Penny-pinching politicians and those who reject the evidence that human activity is changing Earth’s climate are making it hard for scientists to continue providing the data from space needed to monitor and try to manage the effects of inaction
If signed, the deal with an undisclosed customer would allow UrtheCast to develop two sensors, a high-resolution, dual-mode optical/video camera and a high-resolution dual-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) that will be capable of imaging simultaneously in L and X bands.
Startup helicopter manufacturer Marenco Swisshelicopter put its SKYe SH09 single-engine light helicopter through its paces on Oct. 2. The aircraft was maneuvered in hover in a series of five test flights that lasted about 20 min. at the company’s test facility at Mollis, near Zurich, with chief test pilot Dwayne Williams in charge. The delayed flight comes 10 months after the rollout of the initial prototype on Nov. 28, 2013.
Blackpool International Airport in the U.K. has announced that commercial flights could end by the middle of October if a buyer is not found for the loss-making facility. The airport owner, infrastructure company Balfour Beatty said Sept. 29 that if no buyer can be found before Oct. 7, airport operations will end on Oct. 15. The airport currently has flights to resort destinations in Spain and Turkey with U.K. low-cost airline Jet2 and flights to Ireland and the Isle of Man by Aer Lingus and Citywing.
Paul Kahn (see photo) has been appointed president of Airbus Group UK. He was president/CEO of Thales Canada. Kahn succeeds Robin Southwell, who has left the company.
Matt Hand (see photo) has been appointed director of scheduling for Kansas City, Missouri-based Executive AirShare. He was director of crew resources for Minneapolis-based Endeavor Air.
Tarik Reyes (see photo) has been named vice president-business development for the integrated air and missile defense division of the Falls Church, Virginia-based Northrop Grumman Corp . ’s Information Systems Sector. He was director of the civil information solutions unit within the sector’s civil division.
The FAA is rushing to overhaul backup plans and technology used at 20 en route air traffic control facilities in the continental U.S. after weaknesses were exposed by one troubled employee’s sabotage of the Chicago air route traffic control center. The damage caused the complete loss of command-and-control functions for en route aircraft over a five-state area in the Midwest.
Multiple articles discussed the comet Siding Spring and its close approach to Mars ( AW&ST Sept. 8, pp. 38-39) including coverage of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile evolution (Maven) and Mangalyaan orbiters, but only a very brief mention of MRO—Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter—and no mention of the Odyssey. Those two have been in orbit around Mars for a combined two decades.
Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Program at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, has received a Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal for his work to stimulate efforts within the private sector to develop and demonstrate commercial cargo and human spaceflight services. Lindenmoyer was cited for leading “the effort that has launched a new era of private-sector orbital transportation while reducing the costs to taxpayers of building and deploying rockets and spacecraft,” through partnering with American industry.
Brian Kratt has been named president of Private Jet Services, Seabrook, New Hampshire. He was CEO of Language Scientific and had been vice president-sales and marketing at Black Dragon Software.
Russia’s Proton M/Briz M heavy-lift launch vehicle returned to flight Sept. 28, sending a Russian military satellite to geosynchronous orbit from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The vehicle, which has been grounded since a May incident that led to the loss of Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC) AM4R satellite, lifted off at 12:23 a.m. Moscow time, marking the fifth launch of a Proton rocket this year.
If the KF-X survives while production of older European and U.S. aircraft winds up, then next decade it may be the only alternative to the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning as a fighter engineered for compatibility with Western weapons and communications
Sierra Nevada Corp. is underscoring its position as a potential human spaceflight provider for a global market, despite its rejection by NASA as one of two commercial operators to fly astronauts to the International Space Station.
Miami-based Eastern Air Lines, which is not yet flying, has confirmed its order for 20 Mitsubishi Aircraft 92-seat MRJ90 regional jets. Deliveries are due to begin in 2019, about two years after the MRJ enters service. Mitsubishi now has orders for 191 MRJs, which should increase to 223 when Japan Airlines confirms an order for 32 covered by a letter of intent. In addition, customers hold options and purchase rights on another 184 MRJ90s. Eastern will use the name and livery of the historic but unrelated U.S. airline that closed in 1991.
As part of ongoing moves to streamline its defense and space business, Boeing is moving the majority of its service and support-related work from Washington State to Oklahoma City and St. Louis. The move will take around three years and affect about 2,000 employees principally working on service and support of the E-3 AWACS, 737 Airborne Early Warning & Control and F-22 combat aircraft. Boeing says up to 900 jobs could be added in Oklahoma and 500 in St. Louis, and that further work will be moved to Jacksonville, Florida, and Patuxent River, Maryland.
To help smooth the way for follow-on 787 and 777X derivatives, Boeing is banking on using valuable and, in some cases, unexpected lessons learned during the test and development of the latest stretch model, the 787-9.
The U.K. Royal Air Force has stood down one of its AgustaWestland EH101 Merlin squadrons and handed over the aircraft to the Royal Navy. The former RAF Merlin Mk3s will replace Westland Sea King Mk4s that were the backbone of the Commando Helicopter Force but are due to be retired in March 2016. The RAF’s 78 Sqdn. stood down on Sept. 30 at RAF Benson with the handover, while the RN reactivated 846 Naval Air Sqdn. (NAS).
