Microcosm Inc., which is developing its Scorpius family of low-cost launch vehicles, said Jan. 18 that it successfully completed a series of tests of an all-composite, liquid-oxygen (LOX) tank for use on such vehicles. "The availability of low-cost, composite tanks for cryogenic fluids is a major step in the development of a new generation of much lower-cost launch vehicles," company President James Wertz said in a statement. The tank is 42 inches in diameter and is intended to operate at 550 pounds per square inch, the company said.
Parker Hannifin Corp. reported second-quarter net income of $171.1 million on sales of $1.9 billion, up from net income of $55.8 million on sales of $1.6 billion reported for the same period last year. "We are very pleased with our second quarter results, particularly with our 22% sales growth, doubling net income from continuing operations, and strong cash flow," company Chairman and CEO Don Washkewicz said in a statement.
Production of the Army Airborne Command and Control System (A2C2S) is being carried out by the Army itself, rather than by industry as originally planned, according to the Army manager of the program. "We are moving production of the A2C2S" to a government-owned and operated facility at the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., Col. Chris DeLuca said in an e-mail message.
Chicago-based Northstar Aerospace Inc. will repair, overhaul, and provide spare parts for AH-64 Apache and CH-47 Chinook helicopters under two contracts worth $12 million awarded by the U.S. Army, the company said Jan. 17. The Apache contract is worth $8 million. Main transmissions will be overhauled and spare parts will be provided beginning this year, the company said. Most of the work will be done at Northstar's Chicago facility. The remaining work will be performed in Milton and Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and Phoenix.
The House Science Committee will host hearings on the Hubble Space Telescope and NASA's fiscal 2006 budget in February, a committee spokesman told The DAILY Jan. 18. Re-elected committee Chairman Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) said in December that he would highlight Hubble early this legislative year. Some scientists are pushing for a shuttle mission to service the telescope and extend its life, while NASA has favored a robotic mission (DAILY, Dec. 20, 2004).
The U.S. Coast Guard signed a $144 million contract with a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. earlier this month for production and development of the second Maritime Security Cutter, Large (WMSL), the companies said Jan. 18.
British infantry troops equipped with a variety of modern high-tech equipment have successfully completed an experimental trial designed to improve their combat effectiveness, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence said Jan. 14.
TEETS LEAVING: U.S. Air Force Undersecretary Peter Teets, who also serves as the Defense Department's space acquisition executive, is expected to leave office in or close to March, joining an exodus of top Air Force officials as the Bush Administration gears up for a second term. Secretary James Roche and acquisition chief Marvin Sambur are stepping down Jan. 20. Before Teets departs, he is expected to handle Roche and Sambur's duties in addition to his own.
The European Space Agency's Huygens probe successfully touched down on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan on Jan. 14, marking humanity's first landing in the outer solar system. The probe began its descent at 5:13 a.m. Eastern time, sampling Titan's atmosphere and taking panoramic photos before touching down on an apparently solid surface at roughly 7:34 a.m. (DAILY, Jan. 13).
ACTIVE PROTECTION: The U.S. Army's Future Combat Systems is soliciting information on Active Protection System technologies and supporting components, the Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) says. "FCS is developing a fully integrated hit avoidance suite to provide protection to the manned ground vehicles and current force vehicles," says a Jan. 14 TACOM FedBizOpps notice.
In a two-part Broad Area Announcement, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is urging industry to help develop a rapid prototype of explosives detection systems for vehicle bombs and to propose longer-range "novel" technologies to detect suitcase or package bombs.
STRONG COMPETITOR: Lockheed Martin Corp. officials expect Naval Sea Systems Command will issue a request for proposals by the end of the year to be the Navy's mission module integrator. NAVSEA hosted an industry day last November on the topic. "We're considering the opportunity out there, we think we're very experienced in integration," says Brad Hines, Lockheed Martin mission package integrator capability manager. Lockheed Martin says its experience as a systems integrator on nearly 100 surface combatants globally makes it a strong competitor.
TANKER CHARGE: The "continued delay and now likely re-competition" of the U.S. Air Force's tanker program prompted Boeing to announce a $275 million pretax charge, the company said Jan. 14. Another charge, related to ending 717 production, will boost that to $615 million. Boeing's first-quarter and full-year 2004 results will be released Feb. 2.
HELP THE JPDO: The Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO) that is developing the nation's next-generation air transportation system (DAILY, Jan. 11) soon will put in place a "mechanism" through which the aerospace industry can participate in the office's work, according to JPDO Deputy Director Robert Pearce. "The bottom line is, the government actually owns a very small part of the air transportation system," Pearce says. "The majority of it is owned by the private sector, so we have to have them in there as equal partners with us."
TRIDENT WORK: Lockheed Martin Space Systems was awarded a $676 million modification for fiscal 2005 funding of the Trident II Missile Production and Deployed System Support contract, the Defense Department said Jan. 13. The work is expected to be completed by September 2008.
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe said he is not overly concerned by the estimated $450 million in congressional earmarks contained in the agency's fiscal year 2005 budget, which would redirect funding away from the Bush Administration's space priorities toward other projects. "I don't think that's going to crowd out a lot of things," O'Keefe said during a press conference at Kennedy Space Center in Florida Jan. 14.
LONG-RANGE MUNITION: The U.S. Navy will hold an open competition for its future long-range projectile late this year or sometime next year, says Rear Adm. Charles Bush, program executive officer for Navy Integrated Warfare Systems. Key competitors will be Raytheon's Extended Range Guided Munitions (ERGM) and Alliant Techsystems' Extended Range Munition. "The system won't cost $100,000 ... it will probably cost half of that. The quantity will drive the cost," Bush says. He spoke last week at the Surface Navy Association's annual symposium.
STRYKER DELIVERY: The U.S. Army and General Dynamics Land Systems recognized the delivery of the 1,000th Stryker armored vehicle during a Jan. 12 ceremony at the Anniston Army Depot in Anniston, Ala., the company said. During the eight-wheeled vehicle's 12 months of deployment in Iraq with the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Strykers were driven more than 3.1 million miles and encountered more than 200 hostile incidents. They maintained an operational readiness rate of more than 96%, the company said.
IMPACT OK: NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft is out of safe mode and "healthy," according to NASA, as it speeds on its way to an encounter with comet Tempel 1 on July 4, 2005. Launched on Jan. 12, Deep Impact entered safe mode shortly after separation from its Delta II rocket as a result of higher-than-expected temperatures in its propulsion system following a thruster burn. In safe mode, all but the essential systems are turned off and the spacecraft awaits further commands from mission control.
Advanced weapon and space systems company Alliant Techsystems (ATK) of Minneapolis is moving its fuze production operations from Janesville, Wis., to its Allegany Ballistics Laboratory in Rocket Center, W. Va., to improve manufacturing efficiencies, the company said Jan. 14.
The U.S. Defense Department is close to deciding how to distribute a $5 billion cut in missile defense that it approved in December as part of a broader, six-year reduction in defense spending, according to sources. DOD is expected to finalize the missile defense details this week, leaving enough time for the Bush Administration to finish its fiscal 2006 budget and submit it to Congress on Feb. 7.
ACQUIRING: SI International Inc., an information technology and networking company based in Reston, Va., has agreed to acquire Shenandoah Electronic Intelligence Inc. (SEI) to boost its work with the Department of Homeland Security, SI said Jan. 12. Harrisonburg, Va.-based SEI handles records management, analytical support services and other work for the DHS. SI will buy SEI for $75 million in cash, and said the transaction is expected to close within 60 days.
Ideology, not strict analysis, seems to lie behind the Pentagon decision to cut the budget of the F/A-22 fighter, according to one analyst. Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va., said that the savings from an F/A-22 reduction wouldn't be that significant, but that the cut still is being proposed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
