The U.S. Air Force issued a long-awaited draft request for proposals (RFP) Dec. 23 for the Transformational Satellite (TSAT) Block 10 system. The RFP formally kicks off a new competition for work to develop and build the first block of high-bandwidth, jam-proof satellites that will eventually replace the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) constellation now in production.
BEST OF THE BEST and 2nd PLACE MILITARY Jessica Ambats Jessica Ambats is editor of Plane & Pilot and Pilot Journal magazines, and was senior editor of Pilot Getaways magazine. Based in Santa Monica, Calif., Ambats is a Harvard University graduate and holds a private-pilot license with a seaplane rating. 1st PLACE MILITARY Jamie Hunter
Mark Waki, ASAA Mark Waki is a full-time artist for ATK Launch Systems. He has been a professional aerospace artist since 1980 and has artwork displayed with the U.S. Air Force Art Collection at the Pentagon, U.S. Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and with the USAF Thunderbirds, as well as with private collectors. Cher Pruys
Look for the 27-member European Union to make major headway next year in removing trade barriers to military equipment, based on the momentum gathered in 2008. The approval by the European Parliament on Dec. 16 of a new export licensing system means a broad legislative package on cohering the European defense market is within reach. Moreover, during a European Council meeting on security and defense policy, heads of member states committed themselves to “making the European armaments market more dynamic.”
Ad Astra Rocket Co. is working toward a 2012 flight test of its Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) on the International Space Station, under a new Space Act agreement that will allow the Houston-based company to place a 200-kw. version of an advanced propulsion system on the ISS to test its performance in the space environment.
The Kepler spacecraft is to be shipped from Ball Aerospace & Technology in Boulder, Colo., to Astrotech in Titusville, Fla., in early January in preparation for its scheduled launch Mar. 5 on a Delta II. The mission is to determine whether Earth-sized planets are within a habitable zone of other stars and whether life on other planets in the Milky Way is likely, says Principal Investigator William Borucki of NASA’s Ames Research Center.
Canadian Defense Minister Peter MacKay is expected to seek cabinet approval early in 2009 to buy up to 17 new fixed-wing search-and-rescue aircraft to replace the Canadian Forces’ 40-year-old de Havilland Canada CC-115 Buffalos. The program is projected to cost C$3 billion ($2.5 billion) including through-life support. The department, meanwhile, has denied reports it is considering buying or leasing additional AgustaWestland CH-146 Cormorant SAR helicopters to boost availability.
XCOR Aerospace has successfully completed its first test fire of the 5K18 liquid-oxygen and kerosene-fueled rocket engine that will power its Lynx suborbital launch vehicle beginning in 2010. Four -5K18s will power the 24.2-ft.-span, 27.9-ft.-long Lynx Mk.1 vehicle, as well as the more capable Mk.2 follow-on variant that will travel higher and carry payloads for launch into low Earth orbit. Fired for the first time on Dec. 15, at XCOR’s rocket test site at Mojave, Calif., the new engine produces 2,500-2,900 lb. thrust.
China has launched remote-sensing satellite Yaogan 5, reporting that the Long March 4B rocket and its cargo were prepared at temperatures as low as -29C (-20F). The spacecraft is the second Chinese remote-sensing satellite to be launched this month.
There’s little doubt the A400M military airlifter faces a tough year in 2009, with Airbus Military under pressure to stabilize a program that has sometimes seemed out of control.
SES Americom plans to shut down its IP-Prime service, established two years ago to provide Internet TV to small business and consumer users, by the end of July 2009. The move, which SES says will not materially affect financial reports for 2008-09, was motivated by slow sales of the service to small and medium-size telecom operators and the difficult market outlook. Americom says it had less than 10,000 subscribers.
The chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee says President-elect Barack Obama should consider retaining NASA Administrator Michael Griffin. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) says he’s recommending that, “at a minimum,” Griffin be kept on during the transition period while the new administration sorts out priorities for the space agency and its $17-billion budget.
Airbus has begun a new series of trials of blended winglets for possible use on the A320 family. Flight trials using Aviation Partner-designed winglets on an A320 (MSN1) began Dec. 17 in Toulouse, with first flight lasting almost 4 hr. Airbus hopes the winglets will provide a smaller percentage fuel burn improvement, without requiring substantial wing stiffening. Earlier designs were rejected, Airbus officials have said, because the required wing-stiffening largely offset the efficiency improvement. Fuel costs also will play a big role in making the business case.
The consortium MTU Turbomeca Rolls-Royce has named MTU Aero engines and Atelier d’Industriel Aeronautic of Bordeaux, France, as approved repair centers for the MTR390‑2C turboshaft engine that powers the Franco-German Tiger attack helicopter. The centers will only be responsible for engine module components.
The NASA/Lockheed Martin Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has made another major discovery that broadens the potential that areas of the planet could have been habitable for microorganisms during its nearly 4-billion-year history. The spacecraft’s Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer instrument focusing on intact layers of ancient bedrock found carbonate minerals, indicating that Mars had neutral to alkaline water when the minerals formed at these locations more than 3.6 billion years ago.
Separately, ESOA has called on the EU to include satellite systems in its plans to spend €5 billion on improving broadband and energy connections in Europe. The spending is part of a €200-billion stimulus package to be launched next year.
Etihad Airways could acquire Europe’s third largest low-fare airline, Air Berlin, a move that would lead to an entirely new business model of airline combinations.
International Launch Services says a quality initiative begun with Proton M builder Khrunichev following a March 2008 launch mishap is well underway. According to ILS, 16 immediate measures have been completed and 22 Phase 1 actions are nearly done. Eight other steps related to launch system improvements have commenced and are due to be completed by the end of 2009. On Dec. 10, ILS completed its fourth mission since the March incident.
Brussels Airlines is reviving ideas to turn Brussels airport into an important hub now that the airline is a member of Star Alliance and has the benefit of Lufthansa as a major shareholder.
As ATR drafts plans for its next turboprop, the company is laying out more than just ambitious performance targets—it also wants to revamp how it designs aircraft. Although the Toulouse-based company is still in the early stages of defining its new turboprop, discussions with potential engine partners are already underway. ATR officials say talks are well advanced with Pratt & Whitney, General Electric, Rolls-Royce and Snecma about potential offerings.
