Eric Gerada has been appointed group head of northern European development for Air Malta, based in London. Gerada succeeds Philip Pullicino, who has returned to Malta as commercial group head.
Were launched successfully Aug. 20 from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on a Boeing Delta 2 booster. The launch occurred at 5:38 p.m. PDT from Space Launch Complex-2 (SLC-2). The satellites are part of the planned wireless telecommunications network intended to provide global handheld telephone services. The 66-satellite constellation is scheduled to be operational in 1998. There are currently 17 Iridium spacecraft in orbit.
Jean-Yves Le Gall has become deputy managing director for external relations, strategy and European affairs, Pierre Moskwa deputy director for orbital infrastructures and Joel Barre programs director, all for the CNES French space agency.
Robert Madden, formerly director for Europe for McDonnell Douglas Aerospace U.K., will be director of U.S. operations, based in Bend, Ore., for the AeroTech Group of the U.K..
Ventures report continued red ink. U.S. Satellite Broadcasting (USSB) said it lost $96 million in the fiscal year ended June 30 despite a doubling of revenues, to $384 million. And EchoStar Communications Corp. said its Dish Network lost $126 million in the first six months of 1997 despite a 50% increase in revenues, to $172 million. USSB President and CEO Stanley Hubbard said subscriber growth over the past year ``fell short of everyone's expectations.''
Photograph: DISCOVERY RETURNS HOME AT DAWN The shuttle orbiter Discovery, trailing wingtip vortices, lands at dawn at the Kennedy Space Center Aug. 19 after a forecast of fog kept the shuttle Mission 85 crew aloft for an extra day. Mission commander USAF Lt. Col. Curt. Brown, Jr., and copilot Navy Cdr. Kent Rominger piloted Discovery on a reentry ground track from a 138-naut.-mi., 57-deg. orbit northward up the South Pacific across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula to a landing on Kennedy's Runway 33.
Miroslaw (Mike) Balodis is one of nine Leica GPS engineers who the company honored for receiving patents in satellite navigation and positioning technology. The other engineers are: Charles Cahn, Ronald Hatch, Richard Keegan, Jerry Knight, James Litton, Graham Russell, Tom Stansell and Richard Woo.
Space Flight Center in Maryland may help shed light on the mystery of gamma ray bursts. The gamma ray detector array [pictured] is capable of locating gamma ray bursts with unprecedented precision. That's because the array's solid state semiconductor detector strips are made from cadmium zinc telluride, which allows many detectors to be packed onto the instrument. Engineers developed the instrument as a prototype for a proposed mission to study gamma ray bursts, and say they ultimately hope to build an array four times as large.
Photograph: Turboprop aircraft such as the Saab 340B form the backbone of American Eagle's fleet, but the airline needs regional jets to remain competitive. BILL HOUGH American Eagle pilots and AMR Corp. management have reached a landmark, 16-year labor agreement that ensures annual wage increases and improved work rules in exchange for a no-strike policy. Eagle's 1,900 pilots were represented in the negotiations by the Air Line Pilots Assn. (ALPA).
Leaks on the Lockheed Martin Centaur upper stage for the Cassini mission to Saturn have been repaired, allowing NASA to maintain the flight's planned Oct. 6 launch date. The mission's Titan 4B booster and Centaur upper stage successfully passed a second countdown demonstration test Aug. 20 with the Centaur fueled on Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral. The small leaks, which are not uncommon during initial Centaur fueled tests, were detected during a similar exercise Aug. 5.
Photograph: P-3s with improved, longer-range radars will soon be joined by 4-7 new airborne early warning and control aircraft. This P-3C is from 10 Sqdn. at Edinburgh. Australia's top planners are reshaping the nation's military to provide modern, digital, combat command and control and the high-technology underpinnings necessary to lead coalitions of forces from Pacific and Southeast Asian countries.
Jerry Schlesinger (see photo) has become senior vice president of First Aviation Services Inc., Westport, Conn. He was managing principal of the SK Group and executive vice president/chief financial officer of Butler Aviation International.
Emirates, the international carrier of the United Arab Emirates, will add two Boeing 777-200 increased gross weight version aircraft to its fleet in the fall of 1998. The carrier, which operates six 777s and takes delivery of a seventh next month, exercised two of seven options for the new orders. Its IGW aircraft are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 892 engines; its first three 777s--the ``A'' models--are equipped with Rolls-Royce Trent 840 engines.
Robert A. Stolz, chairman/president of Tiernay Metals, Redondo Beach, Calif., has been named to the board of directors of the National Assn. of Aluminum Distributors.
Went back to work after the union reached agreement with United Parcel Service on a new five-year contract, and so did the 2,000 UPS pilots represented by the Independent Pilots Assn. IPA has asked the National Mediation Board to bring UPS and IPA back to the table to negotiate a new pilots' contract to replace the one that expired in December, 1995. Negotiations were suspended by the National Mediation Board in June. An IPA official said it is paramount that the two sides restart talks and come to a settlement to rebuild customer confidence in the company.
Are expected to become the first customers for the X-31 Mach 3, multirole export missile developed by Russsia's Zvezda-Strela, pending approval by the Yeltsin administration. China wants to use the air-launched missile to equip its most modern fighters, including the Sukhoi Su-27SK/UBs. China recently acquired five non-flying X-31As to test the missile's cryogenic ramjet, according to Russian sources. India would equip its new Su-30MKIs with the 16-ft.-long missile. When fired from high altitude, it has a range of up to 125 mi.
Jon Horne has resigned as airport director at London City Airport to become managing director of the new Sheffield City Airport in England. Maurice Boyle will become operations director at London City Airport next month.
Former electric-utility industry executive Leo F. Mullin is expected to have no difficulty transitioning into his new role as Delta Air Lines' president and CEO. But it remains to be seen whether he can live up to the high expectations of diverse groups who have either a direct or professional interest in the carrier's future.
Pentagon officials acknowledge that an effort to concoct formulas for cutting overlaps among the armed services has failed. There had been great expectations for a two-year-long Weapons Mix Study as the centerpiece of the Quadrennial Defense Review. Now, it has fizzled. The study was to assess every major weapon system and assign each a value, so as to allow cross-service decisions about which weapons to keep and which to abandon as defense budgets decrease.
The FAA has granted Delta Air Lines a supplemental type certificate (STC) for installation of new cargo bay smoke detection and fire suppression systems on its 69 Boeing 737 aircraft. Delta said it will begin installing the systems, developed with Walter Kidde Aerospace, in its aircraft as they are scheduled for regular maintenance. The airline, which expects to complete installation in advance of the FAA's proposed deadline of 2001, also is working on similar systems for its Boeing 727s, McDonnell Douglas MD-88s and Lockheed L-1011s.
The U.S. Justice Dept. has given General Electric the green light to complete its planned acquisition of Greenwich Air Services Inc. The company now plans to finish its acquisition of the maintenance and overhaul firm on Sept. 2. At the same time, GE also is moving to complete its acquisition of UNC, Inc., another provider of engine overhaul and aviation services. The results of a UNC shareholder vote on whether to approve the GE takeover plan are expected in late September.
Outsourcing of certain helicopter operations. USAF Space Command has a 25-year-old fleet of 64 twin-engine Bell UH-1Ns that support missile wing operations and provide passenger transport. A request for information has been issued for leasing services. It is based on two options--full wet lease or a lease where the Air Force would continue to provide crews.
Bruce Peterman, a retired senior vice president-aircraft development for Cessna Aircraft, Wichita, Kan., has been reelected vice chairman of the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp. board of directors.
