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Royal astrologer casts Thai king’s horoscope ahead of coronation

Lertviroj Kowattana, permanent secretary of the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, dressed in a traditional costume, greets Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn during the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony in central Bangkok
FILE PHOTO: Lertviroj Kowattana, permanent secretary of the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, dressed in a traditional costume, greets Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn during the annual Royal Ploughing Ceremony in central Bangkok, Thailand, May 14, 2018. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

April 23, 2019

By Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Panarat Thepgumpanat

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s royal astrologer cast King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s horoscope on Tuesday in an important ritual to prepare for his elaborate coronation ceremonies next week.

Saffron-clad Buddhist monks chanted as the horoscope for the king’s reign was cast on a golden plaque.

The three-hour ceremony included the inscription of the king’s name and new royal title on another golden plaque, and the carving of the king’s official seal.

Thai culture is steeped in astrology and other forms of divination, and many Thais go to fortune-tellers for everything from guidance on career and love to setting dates for important life events like weddings and business ventures.

Astrology in the royal court, involving rigid rituals and precise calculations, is a world away from commoners’ divinations.

Court astrologers traditionally make predictions about the future at every important transition in the nation’s history.

Court astrologer Chatchai Pinngern cast the horoscope of King Maha Vajiralongkorn in the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which is attached to the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

Neither the horoscope, which notes planetary alignments based on precise details around a person’s birth, nor its interpretation were made public.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn, 66, was not present for the ceremony but sent a royal representative.

The ceremony also saw the inscription of the king’s new name and title on another golden plate, and an engraving of his royal seal which is an auspicious symbol that is said to show the sovereignty and the majesty of the king.

The royal horoscope and the other two items will play essential roles in Vajiralongkorn’s main coronation events on May 4, as they will be presented to the king by Thailand’s chief of Brahmins, along with other royal regalia.

The coronation ceremonies from May 4 to 6 will be the first the country has seen since Vajiralongkorn’s father, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, was crowned on May 5, 1950.

King Bhumibol reigned for seven decades before he died in October 2016 at age 88.

(Reporting by Patpicha Tanakasempipat and Panarat Thepgumpanat; editing by Kay Johnson and Darren Schuettler)

Source: OANN

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Hospital Using Drones to Fly Blood Samples Between Buildings

A pioneering use of drones to fly blood samples across a North Carolina hospital campus launched Tuesday in the latest move to expand their roles in business and health care.

The short trips between WakeMed buildings in Raleigh mark the first time the Federal Aviation Administration has allowed regular commercial flights of drones carrying products, according to UPS and drone company Matternet, which partnered with the hospital on the program.

"This is a turning point, and it's an historic moment because this is the first FAA-sanctioned use of a (drone) for routine revenue-generating flights," Bala Ganesh, vice president of UPS' advanced technology group, said in an interview before the announcement.

The FAA confirmed in a statement Monday that it hadn't previously allowed drones to make routine commercial package deliveries, known as revenue flights. Others have flown drone deliveries as part of smaller-scale tests or demonstrations.

The WakeMed program will start by flying patients' medical samples one-third of a mile (.5 kilometer) from a medical park to the main hospital building for lab testing at least six times a day five days a week, Matternet CEO Andreas Raptopoulos said in an interview. Vials of blood or other specimens will be loaded into a secure box and carried to a drone launching pad, where they will be fastened to the aircraft and flown to another building. He said the flights will technically be within sight of operators on either end of the route, and they are authorized to fly above people.

The aim is to cut down on the time it takes to transport the time-sensitive samples typically driven on the ground.

"This is going to bring tremendous benefit to health care," he said in an interview. "Health care is one of these domains of commercial activity where being fast really matters."

The announcement doesn't mean routine physical checkups this year or next will feature unmanned aircraft whizzing into your internist's office to speed along your cholesterol results, experts say.

But the North Carolina program could expand to flying miles-long routes between Raleigh-area WakeMed buildings in the coming months, Raptopoulos said. He also said medical specimen flights could start at one or two more hospitals in other cities later in 2019.

North Carolina is one of nine sites participating in the FAA's pilot program to accelerate integrating drones for new uses ranging from utility inspections to insurance claims. The test sites get leeway trying new innovations while working closely with the federal officials in charge of regulating the drones.

At other program test sites, drone operators recently delivered ice pops to doorsteps in a Virginia neighborhood, and officials in Reno, Nevada, are in early testing of a program to deliver defibrillators to people having health emergencies.

The Nevada defibrillator project has so far been testing at a rural site and hasn't begun home deliveries, said Rebecca Venis, the city's communications director. The approval process for drone flights of medical devices or supplies is complex because they may contain hazardous materials.

"It's different than dropping a package," she said.

Mark Blanks, the director of the Virginia Tech Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership, also said the approval to fly commercial drones can be a significant achievement.

"It's not a safety piece; it's an economic licensing portion," he said.

Colin Snow of the drone research firm Skylogic said it remains to be seen how cost-effective medical drone deliveries will be. He said regulatory hurdles and the significant costs of establishing the programs could hinder their wide rollout across the country.

"It just goes down to the old adage: Just because you can, doesn't mean you should," he said. "They're cool, headline-making tests. But when you get down to ... the economics of logistics, that's a different matter."

Source: NewsMax America

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Thousands attend NZ vigil, rally to fight racism, remember Christchurch victims

People attend a vigil for victims of the mosque shootings in Christchurch
People attend a vigil for victims of the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand March 24, 2019. REUTERS/Edgar Su

March 24, 2019

By Jill Gralow and Natasha Howitt

CHRISTCHURCH (Reuters) – Thousands gathered in New Zealand’s cities on Sunday to protest racism and remember the 50 Muslims killed by a gunman in Christchurch and as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a national remembrance service to be held later this week.

About 15,000 turned out for an evening vigil in Christchurch in a park near the Al Noor mosque, where a suspected white supremacist killed more than 40 of the victims. Several more people were killed at the nearby Linwood mosque.

Many non-Muslim women wore headscarves at the vigil, some made by members of Christchurch’s Muslim community, to show their support for those of Islamic faith as they had at similar events last week.

Ardern said on Sunday that a national remembrance service would be held on March 29 to honor the victims, most of whom were migrants or refugees.

“The service will be a chance to once again show that New Zealanders are compassionate, inclusive and diverse, and that we will protect those values,” Ardern said in a statement.

The prime minister has been praised for her leadership following the attack. She swiftly moved to denounce the incident as terrorism, toughen gun laws and express national solidarity with the victims and their families.

The vigil started with an Islamic prayer, followed by a reading of the names of the victims, which included students from the nearby Cashmere High School.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can,” Okirano Tilaia, one of the school’s pupils, told the crowd. “Hatred cannot drive out hatred, only love can.”

Earlier in the day more than 1,000 people marched in a rally against racism in central Auckland, carrying “Migrant lives matters” and “Refugees welcome here,” placards.

Muslims account for just over 1 percent of New Zealand’s 4.8-million population, a 2013 census showed, most of whom were born overseas.

As New Zealand continued to mourn and ask questions about how such an attack could have happened in the peaceful Pacific nation, the victims’ families spoke about their losses.

Shahadat Hossain, whose brother Mojammel Haque was killed in the attack, arrived in New Zealand on Saturday to bring his brother’s body back to Bangladesh.

“I can’t describe how I felt when I saw my brother’s lifeless body,” he told Reuters. “I was devastated.”

Farid Ahmed, who was at the Al Noor mosque when the shooting took place, escaped but his wife, Husna, was killed. On Sunday, he went door-to-door, thanking his neighbors for their support.

    “They came running… they were crying, they were in tears,” he said of his neighbors when they found out that Husna had died.

“That was a wonderful support and expression of love, and I am feeling that I should also take the opportunity to say to them that I also love them.”

(Reporting by Jill Gralow Natasha Howitt, Charlotte Greenfield in Christchurch, Ruma Paul in Dhaka, James Redmayne and Tom Westbrook in Sydney; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Sam Holmes)

Source: OANN

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U.S. judge assessing CVS merger with Aetna orders hearing

Logos of CVS and Aetna are displayed on a monitor above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York
Logos of CVS and Aetna are displayed on a monitor above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

March 14, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Judge Richard Leon, who has been asked to sign off on a government agreement that allows CVS Health Corp to buy health insurer Aetna, has ordered a hearing for April 5 on the matter.

The hearing was issued in a minute order.

The transaction closed in November.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz)

Source: OANN

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OECD tells France to keep up the pace of reforms

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a joint statement with Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Leo Varadkar at the Elysee Palace in Paris
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 9, 2019

PARIS (Reuters) – France must keep its economic reforms on course despite resistance from “yellow vest” protesters and slower economic growth, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Tuesday.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government has faced weekly protests since mid-November over the high cost of living, taxes and perceived elitism, triggering some of the worst street violence seen in decades.

After quickly rewriting labor laws to make hiring and firing easier at the start of his five-year term in 2017, Macron has since fallen behind on his agenda of economic reforms for France, which is the euro zone’s second-biggest economy.

Macron’s government has made relatively little further progress on planned overhauls of unemployment insurance, the pension system and spending cuts.

“Continuing pro-growth reforms, in line with recent measures, is key to further reducing unemployment,” the OECD said in a bi-annual country report on France.

“However, short-term negative impacts on some categories of the population should be compensated to ensure the social acceptability of the reform process,” it added.

The French government offered a 10 billion euros ($11.3 billion) package of concessions to protesters in December, after the most violent of the “yellow vests” demonstrations, with measures designed to boost the income of the poorest workers and pensioners.

Macron has since sought to rebuild his political standing – vital to push through further reforms – with a series of national debates on policy priorities as he faces the biggest challenge to his presidency so far from the protests.

The OECD estimated that Macron’s reforms could add 3.2 percent to per capita GDP over the next decade, benefiting mostly middle and lower-middle income households.

Even more ambitious reforms in line with OECD recommendations – such as faster spending cuts and raising the retirement age – could lift that figure to more than 5 percent, added the OECD.

The OECD forecast that France was set to grow 1.3 percent for this year and next year, partly because of the income boost expected from the government’s concessions package.

For its part, the government is forecasting 1.4 percent growth for 2019 and 2020.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)

Source: OANN

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CVS Health quarterly revenue rises 12.5 percent

FILE PHOTO: A logo of CVS Health is displayed on a monitor above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York
FILE PHOTO: A logo of CVS Health is displayed on a monitor above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York, U.S., December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

February 20, 2019

(Reuters) – CVS Health Corp reported a 12.5 percent increase in quarterly revenue on Wednesday, driven by strong pharmacy sales and its recent acquisition of health insurer Aetna.

The drugstore chain operator and pharmacy benefits manager booked a net loss of $419 million, or 37 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a net income of $3.29 billion, or $3.22 per share, a year earlier when it benefited from changes to U.S. tax laws.

Revenue rose to $54.42 billion in the quarter from $48.39 billion a year earlier.

(Reporting by Aakash Jagadeesh Babu and Manas Mishra in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)

Source: OANN

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What is ‘Democratic socialism’? Bernie Sanders’ political ideology explained

Once largely considered “taboo” and a “dirty word,” socialism — particularly, Democratic socialism — has seemingly started to trickle into the political mainstream in recent years, thanks, in part, to self-proclaimed Democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

An August 2018 Gallup poll found Democrats had a “more positive image” of socialism than of capitalism, with 57 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saying they had a positive view of socialism compared to 47 percent who had a positive view of capitalism.

Sanders will join Fox News Channel for a town hall co-anchored by Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum on Monday, April 15, at 6:30 p.m. ET in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

“Views of socialism among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are particularly important in the current political environment because many observers have claimed the Democratic Party is turning in more of a socialist direction,” Gallup noted at the time.

3 BERNIE SANDERS POLICIES NOW EMBRACED BY THE DEMOCRATIC FIELD

Socialism — a term that first hatched in the early 19th century, per The Washington Post — has “meant different things to different people in different times and places, while maintaining a stable core of themes and objectives: social (as opposed to private) control of the means of production, and of all the societal, humanitarian and political-economic changes that entails, especially where the freedom and autonomy of working people are concerned,” Opinion columnist Elizabeth Bruenig wrote in August 2018.

But what exactly does it mean to be a Democratic socialist? And how have Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders and other politicians who align with the political philosophy describe its meaning to them?

Read on for a brief look Democratic socialism.

First, what is Democratic socialism?

Democratic socialism pulls from both Democracy and socialism, per the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) website. Political theorist and activist Michael Harrington helped form the DSA in 1982.

“Democratic socialists believe that both the economy and society should be run democratically — to meet public needs, not to make profits for a few,” the group states, noting to achieve a more “just society” many “structures of our government and economy must be radically transformed through greater economic and social democracy so that ordinary Americans can participate in the many decisions that affect our lives.”

Democratic socialists favor decentralization; they don’t necessarily want to create “an all-powerful government bureaucracy” but are not in favor of “big corporate bureaucracies to control our society either,” reads the website.

Those who align with the political ideology typically support pro-union politics, tuition-free public universities, universal healthcare and using tax money from the wealthy to fund social welfare programs, among other ideas, reported TIME in October 2018.

“[What they want] is not a violent overthrow of capitalism, but working within the system through legal and peaceful means [such as] electoral and social movements,” Maurice Isserman, a professor of History at Hamilton College, told the magazine at the time.

What issues are Democratic socialists focused on right now?

"Medicare for All," strong unions and electoral power are three of the DSA’s current campaigns.

What has Sanders said about being a Democratic socialist?

Sanders, a Democratic presidential candidate in 2016 and now one of the many vying for the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2020 election, explained what the political ideology means to him during a CNN town hall in February.

“These are not radical ideas,” said Sanders, 77.

“What democratic socialism means to me is having, in a civilized society, the understanding that we can make sure that all of our people live in security and in dignity,” he said. “All people should have health care. You can’t get ahead in this country, in this world, unless you have a decent education.”

"We have got to, as a right, end the kinds of discrimination — the racism, the sexism, and the homophobia — that exists. To me, when I talk about democratic socialism, what I talk about are human rights and economic rights,” he continued, before going on to list his policies — such as tuition-free public universities, raising the minimum wage and universal health care — he would enact if elected president.

What about other Democratic socialists like Ocasio-Cortez, Julia Salazar and Rashida Tlaib?

New York Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, 29, echoed Sanders when speaking to Business Insider in March.

"So when millennials talk about concepts like Democratic socialism, we're not talking about these kinds of 'Red Scare' boogeyman," she said. "We're talking about countries and systems that already exist that have already been proven to be successful in the modern world."

"We're talking about single-payer health care that has already been successful in many different models, from Finland to Canada to the UK," she added, before going on to say Democratic socialism enforces “basic levels of dignity so that no person in America is too poor to live.”

Julia Salazar, who represents New York’s 18th State Senate District, is also a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist, telling October, a beer-centric magazine, she has been a DSA member for two years and is “committed to trying to build Democratic socialism.”

On a personal level, Salazar, 28, said being a Democratic socialist “means fighting to make sure that every person is empowered to be able to determine their own destiny.”

“That all of us have access to not only basic needs, but to what we need to thrive in society. Housing is a human right, not something that should be at the mercy of the market. Health care is a human right, similarly, that shouldn’t be accessible only by income or status,” she added.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who represents Michigan’s 13th congressional district, has also spoken on the political ideology — telling In These Times in August of 2018 “it means a strong partner.”

“When I talk about equitable, just fairness, I lean on a whole group of people who understand just how much the structures in place are set up against the people, people of color, and the working class. It helps me have an organization and people to lean on. It’s important to have that kind of partnership,” Tlaib, 42, said.

Democratic socialism and American politics

Isserman told NPR in July 2018 “this is the most important moment in DSA history.”

The group has garnered an increasing amount of visibility in recent years, increasing from roughly 7,000 members to 50,00 since President Trump’s election in 2016, according to a 2018 Axios report.

The growing membership, combined with big wins for Democratic socialists are solid examples of the group’s “growing movement,” the publication added.

BERNIE SANDERS' BIGGEST STAR-STUDDED BACKERS: MARK RUFFALO, DANNY DEVITO AND OTHERS

Are there any models of Democratic socialism in the world today?

No country to-date has fully instituted Democratic socialism, per the DSA’s website, which noted some countries — Canada, Sweden and France, among others — have pulled from the political ideology in terms of health care, childcare and beyond.

Republicans, specifically, often refer to countries where socialism has arguably gone array — such as Zimbabwe and Venezuela, among others — to discredit some of the group’s ideologies.

“Critics say the U.S. would be a poorer, less efficient society,” Michael Kazin, a professor of history at Georgetown University, also told TIME.

Source: Fox News Politics

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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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