Spacehab Inc., whose stock price fell below the $1 requirement for listing on the Nasdaq last year and failed to rise above $1 during a 180-day grace period, has won approval to transfer its common stock listing from the Nasdaq National Market to the Nasdaq Capital Market, effective Mar. 22. Spacehab's stock will continue to trade under the symbol SPAB. The Houston-based commercial space services provider has proposed a vehicle dubbed Apex for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transpor-tation Services demonstration to resupply the International Space Station.
8-10 Correspondence 11 Who's Where 15 Industry Outlook 17 Airline Outlook 19 In Orbit 20-23 News Breaks 25 Washington Outlook 50 A European Perspective 63 Classified 64 Contact Us 65 Aerospace Calendar
Jeff Rolf (see photo) has become group marketing director for Europe for Parker Aerospace, Irvine, Calif. He was a business team leader at Parker's Aircraft Wheel & Brake Div.
With member-state backing exceeding expectations, the European Space Agency is readying requests for proposals for the first three spacecraft for its Global Monitoring for Environment and Security network. The spacecraft are considered vital to ensure data continuity with the Envisat Earth-observation satellite and the Spot-5 imaging spacecraft, launched in 2002 for a five-year nominal life span.
French authorities' attitude toward low-fare carriers remains largely negative in an indication that the dinosaur flag carrier ideology is still flourishing. The time has come to adopt modern-day thinking.
Montreal-based CAE has won a five-year maintenance contract valued at approximately C$17 million ($14.5 million) from JetBlue Airways to service its four Airbus A320 full-flight simulators, two Embraer 190 simulators and six flight training devices at the airline's training center at Orlando, Fla.
Italy and Russia are expected to conclude by May the second phase of a joint research and development project that could lead to a new class of diesel submarine. The S1000 advanced attack submarine, a mid-sized boat displacing about 1,000 tons, would be affordable for a burgeoning export market, and a candidate for the navies of both countries.
The Homeland Security Dept. wants to integrate satellite imagery with ground sensors and other high-tech capabilities to create a "virtual fence" for guarding U.S. borders. The department plans to issue a request for proposals (RFP) Mar. 31 and award a contract by Sept. 30, with the aim of deploying new technology in Fiscal 2007. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are among the large contractors forming teams or seeking suppliers in their bid for the multi-billion-dollar contract.
British government and senior defense officials are less than happy to be fingered in a recent U.S. briefing identifying the U.K. as a "third site candidate" for ground-based ballistic missile interceptors. Lt. Gen. Trey Obering, director of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency, listed the U.K. as a potential site among his international-activity highlights. It was not considered a highlight by the U.K., which has been trying to keep the lid on the issue of whether it would consider playing host to anti-missile missile batteries.
Sea Launch has signed a fourth payload for its Baikonur Cosmodrome-based Land Launch system, which is set to go into service at the Zenit facilities there in mid-2007. The September 2007 mission for Malaysia's Measat 1R will be subcontracted through PanAmSat under a $44.2-million launch management contract. The 24-transponder C-/K u-band spacecraft was ordered late last year from Orbital Sciences Corp.
Propulsion engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center are leaning toward an older version of the Rocketdyne J2 engine that powered Apollo missions to the Moon for the upper stage on a new generation of exploration launch vehicles.
The German army is taking delivery of its first new infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) since the Marder in the early 1970s. The builder, Rheinmetall AG, claims the Puma is the world's "safest, most secure IFV." The design includes a remotely controlled turret that allows the three-person crew to sit with up to six soldiers in the main chassis. As a result, only one compartment requires maximum protection against explosions and personnel are kept out of the turret, the vehicle's most vulnerable area.
Allan Cameron has become chairman/CEO of Thales North America, Alexandria, Va. He succeeds Lawrence Cavaiola, who plans to retire. Cameron has been managing director of Thales U.K.'s naval business.
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The Australians are right, but they did not go far enough. After having to clean tons of sand out of hundreds of KC-135s after they sat for months in the desert while the U.S. Army begged for transports to move heavy equipment to the battlefields before the wars started in 1991 and 2002, you cannot tell me that buying 400 dedicated tankers makes good sense while our battle transport fleet sits at an anemic 180 C-17s and a few outdated and costly C-5s.
A black-nosed NKC-135E with the image of a white missile painted on its fuselage has started tests at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The trials, involving the Airborne Laser's beam control technology, will continue through the end of March. Low-power lasers are being used to calibrate three special cameras mounted on the aircraft's left wing.
For the past year, speculation has swirled about whether U.K.-based BAE Systems plc would sell off its 20% stake in Airbus. Executives at EADS, which owns the other 80%, have long coveted BAE's shares in the aircraft giant.
I am amused by the discussions of the international partners negotiating their Joint Strike Fighter production agreements. Robert Wall's article "Cold Calculus" would be better entitled "Cold Extortion" (AW&ST Feb. 27, p. 26).
A Russian, an American and a Brazilian are set to lift off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome this week on a mission that should mark the beginning of a new phase in operations on the International Space Station.
Northrop Grumman has snagged a $275-million contract from the U.S. Air Force to upgrade USAF, Air National Guard, USAF Reserve and Marine Corps F-16s, F-15s, A-10s and B-52s with Litening targeting pods, support equipment, training, logistics and pod integration support.
Mark McGraw has become vice president-tanker programs under the Boeing Co.'s St. Louis-based Integrated Defense Systems' Precision Engagement and Mobility Systems unit. He was vice president/program manager of the Weapons Enterprise Capability Center and managed Boeing's St. Charles, Mo., site.
Aviation Week & Space Technology periodically takes an over-the-shoulder look to capture lessons from past aerospace programs, but aided by the perspective of time and in-service experience. Such revisits can benefit current and future system developments, perhaps avoiding the costly and painful trials of rediscovery and relearning. The articles that follow focus on the B-2's development and how the design techniques, technologies and management approaches it fostered are being applied today.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has revoked the indirect air carrier certification of J.H. World Express for "repeated security infractions." The Los Angeles-based freight forwarder will be able to re-apply for certification in 90 days. Until then, passenger airlines at Los Angeles International Airport that accept cargo from J.H. are subject to $25,000 fines.
For a rocket-boosted, guided artillery round, the launch is extraordinary: from zero to Mach 2.5 in a split second, an acceleration of more than 10,000g., and temperatures of around 3,000F. Making rocket motors and GPS guidance packages that can survive the shock of a cannon blast is a major technical challenge. It's also critical to the U.S. Navy's goal of providing long-range, heavy artillery support for ground operations, a key capability that the Marine Corps has been doing without since the retirement of the Iowa-class battleships in the early 1990s.
USAF Maj. Gen. (ret.) Robert Chedister has been named vice president-operations for Proxy Aviation, Germantown, Md. He was program executive officer for weapons/commander of the Air Armament Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Eglin AFB, Fla. Thomas A. Corcoran has become chairman. He is a management consultant and senior adviser to The Carlyle Group.
