Early cost estimates for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) that Congress has ordered NASA to build indicate the agency believes it can test an unmanned version of the “core” vehicle selected by Administrator Charles Bolden for about $18 billion by the end of 2017.
Steven Squyres, the principal investigator on the Mars Exploration Rover mission and chair of the National Research Council (NRC) panel that determined priorities for the next 10 years of U.S. planetary exploration, doesn’t want his colleagues to try to kill the troubled James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to carve out funding for planetary science.
CUTTER CONTRACT: The Ingalls Shipbuilding unit of Huntington Ingalls Industries has received a $482.8 million fixed-price-incentive-firm contract from the U.S. Coast Guard to build the fifth National Security Cutter (WMSL-754) at the company’s yard in Pascagoula, Miss. Ingalls has delivered the first three NSCs, which are designed to replace the 378-ft. Hamilton-class High-Endurance cutters from the 1960s era.
The inflight failure of Blue Origin’s second test vehicle isn’t necessarily a failure of the secretive company’s efforts to begin launching scientists and space tourists on a reusable suborbital rocket, and won’t affect NASA’s plans to use private launchers to get cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS)
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Sept. 12 — Aviation Week A&D Finance Europe, Landmark Hotel, London, U.K. For more information go to www.aviationweek.com/events SEPT. 12 - 15 — Introduction to Aeronautics: A Practical Perspective, National Institute of Aerospace, Hampton, Va. For more information call (970) 887-3155 or go to www.practicalaero.com
PRICEY REPORT: A second Pentagon audit of alleged contractor overpricing in U.S. Army depot work is catching attention on Capitol Hill. “Unfortunately, this latest report from the Department of Defense’s Inspector General is yet another example illustrating the department’s broken and ineffective inventory and accounting systems,” says Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairman of that chamber’s Federal Financial Management subcommittee. The Sept. 8 audit found that Sikorsky overcharged the Army $11.8 million, or 51.4% more, than fair and reasonable prices for various parts.
PARIS — Astrium Services has landed its first contract for Pleiades high-resolution optical satellite imagery and data, inking a deal with Japan’s Pasco Corp., the satellite services division of EADS announced on Sept. 9.
LightSquared has proposed additional changes to its planned broadband wireless network to mitigate interference with GPS, but pressure is growing for further testing before a decision is made on whether to approve deployment of the revised system. LightSquared believes sufficient testing has been conducted to show most GPS receivers will not be overloaded by transmissions from its revised terrestrial network, but government witnesses at a congressional hearing Sept. 8 said tests already performed were not enough to ensure GPS would not still be compromised.
Congressional investigators at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) are scrutinizing the U.S. Navy’s decision to restart production of DDG-51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, a GAO official confirms. GAO is trying to determine the underlying basis for the Navy decision to select DDG-51 as the “best hull form to meet future surface combatant requirements” Belva Martin, GAO director of acquisition and sourcing management for a variety of programs, including Navy ships, tells Aviation Week.
MOSCOW — The rivalry continues between Russia’s two new combat helicopters — the Mil Mi-28 and Kamov Ka-52 — for dominance of the domestic market. Russian Helicopters, the holding company overseeing both manufacturers, says it has signed a contract with the defense ministry for delivery of “more than 140” Ka-52s for the air force. The deal is estimated to be worth 120 billion rubles ($4.1 billion). Deliveries will continue through 2020.
SATELLITE MARKET: Western defense budget cuts will affect the global military satellite market the most in the U.S., Forecast International analysts predict, but the U.S. will remain the major marketplace. The tougher budget environment is prompting the U.S. to focus on production of already-developed satellites rather than new technology, as well as smaller, inexpensive satellites, the analysts say. But despite more austere budgets, the U.S.
The remnants of a tropical storm have been parked over Washington for much of the week, providing a fitting backdrop of rain and gloomy skies as the U.S. Congress returned from its summer recess.
DEFENSE DRAWDOWN: U.S. Senate appropriators are recommending fiscal 2012 baseline defense spending of about $513 billion, the same as this fiscal year and more than $25 billion below the Obama administration’s request for the year that starts Oct. 1. The Senate Appropriations Committee (SAC) allocation, which was expected, contrasts with a House defense spending bill that cut only $9 billion from the request.
LONDON — Embraer and Elbit Systems have finalized the terms for their joint venture to develop unmanned aircraft for the Brazilian market, with the Brazilian company taking a 25% minority share in Elbit’s Brazilian subsidiary, AEL. AEL will be the principal agent for the Israeli defense company in the joint venture. Embraer will control 51% of the joint venture, with AEL Elbit holding the rest. The plan to work together was first announced in April during the Latin America Aerospace and Defense exhibition in Rio de Janeiro (Aerospace DAILY, April 14).
Launch controllers scrubbed a Sept. 8 attempt to launch the Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (Grail) mission toward the Moon after upper-level winds at the Cape Canaveral, Fla., launch site threatened to push the twin NASA probes’ Delta II launch vehicle off course. The launch team set up for two launch attempts — at 8:37 a.m. and 9:16 a.m. EDT — but weather balloon data showed the winds did not abate. The next launch attempt will come at 8:33 a.m. Sept. 9.
The head of spaceflight operations at NASA expects the International Space Station to remain occupied despite the failure of a Soyuz rocket carrying a load of station supplies, based on the nature of the failure and Russia’s progress in identifying the cause.
Like a contender trying to nail down his perfect fighting weight, the U.S. Navy is still struggling to keep from getting too fat or too thin when it comes to the right number of sailors it needs aboard its ships, submarines and aircraft.
Embraer has selected U.K.-based Cobham to provide the wing-mounted refueling pods for its KC-390 tanker/transport, under development for the Brazilian air force. Brazil’s AEL Sistemas will supply the mission computer and Italy’s Selex Galileo the aircraft’s radar.
NEW DELHI — The Indian Air Force is weathering strong criticism from the country’s auditing agency for a delay in buying 37 low-level transportable radars (LLTRs) meant to plug gaps in aerial surveillance. “As against the envisaged time of 29 months, the procurement took 49 months due to delay in each stage,” India’s Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) says in its Sept. 8 report.
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) is shoring up his credentials as the lead protector of military spending. He was already the senior Republican on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction with a long history of working on nuclear, missile defense and strategic issues. But he may have scored additional loyalty points by insisting that after the first $350 billion in cuts to the defense budget, no more can be sent the military’s way.
LONDON — Russia is projecting it may sell as many as 1,000 T-50 fighter aircraft in the coming decades. In addition to sales to the two countries already signed on to the program, Russia and India, the Tsamto analysis center associated with the Russian defense ministry sees at least 274-388 aircraft being sold to more than ten other countries.
