SES shareholders have OK’d the cancellation of 34 million shares acquired under a pair of stock buyback initiatives started in 2005, and approved a further buyback for up to 10% of issued share capital. The company has already bought back 32% of its shares.
Plans for crash, fire and rescue operations involving composite-structure, new large aircraft (AW&ST June 23, p. 64) should consider the hazards of airborne composite fibers and dust along with the smoke and noxious gases from the bonding epoxy matrix that may have burned. A recent report, Australian Transport Safety Board AR-2007-02, noted that fiber dust can pose an inhalation risk similar to asbestos. Released fibers are sharp and can cause skin and eye irritation.
Frank Morring, Jr. (Johnson Space Center and Washington)
NASA has determined that it has a workable plan to return humans to the Moon by 2020, and is moving into early design work on its Moon rocket and lunar lander. Work on the spacesuits that astronauts would wear on the lunar surface is under contract, and begins this week. Senior NASA managers are expected to approve the “Phase A” design startup this year for the Ares V heavy lift launch vehicle and the Altair lunar lander.
Lockheed Martin has developed a multi-mission surveillance radar based on a design initially requested by the U.S. Marine Corps that is now winning international customers and entering full-scale production.
Robert Crandall, in his Viewpoint (AW&ST June 16, p. 62), hits the nail on the head but with not enough force to drive the point home. Airline deregulation works when airlines do not cut corners on maintenance to increase the bottom line. Like some students who inevitably will cheat on an exam, some airlines will cheat on maintenance for the sake of the profit-and-loss statement (their profit and the passenger’s loss).
Three airlines have become the first aviation industry representatives on a Boeing-backed organization that’s tapping some of the oil industry’s refining expertise as it pursues second-generation, algae-based alternative fuels for commercial aircraft. Air New Zealand, Continental Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways are joining the Algal Biomass Organization (ABO) that Boeing and research organizations founded in May to identify and accelerate development of the alternative fuels.
British Airways is selling its 10.5% stake in Air Mauritius for £3.2 million ($6.3 million) after 35 years because the carrier is mature and no longer requires foreign investment and support. The transaction includes selling BA’s 3.84% share in the carrier to the government of Mauritius, and sale of its 13.24% share in Air Mauritius Holding Co. to existing shareholders. Air Mauritius is bracing for a difficult year.
An unmanned aircraft designed to evaluate the feasibility of continuous solar-powered flight on Mars has completed a 27-hr. flight near Nierderwil, Switzerland. The Sky-Sailor UAV, which has a wingspan of 10.5 ft., flew through the night powered by a battery that was recharged during the day using solar energy, thereby demonstrating the ability for continuous flight, according to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich that built the UAV. Design was begun under a European Space Agency study for a Mars flyer.
Partnerships between the military and industry are growing in number and broadening in scope, bringing the services and defense contractors more closely together than any previous relationship.
Five Key Questions In an interview with Aviation Week & Space Technology Congressional Editor John M. Doyle, policy analyst and former Senate staffer Jerry Cox says aerospace and defense industry leaders should seek answers to these five questions from the candidates before Election Day. Listen to the podcast at AviationWeek.com/extra By Their Advisers You Shall Know Them
Nicola Phillips has become flight operations standards and training manager for Empire Airlines , Hayden, Idaho. She was check airman/assistant chief pilot for Skyway Airlines of Milwaukee.
Richard Miller has been named president/CEO of Information Systems Laboratories of San Diego. He was executive vice president/chief operating officer and succeeds Michael Dowe, who has retired.
USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) Howard F. Leaf (Brandywine, Md.)
The U.S. Air Force made the wrong decision in its air-refueling tanker award. Major flaws in the conduct of the competition significantly affected its outcome.
Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama, starting in January 2007, spent more than a year fighting for their political parties’ nomination for President of the United States. For all their rhetoric about everything from taxes to trade during those many months, however, they had very little to say about aviation, aerospace and national security—the unpopular war in Iraq notwithstanding.
Taiwan’s Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology is seeking an industrial partner to manufacture its Blue Magpie mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and a larger version yet to be unveiled. The Blue Magpie weighs about 1 kg. (2.2 lb.), featuring a balsa-wood internal frame and a fiberglass exterior. The electric-powered UAV carries two charge-coupled device cameras, is hand-launched and has a range of about 4 km. (2.5 mi.). The larger version would have a wingspan of 1.5 meters (4.9 ft.), carry an infrared sensor and could fly continuously for about 80 min.
China has joined the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS), an international forum for establishing space-communications standards to enable joint operations. The China National Space Administration becomes the 11th member of the organization, which was established in 1982.
India’s Jet Airways posted a loss of $54 million in the fourth quarter ending Mar. 31 compared with a net profit of $21 million for the same period last year. High fuel prices and overcapacity in India are contributing factors, according to the airline.
High fuel prices and a weakened economy are giving the aerospace sector a severe shaking. A report from Goldman Sachs issued on June 25 sent sector shares reeling. Boeing’s stock price fell more than 6%, declining more than 5 points from the previous day and closing at $69.64, steeply down from an October high of $107.15. Taking note of a sector value decline of nearly 30% in eight months, analyst Richard Safran predicts another 20% drop. “Aerospace stocks can weather a bad economy or high oil, but not both,” he writes.
Ohio Attorney General Nancy Rogers has laid the groundwork for a potential investigation into whether DHL’s plan to use competitor UPS for express package lift violates the state’s antitrust laws. She warned both companies, and DHL parent Deutsche Post, against destroying any documents related to the issue. Meanwhile, Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher is conducting weekly meetings in an effort to avert the potential loss of 7,000 jobs at the Wilmington Air Park—a sorting site for DHL that is in danger of closing (AW&ST June 2, p. 40).
No matter who wins the White House in November, John McCain or Barack Obama will probably be long gone or well into a second term before all the policy changes sought by the aerospace and defense industry could yield results. They include such long-term commitments as an overhaul of the education system, changes to the tax code and an easing of regulations governing the export of high-tech parts and equipment—and more money for NASA research.
Russia’s Proton M/Breeze M launch vehicle can begin flying again this summer, following clearance by an International Launch Services failure review oversight board (FROB). The Proton M has been down since an anomaly on Mar. 15 left the SES Americom AMC-14 spacecraft stranded in the wrong orbit. In April, a Russian state commission attributed the failure to a ruptured exhaust gas conduit that caused a turbopump on the rocket’s Breeze M upper stage to shut down prematurely. The FROB confirmed the finding in May, but took more time to study corrective measures.
Kevin McClurg has been named vice president-finance for the Roseland, N.J.-based Curtiss-Wright Corp. ’s flow control segment. He was vice president/corporate controller. McClurg has been succeeded by Glenn Coleman, who was vice president-finance of the Wireless Business Group of Alcatel Lucent.
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) conducted a full launch dress rehearsal and static firing of its third Falcon 1 rocket June 25 at its launch site at Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The test marked the first pad firing of SpaceX’s new Merlin 1C reusable engine—an upgraded version of the Merlin 1A used for previous Falcon 1 launches. The regeneratively cooled Merlin 1C operated at full power, with only the hold-down system keeping the rocket from lifting off, the company says.
India has agreed to sell seven Hindustan Aeronautics Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters to the Ecuadoran air force for $50.7 million. The Indian defense ministry expects delivery of the indigenously developed twin-turbine helicopters to Ecuador in knock-down kit form to begin within six months and be completed over 15 months to two years.
