PARIS — Astrium says it has completed the test campaign intended to qualify a new dispenser for Globalstar’s second-generation satphone and data constellation. Qualification of the dispenser, which will be able to accommodate six Globalstar 2 spacecraft on their intended Soyuz launch vehicle, clears the way for production of flight units needed for the first four launch missions. The first mission is set for July-September, the second for December, and the final two for March and June 2011.
The new management at NASA hopes to turn the agency’s old policy on its head with a broad-brush search for new technology to enable deep-space exploration, rather than the canceled Constellation Program’s focused “technology pull” shaped by a return to the moon. Budget documents made available this week indicate the Obama administration wants to spend $4.9 billion over the next five years on a wide range of projects designed to raise the technology readiness level (TRL) of promising exploration technologies.
Italian aerospace research and development agency CIRA is poised once again to attempt a second transonic drop test with its recoverable Unmanned Space Vehicle (USV), intended to investigate hypersonic re-entry and transatmospheric flight.
Having exceeded 100kW in the laboratory, the next step for Textron Defense Systems in developing its high-power solid-state laser technology is to demonstrate the building block for a 150kW laser weapon system under the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s (Darpa’s) Hellads program.
A Web-based control system allowing individual soldiers to request imagery from any of multiple surveillance aircraft patrolling overhead is to be deployed to Afghanistan by year’s end. Northrop Grumman has received a $46.2 million contract to prepare its Heterogeneous Airborne Reconnaissance Team (HART) system for deployment with a single U.S. Army brigade combat team.
Some changes designed to reduce the financial risk for bidders are included in the U.S. Air Force’s KC-X final request for proposals (RFP), but they are not dramatic and could, therefore, lead to a decision from Northrop Grumman/EADS not to bid.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has denied a protest by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) over NASA’s choice to orbit its Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft using rival Orbital Sciences’ Minotaur V rocket.
U.S. cyberwarfare and electronic attack combat capabilities — the heart of next generation warfare — will see small amounts of budget growth, but evidence of the Pentagon’s growing interest will be more obvious in personnel and organizational changes.
As Pentagon officials renegotiate the award fee structure of the F-35 development contract with Lockheed Martin, one aspect yet to be reconsidered is the use of a specialized contracting mechanism called “total system performance responsibility” (TSPR), according to Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program officials.
PARIS — European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain has asked for clarification on the bid selection for Europe’s Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) weather constellation. The agency’s tender evaluation board recently issued a recommendation for prime contractor, and ESA is expected to announce the winning bidder after a special March 15 council meeting at which Eumetsat, which will operate MTG, is to approve the program proposal. ESA did not name the contractor or elaborate on the reasons for the clarification.
The Pentagon’s Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) is dialing up its efforts to ensure programs start with the right expectations and robust and realistic testing as soon as possible, according to the agency’s recently released annual report. “Fielding systems quickly and successfully depends critically on starting programs right and having sufficient, competent oversight,” writes DOT&E Director J. Michael Gilmore, who took over the job last year.
HILL AND GONE: The chairman and ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) used their Feb. 23 hearing with top USAF leadership to express their concerns over disappearing U.S. Air Force force structure, both existing and planned. HASC Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) honed in on delays to a new Air Force bomber, while Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (Calif.), the top Republican, cited the proposed retirement of 250 F-15s, F-16s and A-10s.
LONG COMING: Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair have chosen Defense Intelligence Agency Deputy Director Letitia A. Long to serve as the next director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), starting this summer. “Her strong leadership skills and understanding of the entire intelligence enterprise will ensure that NGA can continue to deliver outstanding information to policy makers and operators in support of our national security objectives,” Blair said in a statement.
U.S. Army leaders and Senate authorizers jousted Feb. 23 over whether the armed service should secure all of the 22,000 in temporary additional soldiers that Pentagon leadership announced and Congress recently pushed. The Army chief of staff sounded more cautious while many senators advocated the move, with both sides citing all-important personnel stress and dwell-time data.
NEW DELHI — Rockwell Collins has been awarded a contract for Electronic Counter-Counter Measure radio modules by government-owned Electronics Corporation of India Ltd (ECIL). The contract includes GPS hand-held receivers, featuring Graphical User Interfaces and moving maps for portable precision navigation capability. The component hardware card sets will be integrated into ground-based Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radios for use by Indian armed forces for command and control of ground-to-ground and ground-to-air communications.
GAME ON: The Pentagon is planning to release its latest final request for proposals (RFP) for a KC-135 replacement on Wednesday, Feb. 24. Briefings for Congress are set for the morning and a press briefing is expected in the afternoon. Boeing is expected to propose a 767-based refueler, while Northrop Grumman/EADS North America is weighing whether to put in a bid based on the Airbus A330 design purchased by the United Kingdom, Australia and Saudi Arabia.
NASA plans to launch the third and final Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) in the GOES-N series on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on March 2. Liftoff is set for a window that opens at 6:19 p.m. EST and closes an hour later. Designated GOES-P until its checkout in orbit by manufacturer Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems of El Segundo Calif., the geostationary weather satellite will be stored in orbit as GOES-15 until one of the operational GOES spacecraft fails.
LONDON — Identifying costs and keeping track of assets continue to be issues for the British Defense Ministry, according to the latest report from the Defense Committee, which also flags difficulties with regard to overall “readiness” of the armed forces. The Defense Ministry’s inability — for the third year in a row — to be able to deliver unqualified resource accounts continues to be a source of concern for the committee.
Right now the deadliest jobs for U.S. Army ground-based soldiers would be in the United States or Iraq, enjoying some down time, picking up a truck tire, transferring chemicals, working on a vehicle, or even recruiting. That’s according to an Aerospace DAILY analysis of Army accident data spanning the last half-decade.
Analysts are joining in the discussion over the Joint Air Sea Battle concept, with special focus on China and Iran, after the concept’s emergence in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review.
PARIS — Thales expects a group-wide performance overhaul to help lift pretax earnings this year, but results could be affected by continued uncertainty in the A400M military airlifter and other troubled programs, and a sharp drop-off in orders is anticipated. The Paris-based company reported a steep decline in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for 2009, as strong results in defense and space failed to offset difficulties in the aeronautics and security businesses. EBIT was just 151 million euros, down from 877 million euros in 2008.
