European Space Agency officials hope the concession bid for the Galileo satellite navigation contract will resolve intergovernmental workshare disagreements that have stalled talks to nail down a contract for the initial batch of spacecraft for the 30-satellite constellation.
DEFENSE ELECTRONICS COMPANIES ARE SCRAMBLING to find enough software engineers even though the dot.com bubble has long since burst. Their requirements are specialized, and there aren't enough systems and software engineers available, according to John Capeci, vice president and director of business development for ITT Industries' Avionics Div. "We can barely keep ahead of the curve for the number of people we need," he said at the Assn. of the U.S. Army annual meeting. And ITT's competitors are in the same boat, he added.
Donald M. Kerr, who has been director of the National Reconnaissance Office, also will be assistant to the Air Force secretary for intelligence space technology.
In the latest step in globalizing the supply chain for the 787, Boeing has tapped Saab Aerostructures for cargo and access doors. Working from its base in Linkoping, the Swedish manufacturer is to build three types of doors--large cargo, bulk cargo and access--for the aircraft, which is now being designed for a first flight in 2007 and delivery in 2008. In all, Saab will build seven doors per aircraft.
After slowly embracing the technology, the U.S. military recently has been talking up its focus on unmanned aerial vehicles. The Pentagon is bragging that in Fiscal 2005 UAV spending for the first time topped $2 billion and has proffered an unmanned aircraft road map for the next 25 years. This plan is full of promise, with glimpses of a visionary future of how the technology can be used to foil even well-hidden and clever foes. But the UAV situation is far from rosy and plenty of questions remain.
Stealthy unmanned air vehicles powered by highly efficient fuel cells appear to be increasingly feasible, based on collaborative research conducted by the the U.S. Air Force Academy (AFA), Ball Aerospace & Technologies and Hydrogen Components Inc. (HCI). Ball has been focusing on fuel-cell development, while AFA cadets and faculty are working with HCI on the chemistry and hardware associated with a hydrogen generator.
On Oct. 2, my wife and I arrived at the security screening station at Bangor (Maine) International Airport 1 hr. before the scheduled departure of our flight. The aircraft was at the gate and airline personnel were at the gate, ready to accept boarding passes. Unfortunately, there were no Transportation Security Administration screeners staffing the inspection station.
Two small experimental French infrared early warning satellites are scheduled for launch as auxiliary payloads on an Ariane 5 in 2008. EADS Astrium, prime contractor on the defense procurement agency DGA's Spirale demonstration, picked the Ariane launch. The two 130-kg. (286-lb.) spacecraft, built on the Myriade spacecraft bus developed by the French space agency CNES, will gather data on the infrared signatures of ballistic missiles with the Earth's surface below them.
As songwriter Bob Dylan said: "The times they are a-changin'." It's not the generational upheaval he had in mind, but his anthem is now ringing true for the very underpinnings of the aviation world--air traffic management. The stage is set for development during the next 20 years of an entirely new concept of operation in Europe and the U.S. A whole new way of managing traffic must be created for there to be any hope of tripling system capacity, and that is what the current growth rate of traffic requires.
FAA and China's General Administration of Civil Aviation signed a Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement last week at the agency's International Safety Forum held in Chantilly, Va. The agreement provides the foundation for maintenance, airworthiness, operations and the environment, according to FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey. It is aimed at reducing regulatory and cost burdens for airlines and aviation authorities of both countries, as well as improving coordination of flight safety programs.
ThalesRaytheonSystems has signed a $120-million deal to provide advanced Link-16 connectivity for Swiss air force F-16s. The contract, awarded under Phase VII of the Florako air defense and airspace management system program, will involve installation of multifunctional information distribution system technology and other hardware that will enable pilots to acquire Link-16 before takeoff and remain in contact even in mountainous terrain.
Craig Covault, Frank Morring, Jr. (Cape Canaveral, Fukuoka, Japan)
China will advance to rendezvous and docking and astronaut extravehicular activity (EVA) following the Oct. 17 completion of the five-day Shenzhou 6 mission piloted by two Chinese crewmen. China's second manned space flight in two years concluded as U.S. and Chinese space managers met in Fukuoka, Japan, at the International Astronautical Federation conference. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin congratulated Zhang Wei, director general of foreign affairs for the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
Computer network attack and exploitation are subjects as closely guarded as stealth was 20 years ago. But they are also now the primary tools in combating what senior U.S. Army officials identify as their number-one target--the wireless communications networks used by insurgents and terrorists. With these mobile systems, insurgent leaders command forces that often operate free of any nation's control, moving at will across borders.
Shmuel Fledel has become vice president-maintenance and engineering for El Al Israel Airlines. He was president/CEO of Cyclone Aviation Products Ltd., a member of the Elbit Systems Group.
Boeing expects to begin an ambitious series of FAA-sponsored over-water flight trials aimed at accelerating modernization of oceanic air traffic control and capturing major fuel savings with more flexible routing.
Susan Sloan has been appointed vice president-performance excellence, Kevin T. Neifert vice president-engineering, Dina A. Hyde vice president-supply chain and Robert D. Kern vice president-program management, all for Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems, El Segundo, Calif.
Bradley D. Mottier (see photo) has been appointed president/CEO of GE Engine Services, Evendale, Ohio. He succeeds Dan Heintzelman, who is now vice president-energy services for GE Energy. Mottier was president/CEO of Engine Services subsidiary Unison Industries.
Christopher E. Comargo has been promoted to director of the Avionics and Support Systems Dept. from manager of the Integrated Diagnostics Section at the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio.
James Gilmore, former Virginia governor and chairman of a commission on the domestic response to weapons of mass destruction, heads to U.S. Northern Command (Northcom) headquarters this week to discuss a number of post-Hurricane Katrina issues with top officials there. Northcom is the military liaison and coordinates work with the Homeland Security Dept., an organization Gilmore's commission did not recommend creating. The former governor said Adm.
The first fatal accident involving a certified Columbia aircraft occurred Oct. 7, when a Lancair 400 (285JB) crashed under unknown circumstances in mountainous terrain in Southern California. According to the FAA preliminary accident report and data released by Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corp., the aircraft departed Gillespie Field in San Diego at 11:21 a.m. local time with three people on board. Local weather about 1 hr. before departure included scattered clouds at 6,000 ft. and a broken cloud layer at 10,000 ft. with 10-mi. visibility.
Airclaims has taken its Space Trak digital library of launcher and satellite pedigree and performance databases to the Web. A source for satellite operators, launchers and insurers that want key failure and insurance loss data, Space Trak has 90 company and organization clients, ranging from Arianespace and EADS Astrium to the FAA. Until now the data came on CD-ROMs distributed monthly.
The transport committee of the European Parliament has endorsed a plan to establish an EU-wide blacklist of carriers banned from flying in the airspace of the 25 EU members. The full Parliament will consider the issue Nov. 15, with a vote by the EU Transport Council set for early December. A series of crashes in August put the blacklist initiative on the front burner for European politicians.
Scientists with a photographer's eye took this remarkable picture of the moon Dione in front of Saturn and its rings as the Cassini spacecraft flew past on Oct. 11. Shadows of the C and B rings are cast onto the planet's northern latitudes.
Northwest Airlines is cutting to the chase in its newly launched Chapter 11 reorganization, asking U.S. Bankruptcy Court to throw out union contracts the carrier has tried unsuccessfully to renegotiate.
Delta Air Lines pilots--who already agreed to $1 billion in concessions--now are weighing an airline-proposed accord that seeks $325 million more in labor cost savings this year.
