TPT March 2020

G LOBA L MARKE T P L AC E

New business jet gets US go-ahead In late December 2019 Canadian manufacturer, Bombardier Inc, received US Federal Aviation Administration certification for its Global 5500 and 6500 business jets. The new 5500 and 6500 aircraft – upgraded versions of Bombardier’s Global 5000 and 6000 jets – received certifications from the Canadian and European authorities earlier in 2019, so can now begin full delivery of the planes. The upgraded performance of the new jets includes a top speed of mach 0.90, improved fuel efficiency and extra seating capacity. Ethiopia’s first satellite launch Ethiopia launched its first space satellite in December, with more sub-Saharan African nations endeavouring to establish space programmes to advance their own development goals and encourage scientific and technological development. The satellite was launched from a base in China, and designed by Chinese and Ethiopian engineers. It is understood that China funded the majority of the manufacturing costs for the satellite, which will be used for weather forecasting and crop monitoring. Solomon Belay, director general of the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute, said in an interview: “Space is food, space is job creation, a tool for technology... sovereignty, to reduce poverty, everything for Ethiopia to achieve universal and sustainable development.” The African Union adopted a policy on African space development in 2017, announcing that space science and technology could advance economic progress and natural resource management for the continent. But space is tricky, even for the experienced 2019 wasn’t a good year for the reputation of Boeing software, one way or another. In December, Boeing Co’s Starliner astronaut spacecraft, the capsule designed to help NASA regain its human spaceflight capabilities, suffered a software problem that meant the unmanned craft failed to reach the orbit needed to dock with the International Space Station. All was redeemed, however, when two days later the craft made what was described as a “bull’s-eye” landing in the New Mexico White Sands desert, arriving undamaged and with stable cabin conditions. Officials from the aerospace company and NASA will have breathed sighs of relief following the landing, which, in itself, was a highly challenging manoeuvre. “It couldn’t really have gone any better,” Boeing space chief executive Jim Chilton told reporters, adding that experts would need several weeks to analyse the data from this mission before deciding if Boeing could be launching a crewed mission during 2020. Boeing and NASA officials said they still do not understand why software caused the craft to miss the required orbit.

The landing tested the capsule’s re-entry into the atmosphere and parachute deployment, and will yield valuable test data after the mission failed to meet the core objective of docking with the space station. Taking a positive “glass half-full” attitude NASA administrator, Jim Bridenstine, said: “We’re going to get, I think, a lot more data than we would have gotten if the test had gone according to plan.” Boeing is vying with Elon Musk’s SpaceX to revive NASA’s hopes for human spaceflight. SpaceX completed a successful unmanned flight of its Crew Dragon capsule to the space station in March 2019. Meanwhile, back on Ear th, is it time to assess the true cost of lithium-ion batteries? Technology companies including Apple, Alphabet (Google), Dell, Microsoft, and Tesla are named in a lawsuit seeking damages for the deaths and injuries of child cobalt miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC currently produces around 60 per cent of the world’s cobalt supply. Cobalt is in high demand for the production of lithium-ion batteries for electric cars, laptops and smartphones, but the extraction process is plagued with concerns and accusations linked to illegal mining, human rights abuses and corruption. The action, filed in the US by International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates) on behalf of Congolese families, accuses the companies of knowing that cobalt used in their products could be linked to child labour. The plaintiffs are seeking relief based on common law claims of unjust enrichment, negligent supervision, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit argues the companies had “specific knowledge” that the cobalt sourced for their products could be linked to child labour and that the companies failed to regulate their supply chains. Two mining companies are also listed in the lawsuit, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt and Glencore own the minefields where the Congolese families allege their children worked. In a statement to the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, Glencore said that it “does not purchase, process or trade any artisanally mined ore,” adding that it also “does not tolerate any form of child, forced, or compulsory labour.” In response to the Telegraph , Microsoft said it was committed to responsible sourcing of minerals and that it investigates any violations by its suppliers and takes appropriate action. Plaintiffs have evidence that these companies in particular aided and abetted the mines that abused and profited from forcing plaintiffs’ and other children to mine cobalt under conditions that led to their deaths or serious, crippling injuries. Plaintiffs’ research team is continuing to investigate other technology companies and car manufacturers and expects to add additional companies to the lawsuit. A statement from IRAdvocates asserts it is documented that the young children mining defendants’ cobalt are not merely being forced to work full-time, but at extremely dangerous jobs at the expense of their education and futures. Gill Watson Features Editor (Europe)

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MARCH 2020