European Union emissions Allowances (EUAs) under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme recovered in April following the release of partial verified 2008 CO2 emissions data for the 27-member state bloc by the European Commission. A modicum of confidence seemed to emerge in the market following the the EC’s release of the data on Apr. 1. Although not complete, the figures gave the market the first broad indicator of where the EU ETS stands at the end of the first year of its Phase II period, which runs from 2008-12.
Efforts in Congress to block Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s plan to end production of the F-22 stealth fighter and the C-17 cargolifter appear to have stalled, in part, because of White House intervention, according to an industry insider. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has been collecting signatures on a letter to Gates encouraging him to reconsider ending the F-22 and C-17 lines. But few senators are signing up so far. The White House called several lawmakers, including Sen.
Pentagon leadership is encouraging the U.S. Air Force to embark on a next-generation unmanned aircraft system (UAS) sooner rather than later, despite the Defense Dept.’s push to maximize production of Predators and Reapers for support of wars abroad.
The FAA plans to have the first voluntary safety reporting program for air traffic controllers up and running by year-end and it is accelerating training of 17,000 controllers who face culture shock in adapting to the new system.
Europe’s Herschel-Planck dual telescope mission has been set for May 14 on board an Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle. It has been subject to repeated delays since mid-April, most recently because of a launcher component issue.
All 15 nations participating in the Alliance Ground Surveillance program expect to sign a memorandum of understanding to launch the effort by the end of May, the Conference of National Armament Directors announced on Apr. 30. Signatures will clear the way for the long-awaited award of a contract for the program, which is built around Northrop Grumman RQ-4B Block 40 Global Hawk unmanned aircraft.
A flight crew’s faulty data entry resulted in an Emirates Airbus A340-500 overrunning on takeoff by almost 300 meters (1,000 ft.) at Melbourne on Mar. 20, preliminary results from an Australian investigation show. A wrong weight figure, 100 metric tons less than the true weight of 362.9 metric tons, resulted in the engines generating less thrust than needed for the 3,660-meter runway, says the Australian Transport Safety Bureau. Sixty-five seconds after brake release and 964 meters before the end of the runway, the aircraft was traveling too slowly (at 147 kt.
French space agency CNES is refining a concept for a new multifunction bus that could serve a wide variety of low-Earth-orbit missions. The bus, suitable for spacecraft in the 500-800-kg. class, would replace the Proteus platform, developed in the late 1990s. Thales Alenia Space, which supplies Proteus, has built six of the spacecraft. Five—the Jason 1 and 2 altimetry missions, the Calipso A-Train spacecraft and the Corot planet-finding mission—are in orbit. One, SMOS (see above), is to be orbited in September.
Citing “relentless” decreases in air transport demand, Japan Airlines (JAL) predicts deepening losses for its 2008 fiscal year, ended Mar. 31, while All Nippon Airways (ANA) is using asset sales to stem its red ink. The JAL Group cites the “volatility of the economy” in the last quarter as reason to revise downward its forecast issued Feb. 6, when revenues of ¥1.98 trillion ($20.5 billion) were predicted. It now expects ¥1.95 trillion, compared to ¥2.23 trillion for its fiscal 2007.
France has placed a €220-million ($293-million) order for five more EC725 helicopters to ensure transport, search and rescue, and medevac capacity for Afghanistan and other overseas theaters. The order is part of a €2.4-billion stimulus package to underpin activity in the aerospace and defense industry. The EC725s, to be delivered from late 2010 to 2012, will complement 14 Caracals in service, three of which are in Afghanistan.
Lockheed Martin is to begin building MC-130J combat tankers for USAF Special Operations Command (SOC) after receiving a $15.8-million contract for configuration changes to six production-standard KC-130Js. MC changes, including a refueling receptacle, will be incorporated into KC-130J tanker/transports. The first MC-130J will be delivered in 2010 to begin replacing MC-130Es.
Boeing expects to receive the last major fuselage subassemblies for the first 747-8 in early May, clearing the way for final body join of the stretched freighter version at the end of June.
Steps already undertaken by the U.S. military and the world’s spacecraft operators probably will be sufficient to manage the growing problem of space debris. But that could change if there are more debris-producing events like the January 2007 Chinese antisatellite weapon test that shattered a defunct weather satellite and left a cloud of debris in orbit.
The Apr. 20 issue (pp. 8, 18 and 70) really underlines the “Collision Course” (AW&ST Apr. 6, p. 23) of competing strategies aimed at “controlling” global weather by attempting to regulate various gases and particulates.
The U.K., faced with continuing operational demand on its rotary fleets, is considering a re-engine program for all of its Lynx Mk9 helicopters, as well as postponing the type’s withdrawal from service.
Rob Maruster has been promoted to chief operating officer from senior vice president-airports and operational planning of JetBlue Airways , effective June 1. The current president/COO, Russ Chew, will become senior adviser, while CEO Dave Barger will also be president.
Dan Gibson (see photos) and Jim Oschmann have become vice presidents/general managers of the Systems Engineering Solutions and Antenna & Video Technologies units, respectively, of the Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. , Boulder, Colo. Gibson was director of his unit, while Oschmann was director of program execution for the Advanced Technologies and Products unit.
A Lockheed Martin F-35A airframe, AG-1, was delivered to the U.K. last week for structural testing at BAE Systems’ site at Brough, England. Testing will begin a 15-month evaluation period at major subcontractor BAE’s Structural and Dynamic Test Facility in July. The structural test work will examine the strength of the airframe, with the results feeding into plans for the aircraft’s flight envelope expansion. The airframe will be returned to the U.S. following the trials. Six static test rigs are involved in the system design and development phase of the F-35 program.
Jennifer Michels (Washington), Melanie Reffes (Montreal)
The 2003 epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) may have taught airlines they need a standard health emergency plan in place, but the swine flu outbreak is teaching them something new: They need consolidated, credible, country-by-country information.
Honda Aircraft has pushed back first delivery of its HondaJet by a year, saying “global aerospace industry business challenges” have delayed critical components for the conforming aircraft to be produced for FAA certification testing. First flight of the light business jet has been reset for January 2010, and first customer delivery delayed to fourth quarter 2011 from late 2010.
A new Chinese satellite launched Apr. 22 appears to be a dual-use bird with both civil and military applications. Xinhua news service says Yaogan VI is one of a series used for “scientific experiments, land resource surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster prevention and reduction.” Western analysts say the satellite may be intended primarily for military applications. Some in the Yaogan series have carried synthetic aperture radars, while others have had optical-imaging payloads.
There are increasing signs that as Airbus and Boeing define their next-generation short-to-medium-haul aircraft, they may bring to market quite different aircraft, even if both opt for an open-rotor engine design. Airbus is primarily interested in a rear-fuselage installation, driving engine makers to examine pusher open-rotor designs, whereas Boeing prefers wing-mounting, which necessitates a puller configuration, according to industry officials.
