Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic have taken another step toward flying SpaceShipTwo (SS2) in suborbital space, following the completion of a third powered flight that evaluated a new thermal protection system and a reaction control system (RCS) for re-orienting the vehicle outside the atmosphere.
As the recent loss of two sailors’ lives and a Sikorsky MH-53E “Sea Dragon” helicopter off the Virginia coast shows, there are no routine U.S. Navy aviation missions. Daytime training mishaps such as the Jan. 8 MH-53E incident are far from uncommon, an Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis of service accident data shows.
A Jan. 8 story on Airbus misstated the death toll from the Alaska DeHavilland DHC-3T crash that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska.). Five people died in the accident.
MERIGNAC, France — Dassault Aviation is beginning work on a four-year contract to develop a new F3-R standard for the Rafale combat jet. The $1.1 billion software upgrade will enable the integration of new weapons and a next-generation laser targeting pod on the multirole aircraft. The agreement was signed Jan. 10 by French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier during a visit to the company’s aircraft production facility in Merignac.
Proximity to congested northeast U.S. airspace is one reason Griffiss International Airport in central New York state has been selected to operate one of six unmanned aircraft system (UAS) test sites selected by the FAA. Partnered with the Northeast UAS Airspace Integration Research Alliance (Nuair)—a consortium of public entities, private industry and academic institutions—Griffiss will operate test ranges in New York and Massachusetts.
SECRETARIAL WORK: U.S. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James, who was confirmed for the post by the Senate on Dec. 13, says she will get personally involved in monitoring progress of the Air Force’s top procurement programs. During a Jan. 9 town hall meeting, James said she is “going to look to get involved with some of these big programs and do program reviews.” Among the top procurement priorities for the Air Force are the F-35, Long-Range Strike Bomber and KC-46 refueler.
Helicopter lessor Milestone Aviation Group continues to increase its access to capital by closing on an unsecured $200 million revolving line of credit, a move that enables it to continue to rapidly expand its customer base that now numbers more than two dozen operators.
Specialists from the U.S. Army’s Edgewood Chemical Biological Center are slated to depart for the Mediterranean later in January aboard the MV Cape Ray to destroy chemical weapons from Syria. Sea trials for the mission have already begun. The U.S. reportedly has never disposed of chemical weapons aboard a ship before. Leased to the U.S. Navy for the operation, the 650-ft. roll-on/roll-of ship is part of the U.S. Maritime Administration’s (Marad) ready reserve force.
Manned and unmanned aircraft promise to give Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) more flexibility and punch than initially envisioned, says Vice Adm. Tom Copeman, commander of U.S. Naval Surface Forces. “On a ship under $400 million, you have the same aviation capability as a DDG [destroyer],” Copeman noted Jan. 6 during a media roundtable about the initial Western Pacific deployment of LCS-1, the USS Freedom. “You have a lot of capability other than just what the mission package said.
U.S. lawmakers have stalled the Air Force’s on-again/off-again, multibillion-dollar efforts to field upgraded avionics and navigation systems for its aging C-130s.
ABOARD THE USS LAKE ERIE — There is something about a U.S. guided-missile cruiser (CG) or destroyer (DDG) equipped with an advanced Aegis combat system tailored especially for ballistic missile defense (BMD) that sends quite a message to partners and potential foes alike, Navy officials say.
Crewmembers on the International Space Station are set to get 2,780 lb. of science experiments and fresh supplies early Sunday, after Orbital Sciences Corp.’s new Antares launch vehicle orbited the company’s Cygnus cargo carrier in a delayed launch Thursday afternoon. Liftoff of the Antares from its custom-built pad at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore came at 1:07 p.m. EST, and the spacecraft separated into its target orbit 10 min. later. Solar array deployment followed shortly afterward.
NEW DELHI — India will carry out a test launch of the heaviest variant of its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), the Mk. 3, in April. “The rocket will have a passive cryogenic engine,” Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan says. The Mk. 3, an advanced version of the GSLV, is designed to launch communications satellites weighing more than 4 metric tons (8,800 lb.). The chief objective of the mission “will be to study the aerodynamics and stability of the rocket,” Radhakrishnan says.
A concept for constructing satellites from building-block “satlets,” under development for the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), could allow a spacecraft to be assembled quickly around the payload for a specific mission or service, says developer NovaWurks. Instead of integrating the payload into a large satellite bus that provides the required mechanical, propulsion, power, thermal, communications, processing and other functions, the spacecraft would be assembled around the payload by connecting multiple satlets together.
LONDON — U.S. military investigators have begun examining the wreckage of a U.S. Air Force Sikorsky HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter that crashed into a marsh in Norfolk, U.K., killing four airmen.
A powerful solar flare forced Orbital Sciences Corp. to delay the first commercial mission of its Cygnus cargo vehicle atop the company’s new Antares rocket Wednesday, delaying delivery of 1,465 kg. of supplies and scientific gear to the International Space Station by at least a day. Company engineers scrubbed the planned attempt after determining that radiation levels “exceeded by a considerable margin the constraints imposed on the mission to ensure the rocket’s electronic systems are not impacted by a harsh radiation environment.”
Congressional auditors agree that NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), one of the agency’s most complex and costly science projects, is proceeding well along its restructured plan, but the Hubble successor has little fiscal room for error or surprise difficulties leading up to its expected October 2018 launch.
The Norwegian government could fine AgustaWestland if two of the company’s former executives are found guilty of corruption charges related to a deal for VVIP helicopters in India.
Bristow Group has taken delivery of the first two Sikorsky S-76Ds, configured for offshore oil support, initially for services in the Gulf of Mexico. Delivery of the first VIP-configured helicopter is imminent, with emergency medical service (EMS) and search-and-rescue (SAR) variants to follow.
