Malaysian engineers are preparing RazakSAT, an Earth-observation spacecraft built by Malaysia’s Astronautic Technology (M) Sdn Bhd (ATSB), for the start of operations after a SpaceX Falcon 1 launch vehicle sent it into orbit July 13 from the company’s Kwajalein Atoll pad. It was the first launch with an operational payload and the second successful launch in five tries for the privately financed Falcon 1. Liftoff came after a delay to accommodate a helium-loading problem.
The unveiling of the U.S. Senate’s FAA reauthorization bill marks a crucial step in resolving policy and funding questions that have been hanging over the aviation industry for years. But the bill also sets up battles with House lawmakers that could once again bog down the reauthorization effort.
Austrian Airlines is facing the prospect of massive cuts and possible bankruptcy if Lufthansa and the European Commission do not find a last-minute arrangement that will allow the planned takeover to occur before the end of July.
NASA could still kill its Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover if cost growth in the troubled program continues, science chief Ed Weiler tells the NASA Advisory Committee. Weiler will run his own “personal” milestone review in September, he tells the committee, focusing on actuators and avionics with a small group that will include the directors of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Goddard Space Flight Center. An agency review of the project is scheduled for November.
The House defense appropriations subcommittee has kept most of Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s planned cuts in missile defense—except for the Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI). Gates terminated the $8.7-billion program to develop the high-speed interceptor in his Fiscal 2010 budget request. But Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the subcommittee chairman, is including $80 million for KEI in the Fiscal 2010 defense spending bill. The idea is to keep the program going until a review of KEI is completed to see if any of its technology might be useful elsewhere. But Army Lt. Gen.
The second Lockheed Martin F-35B short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing (Stovl) test aircraft, BF-2, returned to flight on July 13. BF-2 has been in modification since its first flight on Feb. 25 and incorporates several hardware and software upgrades. Aerial refueling testing is planned to begin late this month. The first Stovl aircraft, BF-1, is expected return to flight by the end of July after completing modification and a propulsion-system checkout on the hover pit at Fort Worth.
Technology to enable aerial refueling of unmanned aircraft could also improve safety for manned receivers and so provide a wider market for the systems developed. The advances needed for autonomous refueling would improve the accuracy and safety of the complex aerial dance between tanker and receiver whether a basket or a boom is used to transfer fuel.
The House Appropriations defense subcommittee has included $440 million for the Air Force replacement refueling tanker in the Fiscal 2010 defense spending bill. “The tanker was my biggest priority,” says Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), the subcommittee chairman, who previously suggested splitting the program between competitors Boeing and a Northrop Grumman-EADS team to get something moving. But the measure leaves the decision to the Defense Dept. Meanwhile, the Pentagon is again delaying release of the long-awaited draft request for proposals for the competition.
The inaugural flight of Hawker Beechcraft Corp.’s T-6 avionics upgrade took place last week. It is expected to receive FAA certification this summer; the first two deliveries to the U.S. Navy are planned for this month. The aircraft is a derivative of the T-6A operated by the U.S. Air Force and Navy, Hellenic Air Force of Greece and NATO Flying Training in Canada.
While President Barack Obama won plaudits for his campaign to reduce nuclear weaponry worldwide, the White House is now trying to defend its Fiscal 2010 request for maintaining a major legacy nuclear bomb. A July 14 White House statement warns that the House Appropriations Committee’s rejection of a $65-million request for a B61 refurbishment study next year would essentially end efforts to provide critical components.
A prominent U.S. aerospace lobbying association is advocating that the health of the industrial base be assessed as part of the Pentagon’s strategy review. But the response thus far is “underwhelming,” say industry experts.
With all the mechanical reliability and operational issues of the V-22 Osprey I would hope that someone in the Marine Corps is quietly encouraging the folks at Sikorsky to move as quickly as possible in the development of its coaxial-rotor X-2 Technology demonstrator. With the X-2’s projected speed of 250 kt. and its relative mechanical and aerodynamic simplicity and compactness compared with the V-22, I would think the Marines would be hankering for a scaled-up version to replace the struggling V-22 turkey they’re presently stuck with.
The future of the Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine program reaches a critical juncture this week when the U.S. Senate is expected to vote on whether to follow through on its earmarking for the General Electric Rolls-Royce F136 in the 2010 defense budget.
Former space shuttle astronaut Charles Bolden, who was confirmed July 15 as the 12th NASA administrator along with Lori Garver as deputy administrator, will speak to agency employees this week as he begins his new job. “Today, we have to choose,” Bolden said in a statement following his Senate confirmation.
The U.S. Air Force is to establish a second formal training unit for the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft at Holloman AFB, N.M. The New Mexico congressional delegation says the base will receive 10 MQ-1s and five MQ-9s this year, with another 12 Predators and 11 Reapers following in 2010. MQ-1/9 training is now conducted at Creech AFB, Nev., but is planned eventually to be consolidated at Holloman. USAF has also confirmed that Ogden Air Logistics Center at Hill AFB, Utah, will be responsible for MQ-1/9 airframe structural repair.
U.S. airlines have reduced fares to their lowest levels in years as they gamble to attract traffic; thus, revenue passenger mile (RPM) yields continue a decline that began last December. Analyst Edmund S. Greenslet calls May’s yield of 10.85 cents per RPM for the mainline system “a disaster.” On a systemwide basis, yield had been growing monthly from January 2007 when it was 12.19 cents per mile. It reached a peak of 14.13 cents in June 2008 and still reflected year-over-year gains each month until December.
With money emerging as the deciding factor in the future of U.S. human spaceflight, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne says it could quickly stand up an expendable space shuttle main engine if the Obama administration decides to scrap the Ares I crew launch vehicle in favor of a shuttle-derived throwaway heavy lifter.
The Israeli defense ministry has tapped Haifa-based Elbit Systems to set up a mission training center for Israeli air force (IAF) pilots of F-16C/D and F-161 fighter aircraft. The center, to be operated through a private financing initiative, will include a development phase along with instruction and maintenance services for 15 years, under the initial $55-million agreement.
For a brief moment at the dawn of the jet age, when thrust was low and reliability lower, there were aircraft that needed piston and turbine power to get off the ground. The same is true of electric propulsion, where none of the candidates—battery packs, fuel cells or solar arrays—are powerful or efficient enough yet to do the job unaided.
Concerns about compromising sensitive U.S. technology (AW&ST June 29, p. 29) might be addressed by selling the Japanese F-22, with conditions. Japanese Air Self-Defense Force pilots and mechanics would be assigned to these aircraft, but U.S.-specified classified equipment could be serviced only by Lockheed-Martin technicians. These Japanese-owned aircraft would reinforce U.S. assets in Asia, while keeping the production line open, should the need for additional U.S. Air Force F-22s emerge.
Budget carrier AirAsia X is considering moving into the market between New York and Kuala Lumpur as Malaysian Airline System abandons that route. The Malaysian government says it is willing to consider applications for a new operator to New York. AirAsia Bhd., a Malaysian narrow-body operator, owns only a minority of the shares of AirAsia X, although the two companies use a common brand and take bookings through the same web site. AirAsia Bhd.
The European Cockpit Assn. is taking the European Union to task for what it views insufficient attention to pilot fatigue concerns. Pointing to the U.S. where the crash of a Colgan Air regional aircraft has prompted authorities to reexamine pilot fatigue concerns, ECA bemoans the lack of similar actions in Europe. “Does Europe need a fatal accident, too, before actions are taken over here?” asks ECA Secretary General Philip von Schoeppenthau, adding that the European Aviation Safety Agency and European Commission have failed to take leadership of the issue.
A visit to the Kennedy Space Center highlights the sense of dread that the space industry is feeling about the scheduled retirement of the space shuttle fleet next year. Contractors that have grown up around the program during the past 35 years are facing a huge drop in revenues, especially since a shuttle follow-on won’t be operational until at least 2015.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is considering using fielded unmanned aerial system (UAS) sensors and developing a lighter kill vehicle. The overall goal is to intercept ballistic missiles early in flight. In its Fiscal 2010 budget, the MDA displayed a renewed focus on early ascent-phase intercept—before a threat reaches apogee—over continued development of midcourse engagement capabilities. Nevertheless, big hurdles loom.
