Where's the "vision" in President Bush's space plan? Getting humans into space on a full-time basis means involving not only the public but also industry. A concerted effort to mine the asteroid belt would provide a new source for many of Earth's depleted resources (and possibly a few new ones), provide an opportunity to ease the burden on the environment and, at the same time, make a profit.
Industry teams led by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin are awaiting a contract award expected in June for a next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system that is anticipated to be worth about $2.5 billion. Called the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), the network is to replace the U.S. Navy's Ultra High Frequency Follow-on (UFO) system. The contract will be awarded by the Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command of San Diego, but will serve all U.S. forces and allies.
Astronomers pushing the Hubble Space Telescope and 10-meter ground-based Keck telescopes in Hawaii to their limits have detected what they believe is the most distant object ever observed, a tiny galaxy that was spewing out new stars 13 billion years ago when it generated the light now reaching Earth. Even with the Hubble and Keck's capabilities, observers were able to see only the ancient galaxy because the massive Abell 2218 cluster created a gravitational lens that magnified its light some 25 times.
Gary Hamme has been named vice president-marketing and enrollment management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla. He was vice president-enrollment management at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.
Two key British Defense Ministry bodies will need to work more closely together if the government is to contain costs of purchasing and supporting big-ticket military programs, said a top U.K. official. The Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) has traditionally overseen the definition of equipment requirements and acquisition of systems to meet these. The Defense Logistics Organization (DLO), meanwhile, has been responsible for support and development of equipment once it has been accepted into service by the armed forces.
Tom Williams has been appointed vice president-procurement of Airbus and a member of the executive committee. He succeeds Ray Wilson, who has retired. Williams was managing director of Airbus U.K. and will be succeeded by Iain Gray.
Separately, Dassault announced a modest drop in consolidated net earnings last year, to 295 million euros ($371.7 million), down from 312 million euros in 2002. Sales dropped slightly to 3.3 billion euros, but orders plummeted by nearly a third to 2.4 billion euros, chiefly due to soft business jet demand and a delay in the scheduled purchase of a new batch of Rafales by France. Chairman/CEO Charles Edelstenne forecast a probable rebound in sales and orders this year. Business jet production has increased to five units from four per month.
In All Nippon Airways' battle with rival Japan Airlines for the lucrative China market, ANA has signed a code-sharing agreement with the capital city's home-town carrier, Air China, that includes trades on airport lounges and mileage programs. ANA operates about 100 flights a week to seven Chinese cities; Beijing-based Air China serves six Japanese destinations with 74 flights a week.
Aerojet has been awarded a $1.8-million contract for first-phase work on computational capability improvements in advanced technology upper-stage engines for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The contract has a long-term potential value of $46.8 million.
NASA's top-end estimate for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) planned under President Bush's exploration agenda is $15 billion, according to Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Science Committee, who says he got the figure from NASA Comptroller Steve Isakowitz. Of that amount, $6.6 billion is already in the five-year budget request for Fiscal 2005, but it doesn't include a heavy-lift launcher to put the CEV in orbit (AW&ST Feb. 9, p. 28).
Boeing has shipped to suppliers the first half of the Catia designs for its 777-200LR competitor to the Airbus A340-500. They will use the software to design parts and components that are unique to the aircraft. The next milestone will be the 90% design completion, which typically signals when parts manufacturing can begin. Aircraft production is to start in October and flight testing in the first quarter of 2005. The 301-seat-200LR will be powered by the GE90-110B, a variant of the powerplant on its long-range cousin, the 777-300ER.
Mark Hughes has been named to a two-year term as chairman of the Arlington, Va.-based Government Electronics and Information Technology Assn. He is president of the Science Applications International Corp.'s System and Network Solutions Group, McLean, Va.
Italian Army Gen. Rolando Mosca Moschini has been named chief of the European Military Staff in Brussels. He has been chief of the Italian Defense Staff. He will be succeeded by Adm. Giampaolo Di Paola, who has been chief of procurement for the Italian Ministry of Defense. Di Paola, in turn, will be succeeded by Army Lt. Gen. Gianni Botondi.
Japan will spend $601.6 million in its fiscal 2004 space budget to develop and assemble two replacement reconnaissance satellites for those lost in an H-IIA launch failure. It's also putting $70 million into satellite and launch vehicle failure analysis.
Willy Schnyder has been named vice president of marketing and sales for Switzerland for Swiss International Air Lines. He succeeds Stefan Gutknecht, who will become vice president for the Swiss/French/German border region.
Despite an emerging traffic recovery, French independent airlines are falling into ruin. The spectacular decline signals the end of outmoded strategies on short-haul routes while confirming the clout of high-speed trains as well as the aggressive growth of low-cost carriers.
With the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) effort to replace many of its fixed-wing aircraft gaining steam, Lockheed Martin has devised a low-observable, multirole aircraft that could also serve as a clandestine tanker for stealth F/A-22s, F-35s and B-2s.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it the shuttle that flew more than 100 missions, including launching Hubble and other far less notable satellites into orbit? And during most of that time, there wasn't an International Space Station--that now half-built, undermanned, indispensible lifeboat? And that today, after those 100-plus missions, we can no longer service the greatest scientific instrument of all time, the Hubble Space Telescope, because going there isn't safe?
A French investigation team is trying to determine causes for a near-miss over northern France on Feb. 18 that involved KLM and Swiss International Air Lines aircraft. A TCAS warning enabled Swiss Flight 17, en route to Zurich from New York, to take evasive action, a Swiss official said.
US Airways and Lufthansa intend to launch code-share service Mar. 26 under an agreement authorized Oct. 16 by the U.S. Transportation Dept. Lufthansa will place passengers in 114 markets beyond Charlotte, N.C., in the U.S., Canada, Central America and the Caribbean on flights operated by US Airways and affiliates Allegheny, Piedmont and PSA Airlines. US Airways passengers will be able to fly Lufthansa beyond Munich to Lisbon and Ankara, and beyond Frankfurt to Munich, Warsaw, Zurich, Vienna, Bucharest, Lisbon and Ankara.
CESSNA AIRCRAFT CO. WILL ASSEMBLE its Citation Mustang business jet at the Independence, Kan., facility that's home to production of the company's single-engine, piston-powered airplanes. President Jack J. Pelton said wings for the entry-level jet will be built at Cessna's Columbus, Ga., facility. Although Wichita was considered, Cessna needs that facility to accommodate production of other new business jets including the Citation CJ3 and the Sovereign.
RAYTHEON AIRCRAFT CO. AND NETJETS have signed a 10-year maintenance contract covering the Hawker 1000, 800XP and 400XP business jets used in NetJet's fractional ownership program. Heavy maintenance for the Hawker 1000 and 800XP will be accomplished at Raytheon's Little Rock, Ark., facility, while the company's Tampa Beach, Fla., site will handle work on the smaller 400XP. Since December 2003, NetJets has placed orders for 50 Hawker 400XP and 10 800XP jets. Deliveries of the 400XP begin this year and will continue through 2009, according to Raytheon.
The Pentagon's two main unmanned combat air vehicle efforts are beginning to find direction after the shotgun marriage of programs meant to satisfy disparate U.S. Air Force and Navy requirements.
