Orbimage Holdings Inc. has announced the completion of its $58.5 million acquisition of Space Imaging LLC, resulting in a long-awaited U.S. satellite imagery industry of two, rather than three, competitors. The new Orbimage-Space Imaging company is called GeoEye, and it will compete with DigitalGlobe Inc. Orbimage said GeoEye is "the world's largest commercial satellite imagery company" with a combined 2005 revenue of about $160 million. Orbimage announced last September that it intended to acquire Space Imaging.
A new market study forecasts that the money spent on outsourcing of information technology functions by the federal government will continue to grow at 8 percent through 2010 to $17.6 billion from $12.2 billion now.
The Army has chosen to cancel Lockheed Martin's $879 million Aerial Common Sensor development contract rather than switch aircraft platforms to Bombardier's Global Express business jet, the service announced Jan. 12.
F-22: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. of Fort Worth, Texas, has been awarded a $191.1 million contract modification to provide long lead activities and logistics support for F-22 Raptor Lot 6 aircraft and associated equipment, the Defense Department said Jan. 11. The work will be done in February 2006. The contract was awarded by Headquarters Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have resolved a relatively tiny partner orbiting the super-giant Pole Star Polaris, determining that the fixed point of light sailors and aviators have used for generations to navigate is actually a three-star system.
Carl A. Alleyne has been named vice president for infrastructure and business area support. David T. Perry has been appointed vice president of the Marine Systems division. Everett H. Pratt, Jr. has been appointed vice president of business development for the Defensive Systems Division. Gregory A. Schmidt has been named vice president of radio frequency combat and information systems. Carl R. Smith has been appointed vice president of engineering and manufacturing.
Mike Becraft has been appointed executive vice president of the mission services group. Marylynn Stowers has been named executive vice president of the information technology group.
Congressional pressure to avoid a gap in U.S. human space access is behind a NASA push to accelerate the first piloted flight of the planned Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV).
GKN Aerospace said Jan. 11 that it has been awarded a contract to produce composite components for Northrop Grumman's X-47B Joint Unmanned Combat Systems (J-UCAS) aircraft. If the X-47B enters full production, the contract's total value would be more than $500 million, the company said. The graphite composite skins will be manufactured at GKN Aerospace's St. Louis facility. The skins cover nearly 90 percent of the aircraft's surface. The aircraft's actuated doors for its weapon's bay, nose and main landing gear are also produced in St. Louis.
Boeing is nearing deals on upgrades to AH-64 Apache helicopters purchased by various countries through foreign military sales, according to the company. Closest to fruition is a contract to remanufacture 30 AH-64A Apaches purchased by the United Arab Emirates into the AH-64D configuration. That contract is expected in the first quarter of this year, according to Mike Burke, Boeing's director of rotorcraft business development.
Craig Bambrough has been appointed vice president and director of defense and intelligence strategies for the SRA Touchstone Consulting Group. John M. Miller has been named vice president and director of operations for the SRA Touchstone Consulting Group. Pat Sidhu has been appointed vice president and director of the SRA Spectrum Solutions Group. Sonu Singh has been appointed vice president and director of enterprise systems for the SRA Spectrum Solutions Group.
Data transfer rates on a test aircraft have been increased 40 times using the F-15E's existing wiring. During a Boeing-funded demonstration, the amount of time it takes to transfer the image of a target from aircraft to a Joint Direct Attack Munition on its wing was slashed to one-half second from 11-12 seconds.
European and Canadian radar satellites are providing data on side-wall stability of the largest open pit mine in Africa, which is threatened by subsidence from underground mining below the pit floor.
Lockheed Martin Corp. expects an upcoming Defense Department report to validate its Joint Common Missile (JCM) program, or at least most of the technology it developed under that effort, and lead to a resurgence in the otherwise terminated missile replacement program, a company official said.
