Aviation Week & Space Technology

PanAmSat was expected to join Intelsat in bidding for Paris-based Eutelsat, with the Paris-based satellite operator likely to attract merger deals worth about $3 billion from both U.S.-based companies. The U.S. bids are likely to intensify grumbling from Europe, and particularly France, where fears of a takeover have reached the "strategic threat" level (AW&ST Nov. 25, p. 26).

Europe's SES Astra deorbited its Astra 1K satellite in the South Pacific last week, after deciding a proposed commercial recovery was "not a viable option." Controllers brought the $250-million Alcatel Space satellite into the atmosphere at 9 p.m. EST Dec. 9. Debris fell in an area southeast of New Zealand that had been cleared by authorities, according to SES Astra.

Jean-Jacques Dordain, director of launchers at the European Space Agency, has been named the next director general of ESA by the agency's council of ministers. The 58-year-old rocket engineer and one-time French astronaut candidate will take office for a four-year term after the term of Director General Antonio Rodota expires on June 30, 2003.

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It has been asserted by U.S. analysts that Iraq has a number of long-range missiles and the equipment to produce and store weapons of mass destruction, but the question now for United Nations inspectors and coalition war planners is where to find them. Some of the chemical and biological manufacturing facilities are mobile and are constantly being shifted about on river barges and small groups of semi-tractor trailers to avoid detection. A number of Scud-type missiles are also on wheels.

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The latest test of the Pentagon's ground-based midcourse missile defense system failed Dec. 11 when the interceptor fired from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands didn't eject the exoatmospheric kill vehicle that intercepts the target. A similar failure occurred in a June 2000 test and was linked to a software problem with the booster. The Missile Defense Agency is developing two new boosters, which are slated to begin flight testing next year. The test failure ends a string of four intercepts.

The U.S. aerospace industry is experiencing a "creeping crisis" led by plummeting sales of civil aircraft and a "virtually disappearing" civil space sector that is creating long-term structural problems, according to the Aerospace Industries Assn.

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Appeals from top-level BAE management to the British government over difficulties on the Nimrod MRA4 maritime patrol aircraft appear to have fallen on deaf ears, with the company warning the stock market last week of further cost concerns with the struggling program. The company on Dec. 11 issued a terse statement warning of "substantial schedule and cost implications" with regard to the Nimrod MRA4 and the Astute submarine program. Its share price fell 20% immediately following the release of the statement.

Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Aquino was handed a setback last week when the country's supreme court told her government to return to the negotiating table to sort out the controversy surrounding Terminal 3 at Manila's Nonoy Aquino International Airport. Aquino's government had abrogated a contract favorable to Philippine Air Terminal Co. (AW&ST Nov. 18, p. 48).

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Korea Aerospace Industries/Lockheed Martin T-50 advanced trainer/light attack fighter flies at its operational altitude of 40,000 ft. on a recent test flight. Called the Golden Eagle, the T-50's maximum service ceiling is estimated at 48,500 ft., meaning climb is then limited to 100 ft./min. at full afterburner. The 40,000-ft. test included flutter, control and stability tests at Mach 0.6. The aircraft is powered by a General Electric F404-GE-102 engine derived from the F/A-18 (AW&ST Dec. 3, 2001, p. 58).

BAE Systems and Finmeccanica are attempting to hammer out a deal to set up a joint defense electronics company, dubbed--at least for the moment--EuroSystems, with the two companies also rekindling discussions over the future of Finmeccanica subsidiary Alenia Aeronautica. Finmeccanica Chairman Pier Francesco Guarguaglini and his BAE counterpart, Dick Evans, inked a letter of intent at the end of last month paving the way for the creation of a defense electronics joint venture.

Please refer to the Correspondence page.

Eurofighter has announced it was to restart flight testing of the Typhoon combat aircraft. Flight testing had been suspended in the wake of the loss of Development Aircraft 6 on Nov. 21.

Conflict in Iraq would likely highlight the National Imagery and Mapping Agency's shortage of imagery analysts. The intelligence agency's director, USAF Lt. Gen. (ret.) James Clapper, Jr., notes that if the balloon goes up in Iraq, NIMA will have to shift additional analysts to monitor that region, leaving other areas somewhat exposed. NIMA also is preparing for a possible war in other ways. The agency is setting up three Airborne Analysis Centers where it will combine signals and imagery intelligence collected from various sources to support military commanders.

Also, Engineering Sciences Book Awards, James R. Wertz of Microcosm Inc. and Wiley J. Larson of the U.S. Air Force Academy for "Space Mission Analysis and Design"; and Luigi Napolitano Book Award, Dr. Ramiro Iglesias, a Mexican cardiologist and author of "The Route Toward Cosmic Man."

Satellite and orbital analysis software maker Analytical Graphics Inc. and Overlook Systems Technologies Inc., a specialist in GPS performance issues, are partnering on software to increase the accuracy of GPS data. But the accuracy of its positioning data changes over time, depending on satellite location and signal quality. The two companies will use AGI's Satellite Tool Kit visualization and analytical software to evaluate the past, present and future accuracy and availability of GPS and other satellite navigation systems.

It is apparent from the coverage of the investigation into the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 (AW&ST Nov. 4, p. 47) that the corporate spin doctors are crafting a scapegoat.

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The Boeing Co. selected Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Navigation Systems Div. to provide refreshed technology and upgraded software for the warning and caution, and mission computer subsystems on its C-17A aircraft. In the development phase, the company will create new software test equipment and qualification units to be flight-tested by Boeing in the second quarter of 2004. The production phase will result in the creation of 43 shipsets of line replaceable equipment with deliveries to begin in early 2005. The potential value for both contract phases is $45 million.

Zhao Zhongying has become president of Hainan Airlines following the resignation of Li Weijian. Zhao has been president of China Xinhua Airlines, which was acquired by Hainan Airlines.

Next summer when Japan's MT-SAT satellite begins air traffic control and weather observations, the transport ministry plans to use its capabilities to tighten vertical and horizontal separation minima for aircraft flying in domestic airspace. Early in 2004 horizontal separation would be cut to 50 naut. mi. from 120. Vertical separation would decrease to 1,000 ft. from 2,000 ft. at altitudes below 29,000 ft., and 3,000 ft. from 4,000 ft. above 29,000 ft.

Manuel Guedes, who has been director of investor relations of Varig Brazilian Airlines, has become acting president. He succeeds Arnim Lore, who resigned.