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ULA Vulcan’s moment of truth
This marks an absolutely pivotal moment for the 20-year-old launch company, which has gone from the titan of the US launch industry to playing a distant second fiddle to its one-time upstart competitor SpaceX. Last year, SpaceX launched 98 rockets. United Launch Alliance, or ULA, tallied just three. The owners of ULA, Lockheed Martin and Boeing, are also on the cusp of selling the launch company if they can find a buyer willing to pay the right price. And critically, for the first time, ULA will be flying a new vehicle it designed and developed on its own—a rocket with some but not a majority of its heritage from the legacy Atlas and Delta rockets that have flown since the Cold War. So yeah, it's a moment.
Read more here.
LK99 returns: China echoes earlier claim of room temp superconductors
It’s come back. Scientists from two institutions are claiming that they have discovered a near-room-temperature superconductor. A team of researchers from China is claiming that the superconductor works at temperatures as "warm" as –23 degrees Celsius (that's –9.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
Read more here.
Sam Altman: Growth vs Decline
Post on X here.
Other deep tech stories:
Aviation
China seeks European approval of C919, wants its home-grown jet to compete with Boeing and Airbus abroad (SCMP)
L3Harris to sell commercial aviation unit to private-equity affiliate (DefenseNews)
Flight cancellations in the US drop to lowest rate in a decade last year (CNN)
Bombardier wins US Army contract for new spy plane prototype (DefenseNews)
Energy
Feds offer $1B to keep California’s last nuclear plant open (AP News)
North Korea’s New Reactor Raises Fears of Increased Plutonium Production (NYT)
Space
SpaceX sends up Florida’s first launch of 2024 with Ovzon 3 mission (SpectrumNews)
India launches X-ray satellite to study black holes, supernovas and more (Space)
Defense
Raytheon prototyping directed-energy zappers for US Air Force, Navy (DefenseNews)
Surge in Drone Warfare Leads Pentagon to Open School for U.S. Troops - Video (WSJ)