STATION POSSIBILITIES: Luigi Pasquali, CEO of Thales Alenia Space’s Italian arm, says the U.S. decision to agree to prolong the life of the International Space Station (ISS) at least through 2020 may open up more opportunities for international partners than initially thought.
SHUTTLE SET: NASA has set a launch time of 6:21 a.m. EDT April 5 for space shuttle mission STS-131 to the International space Station, following a flight readiness review March 26 at which mission managers concluded that all of Discovery’s equipment and support systems are ready. The second of five shuttle missions planned for 2010, STS-131 will deliver science equipment and supplies to the station. Led by Commander Alan Poindexter, the crew will perform three spacewalks.
LAUNCH BOOST: The U.S. Air Force is considering bulk buys of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs) to stabilize the industrial base and reduce the per-unit cost, according to Gary Payton, principal deputy under secretary of the Air Force for space. Payton cited a European purchase of 35 Ariane rockets as an example of how the Pentagon could better conduct its launch vehicle buys during a March 26 luncheon speech hosted by the Space Transportation Association on Capitol Hill. “We don’t do that right now in the EELVs, and we are going to change that,” Payton says.
DISAGREEMENTS ASIDE: Amid a major political rift between Israel and the U.S., the Israeli air force is buying three Lockheed Martin C-130J transport aircraft. Under the $210 million contract, the aircraft will be delivered in 2013-15 and replace three of Israel’s C-130E/Hs, some of which are more than 40 years old.
TREASURY TROVE: The British government says it will allocate £4 billion ($6 billion) to support combat operations in Afghanistan over the coming fiscal year. The figure was revealed as part of the government’s spending plans, which also include a £700 million efficiency saving from the Defense Ministry in 2012-13.
Downsized military budgets are opening opportunities for private businesses to provide services such as supplemental airlift, aftermarket logistics and aircraft modifications. David Storch, CEO of AAR, recognizes this and hopes to grow his company’s revenues in these areas through the acquisition of Aviation Worldwide Services. AAR expects the $200 million purchase to close in April.
PARIS — Arianespace has once again pushed back its first mission of the year because of a subsystem issue on its Ariane 5 ECA booster. The delay will last a few days, allowing time to change out the part. No new launch date has yet been announced.
ATTACK SUB: The U.S. Navy’s sixth and newest Virginia-class submarine, New Mexico, will set sail soon after its March 27 commissioning. Upon entering service, New Mexico will directly enable five of the six Navy Maritime Strategy Core Capabilities: sea control, power projection, forward presence, maritime security and deterrence. The boat is 377 feet long, has a 34-foot beam and will be able to dive to depths of greater than 800 feet and operate at speeds in excess of 25 knots submerged.
The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) that the Russian and U.S. presidents agreed to early March 26 still allows for U.S. development of conventional Prompt Global Strike capability, does not disrupt the strategic triad, and does not impinge on missile defenses, top U.S. national security leaders declare.
SPACE AWARENESS: The European Space Agency (ESA), European Commission, European Union Council and European Defense Agency (EDA) are hoping by next year to have a governance setup and data policy in place that could permit detailed definition work to begin on a Space Situational Awareness (SSA) system capable of interfacing with and complementing similar capabilities in the U.S. and elsewhere. ESA executives say the agency’s determination of civil requirements is complete and the EDA’s survey of military needs will be finished by March 31.
BIOFUEL FLIGHT: A U.S. Air Force A-10 conducted the first flight of an aircraft fueled solely with a 50:50 blend of bio-derived and conventional jet fuel on March 25, from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Previous test flights, by airlines, have used a 50% biofuel blend only in one engine. The hydro-treated renewable jet (HRJ) fuel burned during the almost 90-min. flight was derived from camelina plant oil. The U.S. Navy plans to flight-test a 50% blend of algae-based HRJ fuel in its F/A-18 Green Hornet on April 22.
MISSION ASSURANCE: Despite a focus on stability in launch vehicle purchasing, Gary Payton, principal deputy under secretary of the U.S. Air Force for space, says he will not relinquish his demand for complete mission assurance. “We cannot tolerate a reduction in mission assurance,” he says, noting that several payloads awaiting launch are critically needed. Satellite delays have opened the door to gaps in service in some areas — such as communications or missile warning — if a major failure occurs.
V FOR VETO: Defense Secretary Robert Gates will not be cowed by a groundswell of political support for buying more Boeing C-17 airlifters and funding an alternate engine for the Joint Strike Fighter — the General Electric/Rolls-Royce F136. “Let me be very clear: I will strongly recommend that the president veto any legislation that sustains the unnecessary continuation of these two programs,” he told Congress last week.
The first upgraded Lynx Mk9A helicopters will deploy to Afghanistan in April, with — as expected — the British Defense Ministry deciding to modify the remainder of its Mk9 fleet to the same standard. The ministry awarded AgustaWestland a £41.8 million ($62.1 million) follow-on contract to modify a further 10 Lynx Mk9s to the 9A standard. The ministry contracted for 12 Mk9As at the end of 2008 through an urgent operational requirement. Delivery of the modified aircraft to the Army Air Corps (AAC) began at the end of last year.
LONDON — The first export customer for the Boeing F/A-18E/F, the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), now has the first of the fighters in its home country as efforts focus on reaching operational status.
PARIS — Eumetsat will be forced to wait at least until June to kick off its next-generation geostationary meteorological satellite system. The Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system is expected to reinforce medium and long term weather forecasting while contributing critical data for monitoring seasonal and climate change.
CONCERNED IN ALABAMA: U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and fellow Republican lawmakers from Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions and Rep. Jo Bonner are waiting for the Congressional Budget Office to respond to a March 11 letter the three submitted that requests an extension of the Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). Shelby and his counterparts would like the RFP to be extended beyond April 12 so that the LCS RFP receives “adequate attention to the role of operation and support costs in assessing the costs of LCS variants.” With the loss of the U.S.
RESEARCH FUNDING: The U.S. Defense Department plans to award $38.7 million to academic institutions to support the purchase of research instrumentation. Under the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP), 166 awards ranging from $50,000 to $930,000 will go to 96 academic institutions. DURIP will support the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment that augments current university capabilities or develops new ones to perform defense research.
EX-IM PLANS: The U.S. Export-Import Bank says it is working on new telecom satellite projects for possible export credit financing. Late last year, the Ex-Im Bank agreed to fund an initial project, Avanti Communications’ Avanti-2, to be built by Orbital Sciences Corp. France’s Coface has led the trend toward export credit financing, and is now finalizing a deal with Russia’s Gazprom. International Lease Financing Corp. says it expects by year’s end to begin using a plan being put in place by Russia.
The multinational Medium-Extended Air Defense System (Meads) is suffering from lackluster support from its U.S. Army champion, but it may be able to survive due to a strong desire at the Pentagon to publicly prove it supports international programs.
CANADIAN STORAGE: Curtiss-Wright Corporation received a $1.17 million contract from Canadian company MDA to provide High Altitude Rugged Storage Systems for the Canadian Forces Air Command’s (RCAF) CP-140 maritime patrol aircraft. The system is called SANbric SAN (storage area network). The RCAF CP-140 (P-3 Orion) Aurora maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft is undergoing a Structural Life Extension program to maintain the Canadian fleet through 2020.
A pair of upgraded Athena launch vehicles for small satellites should be ready for service in 2012 under a new teaming arrangement between Lockheed Martin and Alliant Techsystems (ATK). Designated the Athena Ic and Athena IIc, the new vehicles will incorporate the ATK Castor 30 solid fuel upper-stage to compete with the Pegasus XL, Minotaur I, IV and V, Taurus XL and planned Falcon 1e. The first and second stages will continue to be the Castor 120 solid-fuel motors.
LONDON and WASHINGTON — While Washington and Moscow are on the brink of a successor to the expired Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), Russia continues to exercise elements of its nuclear triad. The follow-on treaty will reduce both warheads and delivery platforms, though given the comparatively small size of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet, whether it will be affected remains to be seen.
LONDON — U.K. plans for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) efforts must not be delayed by the pending Strategic Defense Review, and to do so would be “misguided,” according to the Parliament’s defense committee. The committee is concerned that ongoing ISR work could be adversely affected as a result of the defense review, due to get fully underway immediately following a general election.
