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Mitsubishi SpaceJet faces development freeze
Developer Mitsubishi Heavy says it will ‘closely review the development timeline’
Media reports out of Japan say that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which has spent more than a decade trying to develop a homegrown regional jet now called the SpaceJet, is said to be putting the programme on hold after sinking almost US$10 billion into the plane. The company launched the programme back in 2008 as part of Japan’s efforts to develop its aerospace sector on an international scale but has suffered years of delays and setbacks. “It is true that we are considering many possibilities,” Mitsubishi Heavy said on 23 October to Japanese media. The company added that it will “continue to closely review the development timeline, taking into account the impact of the coronavirus.” The company plans to keep trying for a type certification but is said to be cutting the programme’s and team by half to about 500 after earlier downsizing the development team and operations. Seven years after the original planned delivery date, the SpaceJet still has yet to receive type certification, shipments have been postponed for at least six times and development costs have ballooned over their original estimates. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Kay Rolland at [email protected]
TAGSaerospace industrydevelopment suspendedJapanMitsubishi Heavy IndustriesSpaceJet
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Matt Driskillhttp://www.matt-driskill.com
Matt Driskill is the Editor of Asian Aviation. He has been an Asia-based journalist and content producer since 1990 for outlets including Reuters and the International Herald Tribune/New York Times and is a former president of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong. He appears on international broadcast outlets like Al Jazeera, CNA and the BBC and has taught journalism at Hong Kong University and American University of Paris. In 2022 Driskill received the “Outstanding Achievement Award” from the Aerospace Media Awards Asia organisation for his editorials and in 2024 received a “Special Recognition for Editorial Perspectives” award from the same organisation. Driskill has received awards from the Associated Press for Investigative Reporting and Business Writing and in 1989 was named the John J. McCloy Fellow by the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University in New York where he earned his Master's Degree.
马特·德里斯基尔（Matt Driskill）是《亚洲航空》（Asian Aviation）的主编。他自1990年起，担任驻亚洲的记者和内容制作人，曾为路透社、国际先驱论坛报/纽约时报等媒体工作，并曾任香港外国记者协会会长。他也曾多次在半岛电视台、新加坡广播公司（CNA）和BBC等国际媒体担任嘉宾，并在香港大学和巴黎美国大学教授新闻学。2022年，德里斯基尔因其评论获得了航空媒体奖（Aerospace Media Awards Asia）颁发的“杰出成就奖”，2024年又因其编辑观点获得同一组织颁发的“特别表彰”。他曾获得美联社的调查报道和商务写作奖，并于1989年被纽约哥伦比亚大学研究生新闻学院授予约翰·J·麦克劳伊学者（John J. McCloy Fellow）称号，获得硕士学位。