Work on the new Soyuz launch site at Europe’s South American spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana, is moving ahead rapidly. Here, the 52-meter-tall mobile gantry that will allow the medium-lift rockets to roll to the pad in the vertical position takes shape at left. At the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which Russia leases from Kazakhstan, rockets move to the pad on horizontal rail cars and are erected there.
Neelam Mathews (New Delhi), Robert Wall (Washington), Andy Nativi (Washington)
Boeing is once again renewing proposals for a C-17 derivative to try to maintain its military airlifter business line. The latest iteration is the C-17FE concept. The “FE,” which stands for fuel efficient, would have a narrower fuselage by several feet than the aircraft now in production. It also would involve lightening of the structure through use of composites. The goal is to meet the nominal Joint Future Theater Lift (JFTL) program threshold.
The Obama administration’s looming National Space Policy likely will represent a return to a more international approach to space; a more balanced view of civil, commercial and military uses of space; and a greater openness to arms control and cooperative solutions to international space security issues, predicts the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Press attention likely will focus on the National Space Policy’s implications for changes at NASA and the future of the piloted spacecraft program,” UCS forecasts
As the sun sets on the duopoly in the narrow and widebody commercial airplane market, airlines and aerospace suppliers are eyeing new opportunities and the responses of Airbus and Boeing to new challengers.
The Next-Generation Jammer (NGJ) program will open the door for sophisticated air-launched electronic attacks and penetration of integrated command-and-control networks. Operationally, the NGJ could change the face of both irregular and conventional wars. Programmatically, the U.S. Navy’s decision to allow contractor input to precede a specifications list or request for proposals could be revolutionary.
David A. Fulghum (Washington), Douglas Barrie (London)
In a high-profile visit to view what is Russia’s first “low-observable” aircraft, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin watched the prototype Sukhoi T-50 being put through its paces at the Zhukovsky flight test research center near Moscow and got a tour of the new aircraft’s cockpit June 17.
Anthony J. Tether has become a member of the board of regents of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies , Arlington, Va. He was director of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
A new commercial X-band radar satellite orbited by EADS Astrium will provide one-meter-resolution, three-dimensional radar imagery in combination with TerraSAR-X, launched in 2007. Tandem-X, the second commercial X-band radar satellite launched by Astrium, will make it possible to market high-resolution stereo radar global digital elevation models and other products not currently available on the market.
Embraer is concentrating on evolving its commercial aircraft product line, focusing now on making the economics of a stretched regional jet attractive to customers. At one point, the Brazilian aircraft maker was considering both advancing its 170/190 E-Jet family and adding a brand new, larger design. But the latter, more ambitious effort is on hold, for now, since the company determined it cannot develop something sufficiently compelling to unseat market incumbents.
Ever since the Airbus A380 obtained a go-ahead, nearly 10 years ago, skepticism has surrounded the mega-transport’s business plan. Most mainstream airlines outside the U.S. expressed interest in the 500-seat-plus long-range transport while Boeing, before launching the stretched-fuselage 747-8, kept repeating that the European newcomer would remain a niche product. We all remember the controversy—consolidation versus fragmentation, hub-to-hub routes versus nonstop services.
Walt Havenstein, who is CEO of the Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), Mclean, Va., has been elected chairman of the board of For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology , which was founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.
The U.K. government could sell off its remaining stake in the NATS air traffic control organization as it grapples with severe budget pressures. In unveiling its first new budget, the Conservative-Liberal Democrats coalition government has raised the prospect of divesting the 49% interest it still holds in what has become a public-private partnership. At the same time, the government is proceeding to restructure the Air Passenger Duty, from a tax charged per passenger to one levied per aircraft.
Malaysia Airlines is raising the possibility of canceling its order for six Airbus A380s, two weeks after a huge order from Emirates fully booked the production line until 2015. The Southeast Asian carrier, whose ability to make much money with A380s has for long looked doubtful, says it may cancel its order if Airbus continues to delay deliveries. Cancellation of the Malaysia A380 order may have become easier since Emirates’ June 8 order for 32 of the aircraft (see photo).
Lockheed Martin’s campaign to convince customers that F-35 Joint Strike Fighter costs will be below Pentagon estimates faces key tests in coming months. First is signing a contract for the next batch of production aircraft at prices at least 20% below those Pentagon estimates. Second is persuading international partners struggling with budget deficits to stay on board the program.
John Radziszewski (see photo) has been named head of strategic development for the Systems Engineering Group of Qinetiq North America , Stafford, Va. He was vice president-strategic solutions for the group’s Defense Solutions Sector.
Will the U.S. Air Force spend 10 years and $100 billion on a stealth-plated bomber that is needed today and will be too valuable to risk tomorrow? Why not keep the C-17 production line open a few more years, for a bomber derivative that can immediately fulfill most of a bomber’s requirements. A CB-17 could drop pallet-loads of precision-guided smart bombs and return to a forward operating base instead of Diego Garcia, like the B-2. The tactical CB-17 could easily operate in the permissive airspace that characterizes present and future conflicts.
Remember the infamous “perfectly flawed” mirror that the Hubble Space Telescope was launched with? Well, the engineers working on NASA’s next-generation James Webb Space Telescope do. Launch is tentatively scheduled for June 2014, but program managers are not setting that date in stone because they may want to spend more time testing the 6.5-meter-dia. (21-ft.) infrared observatory.
The Indian military will spend $80 billion on acquisitions from 2011-15, most of it for the army, Deloitte and the Confederation of Indian Industry report in a study on the country’s defense market. The army will account for 53% of the spending, the air force 31% and the navy 16%, the authors project, basing their estimates on an analysis of official statements. Capital expenditures will grow at a nominal 10% a year.
Two of the aerospace world’s most dynamic markets, Brazil and China, could help validate the decision by MTU Aero Engines to bet big on the Pratt & Whitney geared turbofan.
The Pentagon is poised for another leap in airborne electronics that uses as its jumping-off point the active, electronically scanned array (AESA)—itself a newly fielded technology. New antenna designs, freed from the confines of radomes, will grow dramatically in size, range and resolution. They also will be lighter and provide advanced surveillance capabilities for small unmanned aircraft that have been limited to carrying poor-resolution electro-optical and infrared sensors.
Fueled by conflict, defense spending has surged for the past decade. Demand for commercial aircraft is growing despite a global recession and the outlook remains rosy—three-fourths of a $3-trillion-plus market over the next 20 years remains unclaimed. Replenishment of satellite networks, coupled with new opportunities for commercial spacecraft to host government payloads, is keeping satellite sales steady, even if some government projects have been canceled for being too costly and risky.
In an effort to sustain the long-term future of its fighter production capability, Boeing is undertaking several upgrades to the F/A-18E/F and F-15, both to retain customers and generate interest among potential buyers.
As anticipated, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has chosen Gen. James Amos, a former fighter pilot, to be the next Marine Corps commandant and Lt. Gen. Joseph Dunford to be assistant commandant. The idea of selecting an aviator, rather than a ground forces commander, to lead the leathernecks had been floated in trial balloons via leaks to several news organizations in mid-June. It fits with Gates’s campaign to challenge the Navy and Marines to reevaluate their roles and needs.
