Elf Harold Star is a veteran news reporter and editor formerly with the North Pole Gazette. He has reported North Pole News for more than 50 years. He now serves the North Pole News Network as its primary news editor. Elf Harold lives at the North Pole with his wife, 4 cats and 3 very scared goldfish.
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North Pole Flight Command is quietly celebrating 200 days until Santa’s launch by expanding the flight routes of Santa’s sleigh. The sleigh, now in test flight stage, has been flying for a week in clear North Pole skies.

North Pole News Network

Preliminary reports about the sleigh are very good. Flight analysts and sleigh engineers are enthused about the early results. As such, their plan now is to extend the flight area.

The Sleigh Department is ready to build 8 prototypes of Version 2 of the sleigh. These should be ready in just days. Eventually, up to 12 sleighs of each test flight version will be built as flights expand to other areas around the world.

In other news, Operation Merry Christmas is reportedly on track. Mrs. Claus has met with department head elves in recent days to be updated on their progress. All appears to be on track.

The search for Santa has stalled. North Pole Security suspects Santa is engaged in some absorbing activity that keeps his movements limited. Many elves think he may have already started the summer camp project he talked about last month.

The North Pole Post Office reports that mail coming to the North Pole is starting to ask a lot of questions about reindeer. There is not a lot of news to share about reindeer at this time. Many reindeer associated with the test flight team are on duty but most of Santa’s reindeer remain in their homelands, as is typical for this time of the year.

The 200-day mark until Santa’s launch usually signals an increase in North Pole News. Please check back often for more updates.

Elf News Reporter at North Pole News Network
Elf Meg graduated from Southern North Pole University with a degree in journalism. For several years she was a star reporter for the North Pole Gazette and then briefly served as a producer for North Pole Radio News. She brings her experience in media to North Pole Flight Command, serving as both an Elf News Reporter for North Pole Radio News and Managing Editor of North Pole Flight Command.com
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Mrs. Claus has signed off on the final prototype design of Santa’s sleigh. With that signature the first official test flights of the new sleigh can begin.

Santa gets a new sleigh each year (well, except for last year when he used a really old sleigh). The design process usually occupies several months. Test flights will follow a rigorous schedule as engineers, designers, builders and pilots work together to refine it.

The final test flight usually is conducted on December 23rd, just hours before Santa leaves the North Pole.

The target for test flights this year to begin was set for June 1st. So this new sleigh process is right on target.

Tracking information on test flights will eventually become available on tracking maps within a few months. But these first flights usually result in mixed results and Flight Command is not yet ready to train their crews for tracking.

Map tracking of test flights likely won’t happen until Christmas in July, at least.

Elf News Reporter at North Pole News Network
Elf Meg graduated from Southern North Pole University with a degree in journalism. For several years she was a star reporter for the North Pole Gazette and then briefly served as a producer for North Pole Radio News. She brings her experience in media to North Pole Flight Command, serving as both an Elf News Reporter for North Pole Radio News and Managing Editor of North Pole Flight Command.com
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The newest design of Santa’s sleigh was rejected in a meeting held at North Pole Flight Command.

For months engineers and sleigh designers have followed a very careful path in designing a new sleigh for Santa. After the issues last year with the new sleigh it is critical that they find solutions.

After months of meetings and tests a final design was agreed upon and it just needed approval before a prototype is constructed so that test flights can begin.

But Mrs. Claus, of all people, put a stop to their efforts and asked for adjustments to their design.

According to Elf Roger Star, director of North Pole Flight Command, Mrs. Claus objected to the design of the rear deck of the sleigh. She said the design “looked pretty” but was impractical. The sleigh had a flat deck with expanded “fins”, that gave it a very fast look. Mrs. Claus even admitted the new design would likely fly faster as well.

The objection has more to do with function than style, she said. The rear deck is where elves work to reload the sleigh. It needs to accommodate massive amounts of “stuff”, as she called it, and the new design would not allow for that.

Mrs. Claus said Santa would definitely be frustrated with such a design because it would require constant reloading of the sleigh, which would slow him down.

It should be remembered that Mrs. Claus is a licensed and qualified sleigh pilot who has some limited experience with Santa on Christmas Eve.

Sleigh designers are disappointed but said they could make the required adjustments still in time for test flights to begin by the target date of June 1st.

Mrs. Claus will meet with them again in two weeks.

Elf News Reporter at North Pole News Network
Elf Meg graduated from Southern North Pole University with a degree in journalism. For several years she was a star reporter for the North Pole Gazette and then briefly served as a producer for North Pole Radio News. She brings her experience in media to North Pole Flight Command, serving as both an Elf News Reporter for North Pole Radio News and Managing Editor of North Pole Flight Command.com
Elf Meg Nogg
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Elf Roger Star, Director of North Pole Flight Command, today released the final location candidates for regional tracking centers to be used for Christmas 2023.

These regional tracking centers, which are new every year, house elf-staffed teams that coordinate Santa’s flight in each sector. There are five sectors that divide the world:

Sectors of the World

Here are the ten finalist locations for each sector:

Sector 1: Ajeltake, Majuro, Marshall Islands; Port Vila, Vanuatu; Nadi, Fiji; Twizel, New Zealand; Koror, Palau; Mati, Philippines; Nabari, Japan; Sataoa, Samoa; Flower Pot, Tasmania; Zucchelli Station, Antarctica.

Sector 2: Rayong, Thailand; Sanya, China; Grozny, Georgia; Abha, Saudi Arabia; Sklad, Russia; Gimpo-si, South Korea; Yaan, China; Galle, Sri Lanka; Surat, India; Mary, Turkmenistan.

Sector 3: Agona, Ghana; Seafield, South Africa; Patras, Greece; San Marco, Italy; Lenzburg, Switzerland; Jena, Germany; Askola, Finland; Rena, Norway; Vik, Iceland; Santander, Spain.

Sector 4: Paamiut, Greenland; Etah, Greenland; North Arm, Falkland Islands; Esperanza, Argentina; Victoria, Chile; Bridgetown, Barbados; Buga, Columbia; Sao Carlos, Brazil; Posadas, Argentina; San Nicolas, Aruba.

Sector 5: Jaco, Costa Rica; Trinidad, Honduras; Crown Haven, Bahamas; Wild Goose, Ontario, Canada; Rochester, Minnesota, USA; Blue River, BC, Canada; Lake Louise, Alaska, USA; Tahoma, California, USA; Clyde, Texas, USA; Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada.