A flight readiness review by senior International Space Station (ISS) managers formally adopted a recommendation Nov. 27 that space shuttle Atlantis launch on time Dec. 6 with Europe's long-delayed Columbus laboratory module in its cargo bay.
Inmarsat has awarded EADS Astrium a contract to build an experimental L-band communications satellite based on a new high-power satcom bus being developed by Astrium and Thales Alenia Space.
TESTING RADAR: Northrop Grumman has completed the installation, integration and initial flight-testing of the first developmental test units (DTU) of the new radar antenna developed for the B-2 bomber's radar modernization program (RMP). The availability of the new Raytheon-built Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) antenna will allow Northrop Grumman to complete the B-2 RMP flight-test program, which was interrupted last year by integration issues with the antenna (DAILY, Sept. 27). The first flight test was completed on Oct. 30.
International Space Station (ISS) crew members are activating the new Harmony pressurized node for the arrival of Europe's long-delayed Columbus laboratory module, following one final spacewalk Nov. 24 to complete external hookups on the node.
The U.S. Air Force cannot guarantee that tens of millions of dollars meant for research and development to support the global war on terrorism (GWOT) was indeed spent for those specific tasks, according to the Pentagon Inspector General (IG).
SUPERSONIC MUNITIONS: During a recent test at the High-Speed Test Track at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., researchers from Boeing Phantom Works and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) used a rocket sled and active flow control to successfully release an MK-82 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) standard test vehicle at a speed of about Mach 2 from a weapons bay with a size approximating that of a U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber. The technology involved in active flow control enabled this first-ever munitions test at high supersonic speeds, Boeing said.
AMAZONAS: Thales Alenia Space will supply an AMERHIS-2 onboard processor (OBP) for two-way broadband communications on the next Amazonas communications satellite. Hispasat, which operates the Amazonas spacecraft through a joint venture with Brazil's Telemar, ordered the new satellite in June for launch in late 2009. The OBP, which includes a new network control center, will be a recurrent model of an experimental processor provided by Thales Alenia for Amazonas-1, orbited in 2004.
European finance ministers have accepted a funding scheme that will allow the European Commission (EC) to earmark unused money from the agricultural price support program, along with funds from next year's research budget, for the Galileo satellite navigation system.
Northrop Grumman and Raytheon both have won $160 million, 18-month awards for system design and risk reduction efforts for the Global Positioning System (GPS) operational control segment (OCX). If chosen for system development, OCX could be valued at more than $1 billion, according to Northrop Grumman.
The use of Russian AN-124s to airlift Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to Iraq is becoming a hot-button political issue on Capitol Hill.
AIR FORCE PLANNING: U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Raymond Johns says the Air Force has been re-evaluating its capabilities, "back-casting" them to where the service is today and "how we need to evolve to meet the growing threat." Johns, in a recent conversation with Aerospace Daily, referred to something he calls the "sufficiency piece," the need for future Air Force requirements to be met by a combination of capability and capacity. "It's not just one vehicle" that has capability versus 1,000 vehicles that lack capacity, Johns said. "It's a mix in between.
ProtoStar has signed up two more anchor customers for its planned satellite network, moving the Asian satcom startup venture, targeted at underserved direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting markets in the Asia-Pacific, a step closer to reality. On Nov. 26, SingTel agreed to lease an undisclosed amount of C-band capacity on ProtoStar-1, to be launched next May by Arianespace, and to provide ProtoStar with satellite control services from its operations center in Singapore, where ProtoStar's Asian headquarters is located.
The U.S. Air Force is closing its battlelabs due to "fiscal restraints," one service official says. The battlelabs were designed and established in different functional areas to rapidly transition technologies to the field at low cost. Seven separate battlelabs are shutting their doors in short order. Air Force Space Command closed the doors of its Air Force Space Battlelab at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., earlier this month, with seven of its 14 projects now shifting to the management of the Space Innovation and Development Center there.
NAVSEA MODERNIZATION: U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) has signed a $14.2 million fiscal 2008 contract extension for ITT Corp.'s AN/SPS-48 Radar Obsolescence, Availability Recovery (ROAR) program. The program passed a successful critical design review (CDR) in October 2007, prompting the contract extension, ITT said. The total contract value to date is more than $32 million. AN/SPS-48 radars were first introduced into the fleet in the mid-1980s as part of a New Threat Upgrade (NTU) program on aircraft carriers, cruisers and destroyers.
France says it is preparing to send a fifth Operational Mentor and Liaison Team (OMLT) to Afghanistan as part of a promise to boost its effort within the NATO coalition there. The new team, to be dispatched next year, is earmarked for the troubled southern provinces of the country, where the increased French involvement is being focused. Paris had previously decided to deploy two additional OMLTs by the end of 2007 to the south, where it also has redeployed its six strike aircraft.
ON THE LINES: Joseph Rouge, director of the National Security Space Office, says he's "willing to put [his] career on the line to make sure" that a new Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) initiative led by the U.S. Air Force doesn't get derailed. The new ORS office was established earlier this year at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., and its first budget was approved along with the Pentagon's budget in November.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) likely will try to recover some costs from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics because one of the suppliers for the contractor was inflating costs for tools for aircraft manufacturing. DOJ says Lockheed should have known that the supplier, Tools & Metals Inc., was doctoring invoices and defrauding the government of about $20 million. Todd Brian Loftis, Tools & Metals' former CEO, pleaded guilty in December 2005 to conspiring to defraud the government.
Improved situational awareness and protection capabilities are the top two priorities for the U.S. Air Force's growing space control efforts in the fiscal 2009 budget cycle, according to Joseph Rouge, director of the National Security Space Office.
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected] (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Nov. 25 - 27 -- China Helicopter Expo 2007. Beijing International Convention Center: Call +1 (805) 963-4095, fax +1 (877) 564 4878 or go to www.heli-china.com.cn Nov. 26 - 29 -- I/ITSEC - Interservice/Industry Training Simulation & Education Conference, "Maintaining the Edge ... Transforming the Force," Orlando, Fla. For more information go to www.iitsec.org.
