The Coast Guard is relying on a funding stream of $500 million a year through the life of its ambitious Deepwater ship and aircraft modernization program and the program will be endangered without it, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. James M. Loy told House lawmakers March 7. Asked what would happen if the money is cut eventually, Loy said, "we would suffer a dramatic blow to the future of that program. The entire project is dependent on a consistent flow of money over time."
The Boeing Co. has been selected to be the lead systems integrator for the Army's Future Combat Systems, the Army announced March 7. The Boeing Team, which includes Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), will be awarded a $154 million contract for the 16-month concept and technology development phase.
A second round of launch awards in the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program could occur in the latter half of this year, according to Mark Albrecht, president of International Launch Services (ILS). The EELV program is aimed at improving the reliability and reducing the cost of launching by at least 25 percent, compared with the cost of launching current Delta, Atlas, and Titan launch vehicles. The Air Force funded the development of two vehicle families in support of EELV, Boeing's Delta IV and Lockheed Martin's Atlas V.
MACDONALD, DETTWILER AND ASSOCIATES LTD. (MDA) has entered into an agreement with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to extend a mission feasibility study for a proposed RADARSAT-2/3 Topographic Mission. The value of the contract extension is $1.1 million, according to the company. MDA is the prime contractor to the CSA for RADARSAT-2, Canada's next-generation Earth observation satellite. CSA has funded modifications to the RADARSAT-2 spacecraft to support a proposed tandem mission with RADARSAT-3.
RADAR SYSTEMS: Telephonics Corp. of Farmingdale, N.Y. will supply 14 RDR-1600 Search and Rescue, Weather Avoidance Radar Systems for AgustaWestland's EH-101 helicopters, the company announced March 6. The systems will be used in helicopters AgustaWestland is supplying to Denmark, and the contract value is about $700,000, according to the company. Work on the program will be done at Telephonics' facilities in Farmingdale and Huntington, N.Y. Delivery of the units is scheduled for 2003 through 2005. Telephonics is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Griffon Corp.
Military officials from some of the United States' strongest allies acknowledged a growing capability gap between the U.S. and its military partners, but promised investment in key areas, such as strategic lift, reconnaissance, and command and control. Speaking March 7 at an air and space symposium in Washington, defense officials from Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom said their countries will pursue investment in niche areas and in strategic assets that would assist interoperability.
The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) approved an export-control bill late March 6 after dropping a provision that would have shifted licensing for commercial satellite exports from the State Department to the Commerce Department.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper said March 7 he sees no reason for the service to reduce the number of F-22 Raptors it plans to buy in fiscal 2003, despite a new recommendation by the General Accounting Office that procurement of the Lockheed Martin fighter aircraft be slashed from 23 to 13 planes.
Declining research and development investments and an overtaxed air traffic management (ATM) system jeopardize America's future position in the growing world commercial aviation market, according to a panel of experts testifying before the House space and aeronautics subcommittee. Aerospace R&D spending across government and industry has been cut in half since 1985, according to Rich Golaszewski, executive vice president of GRA Inc.
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has a new, more powerful camera, the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), which was installed March 7 by astronauts Jim Newman and Mike Massimino. During the seven hour, 30-minute spacewalk, Newman and Massimino removed the last of the Hubble's original instruments, the Faint Object Camera.
GILCREST ELECTRIC&SUPPLY CO. INC., MUNIZ ENGINEERING INC. and SA TECHNOLOGIES INC. are minority contractors that were honored by NASA for their innovations and contributions to the aerospace agency's mission. Gilcrest Electric&Supply, of Elyria, Ohio, was honored last month as NASA Minority Contractor of the Year. It supports Glenn Research Center's Facilities and Test Engineering Division. Muniz Engineering Inc., of Houston, was awarded Minority Subcontractor of the Year.
BOEING SATELLITE SYTEMS has shipped two communications satellites for a dual launch on an Ariane 4 rocket later this month from the European spaceport in French Guiana. The satellites JCSAT-8, built for the JSAT Corp. of Tokyo, and ASTRA 3A, built for SES ASTRA of Luxembourg, will be the first Boeing-built satellites to launch on a single vehicle in five years.
GENERAL DYNAMICS ORDNANCE AND TACTICAL SYSTEMS announced that a pulsed plasma thruster (PPT) designed and built by its Space Propulsion Systems Group was successfully tested in space in January on NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) spacecraft. The PPT uses capacitor technology and polytetrafluoroethylene solid propellant to provide precision-pointing capabilities for satellite positioning. According to the company, the technology could replace mechanical or conventional thrusters for future precision pointing missions. During a four-hour control run on Jan.
Kenneth A. Souza, acting director of the Astrobiology and Space Research Directorate at NASA Ames Research center, will retire after more than 35 years.
Air Force Secretary James Roche said March 6 that the service plans to spend the next several months analyzing technical information that the Boeing Co. and the European Aeronautics Defence and Space Co. (EADS) have submitted in hopes of paving the way to win a lease for 100 new aerial refuelers. The Air Force hopes the review will help it determine whether to negotiate a lease with one or both of the companies, Roche told reporters after testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on the Bush Administration's fiscal 2003 defense budget.
Japan plans to spend $2.5 billion on its space program for its fiscal year 2002, which begins in April, which is 11 percent less than it spent in fiscal 2001. The budget is expected to be approved by parliament by the end of the month and become effective April 1. Money for space programs is split between seven ministries and agencies, but the bulk of it will go to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which will get $1.6 billion.
SPACEHAB CONTRACT: Spacehab Inc. has signed a contract modification with NASA worth $4.2 million to provide its pressurized Logistics Single Module and unpressurized Integrated Cargo Carrier for two assembly and cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, the company said March 6.
Larry McCracken, vice president of public relations at The Boeing Co., has been appointed chair of the Aerospace Industries Association's Communications Council for 2002. Phyllis Piano, vice president of corporate affairs and communications at Honeywell Co., has been named vice chair of the Communications Council for 2002.
U.S. Southern Command does not have enough reconnaissance aircraft to meet its intelligence requirements, according to Army Maj. Gen. Gary Speer, the command's acting commander in chief.
Nicholas J. Novasic, CFO, will be leaving the company's full-time employment in March, but will remain as a part- time adviser for capital market and related matters.
Jeffrey D. Grant has been appointed vice president, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance for TRW Space&Electronics. Darryl M. Fraser and Maureen P. Heath have joined TRW as vice presidents of TRW Systems and Space&Electronics respectively. Dr. Donald C. Winter, president and chief executive officer of TRW Systems, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence's QinetiQ, one of Europe's largest military research and development organizations, is seeking a strategic partner as the first stage in its transfer to the private sector. QinetiQ employs about 9,000 scientists, technicians and assistants.
Consolidations within the communications industry could have a big effect on satellite operators and manufacturers, satellite industry leaders attending the Satellite 2002 conference in Washington said March 6. Conny Kullman, chairman and CEO of Intelsat Ltd., identified four major challenges for the satellite industry during a panel discussion of industry leaders.
Northrop Grumman says principal reason it wants to acquire TRW Inc. is to obtain its expertise in designing and building space systems. "[Space] is the piece we're missing," Northrop Grumman President and Chief Operating Officer Ronald Sugar said March 6 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
President Bush intends to nominate Stephen Geoffrey Rademaker to be assistant secretary of state for arms control, and Jack David to be chairman of the United States section of the United States and Canada Permanent Joint Board on Defense, according to the White House. Rademaker is currently the deputy staff and chief counsel for the House Committee on International Relations, where he has served since 1995. From 1993 to 1995, he was chief counsel to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
