The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), acting in partnership with NASA’s human research program, plans to establish a Center for Space Radiation Research—budgeted at $2 billion annually—to focus on the effects of space radiation on astronauts assigned to deep-space missions. NSBRI issued a request for applications (RFA) on Aug. 14, seeking proposals from U.S research teams from academia, federal research centers, the private sector and labs established by state and local governments.
As demand from the U.S. military for its small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) winds down, AeroVironment is looking to move into the tactical missile, mission services and commercial markets. International sales of its small UAS, production ramp-up on the Switchblade lethal unmanned aircraft and finding customers for surveillance services and the Global Observer hydrogen-fueled high-altitude/long-endurance UAS are key to the company’s strategy to diversify its business.
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NEW DELHI — India’s first dedicated military communications satellite, GSAT-7, will be launched at the end of August, a senior scientist says. GSAT-7, which will primarily serve the Indian navy, is slated for launch on Aug. 30 from Europe’s spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) says.
CANBERRA — South Korea appears poised to order 60 Boeing F-15SE Silent Eagles for its F-X Phase 3 competition, throwing a lifeline to the venerable fighter’s production line and offering the manufacturer an opportunity to improve it for future contests.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — U.S. Missile Defense Agency Director (MDA) Vice Adm. James Syring plans to push for at least two Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) tests next year and more routine flight trials in the years to follow. “It is important for us to get back to regular, more than annual...flight-testing of the GBI [Ground-Based Interceptor] system,” Syring said during a speech Aug. 14 at the 16th Annual Space and Missile Defense Symposium here.
EXTRA SCRUTINY: For contractors helping to provide the U.S. Defense Department’s emerging “Joint Information Environment” (JIE), expect a lot more scrutiny. Development of the Pentagon’s new cloud-oriented information network will include no-notice inspector general reviews, personnel moves, integrated financial execution and planning, and converged enterprise services and chief information officer functions, according to the Defense Information Systems Agency’s director. Air Force Lt. Gen.
PALM BEACH and PANAMA CITY, Fla. — After years of treading water, the U.S. Navy’s Remote Multi-Mission Vehicle (RMMV) program appears to be making solid headway again, and program officials now feel the unmanned undersea vehicle (UUV) will give them the bang of a minesweeper for the bucks of a semi-submersible. Built by Lockheed Martin, the RMMV is a mission-module centerpiece for mine warfare operations planned for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS).
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) aug. 19 - 21 — Professional Aerospace Contractors Association (PACA) Briefing for Industry, “Two days of presentations by military and government agencies featuring new business opportunities,” Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town, Albuquerque, NM. For more information go to www.pacanm.org
Lost-link complications may have contributed to the suspected crash of an unmanned aircraft taking part in a NASA environmental survey in international airspace in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska on July 26.
LONDON — Airbus Military has flown the first A400M airlifter destined for the Turkish air force. The aircraft, MSN9, made its first flight on Aug. 9 from the company’s facility in Seville, Spain, carrying out a 5-hr., 30-min. sortie. Turkey will be the second country to receive the airlifter. Ankara has ordered 10 A400Ms, and Turkish companies are major partners in the program. Turkish pilots, loadmasters and maintenance engineers have begun training on the type at Airbus Military’s International Training Center located next to the factory.
Congressional auditors are doubling down on calls for the U.S. Air Force and Army simply to implement their own so-called open-systems architecture policies when it comes to unmanned aircraft systems, according to a July 31 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Space Systems/Loral (SSL) says it has been selected to build a commercial communications satellite for Latin American satellite operator Star One, a subsidiary of Brazilian telecom company Embratel. SSL announced the contract July 18, though the customer was not disclosed.
Science managers have conceded failure in attempting to restore the Kepler Space Telescope to full functionality, and will focus on what the telescope can do with only two of its four reaction wheels working. Designed to find extra-solar planets by detecting the faint flicker in light from distant stars when planets pass in front of them, Kepler lost the pointing accuracy it needs for the task when a second wheel failed in May.
COMMERCIAL CREW: NASA says it will spend $55 million in fiscal 2014 to fund new milestone payments to the three companies developing commercial crew transport vehicles under the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) effort. Boeing is due to receive a $20 million payment for a spacecraft safety review in July 2014, while SpaceX will receive the same amount for a Dragon parachute test in November of this year.
