A Canadian government contract for a technology demonstrator intended to verify the ability of microsatellites to reliably monitor navigation and identification signals from ships navigating Canadian waters will propel Com Dev into the growing ranks of companies developing multimission microsat buses.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems expects to receive a fourth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite contract valued at about $120 million late this month, about the time the first AEHF leaves thermal vacuum tests at its Dual Entry Large Thermal Altitude changer in Sunnyvale, Calif. Congress ordered a fourth AEHF for the U.S. Air Force’s Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing/Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base. The system’s first launch is set for early 2009 aboard an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral.
The U.S. must avoid “backing” into a military conflict with Iran, and instead should seek “direct, comprehensive and unconditional talks with the Iranian government,” Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) said. During a policy speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington on June 26, Hagel called for developing something short of diplomatic relations with Iran, by basing a U.S. Interest Section in Tehran, the Iranian capital.
The Constellation program’s Orion project office is defining a formal Relative Navigation Sensor’s Development Test (RNSDT) to operate Orion navigation sensors and software on a shuttle flight in 2009 or 2010 before the planned end of the shuttle program in September 2010.
Two independent peer reviews gave high marks to the U.S. Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) methodology June 30, validating the agency’s quality assurance framework through its final reports. An international team comprising Australia, the Netherlands and the U.K., led by the office of the Auditor General of Canada, examined GAO’s performance audit work. U.S. accounting firm KPMG focused on GAO’s financial audit work and attestation engagements.
GREEN AVIATION FORUM • September 23, 2008 • Madrid, Spain Don’t miss the second annual AVIATION WEEK Management Forum dedicated to green initiatives in the airline industry, including: emissions treading; carbon offsets; and air traffic management improvement. Learn more at www.aviationweek.com/forums or call +1.212.904.3195.
FIFTH GENERATION?: There are indications that more than one Sukhoi T-50 prototype of the Russian air force’s fifth-generation fighter are now being built by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur production association. A press release issued last week suggests “experimental vehicles” are now in assembly. Whether this refers to one initial flying prototype and a static test rig, or multiples of both is not yet clear.
NAVY Bell Boeing Tiltrotor Team, Amarillo, Texas, is being awarded a $28,473,442 ceiling priced delivery order #0274 under previously awarded contract (N00383-03-G-001B) for spare components of the CV-22 aircraft. The work will be performed in Hurst, Texas, and is expected to be completed by Dec. 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not awarded competitively. The Naval Inventory Control Point is the contracting activity.
FCS TECH: U.S. Army Gen. Gordon R. Sullivan (Ret.) expressed his full support for the Army’s recent decision to spin U.S. Future Combat Systems (FCS) capabilities to the field early (Aerospace DAILY, June 26). In a statement issued by the organization over which he presides, the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA), Gordon said the move “demonstrates how important FCS is to today’s Army and tomorrow’s Army.”
ISS OPS: An EADS Astrium-led team has been awarded a 278 million euro ($380 million) follow-on contract to operate the European portion of the International Space Station (ISS) from 2008 to 2010. The award, under a framework arrangement concluded in 2004, includes operation of European orbital facilities – notably the Columbus laboratory – along with training, mission preparation/control, logistics, maintenance, ground communications and payload engineering/supply.
FIXED STATIONS: SES affiliate ND Satcom has been awarded a three-year blanket contract worth up to $20.5 million to provide fixed communications stations for an unidentified “global multilateral organization.” The award covers 16.4-meter, 9.3-meter and 7.3-meter antennas, along with options for spares and maintenance.
The nuclear-powered Cassini mission to Saturn wrapped up its four-year primary period June 30, and moved right into a two-year-long follow-on authorized by NASA in April. The extension has been named the Cassini Equinox Mission because it will give the spacecraft’s science team an opportunity to study Saturn’s rings with sunlight passing directly across their plane during the Saturn equinox in August 2009. Also targeted during the follow-on will be the hydrocarbon-shrouded moon Titan, and the geysers of Enceladus that Cassini discovered.
The U.S. Army is delaying the award for the Vehicle Intercommunications System-X (VIS-X), which had been expected June 30. Central to the Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is the fully networked battlefield. VIS-X fits in at the vehicle level, enabling clear intercom communication amidst the noise of onboard sensors, other radios and weapon system notifications.
The U.S. Army failed to properly buy enough vehicle armor to protect Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV) crewmembers during the service’s “surge” of troops into Iraq, but the Army acquired the equipment properly after that, a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicated new calendar listing.) July 1 - 4 — Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States Aviation Outlook Summit. Hotel Baltschung Kempinski, Moscow. For more information call +44 (207) 242-1508 or see www.terrapinn.com/2008
The U.S. House looks set to follow through on expected lawmaking that could stifle the nuclear Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) proposed by the Bush administration until the next White House occupant provides Congress with a new nuclear weapons and infrastructure strategy, as well as dampen nuclear pit production.
Although the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) program continues to face obstacles on Capitol Hill, it remains the only current viable option for sustaining the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, according to a retired U.S. Air Force chief of staff and former head of Strategic Air Command.
BAE’s KING: After months of speculation – and executive searching – BAE Systems is opting for the internal candidate as a successor to CEO Mike Turner. Ian King, the company’s chief operating officer, will take up the post of chief executive Sept. 1. Turner “announced” his resignation in October 2007, and the gap has inevitably led to speculation that BAE Systems was uncertain whether to promote from within. King is a former Marconi executive whose public persona has so far been considerably lower key than the executive he replaces.
JAGM DRAGGING: The Pentagon is considering a delay until August of 2009 for a contract award of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile, which will replace the Hellfire, TOW and Maverick families. Raytheon and Lockheed Martin are locked in a duel for the program. Jointly funded by the U.S. Army and Navy, both services came up short with money to pay for the plan to fund two development efforts in their fiscal 2010 budget builds. Pentagon planners are considering punting a decision to the next administration.
DHRUV DEAL: The Indian defense ministry expects to sign a contract within a few weeks for the $50.7 million sale of seven Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters to the Ecuadoran air force. Delivery of the indigenously developed twin-turbine helicopters to Ecuador in knock-down kit form is expected to begin within six months and be completed over 15 months to two years.
Developers of a secondary NASA payload on the next SpaceX Falcon 1 launch attempt hope to demonstrate deployment of a solar sail in orbit, advancing a concept that holds promise in both deep-space propulsion and debris mitigation in low-Earth orbit. Dubbed NanoSail-D, the aluminum and plastic payload weighs less than 10 pounds, and unfurls to a four-segment square about 10 feet on a side on four spokes that roll out from a central hub.
