EDWARDS, Calif. – NASA and Northrop Grumman are starting construction of a Global Hawk Operations Center here at Dryden Flight Research Center from which science flights of the long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be controlled.
Managers with NASA’s Constellation program say the Ares I rocket design still has about 6,600 pounds of performance margin after the addition of hardware to dampen vibrations during its ascent. The vibration fixes are estimated to cost the Ares system about 1,200-1,400 pounds to orbit. The fix hardware itself will weigh about ten times that, but since it’s discarded with the first stage, the mass penalty is not a one-to-one ratio, NASA officials said during a teleconference Aug. 19.
CAIMAN MRAP: BAE Systems has completed the installation of its 500th enhanced armor kit for Caiman Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. BAE Systems has been awarded a total of 2,868 Caiman MRAPs, 1,694 of which will be equipped with the new kits, which are to be delivered in November 2008. The kits are being installed in Orangeburg, S.C., to meet the need for rapid installation.
An Alliant Techsystems ALV-X1 launcher is set to carry two hypersonic and re-entry experiments on a suborbital mission from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Aug. 22. The 55-foot tall, two-stage ALV-X1 will carry the Hypersonic Boundary Layer Transition (HyBolt) experiment for NASA’s Langley Research Center and the Sub-Orbital Aerodynamic Re-entry Experiment (SOAREX) for Ames Research Center on a 1,000-mile flight downrange. Part of NASA’s Fundamental Aeronautics Program, HyBolt will study boundary layer heating.
HEAT SEEKER: Lockheed Martin received an $8.9 million production order for 150 Integrated Dewar Cooler Assembly thermal cameras from Gyrocam Systems. This initial order is the first of 500 projected systems under a U.S. Army contract. The cameras are designed into Gyrocam systems and will provide thermal capabilities to the U.S. Army’s Vehicle Optics Sensor System for mine protected vehicles. The multi-sensor camera system is mounted on a telescoping mast that is gyro-stabilized for operations on the move.
The next U.S. president must pursue development of a wide range of counterinsurgency and irregular warfare tools that could cost as much as $2 billion, says the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
GD BUYS: General Dynamics signed a purchase agreement Aug. 18 to acquire Jet Aviation for $2.25 billion. The companies expect to close the deal by the end of the year. General Dynamics plans to retain the Jet Aviation and Midcoast Aviation brands, and operate them at least initially as a third prong of its aerospace business (the others being Gulfstream Aerospace and General Dynamics Aviation Services), according to a General Dynamics spokesman.
PALMDALE, Calif. – Lockheed Martin plans to conduct more test flights of the first short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (STOVL) F-35B this week to evaluate propulsion systems doors and nozzles in flight before temporarily grounding the aircraft until early next year, pending installation of a redesigned Pratt & Whitney F135 engine.
Russian military officials, in writings that are catching U.S. analysts’ attention, are concluding that Russia’s offensive into Georgia was morally justified but poorly organized and executed in the opening phases due to surprise.
The Defense Department’s tactical radio needs may not be met, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says, if it does not address growing development and production costs. DOD’s tactical radio program has grown from a predicted $3 billion investment in 2002 to nearly $12 billion. But much of that money has been spent on legacy radios, with only a part of the funds going to Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) development.
LONDON – The British Defense Ministry and BAE Systems on Aug. 20 struck a $3.8 billion deal covering munitions supply that may finally help close what has been a vexing chapter for both. The government and BAE signed off on an arrangement known as Munitions Acquisition – the Supply Solution (MASS) worth between £2 billion – £3 billion over a 15-year period.
Iran’s flight test of a space launch vehicle failed Aug. 17, according to radar tracking by a U.S. Navy destroyer and infrared data from U.S. Air Force Defense Support Program (DSP) missile warning spacecraft. Key data on the failure were provided by the USS Russell, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer patrolling the Persian Gulf. Other U.S. intelligence assets gave the Russell and missile warning satellite system advanced notice of the test, enabling extra preparation for tracking its outcome.
The U.S. Air Force is still confident a design will be selected as planned this fall for the armed service’s controversial rescue helicopter replacement program, even though forthcoming draft findings of a Defense Department inspector general (IG) investigation could slow the process of announcing a winner.
When shuttle Discovery blasts off on STS-119 next year, three of the astronauts’ chairs will have instruments installed to gather data for the Ares/Orion programs on the intensity of vibrations during ascent. Slated for no earlier than Feb. 12, 2009, STS-119 will install the final truss element and final set of solar arrays on the International Space Station. The mission will lift off with three mission specialist seats equipped with triaxial accelerometers that will be removed and stowed after the shuttle reaches orbit.
The U.S. Army released a revised schedule to competitors Aug. 19 for its Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) program, with an October date given for the announcement of three contract awards. Teams were anticipating a decision on JLTV from DOD in June, but the Army pushed that decision back until fall, when a 27-month Technology Development phase will be awarded on the $40 billion program (Aerospace DAILY, July 7).
ITT AWARD: ITT Corporation was awarded a five-year Foreign Military sales (FMS) contract by the U.S. Army Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) to deliver communications and electronics equipment and services with a potential value of $490 million. The contract contains an option for a sixth year, and affords foreign clients the opportunity to order products and services directly from ITT. “The contract smooths the process,” ITT spokesperson Tim White said.
After facing strenuous protestations on the Hill over the halting of the U.S. Navy’s DDG-1000 destroyer procurement, Navy Secretary Donald Winter now says he will pursue funding for a third DDG-1000. The House Appropriations defense subcommittee redistributed Navy funds, trimming $2.5 billion for the third DDG-1000 (DAILY, Aug. 4). But Winter told Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) Aug. 18 he would seek funding for the third ship, to be built at Bath Iron Works (BIW), as well as reprogrammed funds to potentially restart the DDG-51.
SPACE MARKETS: Forecast International is projecting that over the next decade, launch vehicle providers around the world will produce 636 expendable launch vehicles worth approximately $48 billion, driven by an anticipated resurgence in demand for satellite communications. Governments should continue to be the prevailing customer, having accounted for 66 percent of total global launches in 2007. Meanwhile, over the same decade defense departments worldwide will invest some $30.6 billion on approximately 95 military satellites, Forecast says.
The U.S. Army took another step closer to having a mobile solid-state laser weapon system as the two competing teams announced milestones in their development programs.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Tropical Storm Fay forced the closure of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Aug. 19, delaying a key milestone in the preparation of the orbiter Atlantis for launch on its Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission planned for Oct. 8.
Demonstration testing of a 50-50 blend of synthetic fuel with petroleum-based JP-8 in F-15 and F-22 aircraft is starting this week, and the first in-flight refueling using the blend in an F-22 and a KC-135 tanker is scheduled for late next month. Ground tests of an F-22 were scheduled to start Aug. 19 at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., with a flight demonstration later in the week. Ground tests were underway Aug. 19 on an F-15 at Robins Air Force Base, Ga.
PARIS – A pledge by European Union ministers to place the EU at the center of space policymaking, coupled with European Space Agency (ESA) efforts to broaden support among its members, could boost Europe’s chances of carving out a key role in international exploration and other big-ticket space endeavors.
