HOT BIRD 10: Astrium will build Eutelsat's Hot Bird 10 high-power broadcast satellite, set for launch in the first quarter of 2009. The Paris-based satellite operator says it will place the new spacecraft at 13 degrees East Longitude, where it is already broadcasting 950 television channels and 540 radio stations to Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
Regarding the story "With Navair chief leaving, cost-savings plan up in air" (Oct. 24), the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command expects to save $2.5 billion from fiscal 2006-2011 by implementing corporate business practices in managing aviation programs (DAILY, Oct. 24). For FY '06, Navair expects to have squeezed $500 million more through its Naval Aviation Enterprise reforms, which comes after bookkeeping savings of $283 million in FY '05.
BAN LIFTED: The Defense Department has issued a final rule amending its own acquisition regulations to remove Libya from the list of terrorist countries banned from DOD contract awards. The change follows the State Department's removal of Libya from the list of countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism, which comes after Libyan leader, Col. Muammar al Qadhafi, agreed in December 2003 to abandon the North African nation's nuclear weapons program.
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman Mission Systems almost $21.2 million worth of contract modifications regarding the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) propulsion replacement program. One $16 million award is for Northrop Grumman to identify and provide for the procurement of government furnished property components for Minuteman IIIs that are known to be in short supply and are needed to preclude production shortages under stage-five full-rate production. That award runs through March 2008.
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems' (IDS) revenue rose 4 percent during the three months ending Sept. 30 on higher Precision Engagement & Mobility Systems and Support Systems volume, but Network & Space Systems revenues dropped on lower volume in the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GBMD) program and fewer planned milestone completions in the commercial satellite business, executives said Oct. 25.
The objective of the Stereo Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory mission, which was set for launch late Oct. 25, is to position its Stereo A and Stereo B satellites, each weighing 1,412 pounds, so they can simultaneously image the sun - and the 93 million miles spacing the Earth and sun - from different angles million of miles apart.
HTS MOTORS: American Superconductor Corp. announced Oct. 25 that it signed a cost-plus-fee contract valued at $5.3 million with the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command for the design and optimization of high-temperature superconductor (HTS) ship propulsion motors and power electronic drives. The first $1.9 million will focus on motor, drive and electrical system options for possible system integration into later versions of planned DDG-1000 and proposed CG(X) surface warships, and should be completed in the next six months.
In regard to the story "With JSTARS, MP-RTIP getting axed, Northrop Grumman fights for radar" (Oct. 25), the Joint STARS system has completed production and is carried on the E-8C, not the E-10A. The E-10A is a platform for the wide-area surveillance Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) sensor, and both have been canceled under internal Air Force budget drafts for fiscal 2008, although Northrop Grumman is promoting a Global Hawk variant of the radar.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is slated to unveil the latest model of its Predator B unmanned aircraft system (UAS) at an Oct. 30 ceremony at Libby Army Airfield in Sierra Vista, Ariz., officials said Oct. 25. The aircraft, designated CBP-104, is the second UAS to be deployed by the CBP along the southwest border. The first one crashed in the desert in April after nine months of service and nearly 1,000 flight hours.
IRAQ ACQUISITION: Building up Iraqi security forces' logistics, intelligence, engineering, communications and medical support capabilities is the goal for next year, says U.S. Army Gen. George Casey Jr., coalition commander there. Making the forces independent will be the thrust of efforts in 2007, he said. U.S. officials have started lining up larger military equipment for Iraqi forces such as helicopters, vehicles and weapons, as well as logistics support, worth up to $500 million (DAILY, Sept. 21).
Congress may want to rethink the FAA's dual role in both regulating the safety of space tourism and promoting its growth to avoid a potential conflict of interest, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
AVIATION WEEK this week launched MRO Prospector, a Web-based suite of data and tools for business development, benchmarking and forecasting in the commercial aviation maintenance, repair and overhaul industry. Built through a partnership with TeamSAI and Ascend, MRO Prospector contains exclusive, up-to-date MRO industry data and tools that let users forecast maintenance business by aircraft, engine and operator, track fleet changes and establish benchmarks for work on aircraft, engines and components, worldwide. Inside North America, call 866-857-0148.
MINE WARFARE: EDO Corp. said Oct. 25 that it has received a U.S. Navy contract for engineering and technical support to develop and demonstrate a Very-Shallow-Water (VSW) Mine-Neutralizer system. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity award is worth up to $9.6 million over five years. EDO must design a console and launcher for the neutralizer system that will allow integration with unmanned surface-vehicle applications based on the Navy's new Littoral Combat Ship. EDO further will test the system's effectiveness and help evaluate test results.
NASA Exploration Launch Program Manager Steve Cook says that the shuttle-derived Ares rockets should be both the most capable and safest human space flight vehicles in history. "It's a much simpler architecture than what we're flying today with the space shuttle orbiter combination that we've got," Cook said during a Space Transportation Association breakfast in Washington on Oct. 24.
Lockheed Martin Corp. is looking toward the potentially $13 billion Combat, Search and Rescue Replacement (CSAR-X) helicopter, the expected $5 billion Global Positioning System III and the $5-10 billion Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) programs as near-term new business opportunities, executives said Oct. 24. Moreover, the defense contracting giant expects at least half of its total 2006 sales for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles to come in the final quarter of this year, they told Wall Street analysts.
INVESTIGATIONS: Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), who is in line to chair the House Armed Services Committee should Democrats take control of the House in next month's elections, said he would like to re-establish a formal investigations subcommittee. Skelton reiterated his priorities Oct. 20, although he has called for another HASC investigations panel since at least the summer.
The U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, Va., has selected a small defense engineering firm in Dayton, Ohio, to supply an off-the-shelf concept demonstrator for the service's planned division/regiment-level Tier II unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). MTC Technologies Inc. bid the little-known T-16 UAV, built by Arcturus UAV of Rohnert Park, Calif. It edged out the Skylynx UAV proposed by BAE Systems and the ScanEagle offered by Boeing. The companies had submitted their bids on May 11. The selection was made Oct. 18.
The Air Force in its internal fiscal 2008 budget plan has dropped both the E-10 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System ground surveillance aircraft and its related Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) sensor, although Northrop Grumman Corp. said Oct. 24 that the Global Hawk-version of MP-RTIP could continue.
The Air Force's plan to better marry military and civilian radar networks and develop a permanent system at major service command centers to prevent terrorists from again flying hijacked jetliners on suicide missions in U.S. airspace is running nearly two years behind schedule and could cost more than three times the initial budget, according to Air Force documents.
The Government Accountability Office has denied protests from both MD Helicopters and AgustaWestland - the losing bidders on the Army's $1.7 billion contract for Light Utility Helicopters.
Launch from Cape Canaveral of the twin spacecraft NASA/European "Stereo" Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory flight is set for late Oct. 25 on a mission aimed at the first 3D imaging of the sun. Liftoff of the Boeing Delta II from Launch Complex 17B is planned at 8:38 p.m. Eastern time at the opening of a 15-minute window dictated by the orbit of the moon. Both spacecraft will make lunar swing-bys to fling one millions of miles ahead of the Earth, and the other far behind Earth to achieve 3D viewing angles of both the Earth and sun.
