NASA will spend $485 million to send an orbiter to Mars in 2013—two years late because of a procurement snafu in the Mars Scout program—to probe the atmosphere for clues to the evolution of the planet’s climate. Dubbed Maven, for Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, the spacecraft is designed for an elliptical orbit 90-3,870 mi. high, with dips into the upper atmosphere at an 80-mi. altitude to sample it in its entirety. It will carry eight instruments and operate for at least one Earth year after its arrival at the planet in the fall of 2014.
Investors have turned on commercial aerospace stocks, and Goodrich, a leading supplier of landing gear, wheels and brakes, nacelles, sensors and aftermarket services, has not escaped. Its shares are down more than 25% in 2008. In a wide-ranging interview at the company’s Charlotte, N.C., headquarters, Chairman, President and CEO Marshall O. Larsen talks with AW&ST Senior Business Editor Joseph C. Anselmo about how oil prices will color the industry’s future, defends offshoring and reveals his priorities for the next U.S. President.
Despite a Proton launch failure and several partial in-orbit failures, including the near total loss of Rascom RAF-1, space insurers say the outlook for the year remains positive. Clive Smith, executive vice president of ISB, tells a Euroconsult gathering in Paris that loss claims to date totaled barely $300 million, against premiums of $550 million, and that “pricing pressure remains downward.” However, Mathieu Caillet, head of space underwriting at AXA, cautions that “what happens over the next few months will be critical” to whether prices begin creeping upward again.
The A340 is a four-engine, intercontinental, wide-body commercial transport. A prototype flew in October 1991, and deliveries began in January 1993. The A340-200 and-300 were both certificated by the JAA in December 1992 and the FAA in February 1993. They are powered by four 31,200-34,000-lb.-thrust CFM International CFM56-5C4 turbofan engines. Deliveries are also now underway of two newer models: the longer-range A340-500 and the stretched A340-600. Both are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 500s.
Emirates Airlines will use Michelin tires on its A380s for the coming decade. The largest A380 customer also uses Michelins on its A340 fleet. The tire maker says that by 2012 it will have doubled its plant capacity from 2006 levels at its Bourges, France, site.
The Spanair MD-82 that crashed Aug. 20, killing 154 people, attempted takeoff without flaps extended, preliminary findings indicate. There was no aural warning to pilots about the problem. Investigators believe the warning failure may be linked to an earlier electrical fault that forced the aircraft back during an earlier takeoff attempt.
Matt Huhn has become director of product support scheduling for the Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. , Savannah, Ga. He was business sales manager for the Gulfstream Service Center in Dallas. William Brown, 3rd, has been appointed manager of security services for the Savannah facility. He was assistant director of the Access Control Div. of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.
Launched in July 2008, Bombardier’s CSeries family includes two basic models seating 110 and 130 passengers. Each is available in standard and extended-range versions, while the 130-seater is also sold in an extra-thrust version. The CSeries will be powered by the new Geared Turbofan engine from Pratt & Whitney. Service entry is planned for 2013. The 110-seat model will compete with the Embraer 190 and 195 and Airbus A318, while the 130-seat variant will compete with the Boeing 737 and A319. Some 143 CSeries aircraft are forecast to be produced through 2017.
The A330 twin-engine, wide-body commercial passenger transport was developed to replace aircraft such as the A300, the DC-10-10 and the L-1011. An A330 prototype first flew in November 1992. Deliveries began in December 1993. Customers have a choice of turbofan engines in the 64,000-72,000-lb.-thrust class: the GE CF6-80E1, the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 or the Rolls-Royce Trent 700. Three A330 models are available. The A330-300 seats 335 passengers in two classes, or 295 in three classes. The A330-200 seats 293 in two classes, or 253 in three.
Orbital Sciences Corp. has completed full-scale “pathfinder” ground operations of the Minotaur IV at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., paving the way for the rocket’s first flight, carrying a Space Based Space Surveillance satellite, in early 2009. The exercise included the assembly of a full-scale Minotaur IV with inert rocket motors, to validate interfaces with the booster, ground support equipment and facility structures, according to Orbital. Three Minotaur IV missions are planned from Vandenberg next year.
Two Alenia Aeronautica C-27J Spartan tactical transport aircraft are being deployed to Afghanistan by the Italian air force, in their operational debut. The aircraft will be based at Heart in western Afghanistan. The aircraft will replace the Lockheed Martin C-130J based in Heart to carry out the intratheater airlift.
NATS, the British air navigation service provider, says air traffic has fallen for the second month in U.K. airspace, but Gatwick—the world’s busiest single-runway airport—broke its monthly and daily records in August. Gatwick had 895 aircraft movements on Aug. 22 and 26,386 for the month. Overall U.K. traffic dropped 1.8 % in August compared with the same month a year earlier as London and Manchester ATC centers all reported declines compared with 2007.
This single-engine turboprop-powered utility/passenger aircraft first flew in December 1982, and to date Cessna has produced 1,720 Caravans of all types. Designed with the small-package delivery segment in mind, the two models currently in production—the Caravan 675 and 208B Grand Caravan—have maximum useful loads of 1,898 kg. (4,175 lb.) and 2,041 kg., respectively. Power for both aircraft is provided by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A turboprop engine rated at 675 shp. Cessna is forecast to deliver 836 Caravans during the 2008-17 period.
Nobody, whether in Congress, the White House, the aerospace community or in all of America, should be surprised by the situation that now prevails and will continue for several years: the utter dependence on Russia to carry U.S. astronauts to and from space! This is due to hopeless underfunding of U.S. ambitions and commitments to space. Who could have imagined during the Moon race that America would need to call Moscow for rides into space?
Underwriter Aon Space says five partial in-orbit failures since mid-year may be starting to turn around space insurance prices, which have remained low after a first half in which premiums far outstripped claims (see p. 20). Aon says the failures, which include AMC 16, Galaxy 26, Eutelsat W5 and Nigeria’s Chinese-built Nigcomsat, already have helped boost rates by up to 15% for some operators. AMC 16, which is suffering from a solar array glitch, “continues to lose strings” and is rumored to be suffering a 25% loss of power, according to the insurer.
The 737 series is a family of twin-engine narrow-body commercial transports. Seating capacity varies depending on model. Typical two-class configurations include 126 passengers for the 737-700, 162 for the 737-800 and 180 for the 737-900ER. All three models, which are the current production versions, are powered by two CFM International CFM56-7B turbofans. The first 737 flew in April 1967. In December of that year, the 737 received FAA certification and deliveries began. The earlier -100, -200, -300, -400, -500 and ‑600 variants are no longer in production.
The Singapore Ministry of Defense has awarded ST Aerospace Engineering $105 million to provide the Republic of Singapore Air Force with aircraft and instructors for its training requirements over a 20-year span beginning in 2012. As part of the agreement, the company will acquire and maintain a Gulfstream G550.
The MA60 turboprop is a stretched version of the Xi’an Y7-200A. It can accommodate 56-60 passengers and is powered by two 2,750-shp. Pratt & Whitney Canada PW127J engines. The aircraft made its initial flight in 2000. Deliveries began in August 2000, to Sichuan Airlines. A freighter version, called the MA60-500, is also marketed. Through 2007, 26 MA60s were produced. An improved version of the MA60, dubbed the MA600, is being developed. A total of 111 MA60/MA600s are forecast to be produced in the 2008-17 time period.
Labor unions at Finnair have firmly rejected a proposal by management aimed at reducing personnel costs. In response, management says layoffs will be implemented in order to reach cost-reduction goals and as many as 400 jobs could be lost. Airline officials offered the unions three plans intended to achieve a savings of as much as €25 million ($35.2 million), and it is unfortunate that “we will have to cut costs by reducing jobs . . . when it would have been better to find savings by other means,” says Anssi Koulainen, senior vice president for human resources.
Amy Butler (Hurlburt Field, Fla., and Washington), Graham Warwick (Washington)
Even as the U.S. Air Force appears stuck in a rut after a series of major mishaps, its special operations command is quietly moving ahead with an ambitious plan to replace its aging fleet of fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft.
The scores for Korean Air in AVIATION WEEK’s annual Top-Performing Companies (TPC) airline report (AW&ST Aug. 11, p. 54) were incorrect, due to erroneous financial source data. The airline’s correct TPC score is 33.4, moving it up four places to 28th among major legacy airlines. To see the corrected airline rankings chart, go to aviationweek.com/tpc.
Astrium has awarded OHB System a subcontract to support the construction and testing of a Helios ground station to serve the German armed forces. The contract, the first of a series of work packages expected to exceed €6 million ($8.5 million), will entail ensuring interoperability between the Helios optical system and Germany’s SARLupe radar constellation, built by OHB. The station will begin operation in 2010. France will receive SARLupe imagery in return for access to SARLupe.
Graham Warwick (Washington), Amy Butler (Washington and Eglin AFB, Fla.)
Options to expand the limited internal weapons capacity of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter are emerging as operators begin thinking seriously about how they will use the stealthy aircraft’s combat capability. The U.S. Air Force and Navy have begun talks to define the Joint Dual-Role Air Dominance Missile (JDRADM) intended to replace both air-to-air AIM-120 Amraam and anti-radar AGM-88 Harm beyond 2020 and allow the F-35 to defend itself against both opposing fighters and air defenses.
Through 2007, Boeing produced 959 of these twin-engine, wide-body commercial transport aircraft. A 767 prototype was rolled out in August 1981, with first flight occurring the following month. Current models include the 767-200ER, -300ER, -400ER and -300F freighter. Typical two-class seating layouts are 224 seats for the -200ER, 269 for the -300ER and 304 for the -400ER. All three models are sold with a choice of GE CF6-80C2 or Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines. The future of the 767 has been heavily dependent on the outcome of the U.S.
