LOS ANGELES — Boeing is studying scaled-up variants of the reusable X-37B orbital test vehicle (OTV) for potential delivery of cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS) and other low-Earth-orbit destinations.
GLOBEMASTER SUPPORT: The U.S. Air Force has awarded Boeing an expected follow-on contract worth up to $11.75 billion over several years to continue to support U.S. and allied C-17 airlifters.
The U.S. Air Force’s 27th Special Operations Wing recently accepted delivery of its first MC-130J Combat Shadow II from Lockheed Martin at Cannon AFB, N.M. The J-model of the aircraft — a total of 20 were ordered — provides Air Force Special Operations Command’s (Afsoc) operators increased power and efficiency, as well as longer range, shorter takeoff distance, smaller crew size and a revamped computerized flight deck.
INDIANAPOLIS — Rolls-Royce will next week deliver the first production-standard F-35B lift fan to be built at its purpose-built lift fan assembly site here. The $13 million facility was completed in March 2010, but until now has been making components for lift fans as part of the buildup to making the first complete module. The lift fan will be the 12th production unit to be delivered overall.
LOS ANGELES — Researchers hope to learn more about one of the oldest known objects in the Solar System in the coming weeks following the descent of NASA’s Dawn spacecraft closer to the surface of the proto-planet Vesta.
U.S. officials are still confused about why Libya’s stockpile of new, advanced SA-24 Grinch man-portable air defense systems (Manpads) were not fired at NATO aircraft during the battle to oust Moammar Gadhafi. The weapons are perhaps the most sophisticated, light, anti-aircraft missiles made by Russia, and they are certainly the most sought after by insurgents shopping the black market.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos have agreed to set up an “expert-level group” to review exploration targets for joint cooperation, provided the two sides in the bilateral discussion can agree on where to go. Vladimir Popovkin, the new Roscosmos head, told the 62nd International Astronautical Congress that the talks could lead to a deal for sharing the expense of exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Deep-space exploration is “unthinkable without broader international cooperation,” Popovkin said through an interpreter.
The first Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) protected communications satellite was slated to reach orbit Oct. 3, but program officials say it will now complete its journey in 2-3 weeks.
NEW DELHI — India successfully test fired its indigenous, nuclear-capable, surface-to-surface Agni-II ballistic missile off the coast of the eastern state of Orissa late last week. “The trial of the surface-to-surface missile, conducted from launch complex-IV of the Integrated Test Range [ITR], was fully successful, meeting the mission objectives,” ITR Director S.P. Dash says. The missile lifted off from the launch complex on Wheeler’s Island at 9.32 a.m. local time Sept. 30 and splashed down off the Bay of Bengal after a 9-min. flight, he says.
NEW BOARD: New U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is naming his own members to the outside council charged with providing defense policy advice to Pentagon leaders. On Oct. 4 the Pentagon said Panetta has appointed the following new members: Madeleine Albright, former secretary of state; Jamie Gorelick, former deputy attorney general; Jane Harman, a former congresswoman (D-Calif.); retired Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and retired Navy Adm. Gary Roughead, former chief of naval operations.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The Google Lunar X Prize has already had its desired effect, spurring a vigorous competition among 26 teams which have spent almost as much as the $30 million the search-engine giant put up in prize money for reaching the Moon’s surface and sending back pictures. Some of the teams are selling piggyback rides on their spacecraft to help fund the development, potentially putting small lunar-science missions within the reach of nations and even universities that otherwise would not be able to afford them.
LOS ANGELES — Space Exploration Technologies Inc. (SpaceX) could be facing a further delay to its NASA cargo resupply demonstration flight of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft planned for December. Although lately targeted toward Nov. 30, and more recently Dec. 19, the demonstration docking with the International Space Station could be in danger of sliding into early 2012.
Under a long-term, €275 million ($364.4 million) agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA), Astrium will spearhead a public-private partnership to establish an independent European Data Relay Satellite system with operational transmissions scheduled to begin in 2014.
House lawmakers skewered Obama administration officials Oct. 4 on the decision to sell Lockheed Martin F-16 upgrades to the Taiwanese government, rather than brand-new F-16 C/D aircraft. But the officials indicated the story is not over. They might be open to selling F-16 C and D aircraft in the future.
CHEMICAL DESTRUCTION: The U.S. has destroyed 89% of its original chemical weapons stockpile, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Oct. 3. She provided the update while reiterating that Washington is “committed to the complete elimination of chemical weapons stockpiles in the United States and around the world.” She says 188 countries have joined the international community and renounced chemical weapons. The latest U.S. tally is up from about 59% destroyed in April 2009 (Aerospace DAILY, May 1, 2009).
AIR FORCE Northrop Grumman Corp., Aerospace System, San Jose, Calif., is being awarded an estimated $54,227,582 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract modification to provide logistics support activities required to support the Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle fielded systems and subsystems used in peacetime operations, which includes fielded air vehicles, engines, payloads, ground segments, and support segments. WR-ALC/GRCKA, Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the contracting activity (FA8528-11-C-0003-PZ0001).
The F-35B, which a year ago was in the midst of major scrutiny for dismal testing performance, has taken a major step with its first landing on the U.S. Marine Corps’ USS Wasp amphibious ship. The F-35 Joint Program Office confirmed the landing Oct. 3. A second short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (Stovl) Joint Strike Fighter is expected to arrive on the ship within days, kicking off a series of ship trials designed to ensure the F-35B can operate on the Marine Corps’ amphibious ship decks.
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and his European Space Agency counterpart, Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain, failed to settle their differences on restructuring the two agencies’ joint robotic Mars exploration program at a meeting Oct. 3, and now hint that it may be time to bring Russia or another partner into the mix. At issue is how much of the joint program that was worked out when the two agencies had a brighter fiscal outlook can be salvaged in today’s tougher economic environment.
LPD-22 TRIALS: The future LPD-17 class amphibious transport dock ship LPD-22 San Diego completed builder’s trials Oct. 1. LPD-22 is the sixth LPD-17 class ship and the second ship of the class to be completely built at Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Miss. LPD-22 is scheduled for commissioning in 2012 and will be homeported in San Diego. Four other LPD-17 class ships are under construction on the Gulf Coast.
RIGHT STUFF: NASA says it will seek applicants for its next class of astronaut candidates starting in early November. Future crewmembers will support long-duration missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and even “deep-space” exploration activities beyond low Earth orbit. But the ride could be rough for would-be astronauts for a while. U.S. astronaut ranks are dwindling in the near term as NASA prepares to pay Russia to launch astronauts to the ISS until a U.S. commercial crew transport is ready.
AIR FORCE The Boeing Co., Huntington Beach, Calif., is being awarded a not-to-exceed $469,000,000 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for a foreign military sales requirement for the Indian Air Force (IAF) C-17 Globemaster III Sustainment Partnership Program. This action incorporates support of the IAF aircraft into the “virtual fleet” which includes aircraft maintenance, upgrades, and sustainment. ASC/WLMK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8614-04-C-2004, PO0436). ARMY
