Bradley Perrett covered China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. He is a Mandarin-speaking Australian.
Before joining Aviation Week in 2006 he was a macroeconomics, politics and aerospace journalist with Reuters. Perrett holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Macquarie University, Sydney. He left Aviation Week in 2020.
Bank of China’s Singapore-based leasing arm BOC Aviation has added 30 more Airbus A320 family aircraft to its Airbus single-aisle order book. Delivery of the new aircraft will take place over a three-year period from 2012. Airbus expects BOC to make an engine selection in the near future. The deal, worth around $2.3 billion at list prices, takes the A320 order book for Asia’s largest leasing company to 128 aircraft, of which 80 have been delivered. BOC also has five A330-200 Freighters on firm order for delivery from 2012.
BEIJING — Chinese spacecraft builder CAST aims to develop a larger satellite bus matched to the throw weight of the Long March 5 rocket under development by sister company CALT. The bus will have a mass of 6.5-7 tons, be able to carry a payload of 1.2-1.5 tons and supply 15-20 kw. of electrical power, CAST President Yang Baohua says. The design life will be 15 years and the designation DFH-5.
BEIJING — The small-satellite subsidiary of Chinese spacecraft maker the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) expects to sign its first foreign sale by the end of next year. The company, DFH Satellite Co., can make 10 satellites a year and will launch that many next year, says Director General Ge Yujun. That will mark a significant acceleration in its activity. Since its founding in 2001, DFH Satellite has developed 21 spacecraft, 17 of which remain in orbit.
