CYBER ACTION: Despite near-unanimous agreement about the need to shore up U.S. cyber defenses, Congress has not been able to agree on the details of cybersecurity legislation. Now Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, is among the lawmakers calling on President Barack Obama to address the issue through his executive authority.
NAPLES, Italy — The space programs of the world are likely to become more competitive in the decades ahead, as industry takes a larger role in human access to space, but space agency leaders say spacefaring nations still must take the lead in pushing the boundaries of human exploration.
United Space Alliance (USA), NASA’s Houston-based space shuttle prime contractor, laid off 157 workers on Sept. 28 as program retirement and transition activities wind down. The losses — 121 personnel in the Cape Canaveral area; 35 in Houston; and one in Huntsville, Ala. — leave the space operations company with a workforce of 2,263. More layoffs are planned for December and January, though the numbers are not clear since disposal of other shuttle program assets and records is continuing, USA spokeswoman Tracy Yates said Oct. 1.
Lockheed Martin is not planning to notify its employees of layoffs related to the potential $1 trillion in federal spending cuts due to take effect Jan. 2. The company’s decision is in response to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) telling contractors the government will assume liability for businesses that do not warn employees of layoffs related to massive potential budget cuts known as sequestration.
LONDON — Initial feasibility studies of a high-speed passenger aircraft designed to fly from Paris to Tokyo in less than 3 hr. have so far unearthed no major environmental obstacles to development, researchers say.
EADS and BAE Systems are facing even stronger headwinds for their merger plans 10 days ahead of the Oct. 10 deadline, with the CEO of major EADS shareholder Lagardere issuing a public statement demanding significant changes to the negotiated arrangements. Lagardere CEO Arnaud Lagardere says that “despite the industrial and strategic logic attributed to it, this plan has not yet demonstrated that it was creating value for EADS.” Therefore “Lagardere considers that the merger conditions between EADS and BAE Systems are currently unsatisfactory.”
BRUSSELS — Astrium Services will procure military satcom services on behalf of five European nations as part of a three-year agreement with the European Defense Agency (EDA), the first such contract awarded under EDA’s new European Satellite Communications Procurement Cell (ESCPC) initiative.
TOURS, France — An Australian-led high-speed propulsion research team is preparing to begin assembly of a scramjet-powered hypersonic demonstrator, following design changes to improve vehicle stability during its upcoming attempt at a Mach 8 flight test.
March 7, 2012 Andrew Mellon Auditorium Washington, D.C. Aviation Week’s 54th annual Laureate Awards will recognize individuals and teams for their extraordinary accomplishments. Their achievements embody the spirit of exploration, innovation and vision. Join us when we celebrate their significant contributions and the inspiration they provide. Reserve your place today. Visit www.aviationweek.com/laureates to see a complete list of the nominees.
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is developing the chemistry to convert seawater into jet fuel. The most promising process, the Navy says, would catalytically convert carbon dioxide and hydrogen gas directly to liquid hydrocarbon fuel used as JP-5, a process being developed and honed by the NRL. If such a process can be practically developed, the effect on Navy fuel logistics would be significant.
WALLOPS OPS: NASA has authorized Orbital Sciences Corp. to begin operations at the new launch pad built for its Antares rocket at the Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Va., although the state-owned facility still awaits space-agency certification for launches. Orbital and NASA plan to use Antares and the unmanned Cygnus capsule for commercial cargo deliveries to the International Space Station, with a first flight tentatively scheduled before the end of the year.
Securely transporting data is proving to be a costly mission for the U.S. Navy, and a recent government report says the service needs to do a better job. “Telecommunications services,” which include data storage on tapes, compact disks and other devices, ranked 12th among all Navy expenses between 1999 and 2009 with about $8.2 billion in contracts and contract modifications, according to an exclusive Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN) analysis of contracting data aggregated by the National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting.
A Sept. 27 story misidentified the origin of the algorithms tested for NASA’s recent sense-and-avoid flights; they were developed by Mitre and the University of North Dakota. North Dakota State University is working on the compact ADS-B devices.
CENTER DIRECTORS: Two NASA field centers will have new directors now that former Marshall Space Flight Center Robert Lightfoot has taken over as the No. 3 manager at agency headquarters. Lightfoot, who has been acting associate administrator since March 5, will take on that job permanently. Stennis Space Center Director Patrick Scheuermann will move to Marshall as director, and his deputy at Stennis, Richard Gilbrech, becomes the director of that field center. All three changes were effective last week.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Oct. 1 - 5 — 63rd International Astronautical Congress, Naples IAC 2012, Mostra D'Oltremare, Naples, Italy. For more information go to www.iafastro.org. oct. 2 - 4 — Worldwide Business Research's Conference on Future Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, Hotel Le Plaza, Brussels. For more information go to www.futureisr.com
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian unveiled a 2013 budget Sept. 28 that freezes defense spending at the 2012 level of €31.4 billion ($40 billion) while awaiting completion of a forthcoming defense strategy and new military program law early next year. Launched in July 2012, the new planning document “will end the gap between strategy and unrealistic spending,” the ministry stated in a news release.
