Technology

NASA Decides to Bring Starliner Spacecraft Back to Earth Without Crew

Published

2 years ago

August 24, 2024

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — NASA will return Boeing’s Starliner to Earth without astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams aboard the spacecraft, the agency announced Saturday. The uncrewed return allows NASA and Boeing to continue gathering testing data on Starliner during its upcoming flight home, while also not accepting more risk than necessary for its crew.

Wilmore and Williams, who flew to the International Space Station in June aboard NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, have been busy supporting station research, maintenance, and Starliner system testing and data analysis, among other activities.

“Spaceflight is risky, even at its safest and most routine. A test flight, by nature, is neither safe, nor routine. The decision to keep Butch and Suni aboard the International Space Station and bring Boeing’s Starliner home uncrewed is the result of our commitment to safety: our core value and our North Star,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “I’m grateful to both the NASA and Boeing teams for all their incredible and detailed work.”

Wilmore and Williams will continue their work formally as part of the Expedition 71/72 crew through February 2025. They will fly home aboard a Dragon spacecraft with two other crew members assigned to the agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission. Starliner is expected to depart from the space station and make a safe, controlled autonomous re-entry and landing in early September.

NASA and Boeing identified helium leaks and experienced issues with the spacecraft reaction control thrusters on June 6 as Starliner approached the space station. Since then, engineering teams have completed a significant amount of work, including reviewing a collection of data, conducting flight and ground testing, hosting independent reviews with agency propulsion experts, and developing various return contingency plans. The uncertainty and lack of expert concurrence does not meet the agency’s safety and performance requirements for human spaceflight, thus prompting NASA leadership to move the astronauts to the Crew-9 mission.

“Decisions like this are never easy, but I want to commend our NASA and Boeing teams for their thorough analysis, transparent discussions, and focus on safety during the Crew Flight Test,” said Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Operations Mission Directorate. “We’ve learned a lot about the spacecraft during its journey to the station and its docked operations. We also will continue to gather more data about Starliner during the uncrewed return and improve the system for future flights to the space station.”

Starliner is designed to operate autonomously and previously completed two uncrewed flights. NASA and Boeing will work together to adjust end-of-mission planning and Starliner’s systems to set up for the uncrewed return in the coming weeks. Starliner must return to Earth before the Crew-9 mission launches to ensure a docking port is available on station.

“Starliner is a very capable spacecraft and, ultimately, this comes down to needing a higher level of certainty to perform a crewed return,” said Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. “The NASA and Boeing teams have completed a tremendous amount of testing and analysis, and this flight test is providing critical information on Starliner’s performance in space. Our efforts will help prepare for the uncrewed return and will greatly benefit future corrective actions for the spacecraft.”

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program requires spacecraft fly a crewed test flight to prove the system is ready for regular flights to and from the space station. Following Starliner’s return, the agency will review all mission-related data to inform what additional actions are required to meet NASA’s certification requirements.

The agency’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission, originally slated with four crew members, will launch no earlier than Tuesday, Sept. 24. The agency will share more information about the Crew-9 complement when details are finalized.

NASA and SpaceX currently are working several items before launch, including reconfiguring seats on the Crew-9 Dragon, and adjusting the manifest to carry additional cargo, personal effects, and Dragon-specific spacesuits for Wilmore and Williams. In addition, NASA and SpaceX now will use new facilities at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida to launch Crew-9, which provides increased operational flexibility around NASA’s planned Europa Clipper launch.

The Crew-9 mission will be the ninth rotational mission to the space station under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which works with the American aerospace industry to meet the goal of safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the orbital outpost on American-made rockets and spacecraft launching from American soil.

For more than two decades, people have lived and worked continuously aboard the International Space Station, advancing scientific knowledge and demonstrating new technologies, making research breakthroughs not possible on Earth. The station is a critical testbed for NASA to understand and overcome the challenges of long-duration spaceflight and to expand commercial opportunities in low Earth orbit. As commercial companies focus on providing human space transportation services and destinations as part of a robust low Earth orbit economy, NASA’s Artemis campaign is underway at the Moon where the agency is preparing for future human exploration of Mars.

Find more information on NASA’s Commercial Crew Program at:

https://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

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SOURCE NASA

Technology

DMALL Gains Momentum in Southeast Asia with AI-Driven Retail Platform

Published

10 minutes ago

May 4, 2026

SINGAPORE, May 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As retailers across Southeast Asia face rising operational complexity, shifting consumer expectations and margin pressure, demand is growing for integrated, real-time retail operating systems.

Dmall Inc. (02586.HK) is supporting this shift with a unified retail operating platform that connects core retail functions, improves execution efficiency and enhances visibility across stores, supply chains and customer touchpoints.

As one of China’s largest retail digital solutions providers by revenue and gross merchandise volume, Dmall serves nearly 600 retail clients across 11 countries and regions. Its platform has been shaped by large-scale deployments in complex retail environments, including long-standing work with Wumart Group, Metro, Lawson, 7-Eleven South China and SM Group in Southeast Asia.

Dmall’s recent collaboration with Cold Storage Singapore marks a milestone in supporting retail digital transformation across Southeast Asia. Completed within seven months, the project covered 87 stores across supermarket, hypermarket and express formats, consolidating multiple systems into a single platform across supply chain, merchandising and store operations.

“The transition was completed with minimal disruption to our operations,” said Mr. Lim Boon Chiong, Managing Director of Cold Storage Singapore. “We are seeing early improvements in product availability and replenishment, supported by better visibility across our supply chain and store network.”

The platform has also contributed to more consistent store execution and a more reliable customer experience. The first phase provides a foundation for the next stage of development, including AI-driven capabilities to further support product availability, freshness management and operational efficiency.

Dmall and Cold Storage Singapore plan to extend their cooperation to the fuel and convenience store format in June 2026, reflecting a deepening partnership and a shared commitment to creating greater operational value across retail formats.

“Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most dynamic retail markets, but also one of the most operationally complex,” said Mr. Zhongwei Ren, Partner and Chief Strategy Officer of Dmall. “By combining operational integration with AI-driven capabilities, Dmall aims to help retailers build more adaptive, scalable and efficient operations.”

About Dmall

Founded in 2015, Dmall (02586.HK) is committed to advancing retail through technology. As one of Asia’s leading providers of digital retail solutions, Dmall delivers integrated, AI-driven innovations that help retailers improve efficiency, optimize decisions and create greater value.

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SOURCE Dmall Inc.

Technology

Germany’s PDF/UA Mandate Raises the Bar for HTML to PDF C# Workflows

Published

10 minutes ago

May 4, 2026

Enterprise .NET teams generating PDFs at scale face new compliance pressure. Most aren’t ready.

CHICAGO, May 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The German government’s Deutschland Stack has standardized on PDF/UA as the required format for final-form digital documents. For .NET teams building HTML to PDF C# workflows, the mandate forces a question many have deferred: does the library you depend on actually produce compliant output, or just output that looks right?

Iron Software’s IronPDF, a commercial .NET library used in regulated industries across logistics, healthcare, and finance, generates PDF/UA-1 compliant documents directly from HTML in C#. That’s the same conformance level the Deutschland Stack now requires.

“Accessibility compliance has shifted from important to mandatory,” said Cameron Rimington, CEO of Iron Software. “Government rules like this set a floor that enterprise teams are expected to meet, not aspire to. The question is whether their tooling can clear that bar without bolt-on remediation.”

From recommendation to requirement

PDF/UA (ISO 14289) defines what makes a PDF universally accessible: correct tag structure, logical reading order, and metadata that lets assistive technologies parse the document reliably. The standard has existed since 2012, but adoption has been patchy.

Germany’s decision to embed PDF/UA into its national digital stack moves it from best practice to enforceable baseline. Combined with the European Accessibility Act, which extends similar requirements to digital products serving EU markets, the compliance window for document-heavy .NET applications is closing fast.

Most HTML to PDF C# workflows aren’t compliant yet

Despite the regulatory pressure, PDF/UA compliance is still the exception across enterprise .NET. Many teams generating PDFs at volume, particularly those running HTML to PDF C# pipelines, are using libraries that produce visually correct files but miss the structural and metadata requirements accessibility standards actually demand.

As mandates harden, that gap is harder to defer.

“Germany just standardized on PDF/UA. In our experience, most development teams aren’t compliant yet, and they know it,” said Rimington. “That gap is why they’re coming to us.”

What this means for .NET developers

Teams generating PDFs in .NET, for government portals, financial statements, healthcare records, or legal filings, are increasingly being asked to prove their output meets accessibility standards, not just that it renders.

IronPDF gives developers a direct path from HTML to PDF in C# with two methods that cover the common cases:

RenderHtmlAsPdfUa generates PDF/UA-1 compliant documents directly from HTMLSaveAsPdfUa converts existing PDFs to PDF/UA-1

When source HTML is semantic and well-structured, compliant output can be produced in a single call with no remediation step required. For less structured input, additional tagging may be needed to reach full compliance.

The library also supports PDF/A (conformance levels 1 through 3, both b and a) and PDF versions 1.2 through 1.7, covering archival and compliance requirements common in public sector and enterprise deployments.

In production: serving Germany’s regulated industries

The compliance pressure IronPDF is built for is already shaping decisions on the ground. ThreeB IT, a software engineering firm based in Ibbenbüren, has standardized on IronPDF for document generation across logistics and healthcare platforms, including systems serving Kuehne + Nagel and nationwide COVID-19 testing infrastructure.

Operating under strict GDPR and healthcare data rules made the library choice a compliance decision as much as a technical one.

“Because Iron Software doesn’t store any data, GDPR compliance is simple. That’s critical for every project we build,” said Thimo Buchheister, CEO of ThreeB IT.

Deployment speed mattered just as much.

“IronPDF made it possible to build a nationwide COVID testing system in two weeks. The key part was ready within hours,” said Buchheister.

The firm now treats Iron Software libraries as a default in its stack.

“We’ll integrate at least one Iron Software product in every future project. It’s become part of our standard stack,” Buchheister added.

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SOURCE Iron Software

Technology

Cregis Showcases at Money20/20 Asia 2026, Exploring a New Paradigm for Financial Infrastructure Powered by Stablecoins and On-Chain Payments

Published

10 minutes ago

May 4, 2026

HONG KONG, DUBAI, UAE and SINGAPORE, May 4, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — From April 21 to 23, 2026, at Money20/20 Asia 2026—one of the most influential fintech events in the Asia-Pacific region—Cregis participated as an exhibitor at Booth 6001. The conference brought together industry leaders to discuss key themes such as payment innovation, cross-border settlement, digital assets, and regulatory developments. During the event, Cregis presented its comprehensive digital asset infrastructure solutions tailored for enterprises and financial institutions, while engaging in in-depth conversations with participants from banks, payment providers, fintech companies, and Web3 organizations.

Advancing Payment Infrastructure

Throughout the event, the Cregis team highlighted its end-to-end capabilities in on-chain payments and digital asset management, with a focus on enterprise payment and treasury needs. As stablecoins and blockchain technologies increasingly move into real-world applications, enterprise priorities are shifting from simply supporting crypto assets to enabling efficient, secure, and controllable fund flows.

Cregis offers a unified infrastructure that supports multi-chain and multi-asset management, adaptable to a wide range of use cases including cross-border trade settlement, merchant payments, and corporate treasury operations. By ensuring both security and compliance, the platform enables more efficient global fund movement and greater transparency in settlement processes.

Richard, Co-Founder of Cregis, commented during the event: “Today, the key challenge for enterprises is no longer whether to enter the digital asset space, but how to build a fund management system that balances efficiency, security, and compliance. Through our infrastructure, we aim to help businesses operate more effectively in an increasingly complex global payments landscape.”

A New Cross-Border Payment Paradigm Driven by Stablecoins

Stablecoins and on-chain payments emerged as central topics at this year’s conference. As more financial institutions and payment providers explore the use of digital assets in cross-border settlement, stablecoins are becoming a critical bridge between traditional finance and the crypto economy.

During the event, Cregis engaged with various industry partners to discuss practical applications of stablecoins in cross-border trade, enterprise settlement, and treasury management. Compared to traditional cross-border payment rails, stablecoin-based settlement offers clear advantages in efficiency, cost, and transparency. At the same time, it raises higher requirements for underlying infrastructure, particularly in areas such as secure custody, fund monitoring, and regulatory compliance.

Engaging Industry Leaders: Exploring the Future Evolution of Finance in Asia

Beyond its presence on the exhibition floor, Cregis co-hosted a side event titled The Reserved Table: Redefining Asia’s Future of Settlements alongside WIDTH, StraitsX, and PlatON. The event brought together key players across payments, stablecoins, and cross-border settlement to explore the future trajectory of financial infrastructure in Asia.

At the event, Tannie, Head of Southeast Asia at Cregis, joined a panel discussion themed “A New Standard of Value: Stablecoins, Settlement & the New Money Stack”, where he shared insights from frontline enterprise use cases.

Tannie noted that the market still tends to view stablecoins primarily as a “product”, such as a yield-generating tool or trading instrument. However, in real-world business scenarios, stablecoins are increasingly evolving into foundational infrastructure. For exchanges, payment providers, and cross-border enterprises, the focus is no longer on yield, but on critical operational questions: how to enable real-time global settlement, how to manage liquidity across regions, and how to reduce reliance on traditional banking systems.

Looking ahead, Tannie emphasized that the deeper significance of stablecoins lies in their ability to fundamentally reshape how enterprises manage capital. Within an infrastructure-driven stablecoin framework, businesses can achieve:

Policy-based approval and signing mechanisms for fund movementsReal-time on-chain reconciliation and automated settlementA unified liquidity view across multiple chains and wallets24/7 uninterrupted treasury operations

This shift signals that stablecoins are not merely replacing traditional payment rails—they are driving enterprises to transition from conventional financial workflows toward a more programmable, automated “next-generation operating system for capital.”

From Payment Capabilities to Global Financial Connectivity

As stablecoins, on-chain payments, and enterprise-grade asset management systems continue to mature, a more efficient, transparent, and globally connected financial network is taking shape.

Richard noted: “In the coming years, as the convergence between traditional finance and Web3 accelerates, demand for robust digital asset infrastructure will continue to grow. Cregis aims to be a key enabler in this transition, providing enterprises with secure, scalable, and reliable foundational capabilities.”

Looking ahead, Cregis will continue to enhance its product offerings across custody, payments, and asset management. By focusing on real-world business needs, the company is committed to building a more comprehensive digital asset infrastructure, empowering global enterprises to improve efficiency, manage risks, and achieve sustainable growth in the next generation of financial systems.

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SOURCE Cregis