After eight years in space, Japan's Astro-D ``Asuka'' X-ray satellite reentered Earth's atmosphere early this month near New Guinea. The spacecraft, which was launched in February 1993 and had a five-year design life, had become uncontrollable because of solar activity, according to the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science. Astro-E was intended to be a replacement, but it was lost last year when the ISAS/Nissan M-5 launch vehicle failed. As a result, a gap in Japan's X-ray observations will remain until launch of a replacement satellite, scheduled for 2004.
Sherry Nebel has been promoted to vice president-communications for Connexion by Boeing from company-wide director of media relations. She has been succeeded by John Dern, who was director of media relations for Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Boeing has won a contract from Eutelsat to supply an eBird satellite designed specifically for Internet access applications. Equipped with 20 Ku-band transponders connected to four spot beams, the satellite will use a Boeing 376 HP platform, which was misidentified in a previous issue (AW&ST Feb. 26, p. 41). The satellite is scheduled for launch in the second quarter of 2002. It is the first American spacecraft to be ordered by the inter-governmental organization.
PPG Industries' aerospace transparencies business has been awarded a contract from Embraer to design and manufacture cockpit windows for ERJ-170/190 regional jets.
Boeing has secured orders for more than 30-single-aisle transports from three customers, with deliveries of the aircraft scheduled to continue through 2006. CIT Aerospace has ordered 20 next-generation 737-700s and five 757-300 aircraft, as well as taking options for five additional 757-300s. The leasing company is scheduled to receive the 757-300s during the spring of 2003 and spring of 2004, while the 737-700s are set for delivery during a three-year period beginning in March 2003. The value of the firm orders is more than $1.3 billion at list price.
Boeing has formed a business unit in St. Louis to offer new options for refueling aircraft, an attempt to cash in on the projected market for 400 military tankers over the next decade. Company officials said they will begin marketing a modified 767 later this year and could begin deliveries as early as 2003. They also see the possibility for sales of used 767s in the role. Candidate aircraft range from the 767-300ER to the 767-200. Boeing designers recently had even looked at a tanker version of the C-17 transport that has been bought by the U.S.
AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS modernized by Thales ATM are now in service in Egypt and Sri Lanka. The Cairo ATC center uses a Eurocat 2000, a control and monitoring system based on RCMS 98, and Oasys equipment for en route traffic and for terminal and approach control into Cairo. The Sri Lanka update includes a Eurocat en route control center equipped with ADS and controller-to-pilot data link communications (CPDLC). Thales already has installed ADS/CPDLC systems for Mauritius, Madagascar, Laos and South Africa.
If President George W. Bush's military policies are as much a departure as they seem, they will face high political hurdles, starting at the Pentagon. The ability of top military officers to ride out unwelcome initiatives by civilian leaders is a fixture of the Cold War Pentagon that has not lost its strength. Vice President Dick Cheney's unsuccessful attempt to kill the V-22 Osprey program when he was Defense secretary is a case in point--this year, Osprey is widely believed to be in jeopardy.
The airlines face an outpouring of intervention this year by the new 107th Congress, and lawmakers are adamant that the industry has only itself to blame. Just weeks into the 107th's first session, the passenger rights cause and antimerger protests are staples of the congressional committees that have jurisdiction over aviation. Anger at the airlines will only intensify if this summer's flight delays and cancellations scale the peaks crested a year ago.
Joseph T. Graf and John T. Kelly have been named Rockwell Collins Corporate Engineers of the Year. Graf, a senior electrical engineer, and Kelly, a senior systems engineer, work in the Government Systems unit of the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, company. Graf was recognized for work on digital signal processing solutions for a variety of projects. Kelly was cited for contributions to technical innovations applying GPS to survey, gun laying, wireless network systems and targeting markets.
The Mesa Air Group, parent of Mesa Airlines, and United Airlines have decided to extend the current Mesa/US Airways regional jet contract for two years, to Dec. 31, 2010. The agreement is contingent upon completion of the proposed merger between United and US Airways. According to the terms of the Mesa/US Airways pact, Mesa is ensured of operating a minimum of 32 regional jets, with an option for four more, under the current US Airways scope clause limitations.
Lisa Cherepon and Tricia A. Finch have become directors of marketing and sales for Chicago-based Indigo. Cherepon was director of hotel consulting services and hotel programs for American Express One, while Finch was sales manager for Boston Coach.
Rolls-Royce Chairman Sir Ralph Robins says his company is actively seeking alliances with other engine makers to expand its worldwide presence, including with European independents MTU, Fiat Avio and Volvo Aero, with which it is already partnered in numerous programs. ``We already have 40% of our workforce overseas, including 9,000 people in the U.S. We are a worldwide player, and the engine maker in Europe,'' Robins said, referring to recent overtures to European powerplant manufacturers from Snecma chief Jean-Paul Bechat.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware received three bids for assets of Trans World Airlines (TWA). AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, bid $500 million plus assumption of debts of all of TWA's assets, which includes $3.5 billion worth of aircraft leases. AMR was exempt from the cash deposit requirement because of its $200 million loan to TWA, which has been nearly exhausted. Jet Acquisitions Group of Phoenix planned to offer $889 million plus assumption of liabilities for all of TWA's assets, but as of 1:00 p.m. EST Mar.
Avcorp Industries will build main wing spar assemblies for the Citation Sovereign business jet under development by Cessna Aircraft Co. Plans call for Avcorp to fabricate detail parts for flight test airplanes to be built at Cessna's facilities in Wichita, Kan. Final assembly tooling would be transferred to Avcorp's Delta facility for wing spars used in production Sovereigns. In addition, Ebco Aerospace in Delta, British Columbia, will build the aft wing spar, titanium flap tracks and trailing edge under subcontract to Avcorp.
The Bush Administration has dropped the second shoe in its evolving policy toward Iraq, offering the prospect of changes to the sanctions that could aid Saddam Hussein's ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
Researchers are meeting at Mount Everest Base Camp this month to gather data for a computer system that would give early warning when long-duration space crews are heading into trouble from prolonged exposure to cosmic rays. Under a three-year, $638,000 grant from NASA's National Space Biomedical Research Institute, a team from Brown University and the University of Vermont will monitor radio transmissions from climbers to characterize subtle changes in speech that occur when the brain is oxygen-deprived.
Joanne Gabrynowicz has been named interim chair of space studies at the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences at the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks. She has been a professor and director of graduate studies for the department. Gabrynowicz succeeds Charles Wood, who has become director of education at Columbia University's Biosphere 2, Tucson, Ariz.
The Export-Import Bank may have to tone down its boast that it vigorously promotes commercial aircraft exports. Bush's budget recommendations include whacking about 25% from the bank's credit allowance, which Boeing depends on to counteract Airbus Industrie subsidies. An Exim official said the agency had received no details yet from the White House budget office on what the dollar impact would be, but aviation insiders are certain Boeing will find it harder to compete with its European rival if the rollback sticks.
A year ago, the aerospace power structure looked rattled by the birth of the dot.coms. Independent business-to-business Internet sites were challenging traditional supply lines for maintenance, repair and overhaul operators by promising to find, buy and sell aircraft parts and components with the click of a mouse. Soon airlines began saying they, too, would challenge the established order by creating their own Internet exchanges.
The first successful launch of an $800-million U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin Block 2 Milstar spacecraft positions a key element of the military's new ``information infrastructure'' to enable far more precision engagement by U.S. forces. The 10,000-lb. Milstar II is the single most complex, capable and expensive communications satellite ever launched by the U.S.
The U.S. Aerospace Industries Assn. will press the new Administration and Congress to make greater use of commercial acquisition practices through regulatory and legislative relief, building on major reforms enacted in the mid-1990s. Allied with other industry groups, the AIA proposes simplifying contract administration, extending for three years a 1996 law that eases solicitation procedures for commercial products and giving federal agencies more flexibility to lease aircraft. The AIA also will push to expand multiyear contracts to 10 years from 5.
Although the proposed amalgamation with US Airways is still under Justice Dept. review, United Airlines is preparing a marketing campaign touting the benefits of the merged mega-carrier. The campaign itself is still proprietary, but ``you have to plan for the eventuality of a go-ahead decision,'' said United spokeswoman Susana Leyva, adding that a formal integration transition team has been formed to deal with issues involving customer support, airport logistics and safety.
American Airlines canceled more than 120 flights Feb. 28 and Mar. 1 at JFK International Airport because of what an American official described as ``deliberate, illegal, and unwarranted'' work slowdown by mechanics at the station. Representatives of the airline and the Transport Workers Union, which represents mechanics, have been negotiating since October 2000. American has asked the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, for a temporary restraining order against the TWU to prevent further incidents.
