Affordable high-speed Internet access will soon be available to customers throughout the Asia-Pacific region, thanks to the launch of the first of a new generation of dedicated fixed broadband satellites by an Ariane rocket last week. Thaicom-4 (or iPSTAR-1, as it's also known) was sent aloft on Aug. 11 by a basic Ariane 5G rocket after several delays due to problems with ground handling facilities at Kourou, French Guiana. The launch, the Ariane 5's second this year, had initially been set for July 8.
Intelsat's second-quarter results appeared to back this up, showing revenues up 11%, to $289.8 million, over a year earlier and EBITDA up 12%, to $195 million. However, the company reported a $53.4-million net loss due to higher financing costs and other expenses, a stock buyback and the disposal of interest in Galaxy Satellite TV.
The European Commission has given the U.K. Office of Fair Trading responsibility for a review of the potential sale of Exeter Airport. The Macquarie Airports Group and Ferrovial Aeropuertos plan to buy the facility, but because the two already own the Bristol Airport, there is concern in the U.K. about competition within the airport structure of southwest England. The Office of Fair Trading already has received comments from third parties raising issues about the deal.
The missile-seeker houses of major contractors are each claiming they've got an edge on what has become the Holy Grail for the Pentagon's next wave of weapons--a tri-mode seeker that will allow a bomb to characterize accurately, and hit, a moving target through any weather.
SES Global plans to place more reliance on self-insurance for in-orbit satellites and to acquire a North American orbital slot from New Skies as its medium-term outlook continues to improve.
Devin Madgett has been promoted to general manager of the Signature Flight Support fixed-base operation at Santa Barbara, Calif., from assistant general manager of the Las Vegas FBO.
Forecast International estimates $6.4 billion will be spent on research, development and production of electro-optical systems in the next decade. The aerospace and defense market intelligence company also expects more than 360,000 systems to be produced through 2014, based on a new study. In some cases, equipment such as night-vision goggles, combat vehicle surveillance systems and thermal weapon sights are being delivered to troops as fast as they can be produced.
The European Commission has given Boeing and Lockheed Martin approval to create the United Launch Alliance (ULA), bringing together their Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) operations. Given a glut of launch capacity worldwide and the fact that the ULA is focused on U.S. government business, the approval was essentially a formality.
Reducing the time between detecting and striking a target has been a problem for decades, but now that interval is collapsing--driven by a dramatic increase in the speed with which digital networks can shift data and images around the battlefield.
Boeing took orders and commitments worth $1.68 billion at list prices last week for its 787 and 737 families. After signing initial papers last week, Morocco's Royal Air Maroc is expected to complete an agreement in September to buy five 787s with a list value of $600 million. No prospective delivery dates have been announced. India's Jet Airways has ordered 10 737-800s with a list value of nearly $680 million. Deliveries are to start in 2006. San Francisco-based Pegasus Aviation Finance Co.
Pakistan's Airblue is expanding its Airbus fleet, with the planned purchase of two A320s and two A330s. The airline also has taken options for another six A320s. It already operates three of the Airbus narrowbodies.
TsAGI, Russia's leading aerospace scientific institute, has opened a new facility for testing the strength and fatigue characteristics of composite fuselage structures. The work is being done under contract from Boeing using unique rigs (one already is operating in Seattle, the other is in Moscow) developed specifically for testing of the new 787. The tools are designed to simulate the full range of loads on fuselage panels sized up to 10 X 10 ft. Plans call for testing eight panels this year.
In the most recent and ambitious of Northrop Grumman's experimental, net-centric-warfare "Q-tests," researchers linked a collection of ground forces, aircraft and ship-based sensors to track down, identify and bomb a team of "terrorists" smuggling SA-7 shoulder-fired missiles into the U.S. through the Chesapeake Bay.
Air Canada, launch customer for the Embraer 175, this month introduced the airplane to its North American fleet. The 73-seat transport is configured for two classes of service: nine seats with 38-in. seat pitch in Executive Class and 64 seats with 34-in. pitch in Hospitality Class. The airplane will operate chiefly on transborder routes from Toronto to Washington-Reagan Airport, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston and Newark-Liberty; and from Montreal to New York LaGuardia, Chicago and Toronto. Embraer is scheduled to deliver 15 airplanes to the airline by December.
Douglas Carr has been promoted to vice president-safety and regulation from director of regulatory affairs and Linda Peters to vice president-exhibit services from director for the Washington-based National Business Aviation Assn. Other recent promotions are: Suzanne Cole to director of regional forums and static displays; Amy Freed to director of publications; Jeffrey Gilley to director of airports and ground infrastructure; Mike Nichols to director of tax, economics and operational services; and Jason Wolf to director of internet communications.
NASA is preparing a February 2006 launch for a set of three hatbox-size satellites designed to help prove swarms of scientific micro-sats can be built and controlled practically, allowing researchers to take in situ data simultaneously over vast distances for better understanding of large-scale phenomena.
Iran's decision to resume uranium enrichment could complicate NASA's efforts to keep its astronauts on the International Space Station. Although Iran's actions have been anything but surreptitious, taking place as they have under the gaze of U.N. surveillance cameras, the resulting confrontation with the West means efforts to amend the Iran Non-proliferation Act (INA) so NASA can buy Russian space goods and services will take place in an atmosphere of fear and suspicion.
French-based Spot Image has given ImageOne of Japan an exclusive license to distribute data from the Taiwanese 2-meter-resolution imaging satellite, Formosat-2, for the Japanese market. Spot has global rights for the distribution of imagery from Formosat-2 (formerly Rocsat-2).
Pakistan has conducted the first test of its 500-km.-range Hatf VII Babur ground-launched cruise missile. The terrain-following weapon can carry a conventional or nuclear warhead, according to Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. He described the system as indigenously designed, although Pakistan has relied on foreign assistance for some of its missile projects, with China as a key provider.
The number of additional exit doors for the Boeing 737-900ER was misstated (AW&ST July 25, p. 40; Aug. 1, p. 37). There are a total of 10, two more than for 737-800/900s and four more than for 737-600/700s.
Allen Plotkin (see photo), a professor at San Diego State University, has been selected to receive the 2005 John Leland Atwood Award. The award is co-sponsored by the Aerospace Div. of the American Society of Engineering Education and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and honors contributions to aerospace engineering education.
Volga-Dnepr has completed the first flight of an upgraded Ilyushin Il-76 transport with 32,000-lb.-thrust Perm Engine Co. PS-90A-76 turbofans. The aircraft also is fitted with new avionics.
French interior ministry officials last week cleared their remaining 10 Bombardier CL-415 amphibians to resume flight operations after they were halted following an Aug. 1 crash during a firefighting mission near Calvi, Corsica. The investigation is continuing into the cause of the CL-415 break-up after dropping its 1,412 gal. of water and fire retardant.
The Experimental Aircraft Assn.'s AirVenture 2005 will be a tough act to follow next year. EAA's recent event at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wis., drew about 700,000 people and 10,000 aircraft.
