NO REVIEWS: The Leasing Review Panel proposed by two senior Department of Defense officials was established in November, but has yet to review any lease proposals, according to a Department of Defense spokesperson. In a memo dated Nov. 1, 2001, acquisition czar E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, Jr. and Pentagon Comptroller Dov Zakheim proposed the new leasing panel to mirror the Defense Acquisition Board, which reviews major defense programs (DAILY, Jan. 30). "The Leasing Review Board was stood up with the 1 November joint letter," the spokesperson tells The DAILY.
GLOBECAST, the broadcast services division of France Telecom, has leased additional Ku-band capability on Loral Skynet's Telstar 5 satellite to expand delivery of its direct-to-home World Television service and other services. "GlobeCast has been one of the leading forces in the industry to develop a strong marketplace for foreign broadcast networks across North America, helping to position Telstar 5 as the key satellite for world television programming in America," said Terry Hart, president of Loral Skynet.
The absence of two major programs from the Missile Defense Agency's slate allows for increases in other programs, including the sea-, air-, and space-based boost-phase intercept programs, according to a senior defense official. The Bush Administration's fiscal year 2003 defense budget request includes $7.763 billion for missile defense programs, down slightly from the enacted FY '02 level of $7.775 billion.
NASA'S JET PROPULSION LABORATORY in Pasadena, Calif., is releasing new topographical data of the continental United States. The data was gathered during the February 2000 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), which was aimed at creating the world's best topographic map. Included in the data are three-dimensional images and animations of California. "The release of the California mosaic and continental-U.S. SRTM is a tantalizing preview of things to come from this program," said Michael Kobrick, JPL's SRTM program scientist.
QDR QUESTIONS: One thing to look for in 2003 budget numbers is linkage between the Administration's Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) and funding provided to achieve the plans laid out in the document, according to military analyst Andrew Krepinevich, who heads the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. Finding this may be difficult because the QDR is vague on how to achieve the military's operational goals, he says. "The 'what' is there in the QDR, but the 'how' is not there," Krepinevich says.
RAMOS DELAY: The scheduled fiscal 2005 launch of the two satellites in the Russian-American Observation Satellite (RAMOS) program will be delayed by a year, to FY '06, due to congressional funding cuts and slower-than-anticipated progress in negotiating a government-to-government agreement with Russia, according to a spokeswoman for the Defense Department. Without explanation, the FY '02 defense appropriations act cut $20 million from the Bush Administration's request for RAMOS.
BYE BYE, BIG BIRD?: Although formation flight techniques for satellites could allow cooperative microsatellites to take over many functions of today's large satellites, there likely will always be a market need for "big birds," according to Russell Carpenter, lead flight dynamics and navigation engineer for formation flight at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "I doubt that we'll ever see them go away completely," Carpenter says.
KNIGHTHAWK ALIGHTS: The Navy plans to introduce the Sikorsky MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter in a Feb. 8 ceremony at NAS North Island, Calif. The aircraft, with a cockpit designed by Lockheed Martin, will replace the aging CH-46 Sea Knight. Its primary missions will be carrier battle group logistical support such as movements of bombs, supplies and personnel, and amphibious ready group search and rescue operations, the Navy said.
Information technology will take on a greater role in defense spending over the next few years given new requirements for homeland defense and battlefield interoperability, a senior Lockheed Martin Corp. official said Jan. 31.
A test of the Navy's Tactical Aircraft Directable Infrared Countermeasures (TADIRCM) system confirms that it is ready to move to the next stage of development, according to BAE Systems, which is developing the device.
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft entered its final orbit around the Red Planet Jan. 30 after firing its thrusters to fine-tune its nearly circular orbit so it can begin to make science observations. On Jan. 28, the Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft fired its thrusters for 15 seconds, increasing its speed by just over one meter per second (2.5 miles per hour). On Jan. 30, Odyssey fired its thrusters for 25 seconds and decreased its velocity by less than two meters per second (four miles per hour).
United Defense, maker of missile launchers, artillery guns and precision munitions, reported fourth quarter 2001 net earnings of $6 million, compared with $3.7 million for the same period in 2000. However, earnings for the year fell from $18.8 million in 2000 to $8.8 million for 2001.
NASA's Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer (EUVE) re-entered the Earth's atmosphere at about 11:15 p.m. EST on Jan. 30 over central Egypt, the aerospace agency said Jan. 31. The calculations for the re-entry were made by the United States Space Command Space Control Center.
Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), is urging Navy officials to seek a significant funding increase for shipbuilding in the fiscal 2003 budget.
With the release of the president's fiscal year 2003 budget request only days away, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told an audience at the National Defense University in Washington that the Department of Defense must shift its investment priorities toward new capabilities to defend against enemies attempting to exploit the United States' weaknesses.
A document on crew selection criteria for the International Space Station (ISS) released by NASA Jan. 31 officially opens the door for non-professional astronauts to make visits in the future. The criteria are the work of the ISS Multilateral Crew Operations Panel (MCOP), a body comprising members from the ISS partner nations, which will review all flight candidates.
A Jan. 25 missile test involving the ship launch of a Standard Missile-3 and kinetic warhead, both built by Raytheon Co., scored a "right dead-center" hit, which "speaks volumes for the design and engineering and ground test rigor and analysis that went into this system to ensure that we had a good opportunity for a first-time success," a company official said Jan. 30.
ITT Industries has won a $519 million Air Force Electronic Systems Center contract to updgrade ground-based sensor systems. The company was chosen over a team of Northrop Grumman and Raytheon.
RADAR DEAL: Eurocopter will make Telephonics Corp.'s Maritime Surveillance and Search Radar the standard on its aircraft, the Farmingdale, N.Y.-based manufacturer announced Jan. 31. The deal is part of a four-year agreement that could result in up to $35 million in revenue, according to the company. Work under the contract will be performed at Telephonics facilities in Farmingdale and Huntington, N.Y. Delivery of the equipment is scheduled for 2001 through 2004. Eurocopter is a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS).
President Bush will nominate Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden to be NASA's deputy administrator, the White House announced Jan. 31. Bolden, who has flown four missions in space as an astronaut, logging more than 680 hours in orbit, is the commanding general of the 3d Marine Aircraft Wing in San Diego. He must be confirmed by the Senate.
The growth of Rockwell Collins Inc. in 2002 will not be tied to the performance of the commercial air transport market, according to company President and CEO Clay Jones, but will come through acquisitions and the military, business and regional jet markets.
START-UP: Raytheon Co. has launched a start-up, TelASIC Communications Inc., which will design high-performance, application-specific integrated circuits for use in wireless products. The move is part of the company's strategy to commercialize defense electronics, according to Raytheon. TelASIC will be spun out of Raytheon's Electronic Systems business. Raytheon will own 20 percent of TelASIC, which has also secured $22.5 million in first-round financing from venture capital partners.
