French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie says she wants to forge a European consensus on military space cooperation before undertaking projects beyond those already in the pipeline. Speaking at the presentation of the 2006 military spending bill (see p. 36), Alliot-Marie said she had approached Javier Solana, the European Union high representative for common foreign and security policy, about putting milspace on the agendas of the new European Defense Agency, and including it for discussion at the next NATO summit.
Turkey is being offered full partnership in the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft program. With a Greek deal to purchase the Typhoon near moribund, Eurofighter is turning its attention to Athens' Aegean neighbor as it seeks export sales. Greece is expected to compete its fighter requirement once again; Typhoon had been provisionally selected. The likely re-bid is partly caused by funding problems with the original procurement.
Although the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency says it doesn't know anything about using big phased array radars to focus energy on ballistic missile warheads to disable them, Adm. Timothy Keating, chief of North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command, says his planners are interested in the technology. Aerospace researchers say they can focus radar and high-power microwave energy to disable enemy guidance, communications and warhead electronics--including those in reentry vehicles at ranges of 100 km. (62 mi.) or more.
Europe's financial analysts and aviation experts are increasingly puzzled by the U.S. airline industry's dire straits. They don't understand why legacy carriers can't adapt to a new environment, maintain workable yields and restore profitability. Moreover, Europeans are concerned to see icons like Delta Air Lines lengthening the list of airlines operating under Chapter 11 protection.
The Canadian federal government has upheld a regulatory decision approving the grant of licenses for satellite digital audio radio services (DARS) to Sirius Canada and Canadian Satellite Radio, a venture backed by XM Radio. The ruling, issued in June, had been attacked by Canadian media and music interests, which voiced concern about domestic program content. A final green light must await public hearings set to begin later this year.
NASA's partners on the International Space Station want to see the agency keep its deal to deliver their hardware to orbit before they buy into the new U.S. exploration plan. There are roles for spacefaring nations that would extend the ISS cooperation model to the lunar surface. European, Japanese and other space agencies would be invited to provide habitats, rovers, mining gear and other infrastructure in exchange for rides to the Moon on the new Crew Exploration Vehicle (AW&ST Sept. 26, p. 22).
Boeing and Lockheed Martin are joining forces for the multibillion-dollar U.S. Air Force Small-Diameter Bomb (SDB) Increment II competition, although the newfound relationship had a muddled debut.
Greece may be in the market for as many as a dozen small Earth-observing satellites to watch its borders and monitor illicit construction in rural areas, according to Kathimerini, a leading Greek newspaper. The daily reports Greece's Ministry of Public Order has completed a technical study of the project, which would use satellites in the 50-kg. (110-lb.) class to catch illegal immigrants and detect unlicensed building.
At the initiation of nine carriers, China has established its first aviation association, with 39 members, the official Xinhua News Agency reports. Prime backers include Air China, China Eastern and China Southern--the Big Three state-controlled carrier groups--and two independents, Hainan and Shanghai airlines.
WP-3Ds OPERATED BY THE NATIONAL OCEANIC and Atmospheric Administration are logging record flying hours penetrating into the eyes of hurricanes and tropical storms this season, in part because they are equipped with a stepped frequency microwave radiometer (SFMR) from ProSensing Inc. of Amherst, Mass. This passive sensor gathers data from the P-3's operating altitude in six bands from 4.5-7 GHz. to collect surface brightness temperatures. An algorithm, developed by ProSensing in cooperation with NOAA's Hurricane Research Div., can then derive surface wind speed.
Boeing's resolution of a strike by its machinists came abruptly and quickly (see p. 42). Leading up to the strike, top management adopted what seemed to be an unnecessarily--and ill-advised--hard line toward its labor unions. It was almost as though the brass in Chicago were hell bent on sending the message that they were prepared to outlast employees.
Don't close the book on Air Canada's 32-aircraft buy from Boeing. Pilot cost issues that played a role in the order's cancellation could soon be resolved--and lead to a resumption in sales talks. The carrier in April placed a firm order for 18 Boeing 777s with 18 options, as well as 14 firm orders and 46 options for the 787. The aircraft were to replace Air Canada's aging 65 widebodies in the next decade.
Features on Mars are being created or altered in periods as short as years or decades, as witnessed by the Mars Global Surveyor satellite during eight years of observations. Discovery of changes such as warming of the polar ice cap, new craters, and the formation of gullies shows the advantage of a long observation time, says Michael C. Malin, principal investigator for the Mars Orbiter Camera on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory spacecraft.
Kingfisher Airlines is talking with Embraer about the acquisition of jet aircraft to meet its 60-95-seat-capacity short-haul requirements. A decision on the buy is to be made by December. India's short-haul regional routes are expected to grow by 35% in the next three years.
In "New Trajectory" (AW&ST Sept. 12, p. 55), Col. Allan Ballenger, the GPS program manager, talks a lot about GPS modernization. But I hope he has enough GPS space vehicles (SVs) to provide the "24/7" coverage we have come to expect.
Your editorial ". . . Keep Airlines Flying" was a cop-out (AW&ST Sept. 19, p. 70). Just what is meant by "the fault lies in the market distortions that remain"? What are they? We've had 28 years of these mystery "market distortions." How much longer does it take to iron them out? The U.S. airline industry is in a death spiral and rapidly acquiring Third-World characteristics. The "experts" claim the solution is to eliminate overcapacity, presumably through liquidation. Nonsense.
U.S. Northern Command set up a Defense Coordinating Element in Austin, Tex., and put 26 helicopters on alert for heavy- and medium-lift and medical evacuations as Rita approach-ed the Texas coast late last week. Six ships were following the storm, prepared to provide support immediately if requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Thailand and the U.S. signed an open skies agreement Sept. 19 that eliminates restrictions on destinations, flights and the number of airlines immediately, and phases out limits on pricing and fifth-freedom rights over five years. Country-of-origin pricing rules--by which either nation can disapprove a fare for service originating in its territory--remain until Oct. 31, 2010, as do gradually increasing limits on weekly frequencies for service that involves intermediate points or points beyond each nation's territory. Thailand becomes the 71st U.S. open skies partner.
Jim Youker has been named executive director of U.S government and North American sales for Denver-based Space Imaging. He has been director of sales and marketing at the Earth Satellite Corp. and was director of defense programs at Space Imaging.
The Norwegian and Australian defense militaries are considering jointly investigating the merits of integrating the stealthy Naval Strike Missile on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that both countries are likely to buy. Discussions between the two are taking place as the anti-ship missile undergoes flight trials in the run-up for production start in late 2006 or early 2007. The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) has completed a seven-shot test series, including against moving ship targets, as part of the development for its sole customer so far, the Norwegian navy.
News Breaks 18 JetBlue A320 makes emergency land- ing after nose gear malfunction 19 Delta plans earnings improvement as part of Chapter 11 restructuring 19 Boeing wins two design contracts for VTOL concepts 20 DRS to buy Engineered Support Systems, heads for Top 25 20 Marta Bohn-Meyer, chief engineer at NASA Dryden, dies in crash World News & Analysis 22 NASA rolls out tightly focused new plan for lunar exploration
The FAA has issued an airworthiness directive for certain Airbus A320-family aircraft. It calls for modification of the electrical bonding of the structures and systems inside the center fuel tank. Airbus fuel system reviews prompted the AD, which is aimed at preventing electrical arcing in the tank due to inadequate bonding.
The European Space Agency is activating its second deep-space antenna for tracking interplanetary spacecraft this week. The Cebreros facility in Avila, Spain, will officially open Sept. 28, in time to track ESA's Venus Express spacecraft when it is launched in October. The new facility was sited to complement ESA's deep-space antenna in Australia. Built by a consortium under the leadership of Canada's SED Systems, the new antenna measures 35 meters (115 ft.) in diameter, stands 40 meters tall and weighs 630 metric tons.
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The Delta II launch of a pair of spacecraft intended to provide three-dimensional views of cloud and aerosol formation, initially set for late summer, has been pushed back to Oct. 26. The spacecraft, CloudSat (being built with the Canadian Space Agency) and Calipso (from French space agency CNES), are part of the NASA-led A-Train program that is devoted to enhancing understanding of long-term weather and climate phenomena.
