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| ACAM - Production | Total Shipments | Delayed Shipments | On Time Shipments | On Time % | Rolling OT % |
| January | 26 | 0 | 26 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| February | 15 | 0 | 15 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| March | 25 | 0 | 25 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| April | 25 | 0 | 25 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| May | 27 | 0 | 27 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| June | 20 | 0 | 20 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| July | 21 | 0 | 21 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| August | 26 | 0 | 26 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| September | 20 | 0 | 20 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| October | 27 | 0 | 27 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| November | 21 | 0 | 21 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| December | 20 | 0 | 20 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Total | 273 | 0 | 273 |
| ACAM - Warehouse | Total Shipments | Delayed Shipments | On Time Shipments | On Time % | Rolling OT % |
| January | 5 | 0 | 5 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| February | 3 | 0 | 3 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| March | 1 | 0 | 1 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| April | 11 | 0 | 11 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| May | 5 | 0 | 5 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| June | 5 | 0 | 5 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| July | 4 | 0 | 4 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| August | 5 | 0 | 5 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| September | 10 | 0 | 10 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| October | 7 | 0 | 7 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| November | 8 | 0 | 8 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| December | 2 | 0 | 2 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
| Total | 66 | 0 | 66 |
Earlier this month, a demonstrator aircraft for what could be the first new civil supersonic plane to be launched since the 1960s took to the skies. It’s a milestone moment in the highly anticipated new era of supersonic travel.
The XB-1, a technology demonstrator aircraft built by Colorado-based Boom Supersonic, successfully completed its first test flight at the Mojave Air & Space Port in California, it was announced March 22.
The XB-1 is the the world’s first independently developed supersonic jet and paves the way for the development of Boom’s commercial plane Overture.
Now, 10 years after the Boom Supersonic project began in 2014, CEO Blake Scholl tells CNN Travel over video call, there are an exciting few months ahead.
Dave Calhoun announces intent to step down as CEO at the end of 2024, in addition to shifts in board chair and a new Commercial Airplanes CEO.
On March 25, Boeing (Arlington, Va., U.S.) President and CEO Dave Calhoun announced his decision to step down as CEO at the end of 2024. He will continue to lead Boeing through the year to complete the critical work underway to stabilize and position the company for the future.
Moreover, board chair Larry Kellner has informed the board that he does not intend to stand for re-election at the upcoming Annual Shareholder meeting. The board has elected Steve Mollenkopf to succeed Kellner as independent board chair. In this role, Mollenkopf will lead the board’s process of selecting Boeing’s next CEO.
In addition to these changes, Stan Deal, Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) president and CEO, will retire from the company and Stephanie Pope has been appointed to lead BCA, effective March 25.
Incat Tasmania is leading the world in producing pure-electric lightweight zero-emission ferries.
Australian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania has under construction the largest lightweight battery electric ship (130 m in length) so far constructed in the world for delivery to its South American customer, Buquebus.
This ship, the world’s largest battery-electric Ro-Pax ferry, will be 100% battery electric. The energy storage system (ESS) battery storage at over 40MWh will be four times larger than any battery installation that has been constructed and installed anywhere in the world for the marine transport environment. The batteries power a series of E-motors which drive the water jet propulsion system. The electrical system integration is by Wärtsilä and ESS by Corvus Energy.
The interest in these battery electric ships is very positive and Incat is now working toward the construction of its second but smaller battery-electric vehicle/passenger ferry.
The two companies and the City of Yokohama, owner of the port, will soon sign a memorandum of understanding for the project. They plan to start supplying the fuel to Maersk and other vessels by the end of next year. The fuel will be procured from overseas by the Danish conglomerate, as well as from a Mitsubishi Gas plant in Niigata prefecture, north of Tokyo.
With majority support among shareholders (+99.53%), Solvay (Brussels, Belgium) has announced the official demerging of Syensqo SA/NV, the company’s new composite materials segment, from Solvay. Syensqo will be a “company of explorers who will usher in breakthroughs that will advance humanity,” Solvay CEO Dr. Ilham Kadri said when separation plans were initially revealed in June 2023.
“This is a historical moment,” Kadri adds. She will be incoming CEO of Syensqo. “This turning point highlights the recognition and success of the in-depth transformation of Solvay in the past 5 years. I want to thank all our shareholders, board members and teams for their trust, and for making this ambitious project come true. I also wish the new Solvay a very bright future. I am now pleased to start a new chapter as CEO of the new specialty company Syensqo to deliver growth through exploring the technologies of tomorrow, with a strong management team and board.”
Syensqo will “benefit from the rich heritage of Solvay,”enabling disruptive technologies in lightweighting, electrification, digitalization, resources efficiency and biomaterials. The company’s ultimate mission is to “strengthen our innovation power to support our customers’ needs and environmental ambitions while delivering growth, and to become carbon neutral by 2040,” Kadri says. Syensqo’s 5-year growth strategy was shared in November.
Syensqo’s listing on Euronext Brussels and Euronext Paris (under ticker SYENS) began on Dec. 11, 2023.
Air New Zealand (Auckland, New Zealand) has selected the Alia as the airline’s first purchase of a next generation aircraft in its Mission Next Gen Aircraft program. Designed by electric aerospace company Beta Technologies (Burlington, Ver., U.S.), the composite battery-powered all-electric aircraft is expected to join Air New Zealand’s fleet in 2026. Air New Zealand is purchasing the conventional takeoff and landing version of the Alia.
The announcement follows an 18-month period of evaluation and diligence by Air New Zealand. Through the airline’s Mission Next Gen Aircraft program, it sought and received ideas and insights from 30 organizations, selecting four partners to work closely with on its goal of launching commercial flights using next generation aircraft in 2026. Beta’s Alia aircraft is the first commercial order in the program.
Air New Zealand will initially operate the aircraft as a cargo-only service in partnership with New Zealand Post, on a route being selected through an expressions of interest (EOI) process with airports across Aotearoa.
Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran says the purchase cements Air New Zealand’s commitment to flying lower-emissions aircraft in New Zealand. “This is a small but important step in a much larger journey for the airline. There is a lot of work ahead of us, but we are committed, and this purchase marks a new chapter for the airline. Decarbonizing aviation isn’t easy, and we have a lot of work to do. We need to accelerate the pace of change in the technology, infrastructure, operations and regulation.”
The Alia aircraft will add to Air New Zealand’s existing fleet. Through flying it, Air New Zealand hopes to advance its knowledge and the transformation needed in the aviation system in Aotearoa to fly larger, fleet replacing, next-generation aircraft from 2030.
“We are gratified by the airline’s confidence in our technology as a solution that will meet their operational needs and look forward to continuing to work hand-in-hand as we bring the Alia to market for 2026,” Beta CEO Kyle Clark says.
We are definitely seeing more movement in the market. Airlines such as Emirates, which have traditionally been trend-setters for the market, are undertaking significant retrofits of their aircraft fleet with other airlines following suit. There are two main areas of focus: first, OEMs have been releasing more orders for line fit programs; secondly, to meet growing passenger demand, airlines have been using any aircraft they can find and retrofitting the cabins to their brand.
Boom Supersonic (Denver, Colo., U.S.) announced at the 2023 Paris Air Show significant advances on Overture, the company’s sustainable supersonic aircraft, including milestones for its Symphony engine. Overture will fly at twice the speed of today’s airliners and is designed to run on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
The producer of Pine-Sol floor cleaner and Kingsford charcoal briquettes said earlier this week that the vast majority of its US factories have resumed output after production was halted amid the fallout from the mysterious attack. Some plants are still offline, however. Following the output pause, outages are now showing up at retailers. Empty shelves mean that shoppers will buy competing products — and analysts say some of the shifts may stick.
“Any time a company has an out-of-stock product, that’s the opportunity for the consumer to shift to a different brand. I think we saw that during the pandemic,” said Edward Jones analyst Brittany Quatrochi. “There are some other companies that could pick up the pieces.”
However, October was a very good month for Boeing jet sales with a total of 117 net new orders, mostly thanks to Southwest Airlines.
And with a big order-fest for Boeing in the first days of the Dubai Air Show, November is looking even better.
Boeing commercial jet deliveries ticked up in October only slightly from the previous month to a still-low 34 airplanes, including just 18 MAXs.
Airbus delivered 71 aircraft in October, more than twice as many as Boeing. That included 51 of its A320 family of jets that competes with the 737 MAX.
Boeing had delivered 48 MAXs in June, before discovery of the latest defect — misdrilled holes in the aft pressure bulkhead that seals the rear of the passenger cabin.
For all of the FAA’s recent efforts to promote advanced air mobility (AAM) services in American airspace and chip away at China’s growing influence on the industry, the agency and U.S. lawmakers may be disappointed by a recent piece of news: A Chinese company appears set to obtain the world’s first electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) type certification.
EHang, a Guangzhou-based manufacturer of autonomous eVTOL aircraft for passenger transport and tourism services, announced it has completed all planned tests and flights of its EH216-S two-seater in the last phase of demonstrating compliance of its technology.
The flight test regimen included a definitive final demonstration for the Civil Aviation Authority of China (CAAC), which eliminated the last obstacle on the aircraft’s path to type certification, according to the company. EHang expects to obtain that approval “soon” after it wraps up a handful of final procedures.
The CAAC officially accepted EHang’s type certification application for EH216-S in January 2021. Over the past 30-plus months, the company has completed over 9,300 low-altitude tourism flight trials in 18 Chinese cities, including the mega-metropolises of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. It also completed Japan’s first passenger-carrying flight of an autonomous eVTOL in February.
EHang has tested the aircraft’s load, durability, reliability, and environmental impact, flying it under low and high temperatures and in high humidity, salt spray, and even typhoon conditions. It also evaluated batteries, electronics, software, the data link to the ground control station, and other components to demonstrate they meet CAAC airworthiness and safety standards.
EH216-S’s recent demonstration before CAAC marked the final milestone before it can achieve type certification. “I believe the remaining procedures will be finished very soon before the official authorization of the type certificate,” said Hu. “It will pave the way for our commercial operations in the next stage.”
Based on this background, 2nd New Energy Aviation International Forum 2023 is scheduled to be held in Beijing, China on November 15th-16th,2023. At that time, it is expected to have more than 350 from domestic and foreign industry leaders and experts will join the forum. Taking the opportunity of technological innovation caused by new energy aviation to overcome the key technology of green low-carbon aviation for the electric aircraft industry, seizing the future aviation industry market and technology commanding heights, realizing green low-carbon aviation transformation, providing feasible solutions.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has granted Type Certification for the Embraer E195-E2. This is clearly good news for Embraer, which in its latest 20-Year Market Outlook published in June, forecast that the Asia Pacific region, including China, will show a strong growth rate, increasing its RPKs by 4.4% annually over the next 20 years. The need for flexibility, complementing narrow-body aircraft, is driving demand in the up-to-150-seat segment in China.
The E195-E2, the largest member of the E-Jet family, can accommodate between 120 and 146 passengers. According to Embraer it is the most fuel-efficient single aisle aircraft flying today, and delivers 25% better fuel efficiency per seat compared to previous generation E-Jets.
The E195-E2 was also successfully tested on 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in June last year. The use of SAF boosts the emissions reductions possible with the E195-E2 to 85%.
Arjan Meijer, president and CEO of Embraer Commercial Aviation said, “We’re excited to now have both the E190-E2 and E195-E2 certified by CAAC, paving the way for sales in the Chinese market.
“Our team in China is actively working with potential customers and making good progress. There are significant opportunities for the E2 in China, which offers complementary capacity to China’s indigenous ARJ21 and C919 aircraft; combined, they provide flexible, efficient, and eco-friendly options for Chinese airlines, meeting the demand of the world’s fast-growing air transportation market.”
“It’s another milestone for the largest Embraer jet – the E195-E2 – to be certified by CAAC,” said Guo Qing, managing director and VP of commercial aviation at Embraer China. “China is moving closer to carbon neutrality. The E195-E2 is the most environmentally efficient aircraft in its class. With a maximum of 146 seats, E195-E2 is the right size to profitably complement larger narrowbodies on lower density routes, connecting regional airports and offering travellers living in secondary and tertiary cities with one-stop access to routes worldwide.”
Based on this background, 13th Annual China Aviation Industry International Summit 2023—Aviation Industry Chain Development and Quality Improvement will be held in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province on October 28th– 29th. This summit with the help of domestic leading, green low carbon, digital transformation, high quality development of the latest national policy, focusing on high quality development of aviation industry, layout of the industrial chain around the innovation chain, with innovation technology drive demand incremental upgrade. We will adhere to independent control, and implement independent support to promote the high-quality development of the large aircraft industry.
Boeing will reportedly resume 737 MAX deliveries to China within the next few weeks.
According to a report by Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, the manufacturer has been preparing a pair of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft for delivery to a Chinese airline in the coming weeks.
The aircraft were pulled out of storage to be prepared for delivery, continued the report.
Thereare a total of 134 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that the manufacturer has not delivered to Chinese airlines yet, ch-aviation.com data showed. Some of them flew for the first time as early as January 2019, more than two months prior to the type being grounded in China and subsequently, globally, following the second fatal Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia in March 2019.
Thereare a total of 134 Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that the manufacturer has not delivered to Chinese airlines yet, ch-aviation.com data showed. Some of them flew for the first time as early as January 2019, more than two months prior to the type being grounded in China and subsequently, globally, following the second fatal Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia in March 2019.
Previously, Brian West, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Vice President of Finance at Boeing, revealed during the company’s Q2 2023 earnings call, Boeing had 220 737 MAXs in inventory as of June 30, 2023.
“This includes 85 for customers in China, and 55 that have now been remarketed as part of the plan we previously discussed. We still expect most MAX inventory airplanes to be delivered by the end of 2024,” West continued.
One China Southern Airlines Boeing 737 MAX, registered as B-20CA, was spotted on a test flight on August 22, 2023. The aircraft departed Moses Lake Grant County International Airport (MWH) and arrived at King County International Airport or Boeing Field (BFI) after a more than two-hour flight.
Several other Boeing 737 MAXs were spotted on the radar, an analysis of flightradar24.com data showed. Shenzen Airlines’ Boeing 737 MAX, registered as B-208J, transponder was active on July 19 and August 8, 2023. Meanwhile, Shanghai Airlines’ aircraft of the same type, registered as B-20AK, transponder wasactive twice on August 23, 2023.
However, planespotters.net shows that B-20AK was not taken up by the Chinese airline, and will be delivered to Air India Express instead.
Another Shenzen Airlines’ 737 MAX, registered as B-20DL, activated its transponder on August 9, 2023, while Shanghai Airlines’ 737 MAX, registered as B-20CF, was spotted twice in a span of 40 minutes on the same day. China quietly resumed Boeing 737 MAX services in January 2023, when a China Southern Airlines aircraft, registered as B-1206, flew between Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (CAN) and Zhengzhou Xinzheng International Airport (CGO). Since then, more and more stored Boeing 737 MAXs have been returned to service in China. Ch-aviation.com data shows that currently 91 aircraft are active while four are stored or under maintenance.
In July 2023, Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Stan Deal met with the Civil Aviation Administration of China’s (CAAC) representatives. “The two sides exchanged in-depth views on Boeing’s business development in China and strengthening Sino-US civil aviation cooperation,” the CAAC’s announcement read at the time.
On September 18th, CATL announced that they are currently collaborating on the development of a civilian electric passenger aircraft project. They are implementing aviation-grade standards and testing to meet aviation-level safety and quality requirements. Additionally, CATL will also launch an auto-grade application version of the Condensed Battery, which is expected to have mass production capability by the end of 2023.
On July 19th of this year, ShangFei Era (Shanghai) Airline Limited Company was jointly established by CATL, Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Enterprise Development Group. The respective shareholding proportions of the three companies have not been disclosed yet. The registered capital of the company is 600 million yuan ($82.2 million). Its business scope includes civil aircraft maintenance, design and production of civil aircraft components, production of civil aircraft engines and propellers, as well as battery sales.
On April 19th this year, CATL officially unveiled the Condensed Battery at Auto Shanghai. Wu Kai, Chief Scientist of CATL, revealed that CATL is collaborating on the development of a civilian electric passenger aircraft project using the Condensed Battery technology. The energy density of a single unit of the Condensed Battery can reach up to 500 watt-hours per kilogram, striking a balance between high specific energy and high safety. In comparison, mainstream ternary lithium batteries currently have an energy density of about 250 watt-hours per kilogram, while lithium iron phosphate batteries.
According to CATL, Condensed Battery adopts high-power biomimetic condensed electrolyte, which can construct a micro-level adaptive network structure and regulate interchain interaction forces. While enhancing the stability of the microstructure, it improves battery kinetics and enhances lithium ion transport efficiency. Condensed Battery also integrates high specific energy positive electrode, new negative electrode, separator membrane, and other material systems.
Based on this background, 2nd New Energy Aviation International Forum 2023 is scheduled to be held in Beijing, China on November 15th-16th,2023. At that time, it is expected to have more than 350 from domestic and foreign industry leaders and experts will join the forum. Taking the opportunity of technological innovation caused by new energy aviation to overcome the key technology of green low-carbon aviation for the electric aircraft industry, seizing the future aviation industry market and technology commanding heights, realizing green low-carbon aviation transformation, providing feasible solutions.
BEIJING — Self-driving air taxis are one step closer to reality in China.
Guangzhou-based Ehang on Friday said it received an airworthiness “type certificate” from the Civil Aviation Administration of China for its fully autonomous drone, the EH216-S AAV, that carries two human passengers. The regulator is the equivalent of the Federal Aviation Administration in the U.S.
U.S.-listed Ehang claims it’s the first in the world to get such a certificate, which allows it to fly passenger-carrying autonomous electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in China.
The certificate will also significantly simplify the company’s ability to get similar certificates for commercial operation in the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia, CEO Huazhi Hu told CNBC in a video conference interview.
“Next year we should start to expand overseas,” he said, noting those regulators still need to establish a process for mutual regulation of the Chinese airworthiness certification. That’s according to a CNBC translation of his Mandarin-language remarks.
Ehang shares have nearly doubled in price this year, before trading was temporarily halted Monday “in anticipation of an upcoming announcement concerning a very significant development regarding its business operations.” Trading was set to resume Friday.
The company has a market capitalization of about $1 billion.
Global regulatory action
The U.S. FAA in July released a plan that provides a path toward allowing similar autonomous flying vehicles, but initially still requires pilots to sit on board.
California-based Joby Aviation, one of the leading industry players in the U.S., announced earlier this month it expanded its flight test program from remote piloting to include a pilot on board — but it didn’t mention any passengers. Joby has a contract with the U.S. Air Force the company claims is worth up to $131 million.
Regulators in China have been paving the way for autonomous flying vehicles to gain certification. In June, China released new rules for unmanned aircraft flight — vehicles without a pilot on board. It is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2024.
Hu said Ehang is still evaluating which city in China the company will launch its first air taxi passenger flight in, and declined to share a specific date. Hu is also Ehang’s founder and chairman of the board of directors.He noted that China is the fastest-growing and largest market — with the biggest demand — for such flying vehicles.
In the second quarter, Ehang said it set up a joint venture with Shenzhen-listed Xiyu Tourism and delivered five EH216-S units. The venture aims to develop low-altitude tourism with at least 120 Ehang vehicles in the next five years, the company said.
Ehang said it has overseas pre-orders for more than 1,200 units, including from customers such as Japan AirX, Malaysian Aerotree and Indonesia’s Prestige.
Hu said the company would roll out deliveries rather than filling orders all at once given the industry is still in an early stage of development.
Still, he predicts that in about five years, air taxis will be a common sight in many cities.
Safety track record
Friday’s certification news comes as local Chinese governments, including in Beijing, have allowed fully driverless robotaxis on public streets, and in some cases charge fares to the public.
A significant difference between self-driving taxis and self-piloting drones is that while cars on the road must make turns at intersections, a drone flight is between two points in the air, Ehang’s CEO said.
Hu said Ehang started doing autonomous aerial flight testing in 2017. There were some vehicle incidents during the early experimentation period, he said, but no big accidents have occurred during subsequent tens of thousands of flights, including overseas.
“Whenever carrying humans, until now, we have maintained a very good safety track record,” he said.
Based on this background, 2nd New Energy Aviation International Forum 2023 is scheduled to be held in Beijing, China on November 15th-16th,2023. At that time, it is expected to have more than 350 from domestic and foreign industry leaders and experts will join the forum. Taking the opportunity of technological innovation caused by new energy aviation to overcome the key technology of green low-carbon aviation for the electric aircraft industry, seizing the future aviation industry market and technology commanding heights, realizing green low-carbon aviation transformation, providing feasible solutions.
China Eastern Airlines signed a purchase contract on Thursday with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC) for an additional 100 C919 planes, marking the largest single order for the China-developed large passenger aircraft.
According to the plan, the new C919 aircraft purchased by the airline company will be delivered in batches from 2024 to 2031.
Zhang Yuan, general manager of the planning department at China Eastern Airlines, said that the new purchase deal is being made at a time when the civil aviation market holds significant potential, the airline is in need of fleet renewal, and the C919 has demonstrated promising initial commercial performance.
China Eastern Airlines placed an order for five C919 planes in 2021. The company has taken delivery of two jets and put them into operation on the air route between the cities of Shanghai and Chengdu.
As of September 26, the two planes have accumulated more than 1,140 flight hours, including over 867 hours in commercial operations. They have completed 296 commercial flight trips, carrying over 35,000 passengers.
China Eastern Airlines expects to take delivery of its third C919 aircraft in October this year. The company plans to open new routes by June 2024, allowing more passengers to experience the C919.
Since the C919 project was launched in 2007, it has undergone a long journey of design, manufacture, flight tests and eventual commercialization.
Developed by COMAC, the first C919 aircraft rolled off the production line in Shanghai in November 2015. The plane conducted a successful maiden flight in 2017.
The C919 launched its first commercial flight in May, marking its official entry into the civil aviation market.
China has a massive civil aviation market with great potential. According to a market forecast released by COMAC in late 2022, over the 2022-2041 period, China’s civil aviation market will receive 9,284 new planes, including 6,288 single-aisle jetliners.
By 2041, China is expected to be the world’s largest single-country civil aviation market, said the forecast.
Under this background, the Aircraft Value Management International Forum 2023 will be held on November 29th-30th in Shanghai, China. The forum will mainly focus on new aircraft value assessment, disposal of old aircraft, aircraft leasing and operation, aims to introduce advance ideas and methods, share successful experiences, combine with that situation of the aviation division itself, to open up more efficient and more active aircraft management.
BEIJING, Dec 9 (Reuters) – A rocket developed by LandSpace Technology on Saturday launched three satellites into orbit, a milestone in the Chinese private rocket startup’s mission to test whether its vehicle using methane and liquid oxygen is ready for commercial liftoffs.
The success could boost investor confidence in methane as a potential rocket fuel, which is deemed able to help slash costs and support reusable rockets in a cleaner and more efficient way.
Several private Chinese rocket startups have lined up test or commercial launches, aiming to prepare their products for the increasing demand in China’s expanding commercial space industry, amid growing competition to form a constellation of satellites as an alternative to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Zhuque-2 Y-3 blasted off at 7:39 a.m. (1139 GMT on Friday) from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China’s Inner Mongolia region, becoming the third LandSpace test rocket for Zhuque-2, and the first that succeeded in lifting satellites.
A second attempt, without real satellites, in July made LandSpace the world’s first company to launch methane-liquid oxygen rocket, ahead of U.S. rivals including Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.
The two launches showed Zhuque-2 is reliable enough for commercial launches, LandSpace said in a statement.
LandSpace said the three satellites reached 460-km (285-mile) sun-synchronous orbit, without providing details on the types and overall weight of them.
Zhuque-2 is capable of putting payloads totalling 1.5 metric tons into 500-km (300-mile) orbit, which LandSpace plans to increase to 4 tons in upgraded versions, the Beijing-based company said.
Zhuque-2 Y-3 carried two 50-kilogram test satellites developed by Chinese startup Spacety, one of which has adopted technologies from a company named Hongqing, according to a Spacety statement on Saturday.
Hongqing said in a statement the rocket also carried one of its test satellites, without disclosing the weight.
The two Hongqing-linked test satellites in Saturday’s launch are designed to support forming a low-orbit satellite constellation, said Hongqing, in which LandSpace holds a stake.
LandSpace said last year the first launch last December failed, without specifying whether the test rocket, Zhuque-2 Y-1, carried any satellite payloads.
The eight-year-old startup said earlier this year it plans to provide clients with about three launches in 2024 and double that in 2025.
Chinese startup OrienSpace said it has scheduled the debut launch of its solid-fuel rocket, Gravity-1, in December. Deep Blue Aerospace, which is developing a reusable kerosene-fuelled rocket, aims to complete next year its first test of launching the Nebula-1 rocket to orbit and recovering it.
Galactic Energy on Tuesday launched its solid-propellant rocket Ceres-1 with two satellites into orbit, after a failure in September and a series of successful launches earlier.
Aircraft manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) has delivered the fifth C919 narrow-body airliner to China Eastern Airlines.
The Chinese state-owned manufacturer delivered the aircraft, registered as B-919F, ferrying it from Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA) on March 2, 2024, as reported by China Daily. The two-month-old aircraft, soon to launch passenger services, features a two-class cabin layout accommodating up to 164 passengers.
The B919F marks the final delivery of the initial batch of five C919 aircraft ordered by China Eastern Airlines in 2021. The carrier had previously received four deliveries: the B-919A, B919C, B919D, and B919E.
China Eastern Airlines has received the fifth homegrown C919 aircraft.
The company bought five C919 passenger aircraft from Commercial Aircraft Corp of China on March 1 2021.
China Eastern Airlines introduced the inaugural C919 to its fleet on December 8, 2022, with the second aircraft delivered in July and commencing passenger service in August 2023. The carrier received its third and fourth domestically produced single-aisle passenger jets on December 9, 2023, and January 2, 2024, respectively.
All four aircraft are already operating scheduled passenger flights connecting Shanghai (SHA) and Chengdu (CTU), as indicated by flight history on Flightradar24.com.
In September 2023, China Eastern Airlines made headlines with a groundbreaking almost $10 billion-worth deal with COMAC, placing a substantial order of 100 C919 aircraft. The deal holds the record for the largest single order for C919 narrow-body jets so far.
The Maltese Discussion: In a surprise announcement, the US government confirmed that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Malta last weekend. According to the statement, the two sides had “candid, substantive, and constructive discussions” on key bilateral issues such as the war in Ukraine and Taiwan, and they committed to maintaining this “strategic” channel of communication and to pursue additional high-level engagement and consultations. The visit follows a series of high-level visits by US cabinet officials to China this summer and took place a few months before APEC meetings in San Francisco, which could serve as a venue for a Biden-Xi meeting. Xi’s decision not to attend the G20 has raised doubts as to whether he will attend the APEC meetings. Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected to visit the US next month to continue high-level discussions. This would be the highest level Chinese official to visit the United States since the Covid outbreak.
2023 China Business Report Available Now: The release of AmCham Shanghai’s 2023 China Business Report brought the Chamber extensive media coverage in many notable news outlets, including the Associated Press, Agence France Press, Bloomberg, Reuters, South China Morning Post, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
China Business Report highlights include:
AmCham Shanghai members can access the report via the publications page of our website.
European Business Recommendations: The European Chamber also released its yearly Position Paper this week. The 1,000 recommendations cover 35 industry groups and cross-sector topics. From their opening chapter: “The business community feels that predictability and reliability—core characteristics of China’s attractiveness as an investment destination—have been eroded as a result of erratic policy shifts…Sentiment is spreading that, with China’s economic growth slowing and its focus on ‘self-reliance’ solidifying, only foreign companies in industries that are directly supportive of China’s policy goals—or those that are temporarily needed due to a lack of local suppliers—will be able to prosper the way they did when China’s growth was pushing double digits.” The full report is available here.
ADB Growth Forecast Edges Down: Yesterday, the Asian Development Bank cut its 2023 GDP forecast for developing Asia to 4.7% from 4.8% in July, citing China’s property crisis as a significant factor. Their China-specific forecast dropped from 5.9% to 4.9%. Meanwhile, Chinese property prices continued to fall despite new measures in the past few weeks to boost consumption. New home prices dropped 0.29% month-over-month in August, slightly steeper than July’s -0.23%, while existing home prices fell by 0.48%, the fastest rate in nine years. The Wall Street Journal also has a piece on sky-high unoccupancy rates for office buildings in major Chinese cities — 24%, worse than the US’s hybrid work-driven, 30-year high of 18.2%.
Aircraft Order Flow: Boeing this week slightly elevated its annual 20-year forecast for Chinese civilian aircraft demand. The US planemaker predicted that Chinese airlines would “need 8,560 new commercial planes through 2042, up from 8,485 in its previous forecast last year.” The US company said it expects China’s civil aviation fleet to reach a lofty 9,600 aircraft over the next 20 years, buoyed by economic growth and soaring travel demand. Yet the skies are not entirely cerulean: Boeing has struggled to win orders from Chinese airlines in recent as years amid poor US-China relations.
Lipstick on a Pig: The New York Times examines the hurdles foreign cosmetics companies face importing to China. Chinse regulations require manufacturers to provide all their ingredients, quantities, and addresses of ingredient suppliers and assemblers to a database, sparking copycat concerns. Some products must also undergo animal testing before being sold domestically; though this requirement was dropped for most products two years ago, cosmetics that make health claims such as those with sunscreen or antiperspirant must still be tested on animals. France is spearheading advocacy on this topic, with finance minister Bruno Le Maire announcing in July that the two countries would set up a working group to address industry standards. From January to July, imports of French cosmetics, toiletries and perfumes to China fell 6.2% year-over-year despite overall cosmetics sales gaining 8.7%.
Huawei to Heaven: Huawei’s efforts to circumvent US sanctions and design the chips for its own Mate 60 Pro phones have caused angst in certain quarters. The concern is warranted, argues the Financial Times, which is calling Huawei’s ability to design its own processors “a breakthrough” that will help reduce the company’s reliance on foreign technology. Furthermore, “Huawei was able to produce its own phone processors by adapting CPU core designs that were originally used in its data centre servers…the strategy resembles Apple’s moves to turn its iPhone processors into chips capable of powering its Mac computers — but in reverse.” Huawei’s not there yet — its Mate 60 can overheat — but testing teams “have found that Huawei’s semiconductor capabilities are one to two years behind those of chips made by the US’s Qualcomm, the leading mobile chipmaker.” Knocking at the gates.
Middle East Mandarin Momentum: The South China Morning Post reports on the increasing number of Mandarin students in the Middle East “as part of a geopolitical shift in a region that has been traditionally regarded as a sphere of US influence.” Last month, Saudi Arabia made it mandatory for all secondary students to take Mandarin lessons. The UAE, Egypt and Iran have also worked with China to promote Mandarin in their curriculums. In the UAE, for example, Chinese language programs started in 100 schools in 2019 and have since expanded to 158. The growing interest in the language comes amid an opposite trend in the West. In the US, the number of university students enrolled in Mandarin classes peaked in 2013 and fell by 31% between 2016 and 2020, with similar drops in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany and Nordic countries.
Professional Hookups: With youth unemployment at a record high and LinkedIn gone, a surprising networking platform is emerging — Tinder. As Sixth Tone explains, the app, which requires a VPN to access, allows users to make connections farther outside their social circle and easily show their educational background and current job. “The difficulty in accessing Tinder is actually one of the reasons why some young Chinese consider it an ideal networking platform. The user base is skewed toward people who have studied overseas or work for international companies.” The strategy has its detractors, with some saying it’s unfair to those using the dating app for its intended use or reinforces the idea that women must depend on men to find a job. Others disagree, with one university student opining that “exploiting the networking potential of dating was a feminist act that challenges hookup culture.”
Many of us glorify overwork, immersing ourselves entirely in our jobs and compulsively moving from one responsibility to another. But this kind of relationship with work is unsustainable. How can you interrupt your tendency to push yourself too hard?
As a leader, you need to create the conditions for workers of all identities to flourish. This requires cultivating these four essential freedoms—and ensuring everyone has equal access to them:
As a leader, you need to create the conditions for workers of all identities to flourish. This requires cultivating these four essential freedoms—and ensuring everyone has equal access to them:
Charlie Munger died on Nov. 28 at age 99. These reflections on his life and career, which he wrote for CNBC Make It, are among his final writings.
My children and grandchildren might not think exactly the way I do, but I hope they can observe my life as an example of how to be successful in their careers and relationships — just as I did with the generations before me.
When I was very young, my father practiced law. One of his best friends, Grant McFayden, Omaha’s Pioneer Ford dealer, was a client. He was a brilliant and self-made man, with enormous charm and integrity.
In contrast, my father had another client who was pompous, unfair and difficult. One day, I asked my dad, “Why do you do so much work for Mr. X, this overreaching blowhard, instead of working more for wonderful men like Grant?”
“Grant treats his employees right, his customers right, and his problems right,” my father said. “He doesn’t have enough remunerative law business to keep you in Coca-Cola. But Mr. X is a walking minefield of wonderful legal business.”
This conversation taught me that sometimes, you may have to sell your services to an unreasonable blowhard, especially if that’s what you must do to feed your family. But you want to run your own life like Grant McFayden.
That was a great lesson that my father shared in a very clever way. Instead of just pounding it in, he told it to me in a way that required a slight mental reach. Since I had to reach for it, I’ve never forgotten it. And I’ve used his teaching method with my own children and grandchildren.
Here, two of my kids Charles and Wendy share key lessons they’ve learned from me over the years. My hope is that they’ll hold onto all of these until their 100th birthdays.
“On the last day of a family ski vacation in Sun Valley, when I was about 15, my dad and I were driving back in the snow when he took a 10-minute detour to gas up the red Jeep we were driving.
He was pressed for time to have our family catch the plane home, so I was surprised to notice as he pulled into the station that the tank was still half full. I asked my dad why we had stopped when we had plenty of gas, and he admonished me, “Charlie, when you borrow a man’s car, you always return it with a full tank of gas.”
My freshman year at Stanford, an acquaintance lent me his car. The favor was more because friends we had in common twisted his arm, than because he knew me all that well. The tank was half full, and the Audi Fox was red, which reminded me of that Jeep.
So I topped up the tank before I brought the car back. He noticed. We’ve had many good times since, and he was a groomsman in my wedding.
My dad never skipped a point of fairness and consideration. His example taught me how to get a good friend — and how to keep one.”
—Charles T. Munger, Jr.
“My dad often used the family dinner table as a forum to try to educate his children. One of his favorite educational tools was the ‘Morality Tale,’ in which someone faced an ethical problem and had to choose the correct path.
I remember a story he told us about a financial officer at one of his companies who made a mistake that resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the business. Once he realized his mistake, he went directly to the president of the company and told him about it.
The president said, ‘This was a terrible mistake, and we don’t want you ever to make another one like it. But people make mistakes, and we can forgive that. You did the right thing, which was to admit your mistake. If you had tried to hide it or cover it up for even a short time, you would be out of this company. As it is, we’d like you to stay.’
I always remember this story every time I hear of yet another government official who chose to cover up their mistake, instead of being honest and leading with integrity.”
—Wendy Munger
Charlie Munger was Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, and Warren Buffett’s closest business partner and right-hand man. As a legendary and pragmatic investor and active philanthropist, Munger was a Harvard Law graduate and was known for his wide-ranging wisdom across a multitude of disciplines — including psychology, economics, biology, history and physics. Munger served as a director of Costco Wholesale Corporation and as chairman of the Daily Journal Corporation. An abridged version of his book, “Poor Charlie’s Almanack,” is out now.
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