GPS 2A global positioning system spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral into a 10,993 X 100-naut.-mi. transfer orbit inclined 35 deg. on Nov. 5 by a Boeing Delta 2 booster. The launch marked the first ``all-Boeing'' space mission ever flown. The spacecraft's apogee kick motor is to place the satellite into its 11,000-naut.-mi. operational orbit. The satellite is valued at $55 million, and its Delta launch cost $41 million. The flight marked the 28th and final launch of the GPS 2A type spacecraft developed originally by Rockwell International.
Joseph M. Gilbert has been appointed vice president-business development of the National Technology Transfer Center, Wheeling, W.Va. He was director of domestic businsess development of Lockheed Martin Electronic Defense Systems.
Reimer does sing the praises of UAVs, however. He wants the Alliant Techsystems' tactical-range Outrider ``out there for our soldiers as soon as we can possibly get it''--even though it may not meet Navy requirements. The Navy wants the reconnaissance UAV to fly 125 mi., loiter for 3 hr. and cost less than $300,000 a copy. The Army says a 30-mi. range is fine. Reimer is mystified that the program is not progressing more smoothly. ``It's not laser brain surgery,'' he said. Last week, Pentagon acquisition officials gave the program a green light for 30 days.
Tim Archer has been named vice president-sales and marketing of Electrosystems Inc., Fort Deposit, Ala. He was senior director of marketing for Teledyne Continental Motors.
French spacecraft builder Aerospatiale has made its first telecommunications satellite sale of the year. Eutelsat has exercised an option to purchase a fourth next-generation W Series spacecraft from Aerospatiale. The satellite, known as W4, is to serve Russian television broadcasters from an orbit at 36 deg. E. It will replace an interim satellite, TDF2, which Eutelsat acquired in July. Launch is expected in early 1999. Aerospatiale's backlog is down to about 10 spacecraft, three of them telecoms.
Capt. Don Rice (USN, Ret.) has been named director of maintenance, repair and overhaul programs for Aviation Connections International, Jacksonville, Fla. He was commander of the Naval Aviation Depot in Jacksonville.
Canada's Radarsat 1 Earth-observing spacecraft has completed a full synthetic aperture radar mapping of Antarctica, including, for the first time, the South Pole region. This mosaic image, the first of thousands that are expected to come from the 18-day mission, shows a 150-km. (93-mi.) swath where glaciers are flowing down from the mountains toward the McMurdo Sound. The image was released by Vexcel Corp., which developed Radarsat's mapping system, and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center.
GEC-MARCONI HAS BEEN SELECTED to provide an integrated defensive aids system for British army WAH-64 Apache attack helicopters. Program prime contractor GKN Westland Helicopters has been awarded a 76-million-pound ($126-million) contract by the U.K. Ministry of Defense to install the system on 67 Apaches with delivery slated to start in 2000.
Cessna Aircraft Co. rolled out the first production Excel business jet this month, and FAA provisional certification is scheduled for January, followed by full certification and initial deliveries in the second quarter.
Strong demand for new aircraft and flight training fueled record billings for new U.S. general aviation aircraft of $3.19 billion in the first nine months of this year, according to the General Aviation Manufacturers Assn.
Russia has fallen another two months behind on building the Service Module for the International Space Station. But this time the trouble is technical--problems fabricating cables. And at least the Russian government is now funding the module-- ``completely,'' Wilbur C. Trafton, NASA's space flight chief tells a House panel. Moscow's money muddle forced NASA earlier this year to slip initial station hardware launches eight months and begin working on a backup Interim Control Module (ICM).
Christian Dumas has become vice president-commercial and product support, Francois Tauzin vice president-industrial affairs and Gerard Kowal component director, all of Sogerma, Bordeaux, France.
Boeing and General Electric will soon get their best indication yet of the true market demand for the Boeing Business Jet (BBJ). The two companies are negotiating the final details of a joint venture with Executive Jet Inc. Once the alliance's structure is set, probably within the next month or so, Executive Jet expects to place an order for the high-performance derivative of the 737-700 aircraft and begin selling one-eighth shares through the company's rapidly expanding NetJets fractional ownership program.
Harry J. (Rick) Masoni has been named vice president-strategic ventures for Space Systems/Loral, Palo Alto, Calif. He succeeds Ronald C. Maehl, who has become president of Loral Space and Communications Ltd. subsidiary CyberStar. Masoni was program manager for ICO at Hughes Space and Communications.
United Airlines plans to experiment with a ``one-bag'' carry-on luggage rule at Des Moines, Iowa. Starting next month, the carrier will limit leisure passengers on deep discount fares to a single carry-on bag. Travelers flying on more expensive and business fares will be allowed two. The test goal is to reduce the amount of carry-on luggage, which can slow boarding and sometimes presents safety problems.
Distinguished Service Award last week in Washington during a joint meeting of the Flight Safety Foundation, the International Federation of Airworthiness and the International Air Transport Assn. The award, established in 1949, is administered by the Flight Safety Foundation. Bateman, chief engineer, AlliedSignal Aerospace, was honored for his development of the enhanced ground-proximity warning system (EGPWS), one of his many avionics designs that have significantly improved aviation safety.
John W. Booher has been appointed director of international business development of Sanders, Nashua, N.H., a Lockheed Martin company. He held the same position in Sanders' Countermeasures Div.
A Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340-300 made a successful emergency landing last week after the left-hand main landing gear failed to deploy during its approach to London Heathrow. An unofficial, preliminary inspection points to a fastener coming loose on a brake rod, which possibly impeded the movement of the landing gear as it was trying to extend. Messier-Dowty supplies the landing gear for A340 aircraft, and ABS Corp. provides the brakes for Virgin's aircraft.
