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I’m not proud of the fact that it’s been a few weeks since I last posted to Airframe or The Deep End. My only good excuse is that I’ve been doing my best to further the cause of deep tech. Since my last post, I helped lead a delegation of aerospace executives to Ukraine, where we explored trade opportunities related to demining, ground vehicle armor, and other defense technology.
I’ve also been busy with the launch of 47G, the new brand behind Utah’s aerospace and defense industry. I summarized our team’s efforts in a recent op-ed here.
But now, it’s back to work. Here are the deep tech stories for this week.
Katherine Boyle: “Democracy demands a sword”
This week, a16z partner Katherine Boyle published an article based on her recent talk at Shift’s Defense Ventures Summit in Washington, D.C. Here is my favorite excerpt:
But the good news is we know how to fight back. And we’re here because we heard the call to build against these dark forces we face. We know technology is the escape hatch from a nihilistic world. That democracy demands a sword and sometimes we have to use it to defend ourselves, our allies, and civilization.
Read the whole thing here.
Here’s What’s Next for SpaceX’s Starship
What’s next for SpaceX? Wired Magazine reports:
SpaceX appears to be targeting early 2024 for its third test flight, based on the company’s filing with the Federal Communications Commission. Musk also wrote on X that the Starship flight hardware would be ready in three to four weeks. Once again, the goal will be to fly almost completely around the world, reenter the atmosphere, and splash down near Hawaii.
Watch the launch video on X here. Read the whole story here.
A historic moment: Northrop’s B-21 takes its first flight
The first B-21 Raider bomber took off from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., just after dawn on November 10, in a flight that concluded at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif, after 90 minutes, according to local observers.
Watch the video on X here. Read more here.
Other deep tech stories
Aerospace
Joby shows off electric air taxis in New York, targeting 2025 launch date (Reuters)
Rocket Lab’s HASTE to Launch Hypersonic Scramjet Drone for US (DefensePost)
Defense Tech
Pentagon to pick first Replicator drone tranche by mid-December, though secrecy abound (Breaking Defense)
DOD Releases AI Adoption Strategy (Department of Defense)
Palmer Luckey On Military Defense, Israel War, TikTok Ban, & U.S. Manufacturing (Pirate Wires)
AI
GraphCast: AI model for faster and more accurate global weather forecasting (Google DeepMind)
DARPA seeks AI-powered ‘autonomous scientist’ to help researchers (Defense One)
Microsoft Ignite 2023: Copilot AI expansions, custom chips and all the other announcements (TechCrunch)
Energy
Investing in Nuclear, Nuclear Waste Recycling, and More Listener Questions (Packy McCormick)
Iran Maintains Steady Expansion of Nuclear Program (WSJ)
Air Force rescinds $100M award for Oklo microreactor (Canary Media)
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