Northrop Grumman introduces its first completed prototype Manta Ray Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (UUV) that it is developing for DARPA. The extra-large submarine glider is designed to carry out long-range undersea missions without human assistance.

Northrop Grumman debuts Manta Ray robotic underwater glider

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Northrop Grumman Corporation operates as a security company. It provides various systems, products, and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, space, strike, and logistics and modernization, as well as in command, control, communications and computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) to customers in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Aeronautics Systems, Defense Systems, Mission Systems, and Space Systems segments. It designs, develops, integrates, and produces manned aircrafts, autonomous systems, spacecraft systems, high-energy laser systems, microelectronics, and other systems and sub-systems for use in the areas of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, strike operations, communications, earth observations, and space science. The company also designs, develops, integrates, and produces flights, armaments, and space systems to enable national security, civil government, and commercial customers in achieving their critical missions. Its space systems include launch vehicles and related propulsion systems; missile products and defense electronics; precision weapons, armament systems and ammunition; satellites and associated space components and services; and aerospace structures. In addition, it offers C4ISR systems; radar, electro-optical/infrared, and acoustic sensors; electronic warfare systems; cyber solutions; space and intelligence processing systems; air and missile defense integration systems; navigation systems; and shipboard missiles and encapsulated payload launch systems. Further, the company provides life-cycle solutions and services in support of networks and systems, including sustainment, modernization, training and simulation, software, engineering services, cyber, rapidly-deployable global logistics, and information technology. The company was founded in 1939 and is based in Falls Church, Virginia.

Northrop Grumman

is a technology that corrects the distortion in an image caused by natural effects such as air turbulence and change in the local temperature and atmosphere. Adaptive Optics The agile development of professional astronomy, plus the growing awareness regarding the benefits of using lightweight materials in manufacturing, are expected to offer positive momentum to the adaptive optics component market during the forecast period, 2019–2026. Telescope technology is evolving and is close to the next generation of discoveries, which offer an opportunity for the introduction and use of lightweight materials such as carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) in the manufacturing of telescopes and optics. Segmental Insights The has been segmented on the basis of type, application, and region. global adaptive optics components market , the adaptive optics components market has been segmented into wavefront sensors, wavefront modulators, control systems, and others. On the basis of type The wavefront sensor segment is projected to register an increase in demand, in part due to the growth of the biomedical sector. This has also contributed to increasing the application of wavefront sensors in ophthalmology in recent years. By application, the adaptive optics components market has been segmented into consumer goods, astronomy, military & defense, biomedical, and others. Recently, the use of adaptive optics has become more popular in astronomy to improve image resolution, which is expected to fuel the growth of the adaptive optics component market in the segment. Regional Analysis Geographically, the global adaptive optics component market has been segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, Middle East and Africa (LAMEA). North America is expected to witness significant growth, owing to the increasing focus on the development of advanced optics systems and their adoption in the astronomical field for the delivery of sharper images. Adequate support from government agencies in terms of funding for the development of advanced telescopes and astronomical equipment is also pegged to be a key factor favoring the market growth. For instance, in , which would help astronomers study the outer reaches of the known universe. April 2015, the Canadian Federal Government announced funding of approximately USD 234.5 million for the development of a 30-meter telescope Europe is expected to witness considerable growth in the adaptive optics components market during the forecast period, 2019–2026. This can be attributed to the key role of technology in the success of the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT) project. Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness substantial growth in the adaptive optics technology market. It should be noted though that while adaptive optics significantly improve image quality, the high cost of the overall system is a factor that restricts the market growth in the region. The LAMEA region is expected to witness moderate growth, due to the integration of high-end adaptive optics in military vehicles and equipment for the enhancement of surveillance efficiency. Key Players Some of the major players identified in the adaptive optics component market are Northrop Grumman Corporation (U.S.), Iris AO, Inc. (U.S.), HOLOEYE Photonics AG (Germany), A.D.S. International S.r.l. (Italy) and Canon Inc. (Japan). Segmentation By Type Wavefront sensors Wavefront Modulators Control Systems Others By Application Consumer Goods Astronomy Military & Defense Biomedical Others By Region North America Europe Asia Pacific LAMEA Previously published here.

How Will the Adaptive Optics and Telescope Industries Help Each Other Evolve? 

Every day you visit grocery stores, clothing stores, e-commerce portals, or a bank. Ever wondered how they keep a track of customers, employees, and other crucial information? The answer is Database. Database In simple terms, a database is a collection of information. It is organized to ensure easy accessibility, management, and updates. A database (DB) is useful when you need to store data or facilitate the search for particular. Storage of large volumes of data, modification of the same can be easily managed with databases. Here, the search and sorting are quick and easy. Types of Databases There are various types of databases: Relational database Distributed database Cloud database Graph database NoSQL database Apache CouchDB is a NoSQL database. NoSQL databases are beneficial for the management of large amounts of distributed and unstructured data. CouchDb was initially released in 2005. The current version 3.1.1 was released in September 2020. It supports cross-platform operating systems. Apache CouchDB Apache CouchDB open-source DB employs multiple formats and protocols to store, transfer or process the given data. It is document-oriented. Being implemented in Erlang, CouchDB uses JSON for data storage. Besides, JavaScript is its query language which uses MapReduce. Further, it employs HTTP as its API. Unlike a relational database, this does not support the storage of data in tables. Instead, it considers each database as a collection of independent documents. The most distinguishing feature of CouchDB is its multi-master replication feature. Thus, it ensures scalability that in turn aids in developing high-performance systems. MariaDB is the most-used relational database. A relational DB uses a tabular structure for storing data. This ensures easy re-organization and multiple access patterns. MariaDB MariaDB is an open-source database that is community-developed. It is highly compatible with MySQL. Thus it matches the APIs and commands of MySQL. Besides, it is inclusive of storage engines such as MyRocks, Aria, and ColumnStore. MariaDB is developed by MariaDB Corporation Ab and MariaDB Foundation. It was initially released 11 years ago in 2009. However, the stabilized version was released in February 2021. It is compatible with Linux, Windows, and macOS operating systems. A Detailed Comparison between CouchDB and MariaDB CouchDB is inspired by Lotus Notes. It is scalable and is globally distributed. One can access it over the desktop as well as mobile phones. However, MariaDB is known for its enhanced and high availability. It is secure and has high-performance capabilities. DBMS The primary database model of CouchDB is Document store and the secondary is Spatial DBMS. On the other hand, MariaDB uses a relational database management system (DBMS) as its primary database model. The secondary database models employed by MariaDB are Document Store, Spatial DBMS, as well as Graph DBMS. When it comes to the ranking of DB engines, we see a significant distinction. CouchDB scores 16.01 whereas MariaDB scores 96.37. The overall ranking of CouchDB and MariaDB is #39 and #12 respectively. Both have open-source licenses. However, neither of them is restricted to cloud-only. While CouchDB uses Erlang as its implementation language, MariaDB uses C and C++. While the prior is schema-free, the latter has a data scheme. Programming Languages CouchDB and MariaDB support programming languages such as C, C#, Erlang, Java, JavaScript, Objective-C, Python, OCaml, Ruby, PHP, and Haskell in common. On the flip side, CouchDB supports ColdFusion, Perl, Smalltalk, Lisp, PL/SQL, and Lua. Similarly, MariaDB supports Ada, TCL, C++, D, Eiffel, Go, Scheme too. Operating Systems CouchDB is flexible and adapts itself to any given operating system. It is compatible with Android, Linux, OS X, Windows, BSD, Solaris. On the other hand, Maria is restricted only to FreeBSD, Windows, Solaris, and Linux. CouchDB employs RESTful HTTP/ JSON API as its access methods. Similarly, MariaDB uses ADO.NET, JDBC, ODBC, and Proprietary native API. MariaDB supports typing, SQL, and XML, unlike CouchDB. It also is compatible with foreign keys and in-memory capabilities. On the other hand, CouchDB supports MapReduce. However, both support secondary indexes, triggers, concurrency, and are durable. While CouchDB has sharding as the only partition method, MariaDB has several options for horizontal parting along with Sharding. Both employ multi-source and source-replica replication methods. CouchDB has eventual consistency whereas MariaDB has immediate consistency. CouchDB does not support ACID transactions, unlike MariaDB. Famous Companies Some of the famous companies that bank on CouchDB are Akamai Technologies, GenCorp Technologies, Hothead Games, etc. Similarly, companies like Accenture, Grooveshark, CUNY, Northrop Grumman, and others use MariaDB. Winding up the Comparison On a concluding note, developers prefer CouchDB because of JSON. However, many of the others vote for MariaDB as it is a MySQL replacement. Reviews have proved that MariaDB meets the business requirements better than CouchDB as it offers high performance. Besides, MariaDB offers better product support too. The preference for MariaDB was higher than CouchDB for feature updates and roadmaps. However, if you are in search of a small and fast server in any , CouchDB is the one for you. mobile app development

CouchDB vs MariaDB- Which is better?

Reusable rockets have revolutionized access to space, reducing both the costs of access and the CO2 footprint of launches. Major entrepreneurial developments are to be expected in the coming years, including those from familiar frontrunners SpaceX and Blue Origin as well as new innovations from Virgin Galactic, ISRO, and Arianespace. Understanding the technology, its financial and environmental impacts, and their promising applications for space tourism, power generation, communications, and materials development, all hint at what’s to come. December 2015, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 makes its successful return, the first-ever reusable rocket. Since then, recovering SpaceX rockets has become routine, but this hadn’t been the case during the early decades of spaceflight. All rockets, satellites, and space probes until that day had been single-use items. The only objects that returned to our planet were human-carrying space capsules or sample canisters like Stardust (1999–2006) or Hayabusa (2005–2010), with the exception of the US Space Shuttle (1970s-2011) and the Soviet Union Buran (1980–1988), which had envisioned fully reusable yet too expensive and complex to operate spaceplanes. Since 2012, several companies have been working on projects and prototypes for orbital and suborbital reusable spacecraft. SpaceX began developing what would become the Falcon9 and Falcon Heavy that same year. Blue Origin created the first VTVL rocket, New Shepard, in 2015 and managed to reach space by passing the Kármán line (62 mi) and returning for a propulsive landing. Both companies are working on the next generation of vehicles (Starship and New Glenn, respectively), while Virgin Galactic, ISRO, and Arianespace also have suborbital projects in development. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that reusable rockets can reduce the cost of access to space by a factor of a hundred. We’re already reaping the benefits of this technology, with satellites ridesharing into orbit cheaper and faster than ever. And still, space flight is at its infancy — and the best is yet to come. Biggest Players SpaceX SpaceX is definitely making (regular) strides in reusable spacecraft. Following their Falcon9 success, the company is now involved in several missions. These include Starlink, a network that will offer high-speed internet access across the globe (completed October 8), and Saocom 1B (completed September 20), the first polar launch ever from the East Coast and the first from Florida in decades. The Falcon 9 reusable two-stage rocket completed 93 launches and 54 landings. The Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful rocket by a factor of two, has executed seven landings and four re-flies. With its 64 metric tons capacity, the rocket uses nine nine-engine cores (27 Merlin engines) to produce more than 5 million pounds of thrust. One of SpaceX’s most expected vehicles is, however, the Starship. This spacecraft and super-heavy rocket is a fully reusable transportation system that can carry both cargo and crew to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Blue Origin Blue Origin is the venture of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. The company has developed a suborbital rocket called New Shepard (named after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space), designed to take astronauts and research payloads past 62 miles altitude. The journey takes only 11 minutes, and the rocket uses fins, drag breaks, and a BE-3 liquid rocket engine to land. Blue Origin is also working on Blue Glenn (named after astronaut John Glenn), a big reusable launch vehicle capable of carrying people and payloads to Earth orbit and beyond. Its first stage is built for a minimum of 25 missions, making it competitive for a variety of launch markets. The company is also developing Blue Moon, a flexible lander that can deliver astronauts, large rovers, habitats, and ascent stages to the lunar surface in order to enable a sustained human presence on the satellite. The company leads the Human Landing System (HLS) National Team alongside Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper. The team has recently completed its first System Requirements Review (SRR) and is ready to move forward working with partners, independent experts, and NASA to return Americans to the Moon. Other Companies Virgin Galactic’s reusable spaceflight system is called SpaceShipTwo. The company is developing a new generation of space vehicles that will focus on private passenger-carrying commercial services. Its operational hub at New Mexico’s Spaceport America is the first purpose-built commercial spaceport and will run a regular schedule of spaceflights for private individuals and researchers. ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organisation, is also working on reusable launch vehicle technology. Their RLV-TD completed its first successful atmospheric test flight in May 2016, and their latest model is to land on the ground in November or December 2020. Somewhat similar to the USA’s space shuttle, the vehicle will be able to put satellites into orbit and return for the next mission. expected The European Arianespace is also planning on making its future rockets more competitive. Their new “acceleration platform” will develop reusable launchers and an engine called Prometheus, which uses oxygen and methane as a propellant. The products of this type of fuel are more environmentally friendly than many other alternatives, making the rocket particularly attractive. The Future of Reusable Rockets As Musk stated, reusable rockets can significantly reduce the cost of launches. The CEO had promised that a Falcon 9 launch would cost just $62 million — and yet Space Force’s two next launches had a price tag of only combined. This is perhaps the main reason why the rocket propulsion market is one with increasing government support and growing investment. Its revenues are projected to surpass by 2027 at an 8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the period 2020 to 2027. $52.7 million $6 million Reusable rockets are, in general, safer, more cost-effective, and allow for quick deployment of much-needed satellite infrastructure. They might accumulate wear, but they don’t get new manufacturing defects between flights. In terms of environmental impact, these spacecraft can produce many different emissions (CO2, water vapor, carbon soot, chlorine, etc.), which generally means a hefty footprint. A lot of conventional rockets are propelled by liquid hydrogen fuel that produces clean water vapor exhaust (Blue Origin plans to use this type of fuel). Although the production of hydrogen itself can cause significant carbon emissions, rocket launches are nonetheless relatively infrequent. However, SpaceX’s Falcon uses kerosene. This could become a problem if launches are as frequent as promised — one every two weeks. There are currently no regulations on rocket emissions as, so far, the most important criteria have been cost and performance. Hopefully, companies will follow the example of ArianeGroup, which is developing a completely carbon-neutral rocket that runs on methane produced from biomass. With the advent of frequent rocket launches by many different companies, we hope reducing costs will mean that we can address the environmental impact. This article was also published here .

Reusable Rockets Are Democratizing Access to Space

If you’ve decided to adopt Python for your software development, it’s crucial to know whether Python has a good chance to remain important to the industry in the years ahead. Maybe, you have questions about: Which programming languages are most in demand? Is Python demand in market growing? And does Python have a bright future?  To answer all of this, we’ve analyzed data from credible surveys, statistics, and insights such as GitHub, Stack Overflow, Statista, TIOBE, PYPL, and JetBrains. Most in-demand programming languages in 2019 One of the ways of looking at Python market demand is the list of the top programming languages in 2019 to compare Python to other programming languages. According to Developer Surveys by Stack Overflow, Python surpassed PHP and C# in and , correspondingly. In , Python took the fourth spot in the most popular technologies list edging ahead of Java, while JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and SQL topped the rankings. 2017 2018 2019 Source: insights.stackoverflow.com As for the number of software engineers, third-party vendors, and courses, Python is the third on the as of August 2019. But has it always been like that? In the graph below, TIOBE analyzes how the positions of the top languages have changed since 2002. Java and C have for a long time been at the top of the TIOBE index, while Python has recently seen immense growth. Since 2007, Python has three times seen the biggest rise  in TIOBE index throughout the year. TIOBE experts say that if Python is as fast-growing as it has been lately, it will replace Java and C within the next three or four years. list In , which analyzes the number of tutorials searched on Google, Python tutorials are the most actively searched for, holding a 28.73% market share. Over the past five years, Python has seen the largest amount of growth, while Java has lost a 6.9% share. the PYPL Index Speaking about fractions of pushes, pull requests, issues, and stars on GitHub, Python is number two among most contributed languages based on the second quarter of 2019. Python ratings increased by almost 1.5% compared to the previous year. What’s more, Python took the third spot in the 2018 most contributed languages across private, open-source, and public GitHub repositories, according to . Octoverse Source: madnight.github.io Also, we used Google Trends to find out the language popularity by search queries. We compared Python to Java, JavaScript, and C++ as these are the languages Python is benchmarked against. Java and Python turned out to be the most popular within August 2018 and August 2019. Source: trends.google.com Python community Community is a good indicator of whether the language is growing. Additionally, communities upgrade functionally, update documentation, troubleshoot problems, share expertise, and help one another. In 2018, there were seven million Python developers worldwide, as states. According to , 21% of Pythonistas live in the US. Among other popular countries are India, United Kingdom, Germany, China, and France. SlashData Python Developers Survey 2018 Source: jetbrains.com Below is an infographic showing the Python developer profile. It’ll help you get a bigger picture of Python community. Is Python in demand by employers? High number of job postings is another indicator of whether a language is in demand. We browsed Indeed ― an American international jobs platform ― and discovered that the most often listed skills are Java, Python, JavaScript, and C++. Though Java still tops the ranking, Python has seen the biggest increase in jobs. We’ve also noticed that the demand for Python developers is high not only among ordinary enterprises but also among Silicon Valley. As of September 2019, there were 7,228 Python jobs in Silicon Valley. Also, Python is popular among big companies like Amazon.com (4522 Python jobs), Deloitte (1063), Apple (871), Accenture (620), Google (615), Raytheon (540), Microsoft (503), Northrop Grumman (458), Lockheed Martin (450), Bank of America (405), Capital One (379), J.P. Morgan Chase (371), Verizon (344), Facebook (340), and Tesla (84). Source: public domain Who doesn’t know Apple, a tech giant? As of September 2019, they had 871 Python jobs. Look at one of their job postings: Source: jobs.apple.com Where Python is mostly used According to the , the five most common Python use cases include: Python Developer Survey 2018 - Data analysis - Web development - DevOps, system administration, writing automation scripts - Machine learning - Web parsers, scrapers, crawlers Data analytics and machine learning As indicates, Python is the most popular language for machine learning. Python libraries and frameworks are among the most popular tools for data science. and are good examples here. PyTorch is among the fast-growing GitHub projects and TensorFlow is the most contributed project. Actually, scientific libraries and frameworks are one of the reasons why data scientists and machine learning engineers opt for Python. Below is the table of common use cases and solutions that are most suitable for them. 2018 Octoverse report PyTorch TensorFlow Software engineers opt for Python for data science and machine learning because this language is flexible, simple, and stable. Also, developers can always rely on communities any time they have difficulty coding. And there are many of those. Web development In 2018, IEEE Spectrum states that Python was the number one choice website development. Indeed, Python is one of the most widely used languages. There are lots of reasons for this: With Python, you can build an app that scales. Big companies that handle high traffic such as Instagram, Google, Netflix, and Reddit prove that. Flexibility and scalability: There are built-in tools that allows you to build a well-secure app from the start. : Python can be used for any operations or software development scenario. It can also be used for all sorts of projects from MVPs to e-commerce platforms to mHealth apps. Security: Versatility : Python has everything you need to build a full-featured application. There’s the Python standard library that offers standardized solutions for a wide variety of problems so you don’t need to rewrite widely used commands. Robustness : Python plays well with others and can be easily integrated with languages such as Java, Jython, C, and C++. Easy integration Additionally, there are many Python web frameworks that are quite popular like Django. Flask, web2py, and CherryPy. In 2019, Django and Flask were even included in the most broadly used web frameworks list. Source: insights.stackoverflow.com Companies powered by Python Real-life projects are another way to check Python demand in market. As of August 2019, there were 188,604 websites built with Python, as shows. It’s worth noting that among those are big names such as Netflix, Google, Instagram, Quora, Dropbox, IBM, Reddit, and Spotify. Now, let’s take a minute to see how exactly some of them use Python. BuiltWith Spotify Spotify ― a world-famous music streaming service ― relies heavily on Python. They use a combination of several languages: Python, Java, C++, and C with Python being the main technology. The primary reason why they opted for Python is speed. Geoff van der Meer ―  a former VP of Engineering at Spotify ― said that “speed is a big focus for Spotify. Python fits well into this mindset, as it gets us big wins in speed of development.” Where exactly Spotify uses Python . They created ― a Python package ― to build data processing flows. This package comes with built-in support for Hadoop, a Java framework for data processing. Luigi thus makes interactions with Hadoop easier. Also, they combine Luigi with a couple of machine learning algorithms for the following features: Data analysis Luigi Discover Weekly ― Every Monday, Spotify users receive a fresh personalized playlist based on their tastes. Radio ― Spotify crafts a list of songs by playlist, album, artist, or songs of user’s choice. . Spotify backend comprises a number of interrelated services. They connect these backend services by their messaging protocol using ZeroMQ, an asynchronous messaging library. Python powers 80% of these backend services. Backend infrastructure What’s more, Spotify plays a big part in Python community. They sponsored different conferences including Euro Python and PyCon. They support local communities such as NYC PyLadies and the Stockholm Python User Group. Also, they’ve contributed to Python by creating 49 open-source projects including spotify-tensorflow, Luigi, Comet, Chartify, and Cartography. Netflix Netflix is one of the biggest examples of Python projects. Python was there when Netflix started and continues to play a big role in developing and improving their app as well as managing their internal processes. They use a combination of the best Python libraries and in-house development. Source: macrumors.com Where exactly Netflix uses Python . At Netflix, they believe that understanding users is key to deliver experience tailored to each user. To achieve this, they analyze metrics, logs, and traces. Observability tools . Since Netflix generate lots of information, it’s critical to comprehend a vast amount of data fast. To turn this data into actionable insights, they visualize it in their dashboards. Detection tools . Netflix monitors their platform in real-time to find anomalies and evaluates anomalous correlations and contextual events. Diagnostic tools . To quickly resolve issues and bring the platform back to a healthy state, they take mitigation measures by way of automated actions and diverse actions (terminating, rebooting, and detaching). Remediation tools . To deliver TV shows, movies and documentaries to each Netflix user, they built , a CDN. Content delivery network (CDN) Open Connect for traffic distribution, capacity operation, , and fleet efficiency of their cloud. Demand engineering tools regional failovers Machine learning with Python has a special place at Netflix. They apply different algorithms to improve customer experience and deliver stuff tailored to each and every member. For example, Netflix does their best to understand exactly what they feel like watching and recommends movies with the help of . Also, they use to find out which artwork best relates to each user. Here’s an To automate their marketing campaign, they developed . recommendation algorithms artwork personalization algorithms example. marketing algorithms But that’s not all. Netflix contributes to Python by making open-source projects. The most popular are Security monkey, Bless, Aardvark, Repokid, and Lemur. Instagram Being the second most engaged social networking platform with around 1 billion monthly active users and over 40 million shared photos, it’s difficult to provide efficient app performance. Python is what provides Instagram with the ability to handle this and the power to scale while retaining great performance. In one of their technical blog posts, the Instagram team says that “we initially chose to use Python because of its reputation for simplicity and practicality, which aligns well with our philosophy of “do the simple thing first.” Where exactly Instagram uses Python , a tool to to record key performance and efficiency metrics Dynostats Monitoring and alerting tools. their service infrastructure Scaling The Instagram blog including LibCST, MonkeyType, and django-workload Open-source projects So what’s the demand for Python? To answer the question “How big is the demand for Python in 2019?”, we’ll say ― huge. Statistics, community, job postings, use cases, and leading companies using Python illustrate this. For example, because Python is used for new industries such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, and natural language processing, Python won’t disappear in the near future. The community and the number of Python applications are growing. Plus, Python is frequently requested in job postings. All this means that Python is an in-demand programming language with a bright future.

How Big the Demand for Python in 2019 is, or, Why Python Has Suddenly Become So Popular

How to Send and Receive Data, Payments, and More Using Ultrasonic Technology. Discover Data & Payments at the Speed of Sound The adoption of mobile payments is on the rise. In fact, the majority of smartphone owners, 78%, have using their mobile device. However, traditional mobile payment methods are lacking in critical security needed to protect sensitive payment information. made a purchase Is there a more secure way to transmit payment data than traditional mobile payment methods? The answer lies within ultrasonic technology. The LISNR® Ultrasonic Data Platform: How does it work? A customer initiates a mobile payment using their mobile device, for example buying something at the department store. Through , ultrasonic data transmission occurs, enabling secure bi-communication between the mobile device and the point-of-sale payment terminal via speaker or microphone. LISNR’s technology Audible or inaudible tones, depending on use case, send encrypted data between devices to create secure communication. LISNR uses KAB® or Kilo Audio Bit, complete with a throughput of 1,000 bit-per-second to send data over audio across bandwidths. Each audio tone has three parts: the Preamble, the Header, and the Payload. The tone preamble announces the presence of a tone to begin SDK demodulation. Preamble: The header contains metadata about the payload and security logic. Header: The payload is the actual data-containing portion of the tone. Payload: LISNR’s development kit allows devices to utilize ultrasonic sound technologies on various platforms, enabling tone modulation and demodulation. LISNR currently supports platforms such as: Android iOS Linux Windows Python Raspberry Pi Amazon Alexa macOS This is the actual sample code from our Linux SDK documentation: You can find other sample codes via GitHub . here Behind the scenes, LISNR offers two different approaches to security when completing payments using ultrasonic sound, RSA-encrypted payload and TLS 1.2. Bi-Directional Ultrasonic Payments vs. Traditional Mobile Payment Solutions LISNR’s ultrasonic technology is a secure medium that enables retailers, merchants and card networks to create a secure payment experience that’s possibly the most secure way to pay. How? LISNR’s ultrasonic payment solution is the first bi-directional exchange that can send a confirmation back, while all other methods are unidirectional. Existing payment solutions such as EMV, swiped card and NFC are all mostly unidirectional and cannot create an off-line . Instead, they’re sending their data into the cloud which increases the potential risk of payment data being exposed. handshake Ultrasonic technology uses sound to transmit credit card information without interception or data recording. The handshake is done locally between the two devices, without ever connecting online. A local handshake allows retailers to add additional factors without exposing the handshake to the cloud via tokenized and encrypted credit card data, proximity data, biometric information and more. The resulting handshake includes multiple authentication factors, resulting in greater security when compared to traditional unidirectional payment technologies. How Do Ultrasonic Payments Work? The LISNR bi-directional prototype bridges the last gap between the client and the merchant when a payment is made. Where sensitive payment credentials are being shared, we perform the exchange with similar levels of security already available, such as TLS (Transport Layer Security). RSA-Encrypted Payload Prototype In the RSA-encrypted payload prototype, the mobile device creates a data message containing credit card data and encrypts it with the terminal’s public RSA key. The data is then broadcast and received by the payment terminal, the only device that can decrypt the message. After decrypting the data, the server responds with a ServerDone message, which can also be used to convey an error in the transfer. This prototype boasts high levels of security because only the server can decrypt the critical payment data. Plus, it’s fast. TLS 1.2 Prototype In the TLS, or transport layer security, 1.2 prototype, a full handshake and data transfer is performed. A handshake is described as a communication between the mobile device and the terminal that determines the used to encrypt the communication. Verification of the server takes place and a secure connection is established before the transfer of data occurs. ciphersuite The TLS 1.2 is an industry-accepted protocol without a data limit. The handshake can’t be replayed, making it completely secure. What’s the Main Difference Between RSA and TLS? When using the RSA protocol, implementation requires the RSA keys to be exchanged beforehand, which will require advance planning. The TLS protocol includes a key exchange so the two clients can communicate. As a result, TLS takes longer to complete. Using LISNR’s bi-directional ultrasonic solution, both customer and critical business data are protected. Mobile device to server communication is encrypted, further securing customer credit card information on any mobile device with a speaker. Now You Too Can Create a More Secure Way to Pay Through LISNR’s bi-directional ultrasonic sound payment solution and software working as an enabler, end users can integrate LISNR’s ultrasonic proximity platform to create the most secure way to accept mobile payments. To learn more about LISNR’s bi-directional solution, get in touch with us. About Ethan Tyink Ethan Tyink, Embedded Engineer at LISNR Ethan completed his undergraduate degree at Purdue in Computer Science and his master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati also in CS with a focus on cybersecurity and embedded systems. He is a Full-Stack generalist specialized in Cyber Security and has been an embedded engineer with LISNR since leaving Northrop Grumman in 2018. He works with C++/C, Objective-C, Java, Perl, Python. Reach out if you share some of his areas of interest around Mobile App Security, Malware Reverse Engineering, Malware detection and prevention, Cryptography Network Security, Embedded Systems and Distributed Systems. ABOUT LISNR® LISNR® is data at the speed of sound. LISNR® powers seamless payment experiences, connecting the online to offline customer journey with the most advanced Ultrasonic Data Platform. This is achieved via a secure and scalable software solution that sends micro-communications using sound between devices on standard speakers and microphones. Data at the speed of sound. Today, Visa, Jaguar Land Rover, Ticketmaster, and the US Government trust our solution to power data transmission between connected devices. Founded in 2012, LISNR® has offices in Oakland, CA and Cincinnati, OH. Major investors include Visa, Intel, Jump Capital, R/GA, and Synchrony Financial. Learn more at LISNR.com/resources/developers

How to Send and Receive Data, Payments, and More Using Ultrasonic Technology

Friday, June 23, 2017: We completed the setup of our test facility on the site of the , NY (Long Island). This is where were built by Northrop Grumman. Now, it is the site of Launcher’s 3D-printed rocket engine testing facility. Naval Weapons Industrial Reserve Plant in Calverton F-14 Tomcats The goal of the day was to perform our first ever hot fire of any kind as a rocket company. We planned to fire the 3D-printed augmented spark igniter for Engine-1 via remote control. While very small, it is a key piece of Engine-1 and is in its own right a small rocket motor ignited by a spark plug. Built using 3D-printed Inconel 718, the propellants are gaseous oxygen (GOX) and kerosene. It is expected to generate 5 pound-force (lbf) of thrust. Igniter for Launcher Engine-1. It screws into the center of the injector and fires inside the combustion chamber of Engine-1 The test also brought together more than twenty systems and marked the final integration of the many pieces of software and electronics for control, measurement, and safety that we have been developing during the last few months in preparation for our future Engine-1 firing (expected later this summer). Our protection wall and test cell container. Command container. Our control room is situated at a safe distance of more than 600 feet from the test cell. In Command, we can remotely control and monitor sensors on the test stand, activate warning and safety devices, and monitor the surroundings and test cell container with more than 15 cameras and microphones. We also have a live-streaming capability. The team can monitor all the cameras and control and monitor the stand directly from their desks. ‘The Ranch’ container — changing room and green room. KERO container — storage for Jet-A kerosene. The three containers in the test cell area (in addition to Command): TACO (networking/video equipment hub), LOX (liquid oxygen storage), and CELL (the actual test stand container). Also shown is our concrete protection wall. Launcher’s team setting up the E-1 Igniter test stand electronics, sensors, valves, fuel, gases, and video in preparation for the hot fire test. Engine-1 Igniter first hot fire. Also, this was Launcher’s first ever hot fire of any kind. Launcher’s first can be seen in this photo . They are tiny but mark a symbolic milestone for us as a new rocket development company. Mach diamonds On future igniter testing days, we will be fine-tuning the performance, gathering more data and ensuring that we have full repeatability of our E-1 igniter firing at nominal performance and expected run time. We will be sharing data and updates as we get closer to our 500 lbf thrust Engine-1 hot firing, and in the process, continue to make steady progress toward our 10-year goal to develop a commercial satellite launcher. We want to make low earth orbit more accessible to entrepreneurs and their customers. Perfect end to the day. Ad astra. Photos and signage by our friends at http://noentrydesign.com/

Our first test day — E-1 Igniter Hot Fire

After a relatively calm late summer, SpaceX kicked up the cadence again in October 2017 — closing out the month with three successful missions. This uptick in cadence follows a remarkable year that has left many astounded at the capabilities and durability of the company that was, until recently, considered an underdog in the aerospace industry. On October 9, SpaceX launched the Iridium-3 mission from Vandenberg AFB in California. This launch carried the third set of 10 satellites into their target orbits. The Iridium NEXT constellation is a state of the art constellation of satellites that orbit in a low earth orbit around the planet and provide services including air and maritime tracking as well as Internet of Things and sat phone communications. It will consist of 72 individual satellites (6 of which are on-orbit spares) that are launched 10 at a time. Following the early October launch, the Falcon 9 booster returned to Earth and landed successfully on the “Just Read the Instructions” in the Pacific. [EDIT: As per this , Iridium has added 3 satellites to their constellation, bringing their on orbit spare count to 9 and total satellite count to 75.] January 2017 Press Release Two days later, on October 11, SpaceX launched the EchoStar 105/SES-11 satellite to Geostationary Transfer Orbit (GTO) from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This launch utilized a flight proven booster that had previously taken SpaceX’s 10th ISS resupply Dragon capsule to the International Space Station earlier in 2017. EchoStar 105/SES-11 is a dual-mission satellite that is operated by both US-based EchoStar and Luxembourg based SES. It provides TV and other communication capabilities to the North American continent. Following delivery of the second stage and payload into space, the booster once again returned to earth to land on the “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Atlantic ocean. The Falcon 9 carrying the EchoStar 105/SES-11 satellite prior to launching (SpaceX) Closing out October, SpaceX launched the Koreasat-5A satellite from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on October 30. Koreasat-5A replaces the aging Koreasat-5 satellite and will provide TV, Broadband, and other communications services across Asia and parts of the Middle East. It will also provide maritime coverage of the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, South China Sea, and East China Sea — a feature unique to this satellite in the Koreasat fleet. Following the delivery of the second stage and payload into space, the booster landed on the “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Atlantic ocean after a high energy return through the Earth’s atmosphere. This marked the 16th successful mission this year — doubling the company’s previous annual launch record. Falcon 9 lifting the Koreasat-5A satellite into orbit (SpaceX) In fact, 2017 has been a banner year for SpaceX, and arguably for the future of spaceflight, in many ways. Here is a list of the notable milestones that have happened in 2017: January 14 — Iridium-1 Satellite. Return to Flight after AMOS-6 test anomaly on September 1, 2016. After a 4 month stand-down to investigate the loss of the Falcon 9 during static fire test preparations, this flight from Vandenberg marked the start of the Iridium NEXT deployment and resulted in the first successful landing attempt on the automated support drone ship “Just Read the Instructions” in the Pacific ocean. This booster would go on to fly again in June. February 19 — CRS-10 ISS resupply mission. This was the first private use of the LC-39A launch complex which had been used to send humans to the moon and launch the Space Shuttle. This booster would return to land at LZ-1 and fly once again in October. March 30 — The SES-10 communication satellite became the first satellite launched to orbit on a flight proven booster. The booster was originally used to send the Dragon cargo capsule to the ISS for CRS-8 and was the first booster to land on a drone ship. Following delivery of the second stage and payload to orbit, this booster once again returned to earth to land successfully. This was also the first time that SpaceX launched two payloads in the same month with just 2 weeks between the previous launch of EchoStar and this one on the same pad. May 1 — SpaceX launches their first National Reconnaissance Office payload (NROL_76). For the first time, the general public got to see footage of the booster separation and return to Landing Zone 1 from the ground. Due the secretive nature of the payload, viewers of the web cast were not able to watch the second stage burn or deployment. NROL-76 Booster Separation as seen from the ground June 3 — CRS-11 ISS Resupply mission. This mission marked the first reuse ( ) of an orbital class commercial spacecraft. The pressure vessel for this mission was previously flown on the CRS-4 mission in September 2014. The ability to reuse at least the pressure vessel portion of the Cargo Dragon spacecraft allowed for greater focus to be spent on the Crew Dragon program. partial June 23 — BulgariaSat-1. This mission was the second reflight of a flight proven booster. The booster had previously been used in January to launch the Iridium-1 satellite. Following successful delivery of the second stage to orbit, this booster returned to earth to become the first to land on both droneships. June 25 — Iridium-2. The second set of 10 satellites for the Iridium NEXT constellation was also the third launch for June and the second launch in the same weekend (from opposite sides of the country). This booster landed safely on the “Just Read the Instructions” despite very challenging weather and ocean conditions that necessitated re-positioning the JRTI just before launch. July 6 — Intelsat satellite. Weighing in at 6 761 kg (14,900 lbs), this was the heaviest GTO mission ever flown by SpaceX. The Falcon 9 launched in expendable mode (no legs or grid fins) in order to deliver the payload to a very challenging altitude of at least 31 230 km (19,405 miles). The Falcon 9 exceeded that minimum and placed the payload into a better than expected orbit. August 24 — Formosat 5 satellite. Shortly after breaking their record for heaviest launch, SpaceX launched the lightest payload the F9 has ever carried. The Formosat 5 was a legacy launch that was . intended to be carried on a smaller Falcon variant September 7 — USAF OTV-5 Spacecraft. In their second classified mission of the year, SpaceX, for the first time ever, launched the Boeing built X-37 spacecraft for the US Air Force’s OTV-5 mission. This mission also debuted a new fairing/payload support attachment on the transporter erector launcher (TEL), presumably to protect the rather heavy and delicate X-37 spacecraft. As with the previous NROL mission, footage of the 2nd stage operations and payload delivery was not made available to the public. OTV-5 mission rolling out to the launch pad featuring new payload support brace (Ken Kramer) October 9 & 11 — Iridium-3 and EchoStar 105/SES-11 Satellite. These launches marked the second double header (of a sort) of 2017 with Iridium-3 launching from Vandenberg, CA and EchoStar 105/SES-11 launching from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida just 2 days later. In addition, as mentioned earlier, the SES-11 booster had already flown earlier in this year for CRS-10. October 30 — KoreaSat-5a Satellite. This launch marked the 16th successful launch for 2017, doubling the previous annual record for launches by SpaceX. It was also the 13th landing of the Falcon 9 first stage this year (3 flights this year were in expendable mode). One could be excused for thinking that after such an eventful year and with the holidays rapidly approaching, SpaceX might be ready to stand down for a a couple of months until the new year. However, they are still going strong through the end of 2017. Next up on their launch manifest is the rather mysterious Zuma launch. While it could be presumed that SpaceX was well aware of this launch for many months, the general public only recently became aware of this launch when the FCC launch license became available. Even then, the client was not known for a while. Ultimately, it was revealed that the provider of the payload was Northrop Grumman and that this was a government payload. The launch is scheduled for November 15 at 8 pm EST from LC-39A. Given the clandestine nature of the payload, it would be reasonable to expect that, again, the second stage cameras will not be made public. Falcon Heavy hold downs visible on the TEL with F9 booster (nasaspaceflight.com) Zuma will be the last launch this year from LC-39A which will shutdown immediately afterwards for some final modifications to support the new Falcon Heavy rocket. Originally, it was expected that once SLC-40 came back online, the LC-39A complex would have to be offline for about 60 days to complete modifications. SpaceX has, however, been doing everything they can in between launches to eliminate this down time. Recent photos have indicated that most of the hold downs for the FH are in place. Final modifications involve welding work on the TEL and additional plumbing and wiring. In December, SpaceX will return to SLC-40 for the launch of the CRS-13 ISS resupply mission. Once this pad is operational, it is expected that most single core missions will launch from there, with the exception of crew missions. If scheduling conflicts happen, though, the LC-39A TEL will be capable of supporting any single core launch. JCSAT-16 launching from SLC-40 in August 2016. This was the last launch from the pad before the testing anomaly ( Michael Seeley for We Report Space) At some point in late November, SpaceX hopes to raise the FH at the LC-39A launch pad for initial fitting tests. Following fit tests, SpaceX will perform a wet dress rehearsal of the maiden launch of the vehicle. This rehearsal will involve activating all of the launch systems and fueling the vehicle, with the option of continuing into a static fire test — a test where the engines are started and brought to full thrust and then shut down without releasing the rocket. These tests are vital for the success of the launch because much of the FH is new ground. The Falcon Heavy is in many ways three Falcon 9 rockets strapped together (although, there are many structural enhancements to the center core). The fueling, communications, and operation of the rocket systems as a single unit, though, has never been performed before. In fact, no US based company has ever started 27 rocket engines at the same time. Currently, the LC-39A launch pad is the only place where the FH can be assembled and tested, which necessitated that SLC-40 be back online before they proceeded with the FH launch. With the understanding of the complexity of the FH systems, SpaceX has budgeted enough time to perform at least two wet dress rehearsals to allow for any necessary corrections. The goal is to launch the Falcon Heavy this year with the current earliest date (NET) for launch being December 29. There is a possibility that it could “pull left” to an earlier date is everything goes better than expected, but many predict it will slip into early January. Artists conceptual image of Falcon Heavy launch (SpaceX) Regardless of the launch date, there is a lot of anticipation for a great maiden voyage. With 3–4 additional missions on their manifest for the Falcon Heavy, a lot is riding on the success what will be the most powerful operational rocket on the planet. What a better way to herald a new year full of crewed flights, multiple Falcon Heavy launches, and an anticipated 30 overall launches than to watch 2 (boosters) land by land and one (booster) land by sea. Chris Rogers is a SpaceX enthusiast and over all fan of privatized space flight. His goal is to author articles that make space related news and events approachable by lay persons and people just starting to follow the New Space industry. Would you like to learn more? Here are some great resources for SpaceX information: SpaceX Official Website / SpaceX Twitter Elon Musk Twitter SpaceX Instagram UNOFFICIAL Facebook SpaceX Enthusiast Group Fan-run SpaceX subreddit NASASpaceFlight.com SpaceX Forum

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NORTHROP GRUMMAN

northropgrumman.com

10K+ employees

Since 1939

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