A July 3 story on the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission contained an error in its description of the clean room at Goddard Space Flight Center. The room is a Class 10,000 facility, which denotes how well it cleans the air.
The two-ton primary mirror for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) has gotten a shiny protective aluminum coating as preparations continue for the 747SP’s service entry next year. However, it wasn’t much of a coating – just 1/300th of the thickness of a human hair and weighing 1/14th of an ounce spread over the 60-square foot mirror surface. A 20-second spritz and it was done.
LONG DISTANCE: The U.S. Army has established a new distance record for Lockheed Martin’s Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rocket, destroying a target 85 kilometers (53 miles) from the launch site during a June 19 demonstration at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The previous maximum range for GMLRS was 70 kilometers (43 miles). This flight-test was the fourth in the GMLRS Unitary Production Verification Test program. The GMLRS rocket was fired from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher.
TANKER HEARINGS: Congress is far from done looking at the U.S. Air Force replacement refueling tanker imbroglio. At least two House panels have scheduled hearings on the tanker selection process. On July 10, the House Armed Services air and land forces subcommittee will hear testimony from Pentagon acquisition chief John Young and Sue Payton, who’s in charge of acquisition at the Air Force. On July 15, the House Oversight Committee will look at the tanker competition. Acting U.S. Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, who also heads the U.S.
NEW FIGHTER: Brazil has formally relaunched its new fighter procurement program, issuing requests for information on six contenders: the Boeing F/A-18E/F, Dassault Rafale, Eurofighter Typhoon, Lockheed Martin F-35, Saab Gripen and Sukhoi Su-35. The new F-X2 program is to progressively replace the Brazilian air force’s fleets of Dassault Mirage 2000s and upgraded Northrop F-5Ms and Embraer/Alenia A-1Ms beginning in 2015. The F-35 replaces the F-16, which was evaluated under the previous F-X BR program shelved in 2003.
DOD is not following through on its policy requiring the commitment of full funding to develop major weapon systems when they are initiated, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. With costs regularly exceeding planned funding levels on the majority of weapon system programs, shortfalls are resulting in inefficient funding adjustments, deferred costs or reduced procurement quantities.
PARIS – The European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have issued a request for proposals for 28 full operating capability (FOC) satellites – 26 operational units plus two spares – and related ground segment equipment for the Galileo satellite navigation system.
ARIANE DELAYED: An anomaly in the electrical interface between the Ariane 5 launcher and its launch table has forced Arianespace to postpone the launch of ProtoStar-1 and Arabsat’s Badr-6 until July 7. The launch had been scheduled for July 4. The electrical interface change-out is occurring in the Final Assembly Building at Kourou, French Guiana, where the Ariane 5 remains in a safe condition with its dual-satellite payload.
INFO SHARING: The Joint Program Executive Office for the Joint Light Tactical Radio System (JPEO JTRS) and the Software Defined Radio Forum (SDRF) have signed a formal agreement promoting collaboration and information sharing. The new team will enable commercial industry participants to have greater visibility into DOD requirements, processes and science and technology needs for JTRS programs.
U.S. Army aviation is evaluating the benefits of slowed-rotor operation being demonstrated by Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird unmanned helicopter, but its interest is mainly for manned platforms, setting up an interesting situation for the company. When Boeing acquired A160 developer Frontier Systems in 2004 it secured to rights to its optimum-speed rotor technology for unmanned aircraft applications. Frontier’s founder Abe Karen retains the rights to its use on manned platforms.
WATER PUMA: U.S. Special Operations Command will operate AeroVironment’s (AV) Puma as its All Environment Capable Variant (AECV) small unmanned aircraft system (UAS). The one-year contract, with four one-year options, has a maximum value of $200 million and provides for the purchase of aircraft, ground control systems, spares, repairs and training. The hand-launched Puma AE lands near-vertically on both land and water, and is equipped with a day- and night-capable waterproof sensor package that provides image tracking, image stabilization and high image quality.
LIGHT WAIT: Companies anxiously awaiting word on who will advance in the next round of the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) competition still don’t have answers. A decision expected at the end of June has been pushed back indefinitely. The competitors, which include giants Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing, among others, have been informed by the U.S. Army that an updated schedule is forthcoming, but no formal timetable has been established for that either.
JASON FOLLOW-ON: Eumetsat has approved a 46 million euro contribution for the Jason-3 follow-on oceanography mission and okayed funds to study a further follow-on based on the European Space Agency’s (ESA) CryoSat-2 Earth Explorer. The move will put pressure on the European Commission to come up with the 46 million euros that remains to be approved for Jason-3, which is expected to ensure the continuity of critical altimetry data after the retirement of Jason-2, launched on June 20.
ALTERNATIVE FUELS: It’s called the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI), but it’s essential to U.S. Air Force plans to meet half its fuel needs from domestic sources by 2016. And CAAFI says testing of five candidate coal-to-liquid and gas-to-liquid Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthetic fuels will be completed this week. A research report is due by the end of July, providing the standards-setters the data needed to amend the jet fuel specification to allow up to a 50 percent blend of generic FT fuel and conventional jet fuel.
AT LIBERTY: BAE Systems plans to open a maritime development center in 2009 for command, control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I) systems at Liberty Station, Calif. The 80,000-square foot complex at the former U.S. Navy training center in Point Loma, will focus on research, development, testing and integration of large-scale C4I network systems, says the company, which plans to begin opening the site in June next year.
DELTA FAVORED: Italian space agency ASI says the weak dollar is making it nearly impossible to beat a Boeing offer to launch the fourth CosmoSkyMed satellite on the Delta II, despite strong efforts by European launch provider Arianespace to meet ASI requirements, including accelerating the introduction of its new Soyuz launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana, to accommodate a 2009 launch. “Unless Arianespace makes us an offer we can’t refuse, a Delta II launch now appears inevitable,” ASI President Giovanni Bignami says.
ARES ENGINES: NASA intends to buy as many as 27 J-2X engines, plus materials for 10 more, from Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) to power its planned Ares I and Ares V upper stages, according to an agency announcement of the sole-source procurement. PWR already is under contract to develop and test the cryogenic rocket engine, which is derived from the Rocketdyne J-2 upper-stage engine for NASA’s Saturn V, and to fabricate seven development and two certification engines.
LONDON – A British Royal Air Force (RAF) base consolidation program will likely see Typhoon operations restricted to two main operating sites, with the option of a third location now under review.
In observance of the U.S. Independence Day holiday, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report will not publish an issue on July 4th. The next issue will be dated July 7th.
BROAD CONCERNS: Adm. Mike Mullen, the U.S. Central Command chief, told reporters at the Pentagon July 2 that he has “broad concerns” about the overall stability of the Middle East. Mullen recently returned from visiting Israel, a trip he said had been planned long before rumors of an Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran came to the fore. As to whether the U.S.
Saab has teamed up with Rheinmetal Schweiz and Pilatus Aircraft as part of its bid to win Switzerland’s contract for an F-5 fighter replacement. The Gripen will go up against the Eurofighter Typhoon and Dassault Rafale. Boeing pulled its F/A-18E/F out of the race, saying the Super Hornet was too much aircraft for the requirement. Boeing officials have repeatedly indicated they think the single-seat Gripen may have the edge.
GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, Md. – Instruments, batteries, gyros and other hardware for the fifth and final space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope is ready to ship on July 14, in plenty of time for the scheduled Oct. 8 launch date. Even though the Michoud Assembly Facility has gained ground on production problems with the redesigned shuttle external tanks that forced a delay from the original plan to launch the servicing mission in August, managers here discount chances the mission may be advanced.
Although the Pentagon reports that discussions with Poland over the placement of ground-based midcourse ballistic missile interceptors are going smoothly, Lithuania may now be a favored backup option. During discussions July 1 between Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, the possibility of Lithuania as an alternative European host for the interceptors was raised.
