The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has unveiled an “aggressive” program to demonstrate economical and environmentally friendly conversion of coal-to-liquid (CTL) fuels.
Russian controllers agreed to delay docking a Progress cargo carrier launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on Sept. 10 until Mission Control Center-Houston returns to full capability following Hurricane Ike. The docking, originally set for Sept. 12, will now take place on Sept. 17.
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CARD GAMES: Two Russian air force Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers will return to their base Sept. 15 following a five-day deployment to Venezuela, according to Russia’s Novosti news agency. Russia is planning to hold a naval exercise with Venezuela later this year, including deploying the Kirov-class cruiser Peter the Great. The deployments are seen as part of the deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and Russia following the latter’s military incursion into Georgia.
TSAT APPROACHING: Industry expects the U.S Air Force to release the request for final proposal revisions for the Transformational Satellite (TSAT) program within a month, more than a year after Boeing and a Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman team submitted their original bids to build the protected-communications network. They are competing for the space segment development and production phase, which includes five satellites scheduled to begin launching in 2018.
AT SEA: Sea Launch Commander and Sea Launch Odyssey are en route to an equatorial position at 154 deg. W. Long, where they are scheduled to launch Intelsat’s Galaxy 19 spacecraft on Sept. 23. The floating control center and launch pad left the Sea Launch home port at Long Beach, Calif. Liftoff is scheduled for 5:28 a.m. EDT, the start of a two-hour launch window. Built by Space Systems/Loral, Galaxy 19 will provide C-, Ku- and Ka-band service to customers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean from an orbital slot at 97 deg. W. Long.
BIGGER BETTER?: The cancellation of the U.S. Air Force’s replacement tanker Request For Proposals (RFP) would seem to benefit Boeing by giving them more time to cobble together a proposal for a larger aircraft. What’s not obvious is whether it will be worthwhile for Boeing to start investing in a new design without the updated U.S. Air Force requirements or the details of the new RFP.
PARIS — Diehl BGT Defense and German defense ministry flight engineers are undertaking flight trials of the Hope standoff penetrator bomb over the coming two weeks. The trials are taking place at the Swedish flight test center Vidsel in the north of the country; it is Europe’s largest overland test range. The trials followed last year’s drop tests at the Italian test range of Decimomannu on Sardinia. BGT is trying to interest the German air force in the weapon. So far, however, it is merely a demonstrator project.
PAKISTANI F-16s: A skeptical House Foreign Affairs subcommittee plans to examine Bush administration plans to allow foreign aid money for Pakistan to be used to upgrade that country’s F-16 fleet. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Middle East and South Asia subcommittee holding the Sept. 16 hearing, has questioned why Pakistan needs to upgrade fighter jets to battle terrorists in the mountainous region between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) wants Congress to reprogram about $400 million allocated to build a virtual security border fence in the Southwest to fund the completion of a real fence along the Mexican border. Customs Commissioner Ralph Basham says the money is needed to finish the mandated physical fence by year’s end because the agency ran out of money due to increased costs of materials, from fuel to concrete.
LONDON — The initial Tranche 2 standard of the Eurofighter Typhoon has received type acceptance from the NATO Eurofighter and Tornado Management Agency (NETMA). Type acceptance clears the way for delivery of the Block 8 standard of the aircraft to the four partner nations: Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. All four already have the Tranche 1 aircraft in operational service in the air defense role. The Royal Air Force previously has had a declared air-to-surface capability with some Tranche 1 aircraft.
DECADAL SURVEY: The National Research Council is launching “Astro2010,” its next decadal survey in astronomy and astrophysics that will prioritize the scientific community’s goals for 2010-2020. The committee carrying out the survey will also make recommendations for federal funding priorities and potential science spacecraft. The decadal surveys are taken seriously by U.S. lawmakers in assessing NASA’s responsiveness to the science community. The panel’s first meeting is scheduled for December.
After a review by some 1,100 experts from seven NASA field centers, the agency’s planned Ares I crew launch vehicle is moving into detailed design with only a few open issues, and is on track to meet the latest revised schedule for its first flight with a crew onboard.
NEW DELHI – Getting proactive in the military space beyond just air systems, BAE Systems is looking at bringing investment, skill and technology to India in partnership with local companies. The company is also planning to hold discussions with India’s Defense Research Development Organization by December on technology associated with the fully autonomous High Endurance Rapid Technology Insertion (HERTI) unmanned aerial system.
TESTING COMPLETE: Boeing announced the completion of mission system flight-testing for the U.S. E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) Block 40/45, which the company says is the largest upgrade in the history of the fleet. Between April 2007 and July 2009, Boeing and the U.S. Air Force’s Joint Test Force flew missions aboard Test System 3, an AWACS test aircraft, to complete the System Design and Development program.
LONDON – More defense investment would help ammunition-starved British forces operationally in Afghanistan and Iraq, but the chances of any boost are slim. The defense budget already is suffering 7.5 percent inflation per year, British military officials say. The tight budget has been affecting operations since the spin up to the Iraq invasion of 2003 and the prolonged combat there and in Afghanistan.
NEW SATS: Arabsat has issued a request for proposals for two new spacecraft to meet exploding demand for broadcasting and telecom services in the Middle East and Africa. One of the satellites, Badr 3, will add expansion and redundancy capacity at Arabsat’s 26 deg. E. Long. Middle East TV neighborhood. The other, Arabsat 5C, will serve telecom users at 20 deg. E. The spacecraft are to be launched in 2011.
Wall Street analysts are smiling on the early and friendly contract award to Northrop Grumman for detail design and construction of the future USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78), the lead ship in the U.S. Navy’s next class of aircraft carrier. “We had been expecting contract award in late Q4, so the early date adds clarity to [Northrop Grumman’s] long-term outlook at Shipbuilding,” Credit Suisse analysts said in referring to Northrop’s recently restructured shipbuilding unit.
SAN DIEGO – A push from within the military space community to create a more effective enterprise architecture is butting up against a bureaucracy that isn’t used to seeing ground control and satellite systems as separate entities, necessitating the need for dramatic change within the existing oversight framework, according to a panel at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Space 2008 Conference and Exposition here.
The space shuttle Endeavour is being stacked on its external tank and solid rocket boosters in the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building following the rollover of the vehicle from the Orbiter Processing facility Sept. 11. Endeavour is to be hauled to Launch Complex 39B early Sept. 19 where it will be readied for the STS-400 rescue backup for the STS-125 Hubble servicing mission set for launch Oct. 10.
BAE Systems is drawing up a plan to integrate its Remote Guardian System (RGS) defensive gun on the Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter as the all-quadrant weapon is prepared for in-flight firings on the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor.
SAN DIEGO – Although the latest report on the U.S. Coast Guard by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General (IG) found overall computer network security to be strong, several vulnerabilities were revealed that could place the network at risk.
HAWKEYE TRAINING: The U.S. Navy has awarded Rockwell Collins a $68 million contract, with a total target price of $164 million, to provide the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye Integrated Training System for Aircrew (HITS-A). The company has provided Naval Air Systems Command and the E-2C community with support and simulation equipment for the past eight years. The Advanced Hawkeye will feature a state-of-the-art radar with increased capability, as well as upgraded aircraft systems and avionics to improve supportability and readiness.
SAN DIEGO – The recent Allard Commission report calling for the basic abolishment of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) is “just a study,” SMC chief Lt. Gen. John Sheridan said Sept. 10, reserving judgment on what might come of its recommendations.
BAE Systems has contacted Bristol Aerospace to see whether the laser seeker it is developing for the Hydra 70 rocket could also be offered on the Canadian company’s more powerful CRV7 weapon, used by several NATO nations. Physically, the guidance section developed for the 2.75-inch diameter Hydra 70 rocket under the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) program will fit on the CRV7, says George Adamakos, business development manager.
