As the Paris Air Show wraps up, Avio will be ready for a new milestone: the fifth launch of its Vega, to send a Sentinel 2 satellite into orbit on June 23.
The spacecraft weighed in at 5,800 lb. unfueled when it was launched from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center on Nov. 27, 1997, to study rainfall in the tropics and subtropics and improve models of global warming and climate change.
As developer and producer of the Antares core stage, Yuzhnoye is working toward a March 2016 Antares launch, which is expected to carry Orbital ATK’s Cygnus cargo vessel to the International Space Station (ISS) under a $1.9 billion fixed-price agreement with NASA to haul 20,000 kg (44,000 lb.) to the orbiting outpost by the end of 2017.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, though Arianespace said it expects to remain an independent company, with plans to keep its Evry, France-based headquarters, launch facilities in French Guiana and offices in Washington, Singapore and Tokyo.
The agreement, signed by CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden here June 16, aims to improve the agencies’ means and methods for orbital collision avoidance in an effort to boost the safety of satellite mission operations.
The vice commander of U.S. Strategic Command is suggesting there needs to be a national discussion about removing the mission of an “FAA for space”—directing traffic and handling collision avoidance of the growing number of satellites orbiting Earth—from the military.
Further details about how work will be divided within the Meads International Consortium—comprising MBDA, Lockheed Martin and additional suppliers—will be part of discussions yet to come, says Thomas Homberg, managing director of MBDA.
Textron is talking with Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and Exelis about an active electronically scanned array radar that can be integrated in the front of the aircraft.
With Ford-class aircraft carrier technology making it possible to broaden the design choices for future aircraft, the U.S. Navy and Air Force are collaborating on the next-generation fighter the Navy is calling FA-XX.
Currently, the launching of Russia’s Soyuz TMA-17M with NASA’s Kjell Lindgren, Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Kononenko to restore normal six-person operations, once set for May 26, is planned for late July 22.
Launching the X6 program at the Paris air show, Airbus Helicopters CEO, Guillaume Faury has also stated that the X6 will be the company’s first commercial product to adopt a fly-by-wire control system. The NH90 is currently the only helicopter in the Airbus stable to use such a system. The aircraft will also feature a full de-icing system.
Raytheon will provide the primary sensor package with the Bombardier Global 6000 as its primary platform choice for now, says Jack O’Banion, vice president of strategy and customer requirements for Skunk Works.
“I could easily foresee the day … when the F-22 might rotate in,” Deborah James told reporters at the Paris air show here June 15, adding that she could not specify a date by which they would be sent.
Ford-class aircraft carriers will generate and manage the kind of power necessary to operate directed energy (DE) weapons to better protect the ships—as well as give them more offensive punch, according to U.S. Navy officials.
Satellite internet startup OneWeb Ltd. has selected Airbus Defense and Space to serve as an industrial partner in the design and production of a fleet of 900 small internet satellites.
