Upcoming shows
Real News

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



Maga First News

Upcoming Shows

Join The MAGA Network on Discord

0 0

Disney to pitch video streaming service to Wall Street

FILE PHOTO: The entrance to Walt Disney studios is seen in Burbank
FILE PHOTO: The entrance to Walt Disney studios is seen in Burbank, California, U.S. August 6, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

April 11, 2019

By Lisa Richwine

BURBANK, Calif. (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co on Thursday will unveil a family-friendly streaming service with TV shows and movies from some of the world’s most popular entertainment franchises in a bid to challenge the digital dominance of Netflix.

The ad-free monthly subscription called Disney+ is set to launch later this year. In addition to Disney films and TV shows, it will feature programming from the Marvel superhero universe, the “Star Wars” galaxy, “Toy Story” creator Pixar animation and the National Geographic channel.

Disney is hosting Wall Street analysts at its Burbank, California, headquarters to showcase the Disney+ app and provide additional details about its online media strategy.

The entertainment giant is trying to transform itself from a cable television powerhouse into a leader of streaming media. Chief Executive Bob Iger in February called streaming the company’s “No. 1 priority.”

The digital push is Disney’s response to cord-cutting, the dropping of cable service that has hit its ESPN sports network and other channels, and the rise of Netflix Inc. The Silicon Valley upstart has amassed 139 million customers worldwide since it began streaming 12 years ago.

The Mouse House will join the market at a time when audiences are facing a host of choices, and monthly bills, for digital entertainment. IPhone maker Apple Inc, AT&T Inc’s WarnerMedia and others plan new streaming services.

Disney has not yet announced a price for its new service.

To bolster its potential digital portfolio, Disney recently purchased film and TV assets from Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox and gained prized properties such as “Avatar.”

In a January regulatory filing, Disney reported losses of more than $1 billion for streaming-related investments in Hulu and technology company BAMtech.

Disney had been supplying new movies such as “Black Panther” and “Beauty and the Beast” to Netflix after their runs in theaters but ended that arrangement this year to feed its own streaming ambitions. The company estimated it is foregoing $150 million in licensing revenue this fiscal year by saving programming for its own platforms.

The Disney+ programming will draw in part from Disney’s deep library of classic family films. It also will include exclusive original content such as a live-action “Star Wars” series called “The Mandalorian,” a show focused on Marvel movie villain Loki, and animated “Monsters at Work,” inspired by hit Pixar movie “Monsters Inc.”

Some new Disney movies, such as a “Lady and the Tramp” remake, will go directly to the Disney+ app. Other new releases will appear on Disney+ after their run in theaters, executives have said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Source: OANN

0 0

The Latest: Wisconsin man, 24, wins $763M Powerball jackpot

The Latest on the winner of the $763 million Powerball ticket (all times local):

12:35 p.m.

A 24-year-old suburban Milwaukee man says he screamed for about 5 or 10 minutes after realizing he won a $763 million Powerball jackpot — the third largest in U.S. lottery history.

Manuel Franco, of West Allis, came forward at a news conference Tuesday in Madison, where Wisconsin's lottery is headquartered. Franco said his heart started racing when he realized one of the 10 individual tickets he bought a Powerball drawing last month was a winner.

Franco says he quit his job a couple days later but declined to say where he worked.

Franco says he plans to be wise about spending his new wealth and wants "to help out the world."

He says he chose the cash option lump sum of $477 million.

___

9:27 a.m.

The winner of Powerball lottery ticket worth an estimated $768 million will soon be revealed.

Lottery officials scheduled a news conference Tuesday in Wisconsin where the ticket was sold last month. Wisconsin lottery officials said a person coming forward to claim the third-largest jackpot in U.S. lottery history will attend the news conference. They didn't indicate whether it is one individual winner or a person representing a group of people.

The winning ticket was sold at a Speedway gas station in the Milwaukee suburb of New Berlin, a city of about 40,000 people roughly 14 miles (23 kilometers) southwest of Milwaukee. The ticket has a cash option of $477 million.

The gas station will receive $100,000 for selling the winning ticket.

Source: Fox News National

0 0

Congress Should ‘Move On’ After Mueller Probe, Poll Shows

DNA Force Plus

Limited Advanced Release

149.95

119.96

DNA Force Plus is finally here! Now you can support optimal energy levels while adapting your body to handle the daily bombardment of toxins to overhaul your body's cellular engines with a fan-favorite formula.

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/dna-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

DNA Force Plus

149.95

119.96

DNA Force Plus is finally here! Now you can support optimal energy levels while adapting your body to handle the daily bombardment of toxins to overhaul your body's cellular engines with a fan-favorite formula.

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/dna-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

DNA Force Plus

149.95

119.96

DNA Force Plus is finally here! Now you can support optimal energy levels while adapting your body to handle the daily bombardment of toxins to overhaul your body's cellular engines with a fan-favorite formula.

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/dna-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

DNA Force Plus

149.95

119.96

DNA Force Plus is finally here! Now you can support optimal energy levels while adapting your body to handle the daily bombardment of toxins to overhaul your body's cellular engines with a fan-favorite formula.

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/dna-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

DNA Force Plus

149.95

119.96

DNA Force Plus is finally here! Now you can support optimal energy levels while adapting your body to handle the daily bombardment of toxins to overhaul your body's cellular engines with a fan-favorite formula.

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/dna-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

DNA Force Plus

149.95

119.96

DNA Force Plus is finally here! Now you can support optimal energy levels while adapting your body to handle the daily bombardment of toxins to overhaul your body's cellular engines with a fan-favorite formula.

https://www.infowars.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/dna-210.jpg

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

https://www.infowarsstore.com/dna-force-plus.html?ims=jbdoh&utm_campaign=IWL-DNAForcePlus-20%25off-Widget&utm_source=Infowars+Widget&utm_medium=Banner&utm_content=Widget-DNFP-20%25off

Source: InfoWars

0 0

Oil near 2019 highs amid OPEC cuts, sanctions on Iran and Venezuela

FILE PHOTO: An oil pump jack pumps oil in a field near Calgary
FILE PHOTO: An oil pump jack pumps oil in a field near Calgary, Alberta, Canada, July 21, 2014. REUTERS/Todd Korol/File Photo

February 21, 2019

By Henning Gloystein

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices hovered just below 2019 highs on Thursday, bolstered by OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Iran.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $57.30 per barrel at 0046 GMT, up 14 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last settlement and not far off their 2019 high of $57.55 reached the previous day.

International Brent crude futures had yet to trade, but also hit a 2019 peak the day before, at $67.38 per barrel.

Hopes that talks between Washington and Beijing would soon resolve the trade disputes between the world’s biggest economies also supported markets.

Prices have been driven up this year by supply cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

OPEC as well as some non-affiliated producers such as Russia agreed late last year to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to prevent a large supply overhang from growing.

Another price driver has been U.S. sanctions against oil exporters Iran and Venezuela.

“Although there is no lack of resources, there is an increasing lack of access to them,” Britain’s Barclays bank said of the sanctions on Wednesday.

The main factor keeping oil prices from rising even further is soaring U.S. oil production, which rose by more than 2 million bpd last year, to a record 11.9 million bpd.

The swelling output has resulted in rising U.S. oil inventories.

U.S. crude oil stocks rose by 1.3 million barrels in the week to Feb. 15 to 448.5 million, according to a weekly report by the American Petroleum Institute on Wednesday.

Official oil inventory and production data is due to be published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) after 1800 GMT on Thursday.

(Reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Source: OANN

0 0

Gasly keeping Red Bull busy before season begins: Horner

FILE PHOTO: F1 - Pre Season Testing
FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 - Pre Season Testing - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain - February 28, 2019 Red Bull's Pierre Gasly during testing REUTERS/Albert Gea

March 9, 2019

By Jack Tarrant

TOKYO (Reuters) – Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly is keeping his new team busy ahead of the 2019 Formula One season, team principal Christian Horner said on Saturday.

Frenchman Gasly, who replaced Daniel Ricciardo at the team, crashed twice during pre-season testing in Barcelona last month, restricting team mate Max Verstappen’s time on track.

Ahead of the start of the new season in Australia next weekend, Gasly is already under pressure to prove he can compete for his new team.

“The team is very busy, with the first race being on the other side of the world, 10,000 miles away, in Australia,” Horner said at an event with new engine partners Honda in Tokyo.

“Pierre has kept the team even busier after his incident last week.”

Gasly, who was seated next to Horner, said: “I need to learn from these mistakes.”

“It wasn’t the best end of the two weeks but I will remember the positives and work on the negatives.

“I think overall, the package, the first feeling with it was great.

“Obviously, I am not feeling as comfortable as I would like with the car and it is my job to set it how I want with the team around me.”

Verstappen and Gasly also thrilled fans by performing doughnuts on the streets of the Japanese capital during a Red Bull promotional event. The drivers were in Tokyo in support of Honda, who will be supply the team with power units this year.

Red Bull parted company with engine partners Renault at the end of 2018.

Horner said the new relationship with Honda was blossoming and that the team were ready to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari in the championship.

“It is the start of a new era for Red Bull Racing with Honda,” he said.

“Everything we have seen from the power unit so far, it’s reliability, it’s performance, the way it is incorporated into the chassis, is extremely encouraging.

“We have had a positive pre-season and are hopeful and optimistic for the season ahead.”

Red Bull, who last won the championship in 2013, finished third overall last season, over 200 points behind winners Mercedes.

“Mercedes, having won five consecutive world championships now, and Ferrari are currently the benchmark,” said Horner.

“But we are confident we are closing that gap and we have all the tools around us to be really able to take the fight to both of those teams and manufacturers.”

The team will now travel to Melbourne ahead of the Australian Grand Prix on March 17.

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

Source: OANN

0 0

MLB notebook: Bathroom incident sends Snell to IL

MLB: Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays
Apr 13, 2019; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Blake Snell (4) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

April 17, 2019

The Tampa Bay Rays placed ace left-hander Blake Snell on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday due to a broken right toe.

Snell said he broke his toe when a decorative granite stand in his bathroom fell on his right foot as he was getting out of the shower Sunday night, the Tampa Bay Times reported. His IL placement is retroactive to Sunday.

On the season, the reigning American League Cy Young winner is 2-1 in four starts with a 2.16 ERA. In 25 innings, he has struck out 36 batters, tied for the major league lead entering Tuesday’s games.

Snell, 26, was 21-5 last season with a 1.89 ERA.

–The St. Louis Cardinals placed outfielder Tyler O’Neill and right-handed reliever Mike Mayers on the injured list one day after both players were injured during a loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

O’Neill sustained an ulnar nerve subluxation to his right elbow after making a throw home from center field in the bottom of the second inning Monday. He was pulled for a pinch hitter in the top of the third inning.

Mayers sustained a lat strain in his pitching shoulder. He felt cramping just before Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich blasted a three-run homer off of him in the sixth inning.

–Major League Baseball is investigating racist social media posts aimed at Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Carl Edwards, a league spokesman told The Athletic.

Edwards received racist messages on Instagram, according to the report, drawing the attention of the league as well as the players’ union.

The Cubs demoted Edwards to Triple-A Iowa earlier this month to iron out his woes to start the season. Edwards had a 32.40 ERA in four relief appearances this season, allowing six earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings.

–The Boston Red Sox designated former first-round pick Blake Swihart for assignment and recalled catcher Sandy Leon and right-hander Erasmo Ramirez from Triple-A Pawtucket.

Swihart, primarily a catcher, was batting .231 with one homer and four RBIs in 12 games this season. The 27-year-old also saw playing time at first base and left field. He batted .256 with nine homers and 58 RBIs in 202 games over parts of five seasons for Boston.

Leon, 30, has a .226 average with 20 homers and 104 RBIs over parts of seven major league seasons. He spent three seasons with the Washington Nationals (2012-14) before playing the last four for Boston.

–First baseman Greg Bird joined an overflowing injured list for the New York Yankees.

Bird is out with a torn plantar fascia in his left foot and was placed on the 10-day IL retroactive to April 14. The Yankees have 12 players on the injured list, including catcher Gary Sanchez (calf), third baseman Miguel Andujar (shoulder), shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (calf), second baseman Didi Gregorius (elbow) and Bird.

Replacing Bird on the roster is first baseman Mike Ford, who was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and joined the Yankees as they opened a series with Boston.

–Major League Baseball is gearing up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence with the announcement that the 2026 All-Star Game will be played in Philadelphia.

Commissioner Rob Manfred delivered the news in front of Independence Hall, sharing the stage with All-Stars past and present including Phillies Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt and new Philadelphia outfielder Bryce Harper.

This will be the fifth Midsummer Classic in Philadelphia, which was hosted at Shibe Park in 1943 and 1952 and at Veterans Stadium in 1976 and 1996, but will mark the first All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004. Cleveland will host this year’s 90th All-Star Game on July 9, and Los Angeles will host the 2020 game at Dodger Stadium. Sites for 2021-25 have not been named.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

0 0

Italian government defuses row over rail link, halts tenders

FILE PHOTO: The entrance of the tunnel of a high-speed train line, known as TAV (Treno Alta Velocita) is seen in Saint-Martin-de-la-Porte
FILE PHOTO: The entrance of the tunnel of a high-speed train line, known as TAV (Treno Alta Velocita) is seen in Saint-Martin-de-la-Porte, France, November 13, 2018. Picture taken November 13, 2018. REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo

March 9, 2019

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s prime minister halted on Saturday the launch of tenders for a high-speed rail link to France, defusing a dispute within the ruling coalition over the project that had threatened to bring down the government.

The multibillion-euro TAV project (Treno Alta Velocita) is backed by Matteo Salvini’s League party but strongly opposed by its coalition partner, 5-Star Movement, which argues that Italy’s share of the funding would be better spent upgrading existing roads and bridges.

Tensions between the two sides had escalated ahead of a Monday deadline for the company overseeing the project, TELT, to launch tenders to carry out works on it.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said in a post on Facebook he had asked TELT to halt the tenders because his government had committed to “totally re-discussing” the project.

Conte published a response from TELT, which said it would only launch the tenders for the French portion of the rail link on Monday in order to avoid losing European Union funding.

Conte said that Italy would hold discussions with France and the EU in light of a recent cost-benefit analysis commissioned by the Italian government, which found the TAV was a waste of public money.

Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio, who is leader of the 5-Star Movement, said earlier in a Facebook post that the dispute was “being resolved positively.”

“Let’s talk about something else and carry on,” he wrote.

The TAV is a joint venture between the Italian and French states to link the cities of Turin and Lyon with a 58-km (36-mile) tunnel through the Alps on which work has already begun.

The EU has pledged to fund up to 40 percent of the costs of the TAV, Italy up to 35 percent and France up to 25 percent.

Italy’s transport minister, a 5-Star official, puts the total price tag at more than 20 billion euros ($22.6 billion).

His French counterpart, Elisabeth Borne, said on Friday the European Commission had let it be known it was willing to increase its share to 50 percent, leaving France and Italy to finance 25 percent each.

A European Union official had told Reuters the project could lose up to 300 million euros of EU funds if the tenders were not launched by the end of March.

The long-running dispute suddenly escalated late on Thursday and raised the risk of a government collapse, with Di Maio accusing Salvini of acting irresponsibly by insisting the train link should go ahead.

Salvini reiterated on Friday that the League would “never” vote in parliament to block the project, as 5-Star wants.

But on Saturday he sought to quell fears that the government could fall over the rail link.

“Italy needs a government … There won’t be a crisis,” he said in an interview with news channel Sky TG24.

(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte and Elvira Pollina; Writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Helen Popper)

Source: OANN

NOW ON AIR
Now On Air

Story Time

1:00 am 6:00 am



Joe Biden’s brain surgeon said his former patient is “totally in the clear” as speculation over the candidate’s health — with Biden possibly becoming the oldest president in U.S. history — is likely to become a campaign issue.

The former vice president, who had been perceived by many as the strongest potential contender for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination, formally announced his candidacy Thursday.

But Biden’s age – 76 – is expected to become a source of attacks from a younger generation of Democrats not because of obvious generational differences, but possibly for actual health concerns if Biden gets into office.

WHY THE MEDIA ARE CONVINCED JOE BIDEN WILL IMPLODE

Biden himself agreed last year that “it’s totally legitimate” for people to ask questions about his health if he decides to run for president, given his medical history — which has included brain surgery in 1988.

“I think they’re gonna judge me on my vitality,” Biden told “CBS This Morning.” “Can I still run up the steps of Air Force Two? Am I still in good shape? Am I – do I have all my faculties? Am I energetic? I think it’s totally legitimate people ask those questions.”

“I think they’re gonna judge me on my vitality. …  I think it’s totally legitimate [that] people ask those questions.”

— Joe Biden

But Dr. Neal Kassell, the neurosurgeon who operated on Biden for an aneurysm three decades ago, told the Washington Examiner that Biden appears to be “totally in the clear” — and even joked that the operation made Biden “better than how he was.”

“Joe Biden of all of the politicians in Washington is the only one that I’m certain has a brain, because I have seen it,” Kassell said. “That’s more than I can say about all the other candidates or the incumbents.”

“Joe Biden of all of the politicians in Washington is the only one that I’m certain has a brain, because I have seen it.”

— Dr. Neal Kassell

BIDEN’S CLAIM HE DIDN’T WANT OBAMA TO ENDORSE TRIGGERS MOCKERY

At the same time, however, Biden hasn’t been forthcoming about his health at least since 2008 when he released his medical records as a vice presidential candidate. The disclosure that time revealed some fairly minor issues such as an irregular heartbeat in addition to detailing previous operations, including removing a benign polyp during a colonoscopy in 1996, the outlet reported.

It remains unclear if Biden had more aneurysms. Some medical experts say that people who have had an aneurysm can have another one.

An aneurysm, or a weakening of an artery wall, can lead to a rupture and internal bleeding, potentially placing a patient’s life in jeopardy.

Biden won’t be the only Democrat grappling with old age. Sen. Bernie Sanders, another 2020 frontrunner, is currently 77 years old and agreed with Biden last year that their ages will be an issue in the race.

“It’s part of a discussion, but it has to be part of an overall view of what somebody is and what somebody has accomplished,” Sanders told Politico.

“Look, you’ve got people who are 50 years of age who are not well, right? You’ve got people who are 90 years of age who are going to work every day, doing excellent work. And obviously, age is a factor. But it depends on the overall health and wellbeing of the individual.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Sanders released his medical records in 2016, with a Senate physician saying in a letter that the senator was “in overall very good health.”

Source: Fox News Politics

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Cambodian authorities have ordered a one-hour reduction in the length of school days because of concerns that students and teachers may fall ill from a prolonged heat wave.

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said in an announcement seen Friday that the shortened hours will remain in effect until the rainy season starts, which usually occurs in May. The current heat wave, in which temperatures are regularly reaching as high as 41 Celsius (106 Fahrenheit), is one of the longest in memory.

Most schools in Cambodia lack air conditioning, prompting concern that temperatures inside classrooms could rise to unhealthy levels.

School authorities were instructed to watch for symptoms of heat stroke and urge pupils to drink more water.

The new hours cut 30 minutes off the beginning of the school day and 30 minutes off the end.

School authorities instituted a similar measure in 2016.

Source: Fox News World

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Explosions have rocked Britain’s largest steel plant, injuring two people and shaking nearby homes.

South Wales Police say the incident at the Tata Steel plant in Port Talbot was reported at about 3:35 a.m. Friday (22:35 EDT Thursday). The explosions touched off small fires, which are under control. Two workers suffered minor injuries and all staff members have been accounted for.

Police say early indications are that the explosions were caused by a train used to carry molten metal into the plant. Tata Steel says its personnel are working with emergency services at the scene.

Local lawmaker Stephen Kinnock says the incident raises concerns about safety.

He tweeted: “It could have been a lot worse … @TataSteelEurope must conduct a full review, to improve safety.”

Source: Fox News World

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
The Wider Image: China's start-ups go small in age of 'shoebox' satellites
LinkSpace’s reusable rocket RLV-T5, also known as NewLine Baby, is carried to a vacant plot of land for a test launch in Longkou, Shandong province, China, April 19, 2019. REUTERS/Jason Lee

April 26, 2019

By Ryan Woo

LONGKOU, China (Reuters) – During initial tests of their 8.1-metre (27-foot) tall reusable rocket, Chinese engineers from LinkSpace, a start-up led by China’s youngest space entrepreneur, used a Kevlar tether to ensure its safe return. Just in case.

But when the Beijing-based company’s prototype, called NewLine Baby, successfully took off and landed last week for the second time in two months, no tether was needed.

The 1.5-tonne rocket hovered 40 meters above the ground before descending back to its concrete launch pad after 30 seconds, to the relief of 26-year-old chief executive Hu Zhenyu and his engineers – one of whom cartwheeled his way to the launch pad in delight.

LinkSpace, one of China’s 15-plus private rocket manufacturers, sees these short hops as the first steps towards a new business model: sending tiny, inexpensive satellites into orbit at affordable prices.

Demand for these so-called nanosatellites – which weigh less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and are in some cases as small as a shoebox – is expected to explode in the next few years. And China’s rocket entrepreneurs reckon there is no better place to develop inexpensive launch vehicles than their home country.

“For suborbital clients, their focus will be on scientific research and some commercial uses. After entering orbit, the near-term focus (of clients) will certainly be on satellites,” Hu said.

In the near term, China envisions massive constellations of commercial satellites that can offer services ranging from high-speed internet for aircraft to tracking coal shipments. Universities conducting experiments and companies looking to offer remote-sensing and communication services are among the potential domestic customers for nanosatellites.

A handful of U.S. small-rocket companies are also developing launchers ahead of the expected boom. One of the biggest, Rocket Lab, has already put 25 satellites in orbit.

No private company in China has done that yet. Since October, two – LandSpace and OneSpace – have tried but failed, illustrating the difficulties facing space start-ups everywhere.

The Chinese companies are approaching inexpensive launches in different ways. Some, like OneSpace, are designing cheap, disposable boosters. LinkSpace’s Hu aspires to build reusable rockets that return to Earth after delivering their payload, much like the Falcon 9 rockets of Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“If you’re a small company and you can only build a very, very small rocket because that’s all you have money for, then your profit margins are going to be narrower,” said Macro Caceres, analyst at U.S. aerospace consultancy Teal Group.

“But if you can take that small rocket and make it reusable, and you can launch it once a week, four times a month, 50 times a year, then with more volume, your profit increases,” Caceres added.

Eventually LinkSpace hopes to charge no more than 30 million yuan ($4.48 million) per launch, Hu told Reuters.

That is a fraction of the $25 million to $30 million needed for a launch on a Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems Pegasus, a commonly used small rocket. The Pegasus is launched from a high-flying aircraft and is not reusable.

(Click https://reut.rs/2UVBjKs to see a picture package of China’s rocket start-ups. Click https://tmsnrt.rs/2GIy9Bc for an interactive look at the nascent industry.)

NEED FOR CASH

LinkSpace plans to conduct suborbital launch tests using a bigger recoverable rocket in the first half of 2020, reaching altitudes of at least 100 kilometers, then an orbital launch in 2021, Hu told Reuters.

The company is in its third round of fundraising and wants to raise up to 100 million yuan, Hu said. It had secured tens of millions of yuan in previous rounds.

After a surge in fresh funding in 2018, firms like LinkSpace are pushing out prototypes, planning more tests and even proposing operational launches this year.

Last year, equity investment in China’s space start-ups reached 3.57 billion yuan ($533 million), a report by Beijing-based investor FutureAerospace shows, with a burst of financing in late 2018.

That accounted for about 18 percent of global space start-up investments in 2018, a historic high, according to Reuters calculations based on a global estimate by Space Angels. The New York-based venture capital firm said global space start-up investments totaled $2.97 billion last year.

“Costs for rocket companies are relatively high, but as to how much funding they need, be it in the hundreds of millions, or tens of millions, or even just a few million yuan, depends on the company’s stage of development,” said Niu Min, founder of FutureAerospace.

FutureAerospace has invested tens of millions of yuan in LandSpace, based in Beijing.

Like space-launch startups elsewhere in the world, the immediate challenge for Chinese entrepreneurs is developing a safe and reliable rocket.

Proven talent to develop such hardware can be found in China’s state research institutes or the military; the government directly supports private firms by allowing them to launch from military-controlled facilities.

But it’s still a high-risk business, and one unsuccessful launch might kill a company.

“The biggest problem facing all commercial space companies, especially early-stage entrepreneurs, is failure” of an attempted flight, Liang Jianjun, chief executive of rocket company Space Trek, told Reuters. That can affect financing, research, manufacturing and the team’s morale, he added.

Space Trek is planning its first suborbital launch by the end of June and an orbital launch next year, said Liang, who founded the company in late 2017 with three other former military technical officers.

Despite LandSpace’s failed Zhuque-1 orbital launch in October, the Beijing-based firm secured 300 million yuan in additional funding for the development of its Zhuque-2 rocket a month later.

In December, the company started operating China’s first private rocket production facility in Zhejiang province, in anticipation of large-scale manufacturing of its Zhuque-2, which it expects to unveil next year.

STATE COMPETITION

China’s state defense contractors are also trying to get into the low-cost market.

In December, the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) successfully launched a low-orbit communication satellite, the first of 156 that CASIC aims to deploy by 2022 to provide more stable broadband connectivity to rural China and eventually developing countries.

The satellite, Hongyun-1, was launched on a rocket supplied by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC), the nation’s main space contractor.

In early April, the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALVT), a subsidiary of CASC, completed engine tests for its Dragon, China’s first rocket meant solely for commercial use, clearing the path for a maiden flight before July.

The Dragon, much bigger than the rockets being developed by private firms, is designed to carry multiple commercial satellites.

At least 35 private Chinese companies are working to produce more satellites.

Spacety, a satellite maker based in southern Hunan province, plans to put 20 satellites in orbit this year, including its first for a foreign client, chief executive Yang Feng told Reuters.

The company has only launched 12 on state-produced rockets since the company started operating in early 2016.

“When it comes to rocket launches, what we care about would be cost, reliability and time,” Yang said.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Gerry Doyle)

Source: OANN

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

At least one person is reported dead and homes have been destroyed by a powerful cyclone that struck northern Mozambique and continues to dump rain on the region, with the United Nations warning of “massive flooding.”

Cyclone Kenneth arrived just six weeks after Cyclone Idai tore into central Mozambique, killing more than 600 people and displacing scores of thousands. The U.N. says this is the first time in known history that the southern African nation has been hit by two cyclones in one season.

Forecasters say the new cyclone made landfall Thursday night in a part of Mozambique that has not seen such a storm in at least 60 years.

Mozambique’s local emergency operations center says a woman in the city of Pemba was killed by a falling tree.

Source: Fox News World

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!

Listen to https://magaoneradio.net and Listen Daily! Don't Forget to Share Click a Link Below!
Current track

Title

Artist