NASA will not ask Congress for permission to continue buying cargo space on Russian Progress resupply vehicles for the International Space Station (ISS) after 2011, opting instead for an all-commercial approach under its nascent Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.
GOOD TO GO: Production of a second batch of six conventional take-off and landing Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighters (JSFs) has been approved by Pentagon acquisition chief John Young, an industry source says. As expected, approval for the first six production short take-off and vertical landing F-35Bs for the U.S. Marine Corps has been made conditional on a successful first flight, expected by early June. Together the 12 aircraft make up the second JSF low-rate initial production (LRIP) batch. Two F-35As were purchased in the first LRIP batch.
The U.S. Defense Department agency charged with ensuring contractors maintain control of classified information has less than 400 inspectors to oversee more than 8,000 companies, officials say. The Defense Security Service (DSS) issues security clearances for key management personnel at private sector companies that develop or manufacture defense systems so they can access or store classified information. The DSS also evaluates whether a company is subject to any Foreign Ownership Control or Influence (FOCI) that might compromise security.
Northrop Grumman has announced it will delay delivery of LHD-8, the U.S. Navy’s last Wasp-class large-deck amphibious assault ship, by several months while the company swallows a financial charge due to shipbuilding issues.
GEO SYNCH: Northrop Grumman announced April 15 that it submitted its proposal to NASA to design and develop Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite – Series R (GOES-R) spacecraft. The company has been working on trade studies and risk reduction on GOES-R for the past four years under study contract and internal resources. Boeing announced the submission of its GOES-R proposal March 31 (Aerospace DAILY, April 1).
Matthew Ganz has been appointed president of the Phantom Works advanced research and development unit. Naveed Hussain has been named vice president of engineering and technology in India.
James Culmo has been appointed vice president of Airborne Early Warning/Battle Management Command and Control-Navy (AEW/BMC2-N) Programs. Larry J. Dodgen has been named sector vice president and deputy general manager for the Mission Systems sector’s Missile Defense Division. Joseph J. Ensor has been named vice president and general manager of the Space & ISR Systems Division in the Electronic Systems sector.
A Russian State Commission report on an anomaly that caused an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton Breeze M rocket to malfunction on March 15 and strand the SES Americom AMC-14 telecom satellite in improper orbit is expected at the beginning of next week.
Aerospace and defense industry leaders contend their sector has genuinely adopted calls to strengthen the work force, especially by attracting and cultivating younger recruits, but trade representatives and friendly lawmakers say much more needs to be done by industry and Congress to build off of modest gains.
Astronomers and planetary scientists will get another two years to follow up on some of the discoveries made at Saturn by the nuclear-powered Cassini probe in the nearly four years it already has spent circling the ringed planet. NASA said April 15 it will extend the Cassini mission two years beyond its original termination date this July. The extension will allow 60 more orbits around Saturn and more close flybys of Titan, Enceladus and other moons.
HAWKING SPEAKS: On April 21, Professor Stephen Hawking of the University of Cambridge will speak as part of a lecture series honoring NASA’s 50th anniversary. The title of the lecture is “Why we should go into space.” The event will be held at the George Washington University’s Morton Auditorium at 3 p.m. EDT. Admission is by invitation only, but the event will be broadcast live at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.
The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) hopes to educate presidential hopefuls on future challenges to the defense budget, using a report on defense modernization the organization released April 15. “All budgets ... need to be able to decide what the true priorities are and to establish those priorities,” AIA president and CEO Marion Blakey said. “We hope this report is going to be our contribution to making sure that defense modernization is not left on the side of the table when those budgets are put together.”
Thierry Guillemin has been appointed senior vice president and chief technical officer. Toby Nassif has been named vice president, satellite operations and engineering. Kurt Riegelman has been appointed senior vice president, global sales. Stephen Spengler has been named executive vice president, sales and marketing.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Congress April 15 to expand two defense programs that assist foreign military partners in the White House’s war on terrorism and provide U.S. civilian expertise in overseas stabilization programs. Gates called for making permanent the three-year pilot program, known as Section 1206 (for its part of an annual defense policy bill), which allows the Defense Department to train and equip foreign militaries partnered with the U.S. for counterterrorism and stability operations.
Gen. Thomas S. Moorman, Jr., USAF (Ret.), has been named to a two-year term as chairman of the board. He is currently vice president of Booz Allen Hamilton.
DON’T BOTHER: The White House is telling federal agencies to just stick to putting together a basic fiscal 2010 budget request without expectations of top Bush administration crafting. “You are not required to submit a formal budget request in September, and there will be no formal Director’s Review or passback processes this fall,” Office of Management and Budget Director Jim Nussle said in a memorandum to agencies April 7.
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - With a purchase from BAE Systems, Siemens PLM Software has launched an integrated logistics records management capability for its Teamcenter for MRO suite that takes logistics planning out of the niche world and puts it on a backbone platform. The goal is to overcome a major headache – structuring data to meet common industry/military standards. The addition integrates logistics planning with the product and processing databases that engineering, manufacturing and aftermarket services commonly share.
BSAT-3B: Lockheed Martin has been awarded a contract by Broadcast Satellite System Corp. of Japan to build its next geostationary satellite, BSAT-3b. The 1-4 kilowatt-class spacecraft, to be launched in the third quarter of 2010, will feature 12 Ku-band channels designed to provide high-definition direct broadcast services across Japan, and utilize Lockheed’s A2100A bus. Arianespace was handed the launch award on April 11. It was the first commercial satellite win for Lockheed this year, equaling its performance in 2006 and 2007.
FULL EARTH: The Japanese lunar probe, Selene, has taken a picture of the Earth equivalent to a full moon: round and without a shadow. The Selene team says the movie, shot on April 6, is notable because the orbits of the moon, Earth, sun and satellite orbit had to be in a precisely straight line and that such an opportunity would come only twice during Selene’s year of scheduled observation. In an Earth-rise picture taken by the satellite on Nov. 7, the planet was partly in shadow.
