but we must keep in mind that Donald Trump has hinted that the offensive against Iran could continue even further. “four weeks” and the question remains as to how Tehran will respond. Added to this is that over the last few years the UAE has managed to position itself as a priority destination for thousands of expatsa position largely based on reliability and stability that Tehran has now managed to damage with missiles. Images | Michael Ranzau (Flickr) In Xataka | The arrival of the B-2s to Iran can only mean one thing: the search for the greatest threat to the United States has begun

If the question is how much money Ryanair can ask you for for messing up on a flight, the answer is: a lot.

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Making a mess on a plane is expensive, very expensive. At the beginning of the week, Ryanair fined one of its passengers a fine of 15,000 euros as compensation for damages and losses on a flight. The decision comes at the hands of the Dublin Court, and although the amount is one of the highest in recent years, it is far from being an exception. what has happened. According to Ryanair in his statementone of its passengers forced the plane he was traveling on to divert to Porto, after attacking passengers and crew on a flight from Dublin to Lanzarote. No specific details about the attack itself have emerged, but the Dublin Court has imposed a penalty of 15,000 in damages on the accused. The lawsuit was filed in January 2025, Ryanair is not fooling around. In this case, it was Dublin that imposed the amount of the penalty, but the airline has a rigid policy of sanctions for non-exemplary passengers. In June 2025, the company warned about fixed fines of 500 euros for any passenger expelled for misconduct before the flight. In the event that the flight has already started and results in a forced diversion, the policy is clear: legal persecution. It is not the first fine very high. Ryanair has been able to ban passengers for five years and obtain compensation for damages due to value of 3,000 euros on recent Berlin-Marrakech flights. He also managed to get sanctioned 2,000 euros to a passenger who decided to smoke on the plane. The measure fits within the framework of a company with a clear policy: squeeze every penny out of each clientwith a solid margin thanks to its aggressive strategies. The finer, fined. Ryanair has just received one of the highest fines in recent years (not the largest, estimated at more than 100,000 dollars and a lifetime ban by Jet2), but it is also the one that has the record of having suffered the highest fine to an airline by the Government of Spain. A profitable business model, focused on squeezing every penny from its passengers, and a clear policy regarding inappropriate behavior: pay. In Xataka | Spain and Ryanair are in a legal battle over the charge for hand luggage. Ryanair’s best ally: Europe

There will be a third search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

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With permission of Amelia Earhart and the Bermuda triangle, what happened with Malaysia Airlines flight MH 370 on March 8, 2014 constitutes one of the greatest mysteries of modern commercial aviation: It seems that he disappeared from the face of the Earth without a trace*. 12 years later, we still have not found an explanation for his disappearance and it is not the first time we have tried: in fact, the third search mission has just been reactivated. We are going to D-Day, H-Time. A Boeing 777-200ER with 239 people on board (227 passengers and 12 crew) left from Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 12:41 am to Beijing International Airport, with an expected landing time at 6:30 local time. It never reached its destination. At 1:19 a.m. Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah he said goodbye from the Malaysian controllers with a “Good night Malaysian three seven zero”. It was the last time they contacted. A few minutes later and according to the radar record collected in the final report According to the Malaysian Ministry of Transport, the aircraft’s secondary radar went out at 01:21 over the South China Sea. Likewise, it registered a turn towards the west as if it were returning towards Malaysia, passing near the island of Penang and continuing towards the Strait of Malacca. Map of the scheduled flight of MH370. Weaveravel – Wikimedia Although it had its communication systems turned off, it continued to send a satellite signal that was key to following its subsequent trajectory. Using a methodology based on Doppler effectthe scientific team of the British satellite company Inmarsat determined that the ship was moving away from the satellite towards the south. He final report of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) confirms these facts, concluding that the combination of radars and mathematical data from satellite signals allowed us to conclude that the plane allegedly flew for just over six hours until its fuel was exhausted. in a remote area of ​​the southern Indian Ocean. Andrew Heneen. Wikimedia In the following hours, the news broke. At that time, the CEO of Malaysia Airlines, Ahmad Juahari Yahya, explained that there were no indications that the pilots sent a distress signal and their willingness to collaborate with the authorities in the search, since no remains had been sighted, as USA Today collected. A missing plane, a huge area to explore and many unknowns Shortly after, the airline updated its statement reiterating that it had not “established any contact or determined the whereabouts of flight MH370.” Malaysia’s Transport Minister at the time, Hishammuddin Hussein, explained that although there was no reason to suspect terrorism, all possibilities were being studied. Days later, the country’s prime minister, Najib Razak, declared that it was clear that the radars and flight data transmission system were deliberately turned off by someone trying to conceal the position and heading of the plane. The first search operation was international in nature, although it was led by the Australian ATSB and extended from 2014 to 2017, in which it was classified at the time as the most expensive search in aviation historywith an approximate investment of at least 44 million dollars by Australia, China, the United States and Vietnam, Reuters estimated. This operation included the deployment of military ships and aircraft in an area of ​​120,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean and South China Sea defined by the analysis of Inmarsat satellite data and called “Seventh Arc”. After almost three years of tracking with high-resolution sonar, the search was officially suspended in January 2017. without finding remains of the fuselage. The conclusions of the report detailed that it was not possible to determine with certainty the cause of the disappearance and that this change of course: “It cannot be explained by a known technical failure or by adverse weather conditions”, pointing to a “probably intentional” route modification. Which yes it has been found over time they have been more than 30 fragments identified as belonging to MH370such as parts of the wing, tail, cabin or engine in places as diverse as the coasts of East Africa and various islands such as Réunion, Mauritius or Madagascar. No human remains have been found, but it is assumed that all the people who traveled on the flight died. In fact, the first piece of the aircraft was identified by French experts on a beach on Reunion Island a year after the disappearance. More specifically, it was the flaperon, a mobile part with a wingspan of almost three meters placed on the trailing edge of the wing that is used to increase aerodynamic resistance. In 2018 the first Ocean Infinity missiona private robotics company specialized in the study of seabeds. In his history, helped locate the Endurance of the legendary explorer Ernest Shackleton in 2022 providing specialized personnel and underwater robots. On the table, initially an area considered a priority of 25,000 square kilometers located to the north of the previously explored area taking into account the new drift analyzes of the remains found on African beaches. Ocean Infinity Finally, 112,000 square kilometers were covered in just over three months thanks to a fleet of eight autonomous underwater vehicles, faster than the vehicles used in the initial search. It was not enough: in June 2018 he ended his mission with disappointing results, as its CEO explained. After a few years in standbyin Malaysian government has authorized a new search mission to an old acquaintance: Ocean Infinity, which got to work on December 30, 2025 after accepting the order in modality no find, no fee aka, what If they don’t find anything, they won’t be paid.. If you do so, the maximum reward will be 70 million dollars, about 60 million euros, according to El País. It is not much for the cost of the operation, but it would be the definitive boost to consolidate Ocean Infinity as the best underwater search company in the world. Little has emerged about the operation, beyond the fact that it will last … Read more

They are a quick way to check that the flight is going well

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The process of entering a plane is anything but placid: a queue that seems eternal, making sure you don’t lose your luggage, your identification and other valuable objects, making sure you find your seat and where to put your suitcase. And in the middle, a lot of people in the same situation as you and who seem infinitely slower and more annoying than you. But that’s it, it’s already happened: you’ve already sat down, you’ve fastened your seatbelt and you’re waiting for takeoff. My condolences if it has touched you in the middle. If you are in the hallway, congratulations: you will be able to stretch a little more and get out more easily. And if you are at the window, you can better observe the takeoff and landing and rest your head. And furthermore, you will see better that triangle over the window. A triangle to enjoy the views and verify that everything is going well Sometimes it is red, sometimes it is black and it is not on all the windows: in fact there are usually one or two triangles on each side of the cabin and at a certain height above the seat on the side wall, which is why you may never have noticed them. Because we usually know where the nearest emergency exit is (thanks to the explanations of the flight attendants team), but the triangle is not so easy to see even though it is of crucial importance. In fact, you may have never seen it, but the cabin crew is very clear where it is both before and during the flight. As explains aviation expert and former commercial pilot Daniel Bubb, those triangles indicate the windows from which there is better vision of the wings. It is clear that in that window you can take very cool photos for Instagram, but the reason for being is different: “Helping crew members when there is an emergency or a failure in the flaps, slats, engine or other parts (…) It allows them to identify the location of the problem more quickly.” Knowing this, if you see the cabin crew looking out of that window from time to time it may give you a little respect, but a relatively frequent check does not mean that something is wrong, since it is also used to verify that the wing is deicing correctly and that everything is going well, he adds. Small, private planes and some older models do not have them as long as the triangles They are not mandatory but they are useful for the crew, but it is normal that you will find at least two. Each of them is located on each side of the plane, just above the window that lines up with the edges of the wing on the outside. Of course, if the plane is larger, there may be two triangles on each side, thus marking the leading edge and trailing edge of the wing. To that seat in aviation is known like the “William Shatner Seat”a cultural nod to the episode ‘Nightmare at 20,000 Feet’ of “The Twilight Zone“ October 1963 where Shatner saw a gremlin on the wing of the plane. I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing it, but yes that Simpsons reference in a House of Terror special. Going in that seat has its advantages. The first is obvious: it offers a magnificent point of view for taking photographs and videos. However, it can also be useful if you are not too excited about flying: you can see for yourself how everything is fine and the de-icing process before takeoff. In addition, it offers a smoother flight sensation as turbulence and abrupt landing and takeoff are less noticeable. It sounds so appealing that the next question would be to know which row that seat corresponds to, but as there are different models and configurations of airplanes, there is no single answer. Of course, if you want to increase the probability that it will be your turn, look at the seat map and select the ones closest to the ends of the wing. If one day you are lucky and your assigned seat is that, enjoy the views. In Xataka | Few people know what the red balls on high-tension cables are for: they are a simple way to save lives Cover | Photo of Edwin Petrus in Unsplash

There is already a date for the last flight of the Megacohete Starship as we know it: v3, heat what you go out

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Spacex is ready to move on to the next chapter. Elon Musk’s company has announced the eleventh date Starship test flight: The last launch of the current version of the rocket, which will give way to a new iteration much more powerful. Next Monday, October 13, it could be the day we see the Starship V2 furrow the heavens for the last time. Starship’s 11 flight is here. As Ha confirmed Spacexthe launch window will open at 18:15 CT (01:15 in the morning of Tuesday 14 during Spanish peninsular schedule). As usual, the company will broadcast the live flight from Starbase through its website and its X profile, starting the broadcast about 30 minutes before takeoff. This eleventh flight will not be a simple repetition of the previous one (The first successful after a failure streak). In addition to serving as a final brooch for the second version of Starship, it will make a test bench for technologies that will be implemented in the expected V3. Spacex plans to bring both the Super Heavy propeller and the Starship ship with a series of experiments designed to collect data for future releases. A goodbye in style. Flight 11 will have as its protagonist the Super Heavy 15 propeller, which had already blown successfully during flight 8. 24 of its 33 engines will take off for the second … and last time. For this launch, the Super Heavy will try a new configuration in the landing maneuver. Instead of the three usual raptor engines, it will turn on five during its final phase, which will be the standard configuration in the Super Heavy V3 for a matter of redundancy. But the objective is not to recover it for the second time with the arms of the tower, but simulate a soft ametering about the Gulf of Mexico to study the dynamics of the vehicle during the complex transitions of off and ignition of landing engines. Another starship to the limit. The Starship ship has an agenda similar to that of the previous flight. On its suborbital trip, it will deploy eight Starlink satellite simulators and turn one of its engines again in the emptiness of the space, practicing for future orbital insertion maneuvers. Perhaps the most striking is the stress test to which its thermal shield will be submitted. Spacex has deliberately retired several ceramic tiles, including some critical areas that lack a secondary protection layer, to see how they behave during the reentry. The final trajectory will include a banqueo of the ship to imitate the approach that the future Starship will make when returning to the launch base. The shocking, if everything goes as planned, will be again in the Indian Ocean, in broad daylight. The generational jump V2 to V3. As he points out Next Spaceflightthis flight will be the last one for Starship version 2 and for the current Starbase launch platform configuration. Spacex prepares to welcome the Starship V3. The differences between versions are significant. While the V2, with its 123 meters high, can put about 35 tons in low orbit, the V3 will grow slightly to 124.4 meters, firing its useful load capacity up to 100 tons. The thrust at the time of takeoff will also increase from the current 74,400 kilonewtons to more than 80,800 kN. A giant jump that will allow Spacex to display its new generation Starlink network, and then focus on the ultimate goal of getting to Mars. Image | Spacex In Xataka | The European space agency wants its own mini-starship. And just given 40 million to an air to design it

NASA is so obsessed with defeating China that, instead of delaying its next flight to the moon, it has advanced it

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It seemed like him Artemis program It was intended to be delayed again and again, but NASA’s last movement betrays the enormous geopolitical pressure of the moment. Artemis II, the mission with which the United States will return to lunar orbit for the first time in more than 50 years, is no longer scheduled for April 2026. They have advanced the launch window to February 5. A declaration of intentions. This two -month advance is not a simple recalibration of the calendar of the Artemis missions. It is the NASA’s evening response to the feeling that the United States is staying behind the Methodical Lunar Program of China. NASA recognizes that “there is a desire that we are the first to return to the surface of the moon,” and Artemis II is a first step. The mission without a launic had been postponed from 2024 to 2025, and then to “not before April 2026”. Now the launch window opens two months before: on February 5, 2026, leaving as a deadline “not later April 2026”. Solving the ghosts of Artemis I. To understand why this advance is significant, you have to remember why Artemis II was delayed first. The main cause was the thermal shield of the Orion ship. After the return of the mission without crew Artemis I in 2022, NASA’s engineers found a disturbing surprise: the Orion shield had lost pieces of protective material. The gases generated by the heat of the reentry did not dissipate as planned, creating an overpressure that started fragments of the shield. After almost two years of research, NASA says having understood and solved the problem with “maximum trust.” Of course, the solution is quite simple: they have modified the trajectory of the ship in their return to the earth to prevent the high temperatures that caused the failure. Next to him, NASA has solved other minor failures such as liquid hydrogen leaks that plagued the launch attempts of Artemis I. The second space race. “The administration has asked us to recognize being in what is commonly called a second space race,” said the buliesha Hawkins, NASA’s attached administrator. His current boss, Sean Duffy, agency administrator and Trump’s Secretary of Transportation, has a more direct rhetoric: “We are going to win the Chinese on the moon.” The fear in Washington is that China, which plans to send its first astronauts to the lunar surface in 2030, the American Mission Artemis III is ahead. While the Artemis program accumulated delays (largely due to the slowness of the Spacex Starship ship, necessary for the Aunidation of Artemis III), the Chinese program advanced with a firm step and without making a lot of noise. Experts in China’s spatial capacities such as Dean Cheng have come to affirm which is “quite likely that the Chinese terrify on the moon before NASA.” Advance Artemis II (the previous step without alansimiza) is the form that NASA has to demonstrate that it is still in the game. What is Artemis II. Its main objective is to certify that the Orion ship and the SLS rocket can take humans to the moon safely. For ten days, American astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, as well as Canadian Jeremy Hansenthey will go around the moon without landing, following a free return trajectory that will bring them back to the earth. The mission also has an important symbolic burden. They will be the first humans in more than 50 years to leave the orbit low terrestrial, traveling further than any other human being in history, more than 9,000 kilometers from the hidden face of the moon. From this unique perspective, They will carry out crucial geological observationsphotographing craters and old lava flows. They could even be the first humans to see with their own eyes the eastern basin, a gigantic structure on the boundary between the visible face and the hidden face of the moon. Their descriptions and data will be vital for the alunage of Artemis III. The great irony. The advance of Artemis II is a calculated movement. NASA shows the world that it has overcome its technical problems and is ready to accelerate. Artemis II is not just a step towards the moon, it is a sprint in a geopolitical career and for the control of lunar resources. The great contradiction is that, while NASA accelerates the overflight of Artemis II, its star mission, the alun of Artemis III planned for 2027, remains in serious trouble. Just a few days ago, the agency’s security advisors panel launched a blunt warning: They doubt that the modified version of the Spacex Starship is ready on time. His estimate is that he could accumulate a “year” delay. Therefore, the result of this space race is still open. Image | POT In Xataka | When the first human being stepped on the moon we all believed that he had abandoned the “earth.” We were wrong

The first flight will be in 2026 and points to its next great plane

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A wing that changes in full flight and a manufacturer who wants to reimagine the aviation of short and medium radio. Airbus prepares to test in real conditions a concept that has been maturing time in its research programs. It is not a laboratory exercise: the company has marked 2026 As a date for the first take -off of its demonstrator, an aircraft that will serve to explore if this technology can be transferred to the single corridor aircraft. The challenge is ambitious: lay the foundations of what will be the great heir of the A320. For the manufacturer, the X-Wing is a piece within a much larger technological puzzle. The company works In disruptive engines, recyclable materials and smart platforms, and needs to decide which combinations offer more advantages. The wing capable of modifying its form is emerging as the ideal candidate to demonstrate savings in consumption and improvements in flight behavior. More than an isolated prototype, it is a test bank conceived to contrast theoretical models with data obtained in real operations. A flying laboratory to test the wing that is transformed into the air The aeronautical builder decided to transform a citation VII into a flying laboratory. The aircraft, usually used in executive aviation, received a large -scale compound that mimics, on a reduced scale, that of a future commercial plane. To join both elements, specific transition boxes were designed, which in addition to guaranteeing structural resistance provides space for fuel and the landing system. This solution allowed to overcome the limitations of a fuselage not manufactured by Airbus and let off The demonstrator. The demonstrator’s key is how the wing adapts to flight conditions. To prevent greater size from implying more weight, engineers incorporated a semi -eelastic hinge in the tips, capable of freeing themselves in situations of intense turbulence and thus reduce structural loads. At the same time, the back of the wing includes three flaps with small tabulators that can move independently and quickly. With this combination, the profile of the wing changes, optimizing support and reducing drag in each flight phase. The European company wanted the demonstrator to reflect the philosophy of its line aircraft and replaced the conventional system of controls for a Fly-By-Wire complete. All surfaces, from ailerons to rear stabilizers, are governed by electric actuators linked to control computers. The device will be handled remotely from land, without the need for crew on board, which opens margin for more demanding tests. Before flying, the X-Wing must overcome a battery of tests on land. The European manufacturer plans structural vibration tests and alar load during this year, steps necessary to validate the design. Airbus has asked the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC) for the flight permit, which will allow to operate from Cazauxf, south of Bordeaux. The calendar provides shooting on the second quarter of 2026 and a first takeoff in the middle of the year, with expected flights over the Vizcaya Gulf. Prototype in a Cessna Citation VII Beyond the Ala, the Airbus roadmap includes New Generation Energy Systems and Energy Systems. Among them stands out the Open Fan, developed with CFM, which seeks an efficiency improvement of two digits and will be validated in flight with an A380 before the end of the decade. The aeronautical builder also bets on expanding the use of fuels sustainable up to 100% and for introducing hybrid architectures. The latter will use electricity in on -board tasks and further reduce the emissions of each journey. Innovation is not limited to the wing or engine: It also reaches materials. Airbus is testing advanced thermoplastic compounds that promise to lighten the structure and, at the same time, make it more sustainable. In the face of current compounds, these can be recycled more easily and allow more agile manufacturing cycles. The MFFD project has served as a test bank, showing that it is possible to reduce weight without increasing costs. The Filton plant, in the United Kingdom, has become one of the nerve centers of this transformation. The future plane will not be built only with more efficient wings or different motors, it will also depend on a common digital system that provides new capacities. The European company works on connected platforms capable DE Update in real timeintegrate applications and anticipate faults with predictive maintenance. Automation also will have a growing role in assistance to the pilot and in land operations. The X-Wing is, in this sense, an initial piece of a greater puzzle: demonstrate which technologies are mature and which ones should wait before making the commercial leap. Images | Airbus In Xataka | Airlines have invested millions in entertainment. Passengers use it to see an plane icon slowly moving

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