Boeing – SamaGamer

Jeff Bezos’ next move could forever change the game board of the aerospace industry. His company Blue Origin would be close to buying United Launch Alliance (ULA), the space launch business of the old glories Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

The deal is “almost done.” There were three potential buyers for ULA, but according to Ars Technica, Blue Origin is very close to closing the deal and taking the cake, so a formal announcement is expected in a couple of months.

According to the same source, the other two interested parties are a private equity firm and a smaller aerospace company that have been left in the background. The price of the acquisition, still a matter of conjecture, could range between 2,000 and 3,000 million dollars.

Bezos sells Amazon shares. One of the most intrusive clues to the movement is Jeff Bezos’ recent sale of Amazon shares. The tycoon sold $4 billion in shares of the company he founded and ran until the end of 2021.

In addition, Bezos made public in a filing to the SEC his intention to sell up to 50 million Amazon shares, valued at about $8,475 million, in the next 12 months. He will benefit from the low tax burden applied to capital by the state of Florida, where he recently moved to be close to his parents… and Blue Origin.

The end of an era: New Space now rules. ULA was created as a joint venture between the giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which dominated space launches in the United States until the emergence of SpaceX.

ULA specializes in government launches, but the price crash caused by SpaceX’s reusable rockets forced it to implement deep internal changes under the leadership of Tory Bruno. Bruno has managed to match his offer with that of Falcon rockets thanks to a new, more modern and cheaper launcher, the Vulcan Centaur, which debuted earlier this year with Blue Origin engines.

The unknown: what will happen to Tory Bruno. The leader of ULA is beloved, charismatic, and has had several run-ins with Elon Musk, a natural enemy of Jeff Bezos. But his role after the hypothetical sale to Blue Origin is unknown.

Blue Origin, founded in 2000, changed its CEO a few months ago. During this time, its new leader, David Limp, has managed to change the company’s image with more transparent communication focused on its progress. The object of ridicule for never having reached orbit, the company has just launched its first orbital rocket, the gigantic New Glenn, and expects its maiden flight this year (with a mission to Mars for NASA, no less). .

Hold on, Elon Musk, curves are coming. The competition between SpaceX and Blue Origin is more aspirational on the part of Jeff Bezos than a reality. After all, Blue Origin has yet to prove that it can reach orbit and land a giant rocket.

However, ULA’s technology (such as its advances in storing cryogenic fuels in space) gives Blue Origin a boost to compete with SpaceX and its Starship in the numerous missions to the Moon and deep space expected in the years. next years. Not to mention juicy contracts with NASA and the Pentagon, ULA’s main business.

A China Airlines Boeing 777-200LR recorded a speed of 1,329.3 km/h on a flight from Los Angeles (United States) to Taipei (Taiwan). The fact is curious because although the sound speed barrier is 1,234.8 km/h, and that the plane arrived 58 minutes early at its destination, there was no sonic boom or danger to the passengers.

Although the aircraft’s instruments showed speed values that we could understand as sonic, given that Mach 1 was technically exceeded, it was far from equaling the iconic Concorde. This scenario can be explained if we take into account two elements: a weather pattern and the relative speed between objects. Let’s look at it carefully.

The plane that exceeded 1,329 km/h

The Boeing 777-200LR have been designed to fly at a maximum speed of 950 km/h (Mach 0.89). However, as The Washington Post reports, a strong jet stream (or) that developed over the Pacific pushed the plane beyond its theoretical limits. That is, it increased its speed to a record level.

Talking about the jet stream is not something strange in the world of aviation. Pilots have been taking advantage of it since the beginning of this industry to reach their destination in less time and, above all, to save fuel. Sunday’s current, driven by the El Niño phenomenon, appeared as a tailwind for the China Airlines plane.

But, as we say, relative speed also came into play. The 1,329.3 km/h recorded on flight 5116 corresponded to its speed with respect to the ground (Ground Speed). The airspeed, that is, the speed with respect to the air, was well below Mach 1, so there was no possibility of breaking the sound barrier.

Let us remember that the flight of an airplane does not depend on the speed with respect to the ground, but rather with respect to the air flowing over its wings. We are talking about the principle of lift that allows airplanes, for example, to take off against a headwind even with a low ground speed. We can mention an example to understand it better.

Suppose we are flying at a speed of 90 km/h and encounter a persistent wind of 90 km/h. The ground speed of our plane will be 0 km/h, but this does not mean that the plane is literally falling. On the other hand, if we had a tailwind of 90 km/h, the speed with respect to the ground would be 180 km/h.