The Bush Administration's proposal to cut funding for the International Space Station by 13 percent in fiscal 2003 has drawn sharp criticism from the ranking Democrat on the House Science Committee. Rep. Ralph Hall (D-Texas), whose state is home to the ISS program office at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, blasted the Administration's budget for "freezing the station program at a level that will cripple its ability to support research and will fail to meet our commitments to our international partners."
DRS TECHNOLOGIES INC. will provide subassemblies for a Boeing 702 communications satellite under a $2.5 million contract to Boeing Electron Dynamic Devices, a supplier to Boeing Satellite Systems. DRS will manufacture, integrate, test and deliver equipment that includes electronic power conditioners that will be part of the satellite's C-band traveling wave tube amplifiers, also known as transponders. Work under the contract will be done by the company's DRS Flight Safety and Communications unit in Carleton Place, Ontario, and is expected to be finished by April 2002.
JSF AGREEMENT: Canada has joined the Joint Strike Fighter System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase under a 10-year memorandum of understanding signed Feb. 7 by the acquisition chiefs of the U.S. and Canada. Canada will contribute $150 million to Lockheed Martin's fighter program, according to the memorandum.
THE AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION and the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ROCKETRY are sponsoring the "Team America Rocketry Challenge," a rocket design and launch contest for U.S. high school students. Students are to design, build and fly a multistage model rocket, carrying two raw eggs and an electronic altimeter, to as close to 1,500 feet as possible. The fly-off competition is scheduled for April 2003 in northern Virginia.
The Air Force plans to accelerate the development of some of the alternative technologies that could be used for the Space Based Radar program with its fiscal year 2003 budget, according to Air Force officials. As part of the Bush Administration's FY '03 defense budget request, the Space Based Radar program would receive about $91 million in funding, including $43 million added under an emergency funding account during December (DAILY, Feb. 7).
The U.S. Department of Defense plans to include the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in a new unified command for homeland defense, according to Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
EAGLE-PICHER INDUSTRIES, INC., Cincinnati, Ohio Thomas R. Pilholski has been appointed senior vice president - chief financial officer. He will also hold the same position for Eagle-Picher's parent company, Eagle-Picher Holdings, Inc.
In a meeting with members of the House Aerospace Caucus, aerospace industry representatives voiced concern Feb. 6 about airline liability insurance and the fate of thousands of aerospace workers laid off since the Sept. 11 attacks. John Douglass, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, said one area of concern for the industry is the Senate's failure to act on HR 3210.
The Boeing Co. has received its first production money for the Wideband Gapfiller Satellite program and is on track for an initial launch in 2004, according to the company. The company got three contracts on Jan. 31 totaling $336.4 million for completion and delivery of two satellites and advanced parts for a third.
Department of Defense FY 2003 Procurement Chart APPROPRIATIONFY2001 FY2002 FY2003 Aircraft procurement, Army 1,541.4 1,970.6 2,061.0 Missile procurement, Army 1,308.6 1,071.8 1,642.3 Procurement of W&TCV, Army 2,449.9 2,178.5 2,248.6 Ammunition procurement, Army 1,170.9 1,192.1 1,159.4 Other procurement, Army 4,433.8 4,154.7 5,168.5
If it fails to transform itself, the U.S. aviation industry will "face the very real prospects of near-term gridlock, constrained mobility, unrealized economic growth, and the continued erosion of U.S. aviation leadership," according to a NASA report. NASA's aeronautics "blueprint," released Feb. 5, outlines four critical challenges facing the U.S. aviation industry: capacity; noise/emissions; security and safety; and dwindling research and development funding.
A story in the Feb. 5 edition of The DAILY incorrectly stated which Space Based Infrared Radar program breached the Nunn-McCurdy Act. The article should have said the SBIRS High program breached the act.
The Bush Administration's fiscal 2003 military procurement budget falls far short of what's needed, proposing to buy several hundred fewer aircraft than the Defense Department should be getting, according to Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. At the committee's Feb. 6 budget hearing, Hunter said DOD should be buying about 450 aircraft a year to keep the services' fleets "halfway modern," compared with the 100 or so aircraft that the Administration's budget would fund.
SPACE FOUNDATION, Colorado Springs, Colo. William B. "Bill" Tutt, has been elected to serve as chairman of the board for a two-year term. John Higginbotham was elected as vice chairman. Dr. Jaleh Daie was elected treasurer. Donovan "Don" Hicks was re-elected secretary. Jaime Oaxaca, the outgoing chairman, was elected to serve a special term as chairman of the newly created Space Foundation Endowment Fund, Inc.
Lockheed Martin and the Air Force have demonstrated full air vehicle flying qualities and guidance performance of the Low Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS) powered submunition, Lockheed Martin officials said Feb. 6. In the demonstration, conducted Monday at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the weapon was launched from a Cessna 441 Conquest 2 flying at 200 knots and 1,500 feet, according to Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
Following an engineering study that the Department of Defense conducted on the 138-144 MHz band, the DOD says it is willing to share a portion of that band with local agencies, law enforcement and first responders.
SES GLOBAL, Potomac, Md. Romain Bausch has been selected by the editors and analysts of PBI Media LLC's Satellite&Space Group as Via Satellite's Satellite Executive of the Year.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which is a risk-sharing partner on Bombardier's Global Express (GX) program, is in talks with a Canadian company for possible participation on a derivative Global 5000 program. If the two manufacturers agree, Mitsubishi would share main wing and center fuselage work, as they did in the GX. Mitsubishi hopes to increase sales of its aerospace division from the current level of about $1.26 billion to $1.56 billion, according to company officials.
Export control, and updating the nation's air traffic control (ATC) system, will head the list of discussion topics at the next meeting of the 12-member Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry, according to its chairman, former U.S. Rep. Robert Walker.
India's Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) has asked the Ministry of Civil Aviation to declare air corridors over its nuclear installations "no-fly" zones. AEC authorities are reviewing the security situation around these centers after the FBI issued an international alert about possible attacks by Islamic terrorists. India and Pakistan have agreed upon not to attack each other's nuclear installations, but sources told Indian media they fear a strike by "non-state" groups, such as terrorists.
India plans to increase the strike range of its Agni ballistic missile, a top defense official told reporters here. "We always planned to increase [the] range, reduce the weight and get better systems. It's a part of our development schemes," said V.K. Aatre, the scientific adviser to India's defense minister. Aatre refused to say how far the missile's range would be increased.
As part of the Bush Administration's fiscal year 2003 defense budget request, the Space Based Radar program would receive $43.1 million in additional funding, which is intended to accelerate its development, according to DOD officials and budget documents. While only $47.86 million is listed in the budget for research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) funds for the Space Based Radar, an additional $43.1 million would be provided under an emergency response fund to accelerate the Space Based Radar, according to DOD officials.
