NASA has received more than a dozen replies to its request for information on possible alternatives to the troubled Pegasus XL space launch vehicle, and will evaluate them as potential boosters for its small science spacecraft. The timetable for one mission is so pressing that the agency is evaluating a quick shift to a Russian Cosmos 3M launch from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome to meet the launch window, according to the official in charge of evaluating Pegasus XL alternatives.
The Defense Dept. has at least temporarily stopped anticipated progress in the Joint Tactical Maneuver unmanned aerial vehicle program by launching a 30-day study and consequently delaying the release of a long- awaited operational requirements document and postponing an industry conference that was scheduled to run from July 18 to July 20.
NASA-funded research results showing a marked decline in an ozone- depleting chemical since an international treaty limiting its production come at an opportune time for agency lobbyists. Researchers at MIT reported in the journal Science last week that methyl chloroform concentrations have dropped at a rate of about 2% a year since mid-1990, the first measured decrease in an ozone-depleting atmospheric chemical since the Montreal Protocol was established as an attempt to protect stratospheric ozone levels.
House Appropriations Committee ranking Democrat David R. Obey (Wis.) said yesterday that he expects to lose when he offers an amendment in the full committee today to strike out the $493 million B-2 bomber add-on, but added that he thought B-2 opponents have "a good chance" to win on the House floor next week.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Larry Combest (R-Tex.) says an ongoing study by the panel has led him to the preliminary conclusion that unmanned aerial vehicle programs should be under its sole purview. Presently, the Intelligence and House National Security Committees have shared jurisdiction, with HNSC's role more visible. Asked if he thought UAV programs should be solely under the Intelligence Committee, Combest replied, "At this point, I would say yes."
The General Accounting Office doubts the U.S. Air Force's B-1B operational readiness assessment that states that one wing of the bombers could achieve 75% mission capable rate by the year 2000 with $11.19 million in additional funding.
Departure reliability rates for the 12 McDonnell Douglas C-17 airlifters being flown in the month-long Reliability, Maintainability and Availability Evaluation, or RM&AE, slipped less than two percentage points during the two wartime surge days this week, Air Force officials told The DAILY.
NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) is fully funded under the $13.8 billion space agency authorization bill approved yesterday by the Senate Commerce Committee, setting the stage for a conference showdown on the issue with House authorizers.
Hughes Aircraft Co. yesterday announced a $1.3 billion deal to build the satellites for the Inmarsat-P global mobile communications system, but said its plans to become an investor in the project were still in negotiation. At the same time, senior Hughes and Inmarsat executives expressed confidence that Inmarsat-P would not be held up by a patent TRW received on Tuesday that is designed to block competitors to TRW's Odyssey mobile satellite system from placing similar systems in medium-Earth orbit (DAILY, July 20, page 89).
The Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a fiscal 1996 budget allocation for the defense appropriations subcommittee that is about $1.4 billion less in budget authority (BA) than the ceiling provided for the House Appropriations national security subcommittee. The defense subcommittee's BA allocation amounted to $242.486 billion and the outlay allocation was set at $243.069 billion. This was about $1 billion less in outlays than the ceiling for the House subcommittee.
LORAL FEDERAL SYSTEMS, Boulder, Colo., won a $150 million U.S. Air Force contract to provide software engineering support to the Defense Support Program (DSP), the Dept. of Defense said yesterday.
COMPUTER SCIENCES CORP. said it has received a contract from the FAA for expanded software engineering services to support the National Airspace System Enroute programs. CSC said the EnRoute Software Development&Support (ERSDS) contract has a total value of $207.1 million if all options are exercised.
NASA managers have set Aug. 5 as the launch date for the Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-69-the first reflight of the Wake Shield Facility (WSF) vacuum epitaxy experiment-pending the outcome of an investigation of one of the solid rocket boosters that lifted the Shuttle Atlantis to its rendezvous with Russia's Mir space station last month.
USAF CHIEF OF STAFF Gen. Ronald Fogleman has asked the Army to lead the investigation of an accident Tuesday during a joint training exercise at Ft. Sill, Okla., in which an AF OA-10 aircraft dropped a 500-pound bomb that killed a soldier. Nine others were injured.
The U.S. definition of airborne reconnaissance will change dramatically over the next five years as Defense Dept. recce experts rely increasingly on unmanned aerial vehicles, learn more about satellite capabilities, and switch emphasis from platform to sensor and then from collector to distributor. The Pentagon is actively trying to alter the way it has traditionally thought about airborne reconnaissance, with particular focus on how tactical recce fits into the overall reconnaissance picture.
INGALLS SHIPBUILDING DIV. of Litton Industries said the Ramage (DDG-61), fifth ship in a series of Aegis guided missile destroyers it is building, will be commissioned with the U.S. Navy's Atlantic fleet on July 22 in Boston.
General Dynamics yesterday reported second quarter net earnings of $82 million, including an $8 million net gain on the sale of assets of its Material Service's Ready Mix Div. The earnings were $11 million above the $71 million in net earnings the company posted in the second quarter of 1994, which included $15 million from the sale of the company's Space Launch Systems business to Martin Marietta (now Lockheed Martin).
NASA must order a year-long audit of its assets with an eye to eliminating duplication under language adopted yesterday by its authorizing subcommittee in the House, but the agency is expressly forbidden to close any field centers until the report is finished.
EGYPTAIR has ordered three A340-200 transports and taken options on two more, Airbus Industrie said yesterday. Delivery of the long-range aircraft, each powered by four CFM56-5C3 engines, will begin at the end of 1996. With 14 A300s and seven A320s, Egyptair is the largest operator of Airbus aircraft in the Middle East.
ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL CORP.'s Autonetics Electronics Systems Div., Anaheim, Calif., has received a $12.9 million modification to an earlier contract for one Fiber Optic Data Multiplex System (FODMS) for the DDG 79. The Defense Dept., announcing the award July 18, said FODMS is a complete ship information transfer system. It said the ship is scheduled to enter the fleet in February 2000.
Strong growth in Galaxy satellite transponder leases helped a 5.3% increase in second quarter revenues at Hughes Electronics Corp., the company reported yesterday. Revenues grew to $3.72 billion, while earnings were up 7.9% from the same period a year earlier to $267 million. Hughes' telecommunications and space unit led the way, with a 32% increase in second quarter revenues to $747 million, primarily due to the increase in Galaxy transponder sales and DirecTV subscriber growth.
Despite congressional concerns to the contrary, the U.S. Air Force's top operational requirements official believes that the service's airborne electronic warfare program is on track-thanks in large part to changes brought on by electronic combat pods and standoff munitions.
TALLEY INDUSTRIES INC., Phoenix, said its John J. McMullen Associates unit, a naval architecture and marine engineering company, has received two five-year contracts which, with options, are valued at $246 million. One of the awards, valued at $56 million, was awarded by the Navy to provide engineering and technical support services to the Pollution Prevention Programs Division of the Naval Supply Systems Command. The other award, with a total value of $190 million, is a $35 million contract with four annual options.
BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINE Wyoming, SSBN 742, was christened July 15 at General Dynamics' Electric Boat Div., Groton, Conn. The Dept. of Defense said Wyoming is the 17th of 18 Ohio Class ballistic missile submarines authorized by Congress.
