Thales and Airservices Australia have delivered major performance and safety enhancements to Australia’s Air Traffic Management system. The upgrades are part of an ongoing initiative to The Australian Advanced Air Traffic System (TAAATS). In the latest round of software improvements, known as TAAATS V12, more than 1.3 million lines of code were developed and modified. The software supports the introduction of radar surveillance tracking, safety-net monitoring and radar bypass services, among others.
Newly declassified documents show the inner workings of President Gerald Ford’s White House on the momentous matter of what to name the first space shuttle orbiter, the one used for approach and landing tests. The documents are part of a series on “global issues” that the State Dept. is required to release to provide comprehensive documentation of “major foreign policy decisions.” How this relates to foreign policy or why it was ever classified is not explained. In a 1976 decision memorandum for the president, aide William F.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has issued EADS Astrium a €150-million ($216-million) contract for definition of a higher-power variant of the Ariane 5 intended to keep in step with growing telecom satellite mass and allow the heavy-lift booster to compete against new boosters such as China’s Long March 5 and Russia’s Angara. Expected to make its first flight around 2017, the new version, known as the Ariane 5 ME (Midlife Evolution), will feature a new upper stage, a re-ignitable Vinci upper-stage engine and enhanced avionics and flight software.
Vernon Smith (see photo) has been named senior vice president-business development and head of ViP-TV for EchoStar Satellite Services , Englewood, Colo. He succeeds Steve Skalski, vice president-satellite services, who has moved to Taiwan to manage operations for EchoStar’s joint venture pursuing the launch of a direct-to-home platform.
Orbital Sciences Corp. finished the year in a flourish with three contracts—a pair of broadband satellites from Swedish-based startup OverHorizon and Avanti Communications, and Intelsat’s IS-23. The OverHorizon satellite, a Ku-band unit to be delivered in early 2012, will be supplied jointly with Thales Alenia Space, which will provide an onboard processing payload. The deals gave Orbital Sciences four telecom satellite awards for 2009 and Thales Alenia five.
As publisher of Aviation Week & Space Technology in the 1970s, I had a front-row seat to observe the development and demise of the Boeing SST program. Hypersonics will go the same path unless Congress gets behind it and radical environmentalists are neutralized.
The International Space Station is fully staffed again after Soyuz TMA‑17 docked without incident Dec. 22, bringing cosmonaut Oleg Kotov, Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and NASA’s Timothy Creamer to join Expedition 22 commander Jeff Williams of NASA and Russian flight engineer Maxim Suraev. Now at full strength, Expedition 22 will spend more time on science than previous crews, who focused on assembly and outfitting. On Jan.
Dave Mutzel has been named director of flight operations, Doug Wilson director of business development and marketing, Chris Bollert operations manager and Nancy Sheckler-Cecchi client services manager, all for Galvin Flying Services of Seattle. Mutzel was director of flight training, while Bollert was training and safety manager. Wilson will continue as director of the line and real estate departments.
The Pentagon has approved plans to demonstrate a long-endurance unmanned surveillance airship that will be deployed to Afghanistan for operational evaluation. A request for proposals for the five-year Long-Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) technology demonstration is to be released at the end of January, with flight testing to begin 18 months after contract award. The LEMV is required to operate unmanned for three weeks at 25,000 ft., carrying a 2,500-lb.
The U.S. Air Force has completed critical design reviews (CDRs) for the final two Space-Based Infrared System (Sbirs) geosynchronous (GEO) satellites as well as two follow-on single payloads for flight on classified host satellites in highly elliptical orbit (HEO). The $10.4-billion Sbirs, made by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, is a space-based missile warning system that will eventually replace the Defense Support Program satellites in orbit. The HEO payload portion of the CDR was the capstone event after 21 months of efforts to replace obsolete parts.
Patrick J. Allison (see photo) has become business development manager for the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy for Thales Communications Inc. , Clarksburg, Md. He was a senior program manager for international command and control solutions for the Raytheon Co., Fort Wayne, Ind.
John Casani has received the Founders Award for “innovation and leadership in robotic spacecraft engineering and project management that has enabled the first four decades of planetary and deep space exploration” and Sheila Widnall the Arthur M. Bueche Award for leadership in expanding opportunities for women and minorities in engineering, both from the Washington-based National Academy of Engineering . Casani is special assistant to the director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif.
Yemenia’s board of directors has approved the airline’s plan to buy 10 Airbus A320s starting in 2011. The total list price is $700 million. The airline may phase out its remaining A310s once the A320s enter service.
Global use of business jets in November was unchanged from the same period in 2008, a positive development after year-over-year declines in each of the previous 24 months, according to UBS’s monthly industry update. UBS says that while takeoffs and landings are still 23% below their 2007 peak, activity should rise 8-10% in 2010 as the industry begins to claw its way back from a devastating downturn. Utilization of short-range aircraft, which declined the most, is now recovering fastest.
Missile Defense Agency concepts to maximize range and speed for a next-generation SM-3 ballistic missile interceptor include technologies for a lighter kill vehicle. New propulsion systems for the kill vehicle and interceptor also could be used to achieve ICBM engagements. MDA officials are considering introducing liquid propulsion into the kill vehicle design, partly because the plan to move the SM-3 to land for the Aegis Ashore European defense architecture would allow the use of hypergolic propellants, which are banned for ship-based usage.
Kurt Keller has been appointed vice president of the Parker Hannifin Corp. of Cleveland and president of its Seal Group. He succeeds Heinz Droxner, who plans to retire Sept. 30. Keller has been the group’s vice president-operations.
Washington and Moscow continue to haggle over a successor to the 1994 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), which expired on Dec. 5. Both governments acknowledged last week they would miss a self-imposed deadline to agree on a follow-on to Start by Dec. 31. But State Dept. officials remain confident a new treaty will be signed after talks resume in mid-January. “It’s very, very complex,” spokesman Philip Crowley says. “We’ve made progress. We think we’re in a pretty good position.” But while U.S.
USAF Maj. Gen. Ralph J. Jodice, 2nd, has been nominated for promotion to lieutenant general and assignment as commander of Allied Air Component Command Headquarters Izmir and commander of the 16th Air Expeditionary Task Force of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Izmir, Turkey. He has been commander of the Air Force District of Washington, Andrews AFB, Md.
The Russian government is throwing a financial lifeline to one of the country’s main airlines, GTK Rossiya, trying to keep it afloat long enough to privatize and restructure the business. But the challenges the airline face are large and a prior effort to bail out KD Avia with a 4-billion-ruble ($132-million) capital injection did not come in time to stave off liquidation. Under the deal worked out Dec. 25, Rossiya stands to receive 3.9 billion rubles to keep the heavily loss-making airline flying.
Kaveh Shamloo (see photo) has become Burbank, Calif.-based vice president-quality assurance for the Aerospace Group of Crane Aerospace and Electronics . He was quality assurance director for Molex.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials hope operational drug-interdiction tests of a prototype surveillance version of the Predator B unmanned aerial system (UAS) will spur acquisition of several more for maritime missions.
The full scope of A400M flight testing is due to begin this year as Airbus Military expands the activities following a stutter-step kickoff. Poor weather restricted the A400M to only one more run following its Dec. 11 first flight. Inclement conditions also negated efforts to expand the test infrastructure beyond Seville, Spain, and from beginning operations out of Toulouse; test personnel believe that having both sites operational will allow a higher pace of testing.
Phil Maher has been appointed director of engineering for Virgin Atlantic . He was senior manager for base maintenance and cabin products and supply chain general manager, and had been acting director of engineering. Maher succeeds Steve Griffiths, who is now chief operating officer.
The Pentagon awarded Bell-Boeing an $11.8-million contract for work on the Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures (Sirfc) system, which provides protection for USAF Special Operations Command’s CV-22 tiltrotors. The work includes switch-out of two line-replaceable units as well as modifications to the antenna radome design. Sirfc was deployed with the aircraft last year when it ventured to Africa.
The United Arab Emirates is in talks to finalize the purchase of 12 Lockheed Martin C-130Js. The airlifters are being procured as a direct commercial sale, but the UAE and Pentagon are in talks over a logistics support package worth up to $119 million. The talks are unfolding in parallel with a package for the four C-17s the UAE plans to buy commercially. Also in parallel, the Pentagon and UAE are in talks over the sale of around $290 million in weapons for F-16E Block 60s, including Paveway II and III guided bombs.
