The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (Thaad) system scored a hit Mar. 17 during its first salvo interceptor test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. The first of two Thaad interceptors hit a separating, medium-range ballistic missile target. The second interceptor, launched seconds after the first, was destroyed in flight by range safety officers. Missile Defense Agency officials are hailing the demonstration as successful.
Wind farms, and the radar interference they can cause, are worrying the head of U.S. Northern Command. Air Force Gen. Victor E. Renuart, Jr., tells the Senate Armed Services Committee that wind-farm interference is among the challenges facing the regional command, which is charged with defending the U.S. homeland. “We need to identify mitigation techniques that will allow wind turbines and radars to coexist,” Renuart says in his written statement to the panel. The problem is the Doppler signals generated by radar returns from rotating wind-turbine blades.
Jon P. Conlon (see photo) has become market analyst for Gulfstream and Global Express aircraft and Diane Saldo head of East Coast aircraft charter and management sales for the Avjet Corp. of Los Angeles.
The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority has approved Qantas’s use of the Honeywell SmartPath Ground-Based Augmentation System (GBAS) at Sydney International Airport for Airbus A380 satellite-based landings. The system uses GPS data to support precision approach and landings and transmits digital guidance signals to the aircraft. Navigation provider Airservices Australia has been operating the GBAS ground station since November 2006. Qantas previously won approval to fly GBAS approaches with its Boeing 737s.
Regarding the article “Raising the Standard” (AW&ST Mar. 2, p. 37), about the US Airways Flight 1549 ditching and related bird safety threat, in 2000-01 under the FAA/Joint Aviation Authorities harmonization program, I co-chaired a task force that defined upgraded engine certification requirements to address large flocking birds specifically and Canada geese in particular. The following statement is in the explanation portion of the European document in which the new rule was submitted for comments:
The British Parliament’s Accounts Committee is cautioning that the U.K. will have to manage challenging procurement issues if it is to deliver the country’s future nuclear deterrent on time and on cost. The U.K. needs to introduce a successor to the Vanguard class ballistic-missile submarine by around 2024. In its report released last week the committee also claimed that: “collaboration with the U.S. on the Trident D5 missile life extension program presents significant risks to the U.K.’s future nuclear deterrent.
As carriers in the U.S. slash capacity to stay ahead of collapsing demand for air travel, airports are seeking to replace lost revenues through novelties such as pet hotels, zeppelin docking and light industrial facilities located on airport land.
South Africa says that by the end of March it plans to approve a space policy implementation plan that will permit the country to develop space activities in a coordinated and coherent manner. The agenda will be based on a space policy paper issued in July 2007.
Operators are sprinting to enter the maritime mobile satellite service market—a reflection of strong growth forecasts across the MSS sector. The interest in maritime MSS, driven by the growing need for shipping companies to closely monitor vessel operations and provide crews with a low-cost means to keep in touch with the outside world, doesn’t appear to be affected by the global downturn in shipping. Market leader Inmarsat, for instance, posted a 7.2% rise in maritime revenue in 2008. Iridium also reported rapid maritime growth.
The head of U.S. Strategic Forces Command says the Defense Dept. needs to take cyber capability seriously—as a necessity, not just a convenience. Meanwhile, the country faces numerous virtual attacks from a range of sources, from bored teenagers to organized nation-state aggressors, says Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton. “I’m worried about all of them,” he tells lawmakers, adding that the U.S. is vulnerable across the spectrum.
The European Commission has contracted with SES Astra for supply of an L-band payload intended for the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (Egnos). The payload will be installed on Astra’s Sirius 5 satellite, currently under construction at Space Systems/Loral and due for launch in the second half of 2011. The L-band package is one of two to be ordered to replace aging transponders on the European Space Agency’s Artemis technology satellite and two Inmarsat 3 spacecraft.
The European Space Agency is testing a new ion thruster that it says will be the smallest, yet most precisely controllable, engine ever built for space. The field emission electric propulsion (FEEP) engine—intended to ensure ultra-accurate station-keeping for the ESA/NASA Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (Lisa) Pathfinder mission—will have a thrust range of 0.1-150 micronewtons, a resolution of better than 0.1 micronewtons, and a timer response of 190 millisec. or faster. This is three orders of magnitude smaller than current-generation ion engines.
Despite a 25% increase in transponder leases and 60% improvement in utilization rates, Asia Satellite Telecommunications (AsiaSat) reported a 3.7% loss on revenues of HK$1.03 billion ($132.8 million) for 2008. The revenues were up 3.7% over 2008. Chairman Mi Zeng Xin said the global economic slowdown “created a great deal of uncertainty for 2009” that affected the company’s performance. “Looking forward, however, we believe that the fundamental growth drivers of the Asian satellite industry remain solid.”
Pieces of NASA’s Ares I-X prototype crew launch vehicle are piling up in one of the high bays in the huge Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) originally erected here for the Saturn V Moon rocket, awaiting the upcoming final shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope before workers can start stacking them up for launch later this year.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has ordered East Star Airlines to cease operations because it failed to make an aircraft-lease payment to General Electric Commercial Aviation Service. The carrier, based in Wuhan, operates 10 leased Airbus A320-family aircraft. Regulators took action because a lease default indicates poor management and financial weakness. China’s aviation officials, keen on protecting the country’s safety record, in December grounded another carrier, Okay Airways, over management and financial difficulties. Okay is back in operation.
Three U.S. science teams will start work on instruments for the European Space Agency’s planned Solar Orbiter mission under Phase A contracts that could lead to a total of $81 million in funding from NASA’s Living With A Star program.
Robert Pleming, Chief Executive Vulcan to the Sky Trust (Lutterworth, England)
David Nixon cited the Avro Vulcan in his letter about the stagnation of aeronautical research (AW&ST Feb. 9, p. 10). The frenetic post-World War II period of aircraft development produced many advanced designs. Though designed in the late 1940s, the stirringly beautiful and immensely strong Vulcan pointed the way toward today’s blended-wing body (BWB)/hybrid-wing body.
The number of first- and business-class passengers decreased by 16.7% in January—a further drop from the 13.3% decline in December 2008, according to the International Air Transport Assn. The downturn in premium passengers started in September with the onset of a recession and the start of the collapse of the banking sector, which is key to business travel. The Asian region was weakest, with the number of premium travelers decreasing 23.4% on routes within Asia and 24.7% on transpacific travel.
Jonathan Penn in his letter “Jets We Don’t Need” (AW&ST Mar. 2, p. 8) applies some simplistic math to underpin his conclusion: Enough F-22s already. I can’t really say whether his conclusion is flawed but his argument certainly is. First, accepting a 30:1 kill ratio from Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force, both eager to promote the F-22, may be naive. Aircrew and network efficiency are key and not 100% insurable. Stealth is difficult to maintain in the field, especially in combat, so aircraft are more vulnerable than usual to enemy defenses.
India has put out a request for information (RFI) for advanced jet trainer to several manufacturers as it appears to consider an alternative to ordering a follow-on batch of 57 BAE Systems’ Hawk Mk 132s from Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. India has so far ordered 66 Mk 132 aircraft, the final 42 of which are to be built in country by HAL. The Indian manufacturer, however, has fallen well behind on the schedule for build of the in-country aircraft.
In the mid-1990s, Boothroyd Dewhurst introduced a life-cycle analysis software that considered the environmental effects of various decisions in the design of new products. But it didn’t catch on, partly because the infrastructure for industrial recycling wasn’t ready. Now, legislation in Europe concerning the use of environmentally friendly processes in developing everything from electronics and electrical equipment to cars and engines makes the Wakefield, R.I., company think the time has come.
ZA006, Boeing’s sixth and final flight test 787, and the second powered by General Electric GEnx-1B engines, has entered final assembly in the Everett, Wash., factory. Boeing has given no schedule of when ZA007, the first production aircraft, is to enter the factory. ZA001, the first flight test aircraft, was getting paint touchups last week before finishing factory testing in preparation for first flight by the end of the second quarter. ZA002 is undergoing build verification testing.
The European Space Agency’s Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite was launched Mar. 17, following a 24-hr. hold, using a Russian Rockot launch vehicle from Plesetsk. The hold on the previous day—with 7 sec. left on the clock—was due to an issue with the launch platform.
