Iridium Satellite is starting to talk to satellite manufacturers about replacements for its constellation of 66 low-Earth-orbit communications satellites. Iridium Chairman/CEO Carmen Lloyd says several options are under consideration, including easing costs by selling space for secondary payloads on the new spacecraft. Motorola and Iridium's other original owners paid more than $5 billion to build the worldwide cell-phone system in the sky, which quickly went bankrupt.
The main camera for NASA's planned mission to Pluto is ready for integration into the spacecraft taking shape at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. delivered the instrument, dubbed Ralph (after the character in "The Honeymooners" TV sitcom), where it will join the "Alice" ultraviolet camera already installed on the New Horizons probe.
Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) has started work on a new type of mobile-service satellite that will use the 2-GHz. frequency and terrestrial repeaters to provide voice and data communications across the U.S., as well as monitoring and messaging services. SS/L says it has completed design review of the TerreStar-1 satellite it's under contract to build for TerreStar Networks Inc. of McLean, Va. With that milestone, the project moves into the construction phase. Plans call for delivery of the geostationary satellite in 2007.
Luke J. Gill has been named executive vice president for aerospace and Air Force initiatives at the Thomas Group Inc., Irving, Tex. He was head of maintenance and logistics solutions for the Joint Strike Fighter program at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. in Fort Worth.
Government officials from Japan and the U.S. are talking about joint civil-military use of Yokota AB northwest of Tokyo in an attempt to relieve congestion at Narita and Haneda airports. Tokyo Mayor Shintaro Ishihara has been championing the concept since the early 1990s and the two governments have been discussing the idea since 2003. Last year, Japan asked the U.S. Air Force to return to local oversight jurisdiction for air traffic control around Yokota and has stepped up talks about civilian use.
The Greek government is evaluating bids for the privatization of flag carrier Olympic Airlines. Greece's Aegean Airlines, a consortium called Olympic Investors and the Netherlands-based investment company Sure Estate are among concerns still in the running.
Boeing regards driving down aircraft operating costs as a survival issue for airlines, so its 787 design relies on advanced materials to extend maintenance intervals and new systems to improve reliability. The goal is to reduce total maintenance costs 9% and lifecycle costs of airframe and systems 5-6%, says Justin Hale, deputy chief mechanic for the 787 development program. "We can't continue to see this industry struggle," he says, referring to airlines' performance in the last few years.
Ophir Optronics' BA500 industrial laser beam analyzer system monitors pulsed industrial Nd: YAG and Diode lasers for a range of parameters that ensure reproducible laser cutting/welding process results, according to the company. The BA500 measures average power, energy-per-pulse and spatial and temporal beam profiles. These can be recorded in digital form for storage and analysis. The BA500 shows the intensity profile of the beam in real time and allows users to adjust the laser resonator and beam-delivery optical system.
Pentagon procurement chief Michael Wynne says the massive Army Future Combat System (FCS) is likely to become a "multinational development program of some variety." The $99-billion program will provide the Army with a network of modernized vehicles and aircraft. Wynne says details are not yet ironed out because the Army is refining its strategy, but the Pentagon is interested in meshing requirements with those of allies and, possibly, sourcing some technology from abroad.
A new full-authority digital electronic control developed by Honeywell flew for the first time in Aermacchi's M-346 advanced trainer on an International Turbine Engine Corp. F124-GA-200 earlier this month. The Fadec uses Honeywell's modular aerospace control technology with a time-triggered protocol for inter-module communications. The result is improved data flow.
Write-offs and multimillion-euro restructuring plans may be ways for major European aerospace and defense companies to deal with steep euro-dollar exchange rates, but are not an option for many suppliers. In companies with revenues in the millions, not billions, the choice is often more stark: accept it or exit the market.
Swiss International Air Lines CEO Christoph Franz is pushing to restructure the ailing carrier--even as it is becoming part of the financially sound Lufthansa group--and he hopes for strong synergies and acceptance into the Star Alliance.
It may not be a household name, but Aviall Corp. has been one of the stock market's hottest aviation plays. Shares in the Dallas-based company, which sells aircraft replacement parts made by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), have nearly doubled in price during the last year. The stock is up about 25% since Jan. 1, bolstered by the recent acquisition of exclusive aftermarket distribution rights to General Electric Co.'s widely used CF6-50 and CF6-80A aircraft engines. The deal ultimately could add $5 billion to Aviall's sales.
In the past three weeks, Cessna Aircraft Co. has received orders for 450 single-engine airplanes. Production in 2005 already is sold out and the new orders won't be filled until 2006, says Phil Michel, vice president of marketing. He attributes the surge in orders to growing demand for the Garmin G1000 glass-cockpit avionics suite available as an option in the Skyhawk, Skylane and Stationair. Last year, Cessna delivered 654 piston-powered airplanes. More than 90% were equipped with Garmin G1000 avionics.
Melbourne will become the first Australian airport to prepare for the Airbus A380. The $65-million expansion project will widen the north-south runway by 15 meters to accommodate the large transport. Plans call for the A380 to begin operating at Melbourne in June 2006.
John Casani, who is chief engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has been named to receive the Goddard Astronautics Award, one of the Aerospace Spotlight Awards, from the Reston, Va.-based American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. Other recipients are expected to be: Reed Aeronautics Award, Ralph Heath, executive vice president-aeronautics at the Lockheed Martin Corp. in Fort Worth; Public Service Award, USN. Adm. (ret.) Harold Gehman, Jr.; AIAA Distinguished Service Award, Michael S.
TSA started enforcing a ban on lighters within secure areas beyond airport checkpoints last week. TSA director David M. Stone says the ban adds another layer of protection and is necessary to mitigate risk. The Transpor- tation Dept. regards lighters as hazardous materials and prohibits their stowage in checked baggage.
ENHANCED AND SYNTHETIC VISION SYSTEMS are destined to merge on future flight decks, Rockwell Collins anticipates. Many avionics specialists are concerned about the visibility limitations of forward-looking infrared sensors. "You can't see through large-droplet fog or rain, so you look for other enhancements," says Tim Etherington, a principal systems engineer at Rockwell Collins' Advanced Technology Center.
When Gulf Air releases its 2004 financial results later this month, company officials say they will show the airline broke even and posted a slight profit. The carrier, owned by the sultanates of Oman, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, is completing a major three-year restructuring program under a mandate from the owners to transform it into a commercial success.
Troubled Italian airline Volare is trying to emerge from last year's bankruptcy filing through the efforts of a special administrator appointed to salvage the carrier. The state commissar has found new financing worth 14 million euros. A restructuring deadline has passed, but Volare officials expect to resume operations soon. Meanwhile, Italian investigators are continuing to review the carrier's financial problems.
Sally Bath Prill (Galveston, Tex., (Former Director, Office of Aerospace, U.S. Commerce Dept.))
Ronald Tiersky overlooks the fact that the U.S. government contracts with Boeing are for goods or services to defend the U.S. The monies transferred from the government to a company are based on competitive and negotiated contracts for those goods and services. The government is like any other customer except that it has the "right" to renegotiate those contracts at any time so the company does not make too much money from them.
Michael D. Griffin launched his tenure as NASA's 11th administrator on a fast track, using his "emergency" confirmation by the U.S. Senate to plug himself into space shuttle return-to-flight decision-making and urging faster development of the shuttle replacement.
LMI Technologies has introduced a series of single-point laser sensors that are well suited for thickness measurement, profiling positioning and other applications in most industries that require a sensor with a long stand-off and measurement range, according to the company. Using laser triangulation principles, the CCD-based DLS-2000 series incorporates automatic laser power control that compensates for changes in color and surface characteristics.
