Astrium plans to create a new company, Infoterra, to commercialize satellite images beginning early next year. It will include units in the U.K., formed from the English National Remote Sensing Center, and Germany. Initial annual revenues are projected to about 20 million euros ($18 million), increasing to several hundred million euros within a decade. In 2005, plans call for launching two satellites with 1-meter resolution radar operating in the X- and L-bands, which should further increase revenues.
The Army has mismanaged its kinetic-energy anti-satellite program, congressional auditors say. Prompted by Sen. Robert Smith (R-N.H.), one of the program's staunchest supporters, the General Accounting Office found that the program, designed to lead to a capability to destroy satellites in low-Earth orbit, is ``in a state of disarray.'' The GAO notes that, after multiple management changes, the program has been left without dedicated staff and technical support. There was a little good news: Though documents were badly kept, funds went where they were supposed to.
Wang Chang Shun has been appointed president of China Southern Airlines. He succeeds Yan Zhi Qing, who has been named president of the Southern Airlines Group. Wang was vice president of Xinjiang Airlines and vice director-general of the Urumqi Provincial Administration of the Civil Aviation Authority of China.
NASA's Glenn Research Center is leading the agency's ``TCP/IP in Space'' initiative to use Internet protocol to control experiments and operations on spacecraft. Security is a key issue, and a system was successfully demonstrated recently at the Johnson Space Center. It took commands over the Internet from remote operators at various locations, processed them at Veridian's Secure Mission Operations Control Center at Johnson, sent them to a TDRS satellite, which forwarded them to a satellite simulator also at Johnson.
Republican transition advisers say vice presidential candidate Richard Cheney and the probable Defense secretary appointee, former Sen. Dan Coats (Ind.), are creating a fast track for the appointment of Gen. Jim Jones to be the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from the Marine Corps. The Air Force is pushing the appointment of Gen. Ralph Eberhart, the current Space Command chief, as vice chairman. Gen. John Jumper, Cheney's military adviser during the Persian Gulf war, tops the list to become Air Force chief of staff in June, succeeding Gen. Michael E. Ryan.
United Airlines restarted direct negotiations last week with a team from District 141M of the International Assn. of Machinists (IAM) that represents the airline's 15,000 mechanics. The news is good for management, whose relations with its various labor groups has been strained of late. On Tuesday, Dec. 5, the airline reported 58 ``maintenance-related'' cancellations out of 2,270 scheduled flights, ``a higher than usual level,'' according to a company spokesman. United Chief Operating Officer Andy Studdert will lead the talks for the airline.
Canada 3000 Airlines, a scheduled and charter operator, may begin polar routes to India as early as October 2001, which will dramatically cut travel time between North America and India. The carrier recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Russia to upgrade Russian radars in exchange for overflight privileges, according to Angus Kinnear, president of the Toronto-based carrier, which offers affordable, full-service leisure travel. With polar routing, the airlines' Vancouver-Delhi flight of 19 hr. 50 min., for instance, would be cut to 14 hr. 15 min.
Duty time for airline pilots is limited to 16 hr. per day, regardless of delays caused by weather, mechanical problems or air traffic control. Such was the gist of a recent ruling by the FAA that was long sought by pilot groups. Existing rules limit flight time per duty period on domestic routes to 8 hr., but a long-standing exception based on ``circumstances beyond the control of the carrier'' often keeps pilots on duty for longer periods. The new regulations require pilots and airlines to monitor delays to avoid duty time interference with scheduled rest periods.
NASA has put all of its Mars sample return (MSR) mission options back on the table and plans to conduct an extensive engineering analysis over the next 1.5 years to select the best combination of new technology and operational techniques. The space agency's goal is to make those decisions in time for a validation mission during the 2007 launch opportunity. And if all works according to plan, the systems and operations used during the 2007 mission would be mirrored in a sample return mission expected as early as 2011.
Kip L. Hansen has been named vice president-government relations and Robert C. Atwell vice president-U.S. Army programs for DRS Technologies Inc., Parsippany, N.J. Hanson was director of congressional relations for Raytheon, while Atwell was director of the RTM322 program at Rolls-Royce North America Inc.
British Airways franchisee British Mediterranean Airways will acquire two Airbus A321-200s to be used on nonstop scheduled services between London and Tehran. At 2,380 naut. mi., the service will represent the longest route yet for this size of Airbus aircraft.
Speaking of Asian connections, China Southern Airline reports that its partnership with an Australian dot.com investment company, Et-china.com Investments Pty. Ltd., has gained fast acceptance in e-business-hungry China. After 10 months, the Et-china.com travel Web site has 130 international and multinational commercial customers developed within China. Corporate clients account for 80% of its revenues.
The International Air Transport Assn. says it is not giving up on the idea of a .travel domain on the Internet. The Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers recently agreed to seven new domain suffixes, such as .com and .org. Included was the .aero sought by SITA, but ICANN passed by IATA's .travel application. IATA's application, one of 37 that ICANN turned down, is supported by some travel agent, hotel and rail industry groups.
Micro Plastics' ribbon clip is a one-piece clip molded in tough nonconductive nylon. It is designed to allow for quick positive clamping of flat cable up to 50 conductors wide, without the need for securing the clip to a board or chassis. The clip is releasable and reusable and will not cut or abrade cable, according to the company. Samples and a catalog are available on request. Micro Plastics Inc., Customer Service Dept., Highway 178 North, Flippin, Ark. 72634.
A mission underway at the European Space Agency will mark Europe's entry into the Mars exploration effort while pushing the boundaries of Martian science and technology to new limits.
Core Software Technology (coresw.com) has created a do-it-all software package for the satellite imagery business. TerraSoft Workflow both produces the desired images and conducts the e-commerce business side, including ordering, payment, shipping and tracking sales. ImageSat International is installing TerraSoft Workflow to sell images from its high-resolution satellite program. Core has its own ImageNet.com service to provide geospatial data.
Mark Shufflebotham has been appointed president of the Atech Turbine Components Div. and Gal David Rosenberg program manager for Europe, Africa and the Middle East for Bearing Inspection Inc. of Los Angeles.
Philip A. Teel (see photo) has been appointed vice president-airborne early warning and electronic warfare systems of the Northrop Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems Sector of Dallas. He succeeds Paul Coco, who is retiring. John Young, currently vice president/integrated product team leader for electronic warfare programs, will be deputy business area leader. Teel was sector vice president-materiel. Martin Dandridge, sector executive vice president, will be Teel's interim successor. Lance G.
Upgrade of the AIM-9M-9 Sidewinder short-range missile has been completed by the missiles division of the Space and Special Systems Management Directorate at Robins AFB, Ga. The upgrade provides the weapon with improved counter-counter-measures capability to discriminate between defensive flares and the engine exhaust of targets. The program delivered 6,600 of the modified missiles to U.S. forces at 84 locations worldwide.
Bryan Barlow has been named vice president-business development for Caratron Industries, Warren, Mich. He was director of sales and marketing for ACR Industries Inc.
Sandra J. Wright has become vice president/controller of Litton Industries, Woodland Hills, Calif. She succeeds Carol A. Wiesner, who has announced her retirement. Wright was staff vice president-financial planning and operations.
Joergen Lindegaard has been appointed to succeed Jan Stenberg as president/CEO of Scandinavian Airlines System on June 1 when Stenberg plans to leave. Lindegaard is president/CEO of the Danish company GN Store Nord.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co.'s Joint Strike Fighter team has developed fabrication and assembly methods designed to reduce assembly span to five months for production aircraft. The team has demonstrated the ability to assemble large, separate subassemblies quickly. Using laser alignment, the wing carry-through and center fuselage can be mated in only 14 min., and joining these assemblies to the aft fuselage requires 16 min., according to airframe team lead Martin J. McLaughlin.
President Clinton's executive order establishing an Air Navigation Service Organization (ANSO) last week was not completely unexpected. When it reauthorized the FAA's budget this year, Congress set the course toward a performance-based organization to manage the air traffic control (ATC) system and related programs (see p. 32). It also has been a high priority of FAA Administrator Jane Garvey.
