Photograph: Pilots will face air defenses and air-to-air combat over the upgraded Delamere Air Warfare Range in northern Australia. A range control facility will operate at RAAF Tindal. As part of Australia's vigorous pursuit of knowledge about the world of combat in the far reaches of the electromagnetic spectrum, the Royal Australian Air Force is planning extensive upgrades to its 500,000-acre electronic warfare range.
The new chairman and CEO of Arianespace said the European consortium will have to adapt its business strategy to impending shifts in the commercial launch market if it is to retain its leading position in the industry. While Arianespace's new Ariane 5 booster was conceived to capture a large share of the geosynchronous satellite launches, within five years 30% of satellite telecommunications will come from low-Earth orbit and medium-Earth orbit spacecraft, Jean-Marie Luton said.
The Dept. of Transportation has proposed banning the carriage of oxidizers, including compressed oxygen, on board all passenger-carrying aircraft and allowing them to be carried only in locations on cargo aircraft that are accessible to crew members. The rule would affect foreign and domestic aircraft entering, leaving and operating within the U.S.
Edmonton International Airport experienced a 26% passenger traffic increase in 1996, thanks to high-frequency flights by startup carrier WestJet, which bases its five-jet Boeing 737 fleet there. Service by another new Canadian low-cost carrier, Greyhound Air, also is contributing to traffic, which should grow to 3.7-million passenger movements this year, according to an Edmonton Airport official.
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.
