Orbital Recovery Ltd. has OK'd the start of preliminary design and a full-blown marketing campaign for the ConeXpress, a robotic space tug for rescuing stranded telecom satellites. Full-scale development could start in September, and discussions have already opened with several satellite operators. The first tug is tentatively set for launch in 2007 on an Ariane 5 booster.
Jeffry Frisby and John Brasch have been named heads of Triumph Aerospace Systems Group and Triumph Aftermarket Services Group, respectively. They are divisions of Wayne, Pa.-based Triumph Group Inc. Richard Wisniewski, who has been president of Triumph Air Repair of Phoenix, will become president of Phoenix-based Triumph Engineered Solutions Inc. He has been succeeded by Michael Hansen, who has been president of Triumph Accessory Services, Wellington, Kan.
Rick Pelc has become senior director of the hub at Washington Dulles International Airport of Independence Air. He was station director at the Philadelphia International Airport hub of US Airways and has been succeeded by Frank Cortez.
Job cuts at BAE Systems and its subcontractors' military aircraft workforce were announced late last week. This year and next, the company said, about 1,000 jobs would be eliminated in Warton and Salmesbury, England. The work involves the Joint Strike Fighter, Eurofighter Typhoon and Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft. The previous week, the defense contractor announced cuts at its shipyards.
Bangkok will be the first destination for Singapore's new discount carrier, Valuair, which expects to start operations in early May. Valuair plans to offer twice-daily services using a leased Airbus A320 in a 162-seat configuration. Executive Director Jimmy Lau said the Thai capital is popular with Singaporeans. He's right: 10 network carriers fly the route, plus another discounter, Thailand Air Asia. Valuair will undercut network fares by 40-50%, Lau said, but its tickets will still be an average 15% higher than the best restricted fare of regional discounters.
USAF Maj. Gen. Henry A. Obering, 3rd, has been named to take over the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency at the three-star rank. He replaces USAF Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish, for whom he worked as a deputy.
The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation has issued its first license for a suborbital manned rocket to Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites, clearing the way for the Mojave, Calif.-based company to bid for the $10 million X-prize this year.
TRANSPORT CANADA HAS ISSUED type approval under Chapter 525, Change 6, for the Bombardier Aerospace Global 5000 intercontinental business jet. Plans call for the airplane to enter service in the fourth quarter of this year following delivery to customers beginning in the second quarter. FAA certification would be to FAR Part 25, Amendment 97; and JAA under JAR Part 25, Change 14.
French President Jacques Chirac was shown Russia's Titov military space control center in Krasnoznamensk last week, becoming the first Western leader to stop by the top-secret facility. The visit, reportedly accompanied by a briefing on the latest ICBM developments, was obviously designed to show France's privileged relations with Moscow, which sided with Paris on the Iraq war.
Prime Minister Tony Blair said the political agenda calls for swift action on a national identity card in the U.K. Blair's comment came after eight British Muslims were arrested for questioning on suspicion of being involved in the "commission, preparation or instigation of terrorist acts." The suspects were arrested in raids on 24 homes and businesses by 700 police on Mar. 30, the largest such raid since Sept. 11, 2001, in Britain.
The three elements of Europe's first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV)--propulsion module, avionics bay and integrated cargo carrier--have been linked electrically and are undergoing integrated testing at the EADS Space Transportation facility in Bremen, Germany. The first flight ATV, dubbed the Jules Verne, is scheduled for transfer to the ESA technical center at Noordwijk, the Netherlands, later this spring for environmental testing pending a 2005 launch.
Gerald Mack has been named chairman of the Civil Aviation Council of the Washington-based Aerospace Industries Assn. He is vice president-government/industry technical liaison for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Other councils and their officers for the next year are: *Communications Council--chairman, Lee J. Whitney, vice president-strategy and marketing communications for the Lockheed Martin Corp.; and vice chair, Rosanne O'Brien, corporate vice president-communications for the Northrop Grumman Corp.
In a state visit to France, Queen Elizabeth II knighted Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard for "his outstanding contribution to the civil aerospace industry." The honor, which is only rarely bestowed on non-British nationals, and even more rarely on industry officials, was announced during ceremonies marking the 100th anniversary of the Entente Cordiale, and was construed as an effort to help patch relations soured by the diverging views of the two countries on the Iraq war.
U.S. war plans for the Korean peninsula are being rewritten to better reflect new and more capable equipment the U.S. and its South Korean ally are fielding. The U.S. military's presence here has changed significantly with the introduction of more advanced systems. Before the influx of AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters, GPS-guided bombs, Shadow-200 unmanned aircraft and Patriot PAC-3 ballistic missile interceptors, plans called for the U.S. to fight largely a holding battle until the arrival of reinforcements.
ECLIPSE AVIATION CORP., which is developing the lightweight, twin-engine Eclipse 500 jet, has signed contracts with California-based Ducommun AeroStructures and Enaer in Santiago, Chile. Ducommun would manufacture the outer panels for the fuselage and cockpit, and Enaer would be responsible for building the airplane's nose section. The contracts call for Ducommun to supply panels this year for pre-production aircraft followed by an increase in manufacturing rate to support production of the Eclipse beginning in 2006.
Two weeks after testifying to Congress about an increase in revenue diversions at airports, the FAA's Inspector General said San Francisco diverted $12.5 million from Fiscal 1998 to 2002. It labeled eight city departments not associated with the airport as recipients of the funds and recommended the FAA seek refunds, plus interest. The FAA is awaiting reports from the city to confirm the amount. The IG said diversion is an ongoing problem, but the FAA said it lacks the resources to keep on top of it.
I have read article after article focused on NASA's efforts to return the shuttle to flight status. We're developing ways to inspect and even repair damaged tiles in orbit with these efforts. Fantastic stuff, let's get it done. But why can't we use some of this inventiveness to save the Hubble instead of de-orbiting it in a way that will kill the least number of fish? Couldn't we design a booster and guidance package to capture the Hubble with remote control arms/clamps, and then boost it out to an orbit where it will orbit in formation with the ISS?
The leasing of Boeing KC-767 tankers is no longer a realistic option for the Air Force, says a senior service official. "The lease is out," said a participant in informal Air Force/industry consultations. "It's a four-letter word on Capitol Hill."
The U.S. Air Force is mulling a reorganization of its major commands to better align itself with the Pentagon's powerful Strategic Command, whose responsibilities include global strike and reconnaissance, says Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Most of the systems the Air Force would provide to Stratcom now fall under 8th Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale AFB, La. The new organization, Air Force Strategic Command (or AFStrat), would take over much of 8th Air Force's responsibilities.
Airservices Australia has awarded Thales a contract to supply a nationwide network of 57 AS 680 automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) ground stations. ADS-B supplies GPS, altitude and speed data to air traffic controllers, allowing radar-like separation in airspace that is devoid of radar coverage.
Attempts to jam or disable U.S. national security and commercial satellites during the last few years have vaulted "space control" to the forefront of military space leaders' priorities. Ten years ago, space commanders refused to openly discuss space control, because it was a politically sensitive issue, and even mentioning it in public was considered potentially career-limiting.
An article on labor relations at Southwest Airlines (AW&ST Apr. 5, p. 51) contained a comment about flight attendants that it said were "reportedly made by" CEO James Parker. He denies ever making such a statement.
CAE will lay off 300 workers, including 250 at its facilities in Montreal, after losing a bid to provide simulation equipment for the Canadian CF-18 fighter fleet. The remaining 50 workers will be dismissed from various facilities worldwide, according to the company. The $240-million contract was won by Bombardier and L-3 Communications and covers construction of new pilot training facilities in Alberta and Quebec. The simulator portion of the contract is worth about C$140 million ($106 million), according to a CAE official.
Qantas is planning a major investment in a Singapore-based low-fare startup. The carrier will operate leased Boeing 737-800s or Airbus A320s to Asian destinations. CEO Geoff Dixon said Qantas will hold a 49.9% share with the rest split among Singapore government's investment arm, Temasek Holdings, and two Singapore businessmen, Tony Chew and F.F. Wong. Startup is aimed for year-end. It will be Qantas' second discount carrier; its Australia-based Jetstar is to begin services May 25. Two other discounters have announced plans for Singapore.
