India will send a package of European instruments into lunar orbit on its planned Chandrayaan-1 probe, under a new agreement between the Indian Space Research Organization and the European Space Agency (ESA). India's first scientific mission to the Moon is planned for launch as early as 2007 by a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. The 525-kg. (1,157-lb.) satellite is to be placed in 100-km. (62-mi.) polar orbit around the Moon, with a planned service life there of two years.
The good news from orbit is that a new load of electrolyte fluids helped kick-start the Russian Elektron oxygen generation system on board the International Space Station. The bad news is that the unit stopped working--again--less than 30 min. after it was restarted with the new fluid load. ISS Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev installed the electrolytes, which were delivered by the new Progress P-18 spacecraft that docked with the ISS June 18.
Telephonics Corp. has supplied four of its new transportable monopulse secondary surveillance radars (MSSRs) to China, along with one fixed-base unit, to meet rapidly growing air traffic demand.
The U.S. Army is scheduled to select the winner of its Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter competition late this month. Bell Helicopter Textron submitted a bid on June 24, offering a modified version of its commercial, single-engine Model 407 (see photo) for the program, which calls for up to 368 aircraft to be delivered during Fiscal 2006-11. The ARH would give the Army an aircraft capable of performing armed reconnaissance, troop insertion and light attack missions in day/night conditions and in poor visibility.
For good reason, the public has become cynical about CEOs. Many appear to see themselves principally as members of an executive elite--an increasingly mobile club whose members measure their pay and privileges against those of other CEOs. In the aerospace industry, Boeing's travails in the executive suite have served only to deepen this cynicism, with some executives pontificating about one set of standards of behavior while following another.
An order for six Boeing 767 freighter and passenger aircraft from Japan Airlines is giving an early indication to the life still left in the aging airframe. JAL, which has 37 767-200/300/300ERs in service and three 767-300ERs on order, will introduce three 767-300ER freighters beginning in April 2007 and take three 767-300ERs to supplement its midsize passenger fleet as it awaits first delivery of 30 787s in 2008.
Italy is starting to field upgraded Piaggio P.166s, but the scope of the program is still uncertain and the aircraft maker may end up trying to sell some of them on the used aircraft market.
Patrice Durand has become vice president/chief financial officer of the Paris-based Thales Group. He has been group vice CEO of the Credit Lyonnais group. Durand succeeds Ross McInnes, who has joined the PPR group.
Jana Denning has become research and development director for the Arlington, Va.-based Aerospace Industries Assn. She was a member of the staff of U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.).
President Bush is likely to find support on Capitol Hill when he asks Congress to amend the Iran Non-proliferation Act (INA) so NASA can buy or barter seats on Russia's Soyuz vehicles for its astronauts when the present arrangement expires next April. Otherwise, says Administrator Michael D. Griffin, U.S. visits to the International Space Station (ISS) will be limited to those times when the space shuttle is docked there.
Itschak Gat has been appointed CEO of the Israel-based Elisra Group. He was vice president at the Challenge Fund-Etgar and had been CEO of the Rafael-IMOD Weapons Development Authority.
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The European Union has inked aviation agreements with Australia and New Zealand, superseding bilateral deals that existed between EU members and the two countries. The council of ministers is expected to okay the arrangement. The move is part of a broader EU effort to supplant bilateral deals, after the European Court of Justice said such issues were under the jurisdiction of Brussels, not national capitals. The latest agreement allows airlines from EU members to operate from any union country to Australia and New Zealand.
French armaments agency DGA has outsourced maintenance and support services for the navy's new Dupuy de Lome intelligence vessel to Thales and CNN, an expert in offshore oil rigs and maritime transports. Part of a policy of increased reliance on outsourcing, particularly in maintenance, the five-year contract is intended to ensure the vessel remains operational up to 350 days a year.
Raytheon has installed the first dual-mode radar for Britain's Airborne Stand-Off Radar system. It is to be carried by a modified Bombardier Global Express aircraft designated the Sentinel R Mk.1. It is to simultaneously display radar imagery and moving target data while flying at high altitudes.
SUKHOI CIVIL AIRCRAFT AND THALES MADE THEIR AGREEMENT on avionics for the Russian Regional Jet official at the Paris air show. The accord was originally announced late last year. At Le Bourget, Thales President Denis Ranque and Sukhoi Holding CEO Mikhail Pogosyan signed a long-term, $120-million contract for the avionics suite to be installed on the 95-seat aircraft, which Pogosyan says is due for a first flight in 2007. The cockpit will employ the latest generation of avionics equipment developed by Thales, a leading supplier to Airbus.
Japan has postponed the initial launch of the Quasi-Zenith global positioning satellite system for a year. Originally, three satellites were to be launched in fiscal 2008-09, but the government hasn't decided which ministry--education or public management--will administer the program. The 170-billion-yen ($1.55-billion) government-industry partnership aims to provide Japan with its first indigenously developed GPS system. The current plan calls for the government to cover 90 billion yen of the development program, with the New Satellite Business Corp. paying the rest.
Indianapolis International Airport has reduced landing fees 14%, citing financial concerns of its signatory airlines and its own positive revenue estimates. Effective July 1, fees declined to $1.68 per 1,000 lb. of certified gross landing weight from $1.95. At the new rates, the landing of a Boeing 737 at 143,000 lb. costs $2,402.40 in fees, down from $2,788.50. Officials say the airport's passenger volume increased 9% in 2004 and growth is continuing.
Smiths Detection is tightening its relationship with Washington-based investment house Paladin Capital, which boasts among its senior management former NSA and CIA bosses and specializes in technologies applicable to the homeland security environment. The relationship with Paladin will provide Smiths Detection with an "early heads-up" on promising developments. The diversified engineering group is pushing a multi-strand approach to the homeland security market, mixing technology-driven acquisition with in-house development, and the tie-up with Paladin.
Brenda Seaman has been promoted to assistant manager of the Atlanta Learning Center of FlightSafety International from manager for regional marketing. She succeeds Dave Davenport, who has been promoted to manager of the Savannah (Ga.) Learning Center.
Philip Duke has been appointed McLean, Va.-based managing director of the Aerospace & Defense Risk Advisory practice of KPMG. He was a consultant on the aerospace and defense industries for the Accenture Corp. and a corporate executive vice president for the Lockheed Martin Corp.
The British Defense Ministry and industry appear to be edging closer on the cost of the Royal Navy's two next- generation aircraft carriers. The so-called 100-day plan program review--which the ministry will not publish--is understood to reflect some movement on pricing. The ministry had outlined costs in the order of 3 billion pounds ($5.4 billion), while industry priced the two ships around 4 billion pounds. Industry sources suggest the review identifies a cost of 3.5 billion pounds.
SpaceX has shifted the sequence of the first two flights planned for its Falcon I launch vehicle because of access issues at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Instead of attempting the inaugural Falcon I flight from there with the Naval Research Laboratory's TacSat-1 as a payload, the privately funded company will launch a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency payload from Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. That flight, tentatively set for late September, will be followed by the TacSat mission from Vandenberg later in the year, says the company.
