The first phase of tests of the rocket motor for Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) space tourism venture have been successfully completed by Mojave, Calif.-based Scaled Composites and its subcontractor Sierra Nevada (SNC). Virgin says the hybrid nitrous oxide system is the largest of its kind and will power SS2 into suborbital space at more than 2,500 mph. and to over 65 mi. above the Earth’s surface. The rocket team is working under a multi-year contract that calls for development, testing and fielding of a production-ready hybrid rocket motor.
Delta Air Lines has backtracked on part of its announced $50 fee for most economy-class customers who check a second bag on international flights, narrowing its application to U.S.-Europe flights only. A Delta spokesman said May 28 that the airline changed the scope of the fee, effective for bookings on or after May 23 for flights as of July 1, because “we constantly monitor the industry landscape to ensure our fares and fees are competitive.” No other carriers have matched the fee, which may not apply to code-share passengers.
Kevin J. Riley, who is president/general manager of Teledyne Scientific and Imaging, Thousand Oaks, Calif., has won the Henry Levinstein Award from the Military Sensing Symposia Detector Specialty Group , for his “technical and management contributions in the development of focal plane arrays for the military sensing community and national defense.” Levinstein was a professor at Syracuse (N.Y.) University and pioneer in the field of semiconductor physics relating to infrared detectors.
While keen on trying to help helicopter pilots avoid the threat of small-arms fire, France so far is showing less interest than other nations in adding capabilities to defeat advanced surface-to-air missiles.
USAF Maj. Gen. Burton M. Field has been named senior military assistant to the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan/Pakistan at the Pentagon. He was vice director for strategic plans and policy for the Joint Staff. Field has been succeeded by Maj. Gen. Darren W. McDew, who was director of public affairs for the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. Brig. Gen. Gregory J. Touhill has been named chief of the Office of Military Cooperation, at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait.
To answer reader David Birken’s query (AW&ST May 11, p. 10) as to why we have not gone back to the Moon or on to Mars, it’s clear that in 1969 NASA was run by scientists; today politicians call the shots.
George Standridge (see photo) has been appointed vice president-business development at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. of Fort Worth. He was vice president for F-35 business development and customer engagement. Standridge succeeds Robert F. Weiss, who is now executive vice president-global sustainment.
Senators giving their advice and consent this summer on President Barack Obama’s choice to head NASA—retired astronaut and Marine Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden, Jr.—are likely to make their decision with one question unanswered: What, exactly, is the policy Bolden will be carrying out?
Denis Curtin, chief operating officer of XTAR, is one of five new members of the Satellite Hall of Fame of the New York-based Society of Satellite Professionals International . Curtin was cited for his four decades of work with several major satellite companies.
The Pentagon is expecting to approve the Enhanced Polar System (EPS) for entry in the development phase in early 2010, according to Air Force officials. EPS is the polar-orbiting piece of a new secure, high-data-rate satcom architecture for the U.S. It will consist of two payloads on classified host satellites, a segment to connect the system to the rest of the Pentagon’s communications infrastructure and a mission control segment.
Russian controllers will probably try to recover a Russian Meridian military/civilian communications satellite launched May 22 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome after an apparent booster-stage failure placed it in an incorrect orbit. The Soyuz-2 launch vehicle with a Fregat upper stage delivered the spacecraft to a high elliptical orbit described as “close to designated,” and the dual-use satellite is operating properly, according to satellite-maker Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems.
Remember the group of retired admirals and generals that issued a report warning climate change was becoming a national security concern? Now they’re urging the integration of national security and energy policies. The 12-member Military Advisory Board (MAB) says both dependence on fossil fuels and the nation’s fragile electrical grid pose threats to the country as a whole and the military in particular.
John Brown has been appointed president of Denver-based Bye Aerospace Inc. Named members of the Strategic Advisory Council are: Charlie Johnson, former Cessna executive and president of Aviation Technology Group; John Plaza, president/CEO of Imperium Renewables Inc.; Gregg Williams, president/CEO of Williams International; Jennings (Jay) Newcom, a partner at Denver law firm Davis Graham and Stubbs; and Julien Porcher, a Paris-based executive at EADS. Brown was founder of Sandia Capital Partners, Albuquerque, N.M. Honors and Elections
When the nation’s war colleges plan table-top war game exercises, they usually pick China as the adversary, and former Navy Secretary John Lehman says that could become a self-fulfilling prophecy. He notes that in the 1920s and ’30s, military planners developed and constantly upgraded War Plan Orange against Japan—to the point where they “viewed Japan as, inevitably, a major threat.” Japan knew about Orange and planned its own U.S. war strategy.
The Chilean government is buying 18 F-16s from the Netherlands. The aircraft have undergone the midlife update program and are to be delivered starting next year. This will be Chile’s second purchase of used F-16s from the Netherlands; the earlier deal was in 2006.
While there do not appear to be any aviation-specific rulings in 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s 16+ years of court decisions, union officials are pleased by Obama’s choice to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. The International Assn.
If legislation creating a cap-and-trade program to control greenhouse gas emissions passes as currently written, it could add $1.40-1.70 per gallon to aviation jet fuel, says Jim May, president and CEO of the Air Transport Assn. The American Clean Energy and Security Act, introduced by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Edward Markey (D-Mass.) would, in effect, add a hefty tax on fuel, says May, citing American Petroleum Institute data.
Russia’s Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems will develop two heavy telecommunication satellites—Express AM-5 and Express AM-6—under an 11.8-billion ruble ($371-million) contract with state-owned Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC) to be signed by the end of August. Reshetnev ISS will build the new satellites in cooperation with Thales Alenia Space for a 2012 launch. Other bidders were RSC Energia and Khrunichev. Express AM-5 will carry 30 C-, 36 Ku-, 14 Ka-and 3 L-band transponders and will be located at 140 deg. E. Long.
MTU Aero Engines is selling its Newington, Conn.-based parts production business to U.S.-based EDAC Technologies. MTU is cutting down on highly engineered components; those it needs will be produced in Poland at MTU Aero Engines Polska in Rzeszow, which was inaugurated last month.
A report on missile-defense incorrectly identified a nation to which Raytheon is offering a radar. The company is offering a radar to South Korea (AW&ST May 25, p. 45).
North Korea’s recent test detonation of a nuclear device and another ballistic missile launch “do not, in and of themselves, constitute an imminent threat to our safety and security,” says national security adviser James Jones. The North Koreans “still have a long way to go to weaponize the inDostrument and also to have a delivery system,” Jones, a former Marine Corps commandant and NATO commander, tells a forum sponsored by the Atlantic Council policy group. “Nothing that the North Koreans did surprised us.
The White House planned to unveil a long-awaited cybersecurity plan late last week, although Obama administration officials are trying to meter expectations for what they now call an “early, comprehensive interagency review,” according to President Barack Obama’s top spokesman. “The administration is . . . committed to establishing the proper structure within the government to ensure cybersecurity issues continue to receive top-level attention and enhanced coordination,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters May 26.
