Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) has been given responsibility for exploring the military utility of "near-space" altitudes, according to AFSPC Commander Gen. Lance Lord. Near-space is defined as altitudes of 65,000 to 350,000 feet, according to Lord. Because this area is not technically part of space, some have wondered whether near-space would be under the province of AFSPC or Air Combat Command (ACC).
Intelsat has been tapped to be the lead provider of satellite capacity for oil and gas companies, as Houston-based SkyPort International has bought two long-term capacity leases on the IA-7 satellite, the company said Sept. 14.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are playing a prominent role in the war on terror, and the retooled CV-22 Osprey has an "awesome capability," the commander of the Air Force Special Operations Command said Sept. 14. Lt. Gen. Michael W. Wooley, speaking at the Air Force Association's Air & Space Conference in Washington, said the UAVs act as "tiny eyes in the sky" and are saving coalition forces' lives. Some of the UAVs weigh as little as two pounds, he said.
ITT Industries will deliver instruments for the next generation of Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) under a NASA contract that could be worth up to $359 million through 2029. The company will deliver infrared and visible-wavelength environmental imaging instruments for the GOES-R satellite series, to replace older instruments.
The head of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Airborne Laser (ABL) is expressing cautious optimism that the program will meet its goal to achieve two key milestones by year's end.
The next flight-test of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system is being delayed at least two more months, MDA said Sept. 14. Integrated Flight Test 13C (IFT-13C), which previously slipped from mid-to-late August to mid-to-late September to fix a computer glitch in the interceptor's booster (DAILY, Aug. 18), now will be moved to late November or early December, partly to give program officials more time to find the root cause of the computer problem, MDA said.
Lockheed Martin's Maritime Systems and Sensors will provide the design and system engineering to the U.S. Navy for the Advanced Deployable System (ADS) program under a $21 million contract, the Department of Defense announced Sept. 13. The work will be used to provide a preliminary design and integrated baseline for the ADS variant to be deployed by the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), DOD said.
The cost of the future U.S. Air Force Personnel Recovery Vehicle (PRV) will be approximately $1.1 billion in development funding, including the engine, and a total of $9 billion, said David Oliver, EADS North America's chief operating officer. The $9 billion figure doesn't include support over the life of the program, Oliver said Sept. 14 at the Air Force Association's Air & Space Conference in Washington.
Northrop Grumman is on schedule to deliver by year's end the first four B-2 bombers to be equipped with new bomb racks that will enable the aircraft to drop five times as many precision weapons on a single flight, according to company officials. "We promised that we'd have four airplanes all equipped, certified and ready by the end of this year, and in fact we'll make that commitment," Harry Heimple, manager of government requirements for Northrop Grumman's Air Combat Systems division, said during a briefing in Washington Sept. 14.
Aculight Corp. of Bothell, Wash., will develop a compact, rugged, short-pulse fiber laser source under a $750,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the Department of Energy, the company said Sept. 14. The system could be used in active imaging and remote sensing systems, the company said, and will be based on Aculight's pulsed fiber laser technology. Aculight also will produce a compact ultraviolet laser for use in Raman spectroscopy for the National Institute of Health under a $100,000 SBIR contract.
The damage done to NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) by Hurricane Frances is not a "showstopper," according to Administrator Sean O'Keefe, and should not interfere with the agency's goal of returning the space shuttle to flight by March or April of next year. Although the three shuttles were undamaged by the storm, damage done to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and the facility that manufactures the shuttle's thermal tiles and blankets were seen as possible threats to a spring 2005 launch (DAILY, Sept. 8).
NETCENTS: The Centech Group of Arlington, Va.; Multimax of Largo, Md.; NCI of Reston, Va.; Northrop Grumman of McLean, Va.; Booz-Allen Hamilton of McLean, Va.; General Dynamics of Needham, Mass., and Lockheed Martin of Manassas, Va., were awarded a $9 billion contract for the Network Centric Solutions (NETCENTS) program, the Department of Defense said Sept. 13. The work is to be completed by September 2009.
The U.S. Army is looking to industry for new technology to counter improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and to provide affordable combat identification, vehicle antennas, heavy lift rotorcraft technologies, and autonomous robotics, said Tom Killion, Army deputy assistant secretary for research and technology. "We need to support current operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom by accelerating these technologies for the current fight," he said Sept. 13 at the Association of the United States Army's Acquisition Symposium in Falls Church, Va.
The first A-10 Thunderbolt upgraded with precision weapons capability is on track to begin flight-testing in December, according to Lockheed Martin. The Precision Engagement (PE) program for the A-10 is adding a targeting pod and Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) data link, as well as integrating the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) and Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser (WCMD) on the aging A-10. Most A-10s date back to the late 1970s or early 1980s, and the aircraft is expected to remain in service until 2028.
NASA's Gravity Probe B (GP-B) spacecraft has completed its initialization and orbit calibration phase and entered the science phase, the aerospace agency said last week. "This is the moment we have been waiting for," Francis Everitt, the GP-B science principal investigator at Stanford University, said in a statement.
September 7, 2004 ARMY McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co., Mesa, Ariz., was awarded on Sept. 3, 2004, a $6,310,458 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract for conversion of three basic Apache Aircraft. Work will be performed in Mesa, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by March 31, 2006. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This was a sole source contract initiated on Oct. 31, 2003. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (DAAH23-01-C-0124).
Russian engineers are analyzing an intermittent problem with the International Space Station's primary oxygen generating device, according to NASA. The crew is in no danger, NASA said, but engineers want to fully understand the situation before they try to correct it. The device, known as Electron, has been shutting down, NASA said.
In an office-wide broad agency announcement (BAA) issued Sept. 8, DARPA's Special Projects Office (SPO) is seeking ideas from industry on topics ranging from countering underground facilities (UGFs) to urban combat and precision navigation in the absence of a Global Positioning System (GPS). The agency expects to begin awarding exploratory funding contracts of less than $1 million each in fiscal year 2005. All responses are due by Sept. 15, 2005.
BAE Systems North America Inc. is purchasing DigitalNet Holdings Inc. in a $600 million deal that will make BAE Systems a leading federal sector information technology provider with revenues of more than $1.2 billion, DigitalNet said Sept. 11.
Force Protection Inc., will produce 15 more Buffalo armored vehicles for an existing customer in an order worth about $10 million, the company said Sept. 10. The Buffalos will be produced at the company's Ladson, S.C., facility and are to be delivered in the first quarter of 2005. The vehicles' configuration will be similar to the 21 Buffalos the company is making for the U.S. Army.
The U.S. Army is waiting for a waiver from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) to procure at least 5,000 Microlight pocket-sized radios for Stryker brigades before Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Cluster 5 is scheduled to be deployed, said Brig. Gen. James Moran, commanding general, Soldier Systems Center. Moran spoke Sept. 13 at the Association of the U.S. Army's Acquisition Symposium in Falls Church, Va.
The U.S. Navy and Northrop Grumman held a keel-laying ceremony Sept. 10 for the amphibious transport dock ship New York (LPD 21), the company said. The ship was named to honor the victims and heroes of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Its bow stem is cast from more than 24 tons of steel from the World Trade Center. The ship is the fifth of 12 San Antonio-class ships Northrop Grumman is building.
The U.S. Air Force plans to buy "hundreds" of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in the short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) configuration, a key general said Sept. 13, adding further clarity to the service's plans for the JSF variant. The specific figure remains under review, said Gen. John Jumper, Air Force chief of staff. "I can't give you an exact number, but it's going to be more than a handful," Jumper said at a press briefing at the Air Force Association's Air & Space Conference in Washington.
The Department of Defense should take a "holistic approach" to the task of maturing the conceptual thinking and capabilities related to homeland security, according to the Defense Science Board. "Developing an effective capability to protect the homeland is a top national priority," DSB co-chairmen Donald Latham and Adm. Donald Pilling (USN-Ret.) said in a memorandum accompanying the study.
SpaceDev of Poway, Calif., has assembled and shipped the hybrid rocket motors that will be used during SpaceShipOne's upcoming first qualification flight to win the $10 million Ansari X Prize, the company announced Sept. 13. The X Prize will be awarded to the first private team to conduct two manned flights into space within a span of two weeks using the same vehicle. SpaceShipOne's first qualification flight is scheduled for Sept. 29, and its second for Oct. 4 (DAILY, July 28).
