Airbus, Bill Gates and Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son have joined to back a spinoff from Bellevue, Wash.-based Intellectual Ventures that aims to launch a constellation of imaging satellites “that will deliver real-time, continuous video of almost anywhere on Earth.” Russell Hannigan, founder and chief executive of the new venture—called EarthNow—said real-time video will provide a…

As the first 110-footlong wing skin panel for Boeing’s new 777X jet moved slowly across a mammoth new factory building one recent morning, a small crew walked alongside, watching for any possibility of an expensive collision. The “spotters” escorted the panel’s bright-orange transport platform as it followed invisible tracks embedded in the concrete floor and…