A collection of seven nano-to-micro-sized satellites is set for liftoff Nov. 19 on a mission dedicated, in part, to determining what is practical in faster/cheaper research. Under study are such novelties as having one satellite be the launch platform for another, deploying sails to induce drag for timed re-entries to free low-Earth orbit (LEO) of space debris and the practicalities of using upper stages to achieve dual-orbits.
HOUSTON—NASA has selected DB Consulting Group Inc., of Silver Spring, Md., for a potential $251.5-million, five-year contract to provide a variety of information technology, multimedia, information management and external relations support services to Johnson Space Center in Houston. The $150.5-million, three-year base period begins Jan. 18, 2011, and includes provisions for a pair of one-year extensions.
NAVY Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding—Newport News, Newport News, Va., is being awarded a $48,881,988 cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to contract (N62793-07-C-0001) for continuation of Fiscal 2011 advance planning and continuous maintenance efforts to prepare and make ready for the defueling and inactivation of the USS Enterprise (CVN 65) and its reactor plants. This effort will provide for all advanced planning, ship checks, design, documentation, engineering, procurement, fabrication, repair and preliminary shipyard or support facility work.
Tata Advanced Systems and Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. have unveiled the first Sikorsky S-92 helicopter cabin made in the south Indian city of Hyderabad. The cabin will be shipped to Sikorsky’s U.S. plant. A joint venture agreement between Tata and Sikorsky was formed last year to manufacture the S-92 cabins. Tata also announced that it is making Hyderabad its hub for all aerospace activities.
BENGALURU—The Indian Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has developed an Integrated Life Support System (ILSS) for fighter aircraft pilots, potentially adding India to a group of nations owning such technology. DRDO’s Bengaluru-based Defense Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (Debel), which developed the ILSS, delivered the documents to Tejas program chief P.S. Subramanyam recently for fit and further trials.
HOUSTON—Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Skripochka attached an external work platform and retrieved and installed science experiments outside the International Space Station during a 6-hr. spacewalk on Nov. 15. Though off to a late start, the two men worked quickly enough outside the station’s Russian segment to finish their activities just after 4 p.m. EDT, only slightly behind schedule.
Bengaluru—The Indian and British governments appear to be exploring a stronger partnership in aerospace activities. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) sources tell Aviation Week that British Universities and Science Minister David Willets visited the Satellite Center in Bengaluru on Nov. 15. However, no time frame has been given for when the Indian-British space ties would take shape.
PARIS—A long-expected reshuffling of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s cabinet could reinforce efforts to modernize the military and boost attempts to deploy a territorial missile defense system and build closer ties to Great Britain. Virtually all the cabinet members except Prime Minister Francois Fillon were moved to new positions or dismissed.
TEL AVIV—Hezbollah’s efforts to field an effective, multi-faceted military force are evolving with upgrades emerging in its air defense and aerial attack capabilities.
AIR FORCE United Technologies Corp., East Hartford, Conn., was awarded a $100,738,400 contract modification which is an increase in the undefinitized contract for the acquisition of eight additional priority initial spare F119 engines, for a total of 33 engines. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. ASC/WWUK, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FAFA8611-08-C-2896; P00044) .
ARMY Boeing Co., Mesa, Ariz., was awarded on Oct. 29 a $141,701,518 firm-fixed-price contract for advanced procurement for the manufacture of 31 AH-64D model aircraft and two fixed-site Longbow crew trainers matching the Taiwan AH-640 aircraft configuration. The work is to be performed in Mesa, with an estimated completion date of July 30, 2015. One bid was solicited with one bid received. AMCOM Contracting Center is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-09-G-0147). AIR FORCE
SINGAPORE—Indonesia has decided to acquire the Embraer EMB-314 Super Tucano light-attack aircraft. The country plans to order eight aircraft for the Indonesian air force, which is replacing its Rockwell OV-10 Broncos, according to Embraer. The Broncos were built in the 1960s and most are no longer operational.
MRAP OPTION: EG&G Technical Services Inc. of Stafford, Va., has been awarded a $22,090,818 modification to a previously awarded time-and-material contract to exercise option year one for the procurement of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle contract support services, the Defense Department announced Nov. 15. The contract will support the MRAP program in the following areas: program management, acquisition, systems engineering, test and evaluation, logistics, safety, quality, and administrative support.
NUCLEAR STICK: After months of criticism by U.S. skeptics of the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, proponents of the deal are sounding their own warnings: if critics stop Senate ratification, then the Obama administration does not have to make promised investments in nuclear facilities. While some conservatives outright oppose New Start, others see ratification as a lever to force long-sought funding and high-level attention to nuclear research labs, pits, workforce, weapons designs and other infrastructure.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, vowing to fight for an early flight of Orbital Science Corp.’s Taurus II launch vehicle, says he can foresee the day when human spaceflight is controlled from the company’s office-building campus near Washington Dulles International Airport.
IIB COMPETITION: Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are all throwing their hats in the ring in response to the Missile Defense Agency’s request for proposals for the so-called SM-3 Block IIB long-range ballistic missile killer. The Next-Generation Aegis Missile, formerly dubbed the SM3-IIB, is the final pillar of the Phased Adaptive Approach plan designed to protect parts of Europe and North America from ballistic missile threats from Iran. It is slated for fielding as early as 2020, and a winner will be announced in 2011.
BEIJING — Shanghai-based space contractor SAST says it is progressing so smoothly with development of the Long March 6 light satellite launcher that the rocket may beat its larger cousin, the Long March 5, into service. Long March 6 will be able to loft 1,000-kg. (2,200-lb.) payloads to an orbit of 600 km. (370 mi.) altitude, SAST Vice President Meng Guang says, briefing a delegation from the U.S. space industry on the company’s progress.
ORS AWARDS: NASA has chosen five companies to receive a contract for Modular Space Vehicles. Acting as a contracting agent for the Pentagon’s Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office, NASA selected ATK Space Systems in Beltsville, Md.; Miltec in Huntsville, Ala.; Northrop Grumman Systems in Redondo Beach, Calif.; PnP Innovations in Albuquerque, N.M.; and Sierra Nevada in Sparks, Nev. The five-year, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity, cost-plus fixed-fee deals—worth up to $500 million total—took effect Nov. 10 when they were announced.
Rockwell Collins has demonstrated its damage-tolerant flight controls can increase the safety of an in-production unmanned aircraft, with a series of flights on the U.S. Army’s AAI RQ-7 Shadow tactical UAV. The damage-tolerance software was loaded onto the Shadow’s Rockwell Collins-supplied Athena flight-control computer and several flights were conducted to demonstrate safe recovery and landing after various flight control and engine failures, including losing part of the wing.
