European aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, has developed several concept designs for zero-emission commercial aircraft powered by hydrogen. The concept designs are codenamed ZEROe. According to IATA, commercial aircraft produce up to 3 percent of worldwide carbon emissions. The industry has set ambitious goals to reduce the impact of commercial aviation on climate change such as a 50% reduction of carbon emissions by 2050. The zero-emission aircraft are likely to revolutionize the air transport industry.

Read about these concept aircraft at:
https://www.aviationtoday.com/2020/09/23/new-zero-emission-commercial-aircraft-designs-unveiled-airbus/

Deuce Drone announced a test of their last mile delivery system which is intended to make delivery directly from stores to consumers faster and more affordable. Rouses Market, which operates 64 grocery stores in the south, has partnered with Deuce Drone to test a same day delivery system by drones in order to make last mile delivery faster and less costly than vans, so they can compete with Amazon.

Read more at:
https://www.supermarketnews.com/online-retail/rouses-markets-pilot-drone-delivery-groceries

(Image courtesy of: Commercial Drone Professional of Deuce Drone)

The US Air Force uses one of the largest aircraft in the world for intercontinental transport of massive pieces of military equipment such as jet fighters, helicopters, tanks and trailers. The only aircraft that rivals the Galaxy’s airlift capacity is the Russian Antonov which is chartered out for civilian transport of oversize cargo that cannot fit on conventional freighter aircraft. Although the Antonov carries more cargo, the Galaxy has more modern avionics and aerial refueling capacity.

 

 

(Photos from @aero.sonicboom on Instagram)

Civil drone operators are currently restricted to line-of-sight operation of one drone at a time to avoid collisions. Satellite operator, Inmarsat Group Holdings, has partnered with Altitude Angel LTD to operate drones over long distances safely by integrating a backup satellite connection for areas with no land-based communications . If they can prove safe operation to regulators, fleets of remotely operated drones could be deployed to transport tons of goods. Read more about this development at:

Read more about this development at:
https://www.ttnews.com/articles/satellite-firm-develops-long-distance-system-delivery-drones

(Photo Credit: Chip Chipman/Bloomberg News)

We are losing the oldest species on earth at the rate of 7 billion trees per year. Flash Forest came up with a drone technology that can transport and plant up to 20,000 seed pods per day and access sites that human planters cannot reach. The drones transport the pods and plant them faster and at a lower cost than humans with trucks and shovels. It won’t stop deforestation but it will slow climate change and narrow the gap in the race to restore the planet’s breathing mechanism.

Read more at:

https://www.fastcompany.com/90504789/these-drones-can-plant-40000-trees-in-a-month-by-2028-theyll-have-planted-1-billion

(Photo credit: Flash Forest: One of Flash Forest’s prototype drones. )

NASA has signed a space act agreement with Virgin Galactic and its subsidiary, The Spaceship Company, to develop high-Mach aircraft for potential use in the commercial aviation industry. The team will apply their combined know-how and advances in sub-orbital and space travel to explore new solutions for supersonic flight. The potential for a paradigm shift in high speed passenger and cargo transport is enormous.

Read more at:
https://www.space.com/virgin-galactic-nasa-superfast-flight.html

(Photo: Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity performs its first glide flight over Spaceport America in New Mexico on May 1, 2020. Image: © Virgin Galactic)

Concert tours require meticulous planning, reliable carriers, knowledge of international customs requirements, 24/7 attention to detail and lots of care. Large tours with back to back gigs maintain at least 2 identical sets of equipment which leap frog between venues to allow time for one set to be loaded in and erected, while the previous set is being taken down and loaded out for the next venue. Read more about challenges unique to the touring entertainment industry here.