LONDON — The U.K. will not “salami-slice” as it tries to bring its defense spending plans in line with difficult budget realities, Defense Minister Liam Fox says. In his first major speech on the issue since taking office, Fox blames the previous government for mismanaging defense spending “to such an extent that the future program is entirely unaffordable, especially if we try to do what we need to do in the future while simultaneously doing everything in the way we do it today.”
TOKYO — The Japanese Hayabusa spacecraft successfully capped off its 6 billion km. trip by releasing its asteroid sample capsule for a successful re-entry and retrieval in Australia on June 13. The process went so well that Project Manager Junichiro Kawaguchi expressed disappointment at having to cancel his prescheduled trip to Australia, saying there was nothing else he could do at the landing site within the Woomera Prohibited Area.
NIGHT VISION: ITT announced at the Eurosatory exposition in Paris June 14 it has received a $53 million order from the U.K. Ministry of Defense for head-mounted night-vision systems (HMNVS), the largest order of its kind. Deliveries of the HMNVS will take place over the next five fiscal years. The systems are a variant of the AN/PVS-14 in use by the U.S. military. The lightweight, single-battery monocular goggle apparatus is equipped with ITT’s Gen 3 Pinnacle night-vision technology.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) June 15 - 17 — 2010 Special Operations Forces Industry Conference, “Accelerating the Force.” Tampa Convention Center, Tampa, Fla. For more information go to www.ndia.org/meetings/0890 june 17 - 18 — Shephard Group’s Royal Air Force Power Conference, Victoria Park Plaza, London. For more information go to www.shephard.co.uk/events/52/raf-air-power-official-conference-2010-/
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) is girding for a second major hurdle this summer in its quest to deliver cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS), following the successful debut flight of its Falcon 9 rocket.
PAYING ATTENTION: The implications of the successful Falcon 9 debut launch are not being lost on overseas space agencies. European Space Agency Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain says there are lessons to be learned, even though he notes there’s a big difference between the U.S. and European contexts. Lessons are unlikely to concern the financing model used for Falcon 9. “I’m not sure European governments could sustain a privately financed launch vehicle on their own,” Dordain says.
There’s no joy in the U.S. space industry this summer, as the Obama administration and Congress skirmish over the proposal to kill NASA’s Constellation Program and follow the space shuttle with a fleet of commercial “space taxis” to take astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
Malmen Air Base, Sweden — Swedish Defense Minister Sten Tolgfors is urging Europeans to consider whether strategic airlift cooperation could be extended into the tactical arena. “Could we use the Strategic Airlift Capability [SAC] model for tactical transport in Europe?” he asks. Sweden is now mulling what to do with its Lockheed Martin C-130s. It had intended to put its aircraft through an avionics modernization program, but several issues with this U.S. effort forced Stockholm to examine other options for upgrading its tactical airlifters.
GUARD UP: Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Kit Bond (R-Mo.), co-chairs of the Senate National Guard Caucus, are requesting an additional $870 million for National Guard and reserves equipment upgrades. The Caucus request was sent to Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) and ranking Republican Thad Cochran (Miss.), who are beginning their panel’s annual lawmaking process for Fiscal 2011.
GALILEO CONTRACT: Ruag Space has been awarded a contract to supply central control computers for 14 satellites earmarked for the Full Operating Capability phase of the Galileo satellite navigation program. Ruag also will supply internal system communications and processor boards for satellite digital radio receivers under the €35 million ($42 million) award. Prime contractor OHB System says 26 subcontracts have been issued to date including one to Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. for payload integration.
Japan’s solar power sail demonstrator Ikaros has deployed its sail and begun generating power from the thin-film solar cells on the 200-sq.-meter membrane. Ikaros was launched on May 21 along with the Venus climate orbiter Akatsuki onboard an H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima Space Center on May 21. It began unfurling its sail on May 26 and completed deployment on June 10 (Japan time), according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Dassault Aviation and Thales say they would be open to cooperation on BAE’s Mantis medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV if it could ensure European independence in this rapidly growing segment. French armaments agency DGA recently indicated that it was entering discussions with General Atomics to acquire a number of Predators to complement its fleet of EADS Harfangs in Afghanistan. The DGA says it also received a firm offer from EADS for four additional Harfangs, and admits that a Predator purchase would depend on what sort of strings might be attached.
September 29-30, 2010 ExCeL • London, UK Learn to maintain military assets longer; sustain aircraft beyond forecast; recover from budget cuts, delays and program cancellations, and develop new strategies required to deliver and support equipment. Learn more at www.aviationweek.com/events
INITIAL OFFERING: Loral Space & Communications says its wholly owned affiliate Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) has filed for an initial public offering for up to 19.9% of SS/L’s common stock. Funds will be used to finance further growth and expansion, as well as to cover working capital and other general expenses. Loral also has a majority economic stake in satellite operator Telesat.
LEMV WIN: Northrop Grumman will build an unmanned surveillance airship to be deployed with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, according to sources familiar with the program. The Long-Endurance Multi-intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) is a hybrid airship capable of staying aloft for at least 21 days above 20,000 ft., providing 16 kw. of power to a 2,500-lb. payload of electro-optical/infrared, radar and signals-intelligence sensors. Northrop Grumman has teamed with U.K.
SPACE SUIT: NASA is facing allegations in federal court it improperly withheld subcontracting reports from United Space Alliance (USA) that might show the agency funneled contracts counted toward its federal small business goals to USA, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The suit by the American Small Business League charges NASA violated the Freedom of Information Act by “repeatedly” refusing to release the USA subcontracting reports.
CIVIL SIGNAL: The first GPS IIF navigation satellite, launched on May 27, is testing its new civil safety-of-life signal, L5. The new dedicated and protected frequency is designed to provide increased power and reduced interference, making the signal more robust for civil navigation. The Boeing-built GPS IIF-1 satellite (designated SVN-62) is the first with L5 designed in. The U.S. Air Force launched an L5 demonstration payload in March 2009 on the Lockheed Martin-built GPS IIR-20 satellite (SVN-49).
Twelve of the nineteen U.S. Coast Guard cutters that were sent to Haiti to respond to January’s devastating magnitude 7.0 earthquake required emergency maintenance while en route, and two had to be recalled from operations for emergency dry-dock repairs, according to a new report from the Center for American Progress (CAP).
The Afghan Air Corps is morphing into a functional airlift organization with Russian-made Mi-35 combat support helicopters and an initial force of five Alenia-refurbished C-27 light transports. A total force of 20 C-27s is to replace six aging and less capable Russian-made An-32 light airlifters.
To help build support for its Talarion medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) UAV program during Europe’s difficult budget period, EADS is offering to pre-finance the development of the system if it gets a purchase commitment from its target customers that they will buy the surveillance and reconnaissance tool.
SPACE FUNDS: The European Commission is in negotiations for 108 space and security research projects. The projects, worth €324 million ($389 million), include two space efforts — African deforestation monitoring and spacecraft landing system accuracy and robustness for exploration missions — and a maritime border security initiative. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will be involved in the space projects.
STAYING AWARE: The European Space Agency expects shortly to award a €4-million ($5-million) contract for a radar breadboard to help prepare Europe’s planned Space Situational Awareness (SSA) system. The breadboard is part of a €50-million preliminary phase for the SSA, which is expected to be cleared for full-scale development at the agency’s next ministerial summit in 2011-12, provided data policy and governance issues are resolved.
