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Volkswagen warns on jobs as margins slip, electric plans accelerate

Herbert Diess, CEO of German carmaker Volkswagen addresses the media during the annual news conference at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg
Herbert Diess, CEO of German carmaker Volkswagen addresses the media during the annual news conference at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, Germany March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

March 12, 2019

By Edward Taylor

WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Volkswagen will cut jobs as it speeds up the rollout of less labor-intensive electric cars and will review its sprawling portfolio of brands as it battles to reverse a slide in profit margins, the German carmaker said on Tuesday.

The company said it planned to launch almost 70 new electric models by 2028, aiming to put itself at the forefront of the industry’s shift to zero-emissions driving following the 2015 scandal over its cheating of U.S. diesel emissions tests.

However, it said investments to retool factories, as well as adverse currency moves and a sales slowdown triggered by new emissions certification tests, led to a fall in operating margins at its VW, Skoda, Audi and Porsche marques last year.

The margin at its top-selling VW brand slipped to 3.8 percent in 2018 from 4.2 percent in 2017.

“Despite all the rhetoric, the opportunity to reduce an historically high fixed cost base, 2018 actually saw a new high,” Evercore ISI analysts said. “This is unacceptable.”

At 1550 GMT, Volkswagen shares were down 2.1 percent at 143.54 euros.

The group said it would respond by aligning management pay and bonuses more closely with profitability, cutting manufacturing complexity and reducing headcount by an unspecified amount.

Chief Executive Herbert Diess also said it is reviewing its portfolio of brands, which also include Lamborghini, Ducati and Bentley, and whether to divest some non-core businesses.

He said there might be an update in the second half of this year, but added he was not thinking about selling Skoda or Porsche, as they used vehicle platforms of the wider group.

Diess said it had not been possible to strike a deal with unions to raise profitability at the VW brand in 2018. The group is now focusing on cost cuts at the VW brand and Audi, it said.

“Labor cost is a big concern for us. It’s part of the dispute we are having currently with the union. Our plan was to improve productivity and decrease costs which didn’t work out in 2018,” Diess told analysts after the company’s annual results.

Volkswagen is preparing to roll out a new compact electric car, known as the ID, in 2020 as part of a drive that it expects will see it building 22 million electric cars by 2028 – despite uncertainty about the level of demand for such vehicles.

“The reality is that building an electric car involves some 30 percent less effort than one powered by an internal combustion engine,” Diess said. “That means we need to make job cuts.”

AUDI CHALLENGES

The VW brand has brought forward its target of achieving a return on sales of 6 percent to 2022, but this will also involve cutting jobs, the company said.

The brand has ruled out compulsory redundancies until 2025 and is counting on natural attrition and voluntary retirements.

In addition, the group is raising efficiency in production. The VW brand has reduced the number of its model variants by 25 percent. At Audi, the drop is 30 percent.

Volkswagen said it was also ramping up investments in China, the world’s’ largest autos market, where it has joint ventures with local companies JAC and FAW. It will increase the number of SUVs it offers in China to 14 from six.

Along with its local partners, Volkswagen plans to invest 4 billion euros in 2019, China Chief Stephan Woellenstein told analysts. The group, which has 4,200 research and development engineers in China, wants to develop connectivity, autonomous driving and smart infrastructure expertise in China, he added.

Volkswagen also announced a push to hire software engineers as a way to better compete with newer technology focused rivals like Tesla, which have gained an edge with over-the-air software updates for cars.

“Today our 20,000 developers are 90 percent hardware-oriented. That will change radically by 2030. Software will account for half of our development costs,” Diess said.

Volkswagen’s scale would be an important asset in the race to succeed in electric cars, he added. “I take start ups seriously like Tesla … But this is a scale game I think we have a good chance to succeed.”

Volkswagen released detailed 2018 results after announcing some figures last month, when it said group operating profit rose 0.7 percent to 13.92 billion euros ($15.8 billion), below the 14.53 billion euros forecast in a poll.

Audi and Porsche made up the lion’s share of group operating profit – 4.7 billion euros and 4.1 billion euros respectively, before one-off items. The VW brand contributed 3.2 billion.

But Audi’s profitability slipped, due to a 1.2 billion euros diesel-related charge and delays getting its vehicles to conform to a stricter emissions testing standard known as WLTP.

“Audi was hit particularly hard. It will probably be the end of the first quarter before all variants are available again,” Diess said.

The luxury Bentley brand plunged to an operating loss of 288 million euros last year, from a profit of 55 million a year earlier, hit by delays ramping up production of the new Continental GT and exchange rate effects.

Volkswagen stuck to its forecast for revenue to grow up to 5 percent this year, and for a group operating return on sales of 6.5-7.5 percent.

(Reporting by Edward Taylor; Editing by Keith Weir and Mark Potter)

Source: OANN

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Chelsea Manning moved out of solitary confinement after 4 weeks, reps say; was jailed for refusing to testify

Chelsea Manning has been transferred to general jail population after a judge found her in contempt of court last month for refusing to go before a grand jury probing WikiLeaks, her representatives said Thursday.

The update on Manning came via her Twitter account, which appears to have been actively managed during her time behind bars.

CHELSEA MANNING IN CUSTODY AFTER REFUSING TO TESTIFY BEFORE FEDERAL GRAND JURY IN WIKILEAKS PROBE

“After 28 days in so-called ‘administrative segregation’ (solitary confinement), Chelsea has finally been moved into general population at Truesdale Detention Center,” her account tweeted.

Her team went on to extend Manning’s appreciation for those who supported her and urged her followers to donate money so her legal team can keep working on her case.

CHELSEA MANNING SEEKS IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM VIRGINIA JAIL

“Chelsea is extremely grateful for everyone's support. While this is a big win, there's still a road ahead to get her out of jail,” they tweeted. “Please donate to Chelsea's legal fund so her lawyers can continue to work on her appeal and bring her home.”

Manning, a former U.S. Army analyst, was taken into custody in March after she said in a hearing that she did not intend to testify before a federal grand jury. The judge ordered Manning to remain in jail until she testifies or until the grand jury concludes its work.

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Earlier this week, Manning’s legal team filed a motion with a federal appeals court in Virginia, fighting for her to be released on bail while the judge’s jail order is appealed.

Manning previously served seven years in prison for leaking military and diplomatic documents to WikiLeaks before then-President Obama commuted her sentence.

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Work begins to replace layer of border wall in San Diego

Construction has begun on the fifth border wall project of Donald Trump's presidency, replacing up to 14 miles (22 kilometers) of barrier in San Diego.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Tuesday that the first panels are in place to replace a steel-mesh fence with steel bollards up to 30 feet (9 meters) high. SLSCO Ltd. of Galveston, Texas, was awarded the $101 million contract in December.

It is the second layer of barrier in San Diego. Work on replacing the first layer is nearly complete, which is also 14 miles long and made of steel bollards up to 30 feet high.

Construction began three days after Trump declared a national emergency to build his proposed border wall with Mexico. Lawsuits have been filed over the emergency declaration.

Source: Fox News National

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Cinema vs. streaming: the battle over when and where you can see movies

FILE PHOTO: The Netflix logo is seen on their office in Hollywood, Los Angeles
FILE PHOTO: The Netflix logo is seen on their office in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S. July 16, 2018. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

April 10, 2019

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – While superheroes, monsters and aliens battle on the big screen, a real-life fight is raging behind the scenes that will determine what moviegoers will see at their local cinemas.

The off-screen skirmish centers around the theatrical “window,” the time a movie plays exclusively in U.S. theaters before it can be released on DVD or digital. That period averages 90 days, but upheaval across the media business is fueling debate on whether that should shrink.

At stake is the future of movie theaters and small-screen entertainment as new technology giants upend decades of Hollywood tradition.

Netflix Inc has streamed original movies at the same time, or just a few weeks after, their debut in cinemas. Competitor Amazon Studios has said it would like some of its films to play for only two to eight weeks in theaters before hitting the Amazon Prime Video streaming service.

Many theater owners object, citing potential damage to their business. The group that awards the Oscars is weighing whether to respond, and A-list celebrities are taking sides.

Adam Aron, chief executive of AMC Entertainment Holdings, the world’s largest theater operator, said his company would “consider any and all alternatives” but any changes to the current industry standard “would have to be beneficial to us or neutral to us.”

Even the king of the multiplex – Walt Disney Co – is getting into streaming, and is set to unveil details on Thursday of its strategy. That has stoked concern that it, too, might want movies in living rooms sooner.

Disney executives insist they remain rock-solid behind existing windows for big event films. Disney’s franchise fare such as “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War” generated a total $7.3 billion at global box offices in 2018.

At a recent CinemaCon convention for theater owners in Las Vegas, Disney and other studios stressed the special experience of watching a film in a darkened theater.

“A lot more people have had their first kiss in a movie theater than their parents’ living room,” said Toby Emmerich, a senior executive at Warner Bros., part of AT&T Inc’s WarnerMedia, which also plans a streaming push.

Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren was more forthright. “I love Netflix, but fuck Netflix!” she said to cheers and applause. “There’s nothing like sitting in the cinema and the lights go down.”

Netflix is in talks to buy the Egyptian Theatre, a historic movie house in the heart of Hollywood, a source with knowledge of the matter said. Netflix would host premieres and other industry events at the theater, which opened in 1922, the source said.

Amazon Studios boss Jennifer Salke, meanwhile, declared the company “committed to the theatrical experience.” In June, it is slated to release comedy “Late Night” in theaters, with a traditional window.

Shorter windows would keep some customers at home, said Greg Marcus, chief executive of The Marcus Corporation, owner of the fourth-largest U.S. theater chain.

“If you damage the business and take away 10 percent of our customers, we won’t be able to reinvest in the theatrical experience,” Marcus said. “That would ultimately hurt content providers.”

Others said consumers are happy with the current system. Ticket sales in 2018 reached a record $41 billion globally and $12 billion in the United States and Canada, even as Netflix released about 90 movies for streaming.

“We’re not talking about something that’s broken,” Vue International cinemas CEO Tim Richards said in an interview.

OSCAR SHOWDOWN

“Windowing” is expected to be on the agenda this month at a meeting about rules governing the Academy Awards.

Some members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the group that awards the Oscars, have been debating whether films must play in theaters for a specific length of time to be eligible.

Director Steven Spielberg told Britain’s ITV News last year that movies seen primarily via streaming should compete for Emmys, not Oscars. A representative declined to comment on whether the director will urge the Academy to address the issue.

In February, Netflix won three Oscars for “Roma,” which streamed three weeks after a limited theatrical debut. Netflix tweeted that it “loved cinema” but also supported access for people who cannot afford, or do not live close to, theaters.

The Justice Department has waded in, warning the Academy that some eligibility limits could be anti-competitive.

An Academy spokesperson said any changes would be weighed at the April 23 meeting.

The issue could flare up later this year when Netflix releases “The Irishman,” a mob drama directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

Filmmakers hope “The Irishman” will play broadly in theaters, De Niro said in an interview, though they realize Netflix’s chief audience is its streaming customers.

“They’re not going to cut their noses to spite their face,” De Niro said. “We get it. This kind of movie has to be presented that way.”

But he added: “We’re working it out so we can have as much theatrical as possible.”

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Additional reporting by Rollo Ross in Las Vegas and Alicia Powell in New York; Editing by Kenneth Li and Rosalba O’Brien)

Source: OANN

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Investors bullish on U.S. Treasuries for sixth straight week: survey

A Wall St. street sign is seen near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York
FILE PHOTO: A Wall St. street sign is seen near the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., March 7, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

March 19, 2019

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors remained bullish on longer-dated U.S. Treasuries for a sixth consecutive week on worries about a slowing economy and expectations inflation will stay muted despite a tight domestic labor market, a J.P. Morgan survey showed on Tuesday.

The margin of investors who said they were “long,” or holding more Treasuries than their portfolio benchmarks, over those who said they were “short,” or holding fewer Treasuries than their benchmarks, increased to nine percentage points from 7 points the prior week, according to the survey.

Three weeks ago, the gap between longs and shorts rose to 11 percentage points, the highest since September 2016.

The survey results come the same day Fed policymakers begin a two-day meeting at which they are expected to leave interest rates unchanged.Twenty-eight percent of the investors surveyed said on Monday for a third straight week they were long on U.S. government bonds, the J.P. Morgan survey showed.

The share of investors who said they were short Treasuries fell to 19 percent from 21 percent a week ago.

The percentage of investors who said they were “neutral,” or holding Treasuries equal to their portfolio benchmarks, edged up to 53 percent from 51 percent the week before, J.P. Morgan said.

Positions among active clients, which include market makers and hedge funds, showed no bearish bets on longer-dated Treasuries. Active net longs rose to 30 percent, the highest since May 2018, while the share of these clients who said they were neutral increased to 70 percent from 60 percent.

In early Tuesday trading, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury was 2.6267 percent, up from 2.6050 percent a week ago.

(GRAPHIC: Investors positions in longer-dated U.S. Treasuries – https://tmsnrt.rs/2V9OjHR)

(Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

Source: OANN

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Boeing unveils 737 MAX software fix after fatal crashes

FILE PHOTO: An aerial photo shows Boeing 737 MAX airplanes parked on the tarmac at the Boeing Factory in Renton
FILE PHOTO: An aerial photo shows Boeing 737 MAX airplanes parked on the tarmac at the Boeing Factory in Renton, Washington, U.S. March 21, 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson/File Photo/File Photo

March 27, 2019

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing Co said on Wednesday it had reprogrammed software on its 737 MAX to prevent erroneous data from triggering an anti-stall system that is facing mounting scrutiny in the wake of two deadly nose-down crashes in the past five months.

The planemaker said the anti-stall system, which is believed to have repeatedly forced the nose lower in at least one of the accidents, in Indonesia last October, would only do so once per event after sensing a problem, giving pilots more control.

It will also be disabled if two airflow sensors that measure key flight data offer widely different readings, Boeing said, confirming details reported by Reuters on Tuesday.

“We are going to do everything that we can do to ensure that accidents like these never happen again,” Mike Sinnett, Vice President for Product Strategy and Future Airplane Development told reporters on Wednesday at a Boeing facility near Seattle.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson, Editing by Tim Hepher)

Source: OANN

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Setback for Macron as court vetoes key plank of anti-protest law

FILE PHOTO - French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint statement with Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar at the Elysee Palace in Paris
FILE PHOTO - French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint statement with Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, April 2, 2019. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

April 4, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron’s crackdown on anti-government protests with tougher police tactics hit a fresh snag on Thursday as France’s Constitutional Court canned one of the central elements of the new rules.

The measures, ushered in to respond to “yellow vest” demonstrations that have descended off and on into violent riots over the past four months, had already caused unease even within Macron’s party and were decried as heavy-handed by opponents.

They include giving police the power to search demonstrators and ban them from covering their faces, two of the more controversial parts of the legislation which have now been approved by the Constitutional Court.

But the court struck down another article, which would have given police the right to ban anyone pre-emptively identified as a troublemaker from demonstrating.

The court said in a statement that the measure had been drafted too loosely, and did not specify that a person would have had to have been especially violent or destructive in a previous protest to be deemed a threat to public order.

Macron himself had joined opposition politicians in asking the court to examine the legislation, in an attempt to placate the left-leaning wing of his parliamentary majority – and highlighting the sensitivity of the new bill and unease in his party ranks over a lurch to the right on issues like security.

The rules were passed by France’s senate and the lower house of parliament, where Macron’s party has a comfortable majority, but an unprecedented number of his lawmakers abstained.

One MP, Matthieu Orphelin, left the ruling party as a result. He welcomed the court’s decision on Thursday, saying that it showed “that our doubts were justified.”

France’s human rights watchdog had also warned in March of a steady erosion of civil liberties, reflected in the police tactics used during the “yellow vest” protests, which erupted last November as a backlash over the high cost of living.

Thousands of protesters have since been arrested and many wounded, drawing scrutiny over the use of crowd control weapons like dispersal “sting-ball” grenades.

Yet the government has also felt the heat for failing to prevent rioting on Paris’ Champs Elysee in mid-March, when stores were ransacked and restaurants were damaged.

One police union said on Thursday it regretted the Constitutional Court’s decision, adding it would hamper the work of security forces.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said he would examine whether and how to follow up on the scrapped measure, but welcomed the court’s green light for the rest of the new rules.

Macron’s approval ratings fell by three percentage points to 28 percent at the start of April, an Elabe poll for Les Echos and Radio Classique found on Thursday.

That followed three back-to-back months where his popularity gradually recovered from record lows.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Writing by Sarah White, Editing by William Maclean)

Source: OANN

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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.”

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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