SEA LAUNCH: Sea Launch will try again Jan. 15 to orbit the Thuraya-3 telecommunications spacecraft, after strong currents at the equatorial launch site in the Pacific forced the two-vessel launch fleet to return to port in November (DAILY, Nov. 28, 2007). The Odyssey launch platform and the Sea Launch Commander mother ship have left port in Long Beach, Calif., to return to the launch site at 154 degrees West Longitude. Liftoff of the Boeing-built satellite is set for a 44-minute window that opens 6:46 a.m. EST.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Jan. 7 - 10 -- 46th American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' (AIAA) Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit. Green Sierra Resort Hotel, Reno, Nev. For more information call (703) 264-7500, fax (703) 264-7551 or go to www.aiaa.org
BEIJING - China's first lunar probe, Chang'e 1, will face its next challenge Feb. 21, when an eclipse will leave it without solar power for 5.5 hours and freeze its systems at extremely low temperatures.
ISR SUPPORT: The U.S. Air Force announced Jan. 4 that Spectrum Comm, Inc. of Hampton, Va. is being awarded a $74.5 million contract for advisory and assistance services to support the 560th Aircraft Sustainment Group. The group works to improve policy development, management and sustainability for the U-2 aircraft, the Global Hawk and Predator unmanned aircraft, the Distributed Common Ground System, the Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, and various other ISR-related programs.
The U.S. military needs to revamp its mindset for waging war against terrorists and their allies by investing less in technology and more in training troops for small-unit confrontations, says an expert in such training and tactics. "Our infantrymen are spending much of their time trying to figure out the new gadgets," said H. John Poole, who retired from the Marines in 1993 after 28 years as a commissioned and noncommissioned officer and now writes tactics manual supplements and trains active-duty units.
The U.S. Air Force has approved full-rate production of AeroVironment (AV) Inc.'s Battlefield Air Targeting Micro Air Vehicle (BATMAV) system and bestowed Milestone C approval on the program as well. The two milestones were achieved according to the Defense Department's 5000 Acquisition process standards within a year from the contract award. The Air Force selected AV's Wasp III as the micro air vehicle for its BATMAV program in December 2006.
DISN RECOMPETE: In a reaffirmation worth up to $613 million, the Defense Information Systems Agency has awarded the Defense Information System Network (DISN) Network Management Support Services-Global (DNMSS-G/R) Recompete Network Engineering contract to Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC). The company said Dec. 28, 2007, that the indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract, which has a two-year base period and three one-year options, is a "continuation" of the previous DISN Network Management Support Services-Global Network Engineering contract (DNMSS-G/NEC).
Boeing and Northrop Grumman submitted their final KC-X tanker proposals to the U.S. Air Force Jan. 3, marking the next milestone in what has become a war of words over which company is offering the most suitable replacement for the KC-135.
NASA managers have authorized technicians to replace an electrical connector suspected as the cause of intermittent failures of engine cutoff (ECO) sensors in space shuttle Atlantis' liquid hydrogen tank, but have not yet set a firm launch date for the STS-122/1E International Space Station (ISS) assembly mission.
LOCKHEED SETTLEMENT: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) unveiled a self-described "major" settlement of a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Lockheed Martin for $2.5 million and other relief on behalf of an African-American electrician allegedly subjected to a racially hostile work environment at several job sites.
The U.S. Army needs to get better financial control of its acquisition of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV), a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says. FMTVs include trucks between 2.5 and 5 tons, as well as complementary trailers. The approved presidential budget for fiscal years 2005 and 2006 provided about $956 million for 7,071 FMTVs, while Congress provided another $797 million to the program. The supplemental budgets for fiscal 2005 and 2006 provided funding to procure an additional 3,970 FMTVs.
iRobot has settled its lawsuits against competitor Robotic FX, whose founder has been forbidden from competitive activities in the robotics industry for five years. Robotic FX will be dissolved and certain "residual assets" retained by iRobot. iRobot's cumulative legal and related expenses are expected to total roughly $2.9 million. In August 2007, iRobot filed two lawsuits against Robotic FX and its founder, former iRobot employee Jameel Ahed, alleging that Ahed stole proprietary information and used it in the creation of his Negotiator robot.
PORTUGUESE P-3: Lockheed Martin said Jan. 3 that the Portuguese Ministry of Defense awarded it a direct commercial sale contract worth $141 million to upgrade the mission system avionics on five P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft. Upgrades include electronic support measures, acoustics, communications, electro-optic and infrared systems, data management software and hardware, controls, displays and mission computers. After installation and checkout at Lockheed's Greenville, S.C., center, the first modernized P-3C will be delivered in late 2009.
A 20 percent rise in arms export cases, longer processing times and a 50 percent increase in the number of unresolved cases are straining the State Department's arms export licensing process, a Government Accountability Office report (GAO) found Jan. 3. The GAO review found procedural inefficiencies, shortcomings in electronic processing and challenges in retaining a skilled work force are all behind problems at the State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC).
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is seeking information on the possibility of hosting government weather sensors on commercial satellites. On Jan. 28 at the Commerce Department in Washington, NOAA will host an industry day to discuss "commercial solutions to meet space-based Earth and space weather observation requirements" of the U.S. government.
Northrop Grumman has passed two milestones in its quest to integrate its high-energy chemical laser (HEL) onto Boeing's Airborne Laser (ABL) aircraft, a highly modified 747-400F.
Raytheon, teamed with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, has won a $232 million contract from the U.S. Army to develop the XM 1111 Mid-Range Munition for the U.S. Army Future Combat Systems' (FCS) Mounted Combat System (MCS).
WORLDSPACE FINANCING: WorldSpace Satellite Radio has secured $40 million in additional financing from Yenure Pte. Ltd. The funds, in the form of five-year, 8 percent subordinated convertible notes, are intended to help support the launch of a European digital audio radio service and attempts to establish DARS beachheads in other selective markets, notably India and China. Yenure is controlled by Worldspace Chairman/CEO Noah Samara. However, $10 million of the proceeds will go toward prepaying secured note holders.
NEW DELHI - India's ministry of defense cites a host of accomplishments in 2007, including the launch of the Interceptor Missile being developed for a ballistic missile defense system, as well as numerous other milestones. India took a step toward a Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system, joining the U.S., Russia and Israel, when an interceptor missile successfully targeted a 'hostile' missile off the Orissa coast in east India twice in early December.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) late last week sustained, in part, a protest filed by the former Pemco Aeroplex challenging the U.S. Air Force's awarding of a $1.1 billion KC-135 programmed depot maintenance contract to Boeing Aerospace Operations. The PDM contract was awarded to Boeing over Pemco Aeroplex on Sept. 11 and Pemco, now operating as Alabama Aircraft Industries Inc. (AAII), filed a protest with GAO eight days later (DAILY, Sept. 12, 2007).
TOKYO - Japan's Selene moon probe formally began its 10-month observation phase Dec. 21. The satellite had entered a 100-kilometer (60-mile) circular orbit Oct.18 (DAILY, Oct. 8, 2007), and underwent a two-month checkout to verify all systems. Although all instruments are basically functioning, minor problems have been found on two sensors, the X-ray Spectrometer (XRS) and Charged Particle Spectrometer (CPS).
