Telesat Canada and Hughes Space and Communications Co. have reached agreement on an order for another Hughes 702 spacecraft, called Anik F2. The satellite is scheduled to be launched in late 2002 to an orbital position of 111.1 deg. W. Long. It will join Anik F1, Telesat's first HS 702 spacecraft, which is scheduled for launch this summer. Telesat F2 is to provide fixed satellite services including Internet access and multimedia services across North America with 108 active transponders.
First-quarter operating earnings for major U.S. airlines continued the decline that started last year with the rise in fuel prices. The performances exceeded expectations of Wall Street analysts, however, causing a rally last week for airline stocks. Operating earnings for the first quarter are estimated to be about half of the $1.1-billion operating gain produced in the first quarter of 1999. ``Clearly fuel is the leading culprit,'' said David A. Swierenga, chief economist for the Air Transport Assn.
Italy's Finmeccanica/Alenia Aerospazio and EADS' founding members have agreed to form a joint venture to unify their military aircraft and aerostructure businesses. The European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. and Finmeccanica will own a 50% stake each in a joint subsidiary temporarily dubbed Joint Venture Co. (JVC). Italy's long-pondered decision to form an alliance with a major group nearly completes the European aerospace/defense industry's restructuring.
As a White House decision nears on missile defense deployment, arms control lobbyists charge that Europe and Asia alike regard U.S. fears of a North Korean missile attack on Hawaii or Alaska as preposterous. Under congressional pressure, the U.S. intelligence community altered its criteria for assessing rogue state missile threats solely to worst-case scenarios, overstating U.S. vulnerability, claims Spurgeon M. Keeny, Jr., head of the Arms Control Assn., a research advocacy think tank here.
An FAA-led team of independent engineers is completing a year-long study of the rudder control system installed in older Boeing 737s and plans to recommend a series of changes in June aimed at increasing system redundancy and preventing uncommanded rudder movements.
What started out as a promising year for Arianespace operations threatens to run into a repeat of events in 1998 and 1999 because of a generic glitch that could affect several satellites on the 2000 manifest. On Apr. 11, Arianespace said it had postponed the next launch of the new Ariane 5 heavy-lift booster, scheduled for May 23, because the Astra 2B satellite that will make up half of the payload cannot be delivered on time.
JSAT Corp. has named Ariane for a fourth time to launch one of its telecommunications satellites. JCSAT-8, a Hughes HS 601 due for launch late next year, will be launched by either an Ariane 4 or 5.
Since January, Fort Worth-based Galaxy Aerospace has delivered three of its super midsize cabin Galaxy business jets to customers and plans to deliver aircraft at a rate of two per month by this summer, according to Brian A. Barents, president and CEO. The company has orders for the twin-engine jet approaching $1 billion, he said.
The Jeddah-based Mouawad National Co. ordered an Airbus Corporate Jetliner scheduled to be delivered in August. It will be powered by International Aero Engines V2527 turbofans.
SILICON GRAPHICS INC. (SGI) WILL DEVELOP and install a turnkey visual system for an Israel Air Force F-15 flight and system trainer, for high-speed mission training, under a contract from Lockheed Martin. The geographic databases from current Israeli simulators do not use photo-realistic imagery of an actual region, but SGI will use satellite-derived photographic images of the desired areas. SGI will act as prime contractor for the visual system, with Multi-Gen-Paradigm's Vega and SEOS Displays Ltd. as major partners.
AirTran Airways plans to provide Boeing 717 service to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, one of the largest business travel markets, beginning June 10. The Orlando-based low-fare carrier plans four nonstop flights daily between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Chicago Midway with continuing, same-aircraft direct service to AirTran Airways' hub in Atlanta. Lowest advance-purchase, one-way fares range from $59-139.
Belgium is considering buying Lockheed Martin's Lantirn targeting pod for some of its F-16s. The foreign military sales deal being offered by the Pentagon is valued at $25 million.
Honeywell will supply parts and manage the depot maintenance supply chain for U.S. Air Force aircraft at three USAF sites. The initial two-year ``test'' contract is valued at $21 million. If successful, three one-year contract options could bring the value to more than $150 million. Under the agreement, Honeywell's Hardware Products Group will supply as many as 28,000 parts on a just-in-time basis to USAF's Warner Robins, Ga.; Oklahoma City, and Ogden, Utah, air logistics centers. Most of the parts are fasteners, rivets, seals and other fittings.
U.S. aerospace manufacturers experienced mixed first-quarter results as slowdowns in commercial transport deliveries were offset by strong business and regional aircraft sectors.
A joint commission formed by the Russian and Ukrainian partners in the international Sea Launch venture has completed its review of data received from the Mar. 12 launch failure from the system's floating platform. The full report was to be presented to the Sea Launch Failure Review Oversight Board in Moscow this week. Members of the commission include the directors of the Russian Space Agency, the Ukrainian National Space Agency and the presidents of Energia, Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash.
Brent Wisch (see photo) has been named director of sales and marketing for worldwide aerospace operations for the Eaton Corp., Irvine, Calif. He was director of business development and customer support for a subsidiary of General Electric Aircraft Engines.
Britax Aircraft Interior Systems recently began construction of its new multimillion-dollar production facility in Cwmbran, Wales. The 85,000-sq.-ft. Aircraft Seating Product Center is to be the company's only manufacturing site for aircraft seats, including premier- and first-class seats as well as ``flying beds.'' Completion of the center is set for October. It is scheduled to open in January 2001 and be fully operational in June 2001. According to Britax, the facility should employ up to 450 people on-site by the end of next year.
Tracy Cassil (see photos) has been promoted to senior vice president-international finance from vice president-international sales and Craig Ellington to vice president-investment control from Citation domestic sales manager for the Cessna Finance Corp., Wichita, Kan.
Air Canada is to install Megadata Corp.'s Passur Flight Tracking System at the airline's station operations control center at Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport. The integrated operations control and management system, used at airline dispatch and station control centers, allows a carrier to better predict aircraft ETAs. According to Megadata, this allows carriers to better manage connecting flights, reduce diversions and prepare ground crews for aircraft arrival--which ultimately provides improved customer service.
U.S. nuclear laboratories are finding it increasingly difficult to attract and keep critical physicists and computer scientists, thanks to new security regulations spawned by political embarrassment, the lure of information-technology riches and ``salami-sliced'' funding. Faced with daunting technical challenges associated with nuclear weapon ``stockpile stewardship,'' these and related issues have raised a potential eventuality: inadvertent unilateral nuclear disarmament.
The U.S. aerospace industry is facing a deepening problem--a crisis, in the opinion of some observers--that shows few signs of abating in the foreseeable future. Call it a brain drain, a hemorrhage of intellectual capital or an erosion of the brain trust: it all amounts to the same thing.
BAE Systems has warned that it would have to approve any plan to give Italy's Finmeccanica a 5% stake in Airbus. Members of the fledgling European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS) offered the Italian company the option of joining in the new Airbus Integrated Co. as part of their winning bid to create an aerostructures joint venture with Finmeccanica's Alenia subsidiary. But John Weston, chief executive of BAE Systems, which has a 20% stake in Airbus, said: ``They could not do that without our agreement.''
Jens Flottau has joined Aviation Week&Space Technology as a contributing editor covering all aspects of the aerospace industry. Flottau is based in Munich and will primarily cover Germany, but will have some editorial responsibilities in neighboring countries. He also is the European editor for Aviation Daily, an Aviation Week newsletter. Flottau will report to John D. Morrocco, the magazine's European Bureau Chief in London.
Placed between the south runway at Hong Kong's new international airport and the sea that surrounds it is an unusual sight in Asia--a fixed-base operator for executive jets.
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace has formed a fully owned subsidiary, Ewation, to group together its electronic warfare businesses, and established an alliance with Grintek System Technologies of Pretoria to jointly market EW products. The joint product line, to be marketed under the trademark MRCM (Monitoring, Reconnaissance and Countermeasures), will make the two companies a leading force in signal intelligence systems, with a combined work force of 500 employees and annual revenues of 125 million euros.
