Britain to accelerate its phase-out of coal-fired power stations

The UK government announced on Wednesday that the phasing out of the use of coal to generate electricity in Great Britain will be brought forward by a full year, to October 2024. (The only... 

Scientists using artificial avocados to investigate fruit damage in transit

Researchers at the Engineering 4.0 facility of the University of Pretoria (UP) are conducting a project to determine damage suffered by fresh produce while being transported intercontinentally from... 

Tough times not yet over for African airlines

Around the world, light is now visible at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic tunnel (although the distance to the end of the tunnel varies greatly from country to country). One of the economic... 

Importance of Brazil-SA space cooperation highlighted at virtual summit

Addressing the first day of the Brazil-South Africa Space Industry Virtual Summit on Wednesday, the heads of the space agencies of the two countries both stressed the importance of international... 

Defence Minister warns about crisis in local defence industry, especially Denel

In her address to the National Assembly on Tuesday, introducing the debate for her 2021 budget vote, Defence and Military Veterans Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula warned the assembled... 

Rolls-Royce-led consortium unveils optimised small modular reactor design

UK-based global industrial technology group Rolls-Royce has announced that the small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) consortium that it leads has upgraded the SMR’s design and increased its power... 

New discovery suggests Mars is not dead, but merely sleeping

Scientists at the University of Arizona’s (UArizona’s) Lunar and Planetary Laboratory and at the Tucson, Arizona, based Planetary Science Institute (PSI), in the US, have discovered evidence... 

Sensing market recovery, Airbus restarts work on a new A320 family final assembly line

Europe-based global major aerospace group Airbus has announced that it is restarting work on establishing a new final assembly line (FAL) for its A320 family single-aisle airliners, and in... 

Air cargo demand hits record high, Iata reports

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) – the global representative body of the airline industry – has reported that global air cargo demand during March reached the highest level... 

‘Flying taxi’ market expected to attract considerable investment

Market research commissioned by electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) company Horizon Aircraft indicates that there will be rapid and considerable growth in investment in the urban air... 

Nasa’s Ingenuity helicopter makes aviation history on Mars

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (Nasa’s) Ingenuity drone helicopter successfully made its first flight on Mars on April 19. The flight took place at about noon, South African... 

Iata predicts lower losses but continued pain for aviation sector this year

The world’s airlines will this year continue to make tens of billions of dollars of losses, and burn through an even greater amount of cash, as a result of the continuing Covid-19 pandemic, the... 

Airbus wins French and Egyptian defence contracts

The French Ministry of Defence has ordered eight more H225M helicopters and a second VSR700 uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) from Airbus Helicopters. The order is part of the French government’s... 

The development of electrically powered aircraft is accelerating

Although air transport accounts for only 2% of human-produced carbon dioxide, the aerospace industry is not complacent. In October 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) adopted... 

Iata supports AU on reopening continent’s civil aviation sector

The representative body for the global airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (Iata), has affirmed its support for the African Union’s (AU’s) campaign to safely restart... 

Stellenbosch researchers make major advance in imaging biochemical processes in cells

Scientists and engineers at Stellenbosch University have developed a ‘visualisation tool’ that can, in three-dimensional (3D) images in space, as well as in time, automatically localise and... 

Core stage of Nasa’s biggest-ever rocket has passed final major test

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) has successfully conducted a second ‘hot fire’ test of the core stage of its new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. The SLS core stage,... 

Embraer’s commercial jet business takes Covid strain

Brazilian aerospace group Embraer, one of the world’s leading companies in the sector, has released its results for last year. (Embraer’s financial year is identical to the calendar year.) The... 

New patrol vessel for Navy launched in Cape Town

Damen Shipyards Cape Town (DSCT), a subsidiary of the Netherlands-based Damen International Shipyards Group, recently launched the first (of three) Multimission Inshore Patrol Vessels (MMIPVs) for... 

For South African agriculture, 2020 was a very good year

South African agriculture had a “remarkable year” last year, the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Production (BFAP) has reported. This was despite the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused all other... 

German physicist determines that starships are indeed possible – at least in theory

New calculations by a physicist at Germany’s Georg-August University, in Göttingen (more generally known as the University of Göttingen) has indicated that superluminal (faster-then-light) space... 

UK recognises Africa’s dynamism, restates commitments to global issues

In its recently published 2021 integrated review, the UK reaffirmed its commitments to multilateralism, international cooperation, free and fair trade, development, countering the effects of... 

Air transport body reports increasing confidence in air travel

The representative body of the global airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (Iata), has reported that its latest opinion poll, conducted from a sample of recent travellers,... 

Covid-19 hits Rolls-Royce Civil Aerospace hard, but diversification helps the group

UK-based global major industrial technology group Rolls-Royce has reported its full-year results for last year. The group was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, suffering a loss (including tax) of... 

Construction starts on new Sansa space weather centre

The ground has been officially broken to mark the formal start of the construction of the South African National Space Agency’s (Sansa’s) new R70.89-million Regional Space Weather Centre at... 

CSIR launches photonics centre to support twenty-first century industries

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has officially launched its new Photonics Prototyping Facility (PPF). The new facility is funded by the Department of Science and... 

Plan emerges for renewal of South Africa’s crucial space infrastructure

Almost unnoticed by most people on Earth, space technology and infrastructure has become essential for, and ubiquitous in, everyday life. It has become a major facilitator for national economic... 

Air charter operator reports dramatic increase in interest from mining companies 

UK-based international aviation charter broker Air Charter Service (ACS) has reported that the past year has seen dramatic increases in workforce logistics charter flight bookings by energy,... 

Iata identifies key issues for airlines, governments for reopening air travel

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) has appealed to the world’s governments to work with the global airline industry – for which Iata is the representative body – to prepare for the... 

UK, Australia sign first-of-its-type space-sector partnership agreement

In what has been described as the first such agreement in the world, the UK and Australia on Tuesday created a partnership to greatly strengthen space cooperation between the two countries in most,... 

Australia’s leading-edge UAV programme makes significant advances

The beginning of this month saw major developments in Boeing Australia and the Royal Australian Air Force’s (RAAF’s) advanced technology Loyal Wingman uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) programme. On... 

Nasa rover Perseverance successfully lands on Mars

Late in the night of February 18, South African time, the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (Nasa’s) latest Mars rover, Perseverance, successfully landed on the Red Planet. It... 

Concor, partner awarded MeerKAT/SKA radio telescope construction contract

South African contractor Concor, in partnership with OptiPower, has been awarded a R212-million contract for the structural foundations and associated infrastructure for 24 additional dishes for... 

Airbus goes big on 3D printing for satellite contract

Europe-based global major aerospace group Airbus is now engaged in large volume manufacturing of radio frequency (RF) components for satellites using additive layer manufacturing (ALM). Also known... 

Two countries place probes in Martian orbit for the first time

In one week, two countries were able to celebrate the safe insertion into Martian orbit of their space probes. And neither country had ever before launched an interplanetary mission. They are the... 

Bombardier to make more savings, end production of the Learjet

Canadian aerospace company Bombardier announced, during the release of its annual results for 2020 earlier this month, its latest steps to return to profitability. The company is now focused... 

Boeing 737 MAX cleared to return to service by European aviation regulators

On the same day late last month the European Union (EU) Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) both authorised the return to service of the Boeing 737 MAX... 

SKA Observatory officially comes into being

The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Observatory (SKAO) is now active, following the first meeting of the SKAO Council on February 4. The current members of the SKAO are Australia, Italy, the... 

Forests absorbing more CO2 than previously believed

Research by biologists at West Virginia University (WVU), in the US state of the same name, has established that trees around the globe are consuming greater amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) than... 

Astronomical observations boost UJ scientist’s theory

A model to predict gamma ray burst (GRB) behaviour, developed by a team headed by University of Johannesburg (UJ) Centre for Astro-Particle Physics director Professor Soebur Razzaque, has been...