An updated U.S. National Space Policy (NSP), released last month, provides new top cover for military space commanders, who now are discussing "space control" and "space superiority" issues with unusual candor. For years, both of those politically sensitive terms were off limits, and senior officers rarely mentioned them in unclassified forums.
Mary Frost, who is CEO of GlobeCast America, has been appointed to the board of directors of the New York-based World Teleport Assn. She succeeds David Sprechman, GlobeCast America's former chief executive.
The growth outlook for Singapore Changi's Budget Terminal (BT) is positive, according to Singapore's Transport Minister Raymond Lim. At the start of flight operations in March 2006, the terminal handled 124 weekly flights to 12 destinations. Now, BT's operations have doubled to 244 weekly scheduled flights to 16 cities. More than 106,000 passengers passed through its doors in September, compared with 72,800 in its first month of operations. As of Oct. 26, the terminal had handled a total of 657,000 passengers.
A push is underway in Ottawa to leverage $11.5 billion in planned military aircraft purchases to win Canadian companies a larger role on hot new aerospace programs such as Boeing's 787 and Crew Exploration Vehicle. Canada is negotiating to acquire four C-17 strategic lift aircraft and 16 CH-47 helicopters from Boeing and is considering buying 17 C-130J tactical lift aircraft from Lockheed Martin. The Aerospace Industries Assn.
Calvin Humphrey has been named CEO of Viva International Inc., Traverse City, Mich. He succeeds Rodolfo Dominguez, who has resigned. Humphrey has been an executive of aerospace companies and regional airlines. Roger F. Larreur and James Paquette have been named to the board of directors. Larreur is director of sales and marketing for Canada and the Eastern U.S. for Swissport USA Inc., while Paquette is vice president-government programs and special missions for Zenith Aviation.
UNITED STATES Editor-In-Chief: Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. [email protected] Managing Editor: James R. Asker [email protected] Assistant Managing Editor: Michael Stearns [email protected] Senior Editors: Craig Covault [email protected], David Hughes [email protected] Editor-at-Large: William Readdy NEW YORK 2 Penn Plaza, 25th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10121 Phone: +1 (212) 904-2000, Fax: +1 (212) 904-6068 Senior News Editor: Nora Titterington
Your article "A Fistful of Dollars" (AW&ST Oct. 9, p. 42) documents the new standards in the Fiscal 2007 budget. It indicates the budget bill requires Government Accountability Office "investigations of laws and rules governing the employment of former senior Defense Dept. officials by defense contractors." The article did not indicate if any of these rules would apply to members of Congress or their staffers.
This SafeRoute system display of the Surface Area Movement Management function shows what a pilot will see when arriving at Louisville (Ky.) International Airport (see p. 56). Aviation Communication & Surveillance Systems is developing SafeRoute for UPS. SafeRoute displays will appear on Class 3 electronic flight bags from Astronautics Corp. A moving map shows its own ship position (white triangle where aircraft is rolling out after landing on Runway 35L) and the location of other ADS-B equipped aircraft (light brown with UPS flight identification) and vehicles.
United Airlines' parent company UAL Corp. has been through a wild ride on the stock market since it exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early this year. UAL shares debuted on the Nasdaq exchange at $40 on Feb. 2 and peaked at $43 on Mar. 22. The stock then took a tumble--exacerbated by high oil prices-- losing nearly half its value before bottoming out at $21.90 on Aug. 10. Since then, shares have been on a steady rebound, closing at $35.03 on Nov. 2. The question now is whether UAL can sustain the upward momentum.
MARKET FOCUS UAL investors waiting to see if stock sustains momentum 14 NEWS BREAKS Raytheon rolls out ground-based cockpit for unmanned aircraft pilots 20 Iran fires weapons in response to nearby exercise 22 U.S. Navy declasssifies electro-optical images taken from Global Hawk UAV 22 New high-bypass fan design to undergo noise testing 23 Air Show China showcases booming commercial aircraft sector 24 WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS
Executives who believe NASA's taxpayer-funded research and development (R&D) products will help only U.S. companies build spacecraft, satellites and other space systems to give them an edge in global competition can forget the notion. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin burst that bubble during a luncheon address to the Society of Experimental Test Pilots last month. Scaled Composites President Burt Rutan asked Griffin about NASA R&D support for commercial U.S. space-access businesses.
BOMBARDIER BUSINESS AIRCRAFT DELIVERED THE 100TH Challenger 300 on Oct. 27 to Gutmen Investment Corp. The Challenger 300 entered service in 2004 and features transcontinental range and a cabin for eight passengers.
Some managers seem quick to conclude that an inability to hire good engineers must imply a "shortage." It does not occur to them that their own policies may make their companies unattractive employers. Companies seeking engineering talent should take the article "Challenge Is the Challenge" (AW&ST Sept. 4, p. 50) to heart, poll their own employees to see how well they measure up and act to correct deficiencies.
India has successfully tested a domestic cryogenic rocket stage for 50 sec. at the Liquid Propulsion Systems Center (LPSC), becoming the sixth country to develop such a stage. The engine, which had been static-tested alone for more than 6,000 sec., generated a thrust of 7.5 tons when mounted in its full-up stage. Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, says India plans to launch the stage in its Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) flight next year.
The U.S. Army-Air Force Joint Cargo Aircraft user survey, which allows operators to see demonstrations of each aircraft, is underway. The Raytheon/ EADS North America C-295 was first up in the survey; its demonstration began in October. Trials begin Nov. 6 for the Alenia North America/Boeing/ L-3 Communications C-27J.
Inspectors general overseeing NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will probe whether the Bush White House suppressed government-funded research linking greenhouse gases to global warming, and global warming to more intense hurricanes. The issue has simmered since James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, charged he was being censored on the issue by political appointees in NASA's public affairs apparatus.
Michael A. Taverna (Darmstadt, Germany, and Paris)
With the first Metop polar-orbiting satellite now safely aloft, Eumetsat can now begin wrestling in earnest with how far and how fast it should proceed in expanding beyond its original mandate.
Meanwhile, Alteon has named Safety Training Systems of Tulsa, Okla., to produce full-sized door mock-ups for flight attendant training for the 787 program. Alteon has already ordered nine 787 training suites from Thales, including full-flight and flat-panel simulators and desktop simulation systems.
The commander of the 8th Air Force, Lt. Gen. Robert Elder, Jr., is planning to craft a strategy by February for the Air Force to organize its assets and--possibly--buy new systems for its burgeoning defensive and offensive cyberspace role. Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne announced Nov. 2 that the 8th Air Force, which traditionally oversees the service's strategic bombers and intelligence aircraft, is assuming authority over cyberspace assets as well.
Four instructors are ready to begin training the first cadets in Alteon's Multi-Crew Pilot License (MPL) program, the controversial effort to use flight simulators to help speed the transition from a zero-time pilot candidate to a fully licensed first officer for commercial aircraft. The four pilots--Peter Shire, Paul Toomey, Peter Griffiths and James Perry--completed their own training as teachers for the MPL program at the Galvin Flying School at Boeing Field in Seattle. Alteon Training is a Boeing subsidiary.
The Air Force is looking to academe to help supply answers to challenges associated with its transformational efforts. It recently awarded an "indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity" contract to the University of Tennessee's College of Business Administration, with a particular interest in transformational leadership, process improvement and critical thinking skills. In one of the first projects funded under the $25-million award, a faculty member will be assigned to work with Air Force acquisition experts for a year to help them streamline their work.
Avionics engineers here are perfecting software that UPS will need to become the first U.S. airline to use ADS-B to streamline arrivals and surface operations at a hub airport.
Lockheed Martin has formed a team to bid on the FAA's Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) program, an effort to deploy and network ground-based receivers in some regions of the U.S. initially, to be followed by a nationwide rollout. The Lockheed Martin team includes Sensis Corp. of Syracuse, N.Y., the supplier of ADS-B receivers for a demonstration program in Australia; and Honeywell Aerospace, the supplier of ADS-B avionics for that same program. Harris Corp., a major communications contractor to the FAA, is also on the team.
Space shuttle Discovery is ready to roll out to Launch Pad 39B this week for final preparation and payload loading for the STS-116 mission, set for launch to the International Space Station as early as Dec. 7. The flight's Spacehab cargo module and ISS P5 port spacer truss section will be transported to the pad separately this week and loaded in the Launch Complex 39B payload changeout room, and inserted into Discovery's bay by week's end.
Thomas Persson (see photo) has been named CEO of Envirotainer, Lagga Marma, Sweden. He was general manager of DPD Nordic for business-to-business parcel activities within the Swedish postal service.
