UAV STUDY: The European Space Agency (ESA) and European Defense Agency will pursue joint studies on the use of satellite data links in the operation of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), particularly regarding the use of civil airspace, with a view to launching a demonstration mission in 2010-11. ESA’s planned European Data Relay System is expected to provide data link services for a wide range of uses, including UAS applications.
NEW YORK — Defunct microsatellites pose a growing space debris risk and must be better tracked in orbit, according to Gary Payton, deputy undersecretary of the U.S. Air Force for space. “Some people call these microsats,” Payton said during the Space Foundation’s Space Business Forum here June 4. “Ten years after their launch, they become space debris. They become potential ASATs. We need to keep track of these smaller and smaller spacecraft.”
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Jun. 8 - 10 — Navy Opportunity Forum 2009, “Transitioning Technology to the Fleet,” Hyatt Regency, Crystal City, Crystal City, Va. For more information go to www.navyopportunityforum.com
BOOST PHASE: Technological progress demonstrated by the fielding of high-altitude, large-payload unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is revitalizing the concept of Boost Phase Intercept (BPI) — the tactic of striking enemy ballistic missiles within the first minute or so after launch. With the Pentagon budgeting for more unmanned airborne weapon systems, advocates of the UAV/BPI combination are rallying support for another effort, perhaps built around versions of Northrop Grumman’s Global Hawk or larger versions of General Atomics Aeronautical Systems’ Predator.
Top U.S. military officials are increasingly downplaying the pre-eminence of new technology development in the future of U.S. capabilities, in contrast to the previous presidential administration’s spotlight on the issue.
NEW YORK — Space tourist Richard Garriott believes an “inflection point” is coming in which the cost of access to space will drop low enough to reveal a variety of viable new commercial space ventures beyond just tourism or communications. An entrepreneur who made his fortune in the computer game industry, Garriott took his first trip to space last October, flying on a Russian Soyuz vehicle to the International Space Station and spending 12 days in orbit.
A move to apply the joint-forcing concept beyond the U.S. military continues to gain incremental ground, with the next expected military leader of NATO endorsing an interagency reorientation among U.S. agencies. “Today, our military functions extremely well in the joint world,” U.S. Navy Adm. James Stavridis testified June 2 to the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC). “I believe the next step toward increasing effectiveness of our national security apparatus is to institute similar provisions that encourage an interagency approach.”
POST-SHUTTLE CUT: The fiscal 2010 NASA spending bill that the House Appropriations Committee will consider June 9 includes a $212.3 million cut in funding for the post-shuttle exploration program. Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, science and related agencies that made the cut in its markup, says it reflects the Obama administration’s appointment of a panel headed by former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine that will review U.S. human spacefight plans and recommend options by the end of August.
The U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) is currently conducting war games to test concepts enshrined earlier this year in its Capstone Concept for Joint Operations document, which outlines “how the joint force circa 2016-2028 will operate in response to a wide variety of security challenges.”
REAL IT: U.S. federal procurement rule-writers are hosting six public meetings this summer between industry and federal agencies about ways to develop greater assurances over the authenticity of information technology (IT) acquired by the government. The government’s civilian and defense rulemaking groups, the Civilian Agency Acquisition and the Defense Acquisition Regulations councils, will host the meetings from late June through mid-August at the General Services Administration in Washington.
Lawmakers in both houses of Congress are protesting Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ decision to terminate the VH-71 presidential helicopter, with now near-daily complaints growing more numerous.
GOT DIBS: Raytheon announced June 2 that its Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) Integration Backbone, or DIB, team has completed a multiple-day test of its new DIB version 1.3. DIB software, installed on more than 100 systems worldwide, that provides access to intelligence information that previously existed in isolated channels. The open system creates an avenue for sharing information across the defense and intelligence communities. Recent testing of this third-generation technology evaluated all aspects of the software.
Senior NASA spaceflight managers have concluded that a wiring problem that appeared during last month’s liftoff of the space shuttle Atlantis is understood well enough to permit launch of the shuttle Endeavour June 13 as originally planned.
GD BUYS AXSYS: General Dynamics has reached a $643 million deal to acquire Axsys Technologies, a supplier of electro-optical and infrared sensors and multi-axis stabilized cameras. The purchase, which is expected to close in the third quarter pending regulatory approvals, will enable the defense powerhouse to expand its offerings in the high-growth intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance market. Axsys was founded 50 years ago and is based in Rocky Hill, Conn. The company has 1,000 employees and projects sales of $280 million this year.
U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) failed to establish quality assurance for contracting tasking orders worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a recent report by the Pentagon Inspector General (IG). The IG says USSOCOM needs to make sure the federal Antideficiency Act was not violated as a result of some of the lapses.
The Swedish government has agreed to commit 25.5 million euros ($35.7 million) to the Ariane launch vehicle program for the period 2009-11, boosting prospects for the future of the key European space program. The money will be earmarked for the Ariane 5 ME midlife update, the ARTA Ariane 5 continuing engineering initiative and the Future Preparatory Launcher Program. Sweden had delayed funding for the three programs, approved at last November’s European Space Agency ministerial summit, because of transparency and cost efficiency issues.
A Northrop Grumman-led team is awaiting permission from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to hopefully conduct first flight of a high-speed ballistic missile interceptor, despite the Pentagon’s plans to terminate the effort.
GLOBAL OBSERVANCE: U.S. government agencies funding the Global Observer Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) program have exercised an option for the assembly of a third AeroVironment Global Observer aircraft and additional items. Six contract options have been exercised since the program was initiated, resulting in a cumulative value of more than $120 million in program funding. Each completed Global Observer aircraft will take off and land on a runway and have a payload capacity of about 400 pounds.
The Aerospace Corporation is analyzing data received from its Picosatellite Solar Cell test bed (PSSC), developed to test a new generation of solar cells. The 6.4-kilogram (14-pound) nanosatellite, built by Dr. Henry Yoo of the Air Force Research Laboratory in collaboration with engineers from Aerospace Corp., is testing the latest generation of high-efficiency solar cells from Spectrolab and Emcore under conditions in outer space.
The director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Army Lt. Gen. Patrick O’Reilly, says the agency is rethinking its targets acquisition strategy to attain economies of scale and cut the per-unit cost of target missiles used in flight tests.
The Saab Bofors Dynamics work force in Sweden is being cut as a result of reduced business there. The layoffs are only the latest in a series announced by Saab, which is dealing with pressures on its commercial aviation business and some defense slowdown as well. The company already has reorganized the aerospace operation to focus more on the Gripen fighter.
