TELESPAZIO has chosen Intelsat to provide oil and gas industry contractor Saipem with voice and data services for its on-shore and off-shore drilling, construction, and deepwater operations, Intelsat said June 28. Intelsat's IS-701, IS-905 and IS-904 satellites will transmit voice and data traffic from Saipem's land-based operations center in Europe to 16 oil and gas vessels in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. All 16 vessels will communicate with Intelsat's satellite system with 2.4-meter C-band maritime antennas.
CAPGEMINI and SFR have joined the Eurely consortium, which was formed to bid on the European Galileo satellite positioning system, France's Alcatel said. The consortium was formed by Alcatel, Finmeccanica and Vinci Networks. Galileo will be based on a constellation of 30 satellites providing global coverage and is to be compatible with America's Global Positioning System.
NEW DELHI - India's navy and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) signed a memorandum of understanding on June 28 to create a facility in Bangalore to repair and overhaul the transmissions of the navy's Sea King helicopter fleet. The rehab of India's four squadrons of Sea Kings, used for anti-submarine warfare in the Indian Ocean, will be done in concert with a $15.6 million transfer of technology contract with Westland Helicopters Ltd. of the United Kingdom. The Westland contract was a prerequisite to establishing the new facility.
Seven more groups have joined the a as its members prepare for the upcoming Moon-Mars Blitz, a Capitol Hill briefing event to promote NASA's new space exploration program, the SEA said June 28. The new members are: Federation of Galaxy Explorers; Global Space Travelers; Moon Society; NASA Alumni League; Space Generation Foundation; Space Studies Institute; and the X PRIZE Foundation. During the July 11-13 Moon-Mars Blitz, SEA members expect to visit more than 200 congressional offices to promote the new Vision for Space Exploration.
Hoping to increase the U.S. government's interest in sharing information through communication networks, the Boeing Co. has opened a Washington-based simulation facility designed to demonstrate the power of such capabilities. The newest "node" of the Boeing Integration Center (BIC) is located in Crystal City, Va., and provides proximity to decision-makers in Congress, the Pentagon and other parts of the government. It is designed to complement the first BIC facility, which opened four years ago in Anaheim, Calif.
IRIDIUM SATELLITE LLC has been granted a 3.1 MHz expansion of its spectrum by the Federal Communications Commission so it can meet increasing demand, Iridium has announced. Iridium had been operating temporarily on a segment of the band on an emergency basis. The FCC also issued a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPR) to consider granting Iridium access to an additional 2.25 MHz of spectrum.
The U.S. Coast Guard should update the 2002 Deepwater acquisition schedule in time for the modernization program's budget submission to the Department of Homeland Security and Congress, and should update it annually after that, the General Accounting Office concluded in a new report.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE TECHNOLOGIES INC.'s stationary plasma thrusters (SPTs), which keep satellites on station, are being used successfully on the recently launched MBSAT satellite, said Space Systems/Loral, which built the satellite. MBSAT is using SPTs for maneuvers to keep the satellite in proper position throughout its 12 years of life. MBSAT's SPTs have logged more than 100 hours of routine orbit maneuvers, the company said. MBSAT was successfully launched on March 13.
NASA is teaming with U.S. and international agencies in an air quality and climate study to measure the movements of pollution around the globe this summer, the aerospace agency said June 28. In the first phase of a two-part experiment, NASA and other researchers will track the path of aerosols and polluting gases traveling from North America to Europe.
DIGITALGLOBE has been awarded a portion of a $15 million multiyear contract from the U.S. Geological Survey to buy high-resolution commercial satellite imagery, the company said. The contract provides the USGS and its partner agencies with coordinated access to the remote sensing industry's products and services. The contract complements others signed in September 2003 between the USGS and four commercial companies that provide high-resolution aerial remote sensing data.
The House Appropriations Committee voted not to fund the U.S. Army's Non Line of Sight-Launch System (NLOS-LS) in its version of the fiscal year 2005 defense budget, setting up a conflict with the Senate when the two versions of the defense bills are combined.
C-5A REVIEW: An Air Force team of experts that studied whether the aging C-5A transport fleet should be retired has presented its findings to Air Force Secretary James Roche. The conclusions of the Air Force Fleet Viability Board have not been announced because Roche has "some technical questions" he wants answered, a spokeswoman said. "The results of the study will be released after additional information is provided and the appropriate congressional notifications are made," she said.
Titan Corp. still is an attractive company to purchase despite the aborted $2.2 billion acquisition deal with Lockheed Martin, two industry analysts said June 28. However, it's doubtful another suitor will come forward while Titan remains under a legal cloud, one of the analysts said. Lockheed Martin announced June 26 that it had terminated its merger agreement with Titan because Titan had not secured a plea agreement with the Justice Department concerning allegations of improper payments to foreign officials.
Northrop Grumman plans to begin retrofitting a new heavy-fuel engine into the U.S. Army's RQ-5A Hunter unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) fleet in September, the company said June 28. Heavy fuels are similar to diesel and kerosene and are less expensive than the aviation fuels currently used for the Army's UAVs, including the Hunter and Predator, the company said.
United Defense Industries (UDI) will fabricate an Integrated Survivability Advanced Technology Demonstrator for the U.S. Army under a $6.2 million contract modification, the company said June 28. The work is part of the Army Tank and Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center's effort to develop and integrate survivability technologies that can be fitted to current and future vehicles to protect soldiers.
ST. MARY'S COUNTY, Md. - Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) is flight-testing a unique spherical airship to gauge its value for future surveillance applications. Under a U.S. Navy contract with Cyber Aerospace of New Orleans, the 62-foot diameter SA-60 spherical airship has undergone several days of flight-testing at St. Mary's County Airport in Maryland, just a few miles from Naval Air Station Patuxent River. The main goals of the flight tests were to reach 10,000 feet and stay aloft for three hours, both of which were achieved in a June 28 flight.
The U.S. Air Force's Command and Control Battlelab wants industry input on the idea of examining past satellite and aircraft imagery of the Middle East and Southwest Asia to track down terrorists after a car bomb explosion or similar event. The concept is called GOTCHA, for "Geo-spatial Observation of Terrorists with Consequences for Hostile Activities."
Senate lawmakers approved funding for body armor research, warfare, weapons and advanced aviation technology in their version of the fiscal 2005 defense spending bill, although a defense analyst said their interest may be shifting from new generation equipment to more basic items needed on the battlefield.
The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program office has received formal Pentagon approval to delay several milestones to provide more time for fixing the aircraft's weight problems. The program office's "re-plan strategy" obtained the go-ahead from acting Pentagon acquisition chief Michael Wynne on June 25, the Defense Department said in a three-sentence "acquisition decision information paper" released June 28.
FLIGHT CONTROL: BAE Systems will develop the flight control computer for the newest version of the U.S. Army's CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopter, the CH-47F, the company said June 28. The work will be done for Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. BAE Systems will design the system and produce seven development shipsets to support flight tests scheduled for 2005.
NEW HELO: Bell Helicopter Textron has reached agreements with Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Mitsui Bussan Aerospace Co. to develop, certify, produce and market the 427i light twin helicopter for the world market, the company said. Preliminary specifications call for a maximum cruising speed of 164 miles per hour and a range of 365 nautical miles.
SPEEDED UP: Preliminary design and final requirements work on the Deepwater program's Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC) program will begin immediately, accelerating the launch of the vessel by three years, according to Northrop Grumman. A contract awarded to Integrated Coast Guard Systems (ICGS), the joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, established the first-step engineering efforts that will occur over the next year, the company says. The OPC will be a 341-foot boat with a maximum range of roughly 9,000 nautical miles.
