Aerospace Daily & Defense Report, August 14, 2014

LOS ANGELES — Boeing, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Sierra Nevada Space Systems are working through a final series of tests and development milestones as NASA’s final decision looms on which team will build systems to transport crews to the International Space Station.

VANDENBERG AFB, California — DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-3, the most sophisticated super-spectral, high-resolution commercial satellite yet developed, has been placed in a polar low Earth orbit following its successful launch here Aug. 13.

HOUSTON – The bold proposal by the U.S. nonprofit Inspiration Mars for a 501-day human flyby mission of the Red Planet might be eclipsed by the even bolder Mars Plus, a European concept that would incorporate 3-D printing technologies for the inflight construction of a surface habitat for two astronauts.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The U.S. Air Force has yet to turn on the sensors for its new – and until recently classified – set of space surveillance satellites launched last month.

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All six civil unmanned aircraft test sites selected by the FAA in December are now operational, and the agency is soliciting proposals from university teams to establish a center of excellence that will study issues critical to the safe integration of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) into national airspace. The Griffiss International Airport test site in Rome, New York, was declared operational on Aug. 7, followed on Aug. 13 by the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP), led by Virginia Tech with test ranges in Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey.

DARPA DEALS: The Defense Department Inspector General released a report on Aug. 13 concluding that former Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) Director Regina Dugan violated ethics rules when she “created potential business opportunities” for a company she had previously founded, RedXDefense, while heading the agency. However, according to the redacted report, dated April 9, 2013, the IG “found no evidence that Dr.

NEW DELHI – The U.S. has become India’s largest defense supplier in the past three fiscal years in terms of money spent, eclipsing traditional #1 arms supplier Russia, according to statistics revealed by Defense Minister Arun Jaitley on Aug. 12 in parliament. The U.S. has secured 40% of the money spent by India on defense imports in the past three years, followed by Russia with 30% and France with 14%. Israel, which used to be among the top two, has slipped to fourth place with 4%.

The U.S. Navy needs to hone its work in the electromagnetic spectrum, says Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations. “Control of the information is going to be the key to the future,” Greenert said earlier this month at a change-of-command ceremony as Rear Adm. David Lewis relieved Rear Adm. Patrick Brady as commander of Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (Spawar).

LONDON — The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says it will consider making changes to the certification standards governing the maximum weight of helicopters. The regulator made the decision in response to comments to a Federal Register notice on the possible restructuring of rotorcraft airworthiness standards posted back in February 2013.