TRW Aeronautical Systems (Lucas Aerospace) has teamed with Aero Union Corp.'s Aircraft Payload Systems division to offer Boeing 747 cargo operators new systems and equipment to reduce aircraft weight and improve cargo loading operations. The companies will supply 747 main deck mechanical systems and power drive units for main deck cargo systems. Customers can choose from a range of mechanical systems, control systems and power drive units, which will be integrated for use.
A U.S. C-130H Hercules recently landed in New Delhi to refuel while transporting six American military personnel, prompting media speculation here that India could be used as a staging ground for actions against Afghanistan. Indian officials and news reports said the military officials - including three Marines - were brought for duty at the U.S. embassy, including to beef up security there. "The C-130 Hercules aircraft came from Singapore and returned to the same place," a government official said.
An Indian official with Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) has offered the Bush Administration its microprocessor-based anti-collision device (ACD), which he says could be useful in the case of future terrorist airplane hijackings. In a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration, KRC managing director B. Rajaram wrote that the ACD - which is being successfully implemented by the Konkan Railway to prevent train collisions in India - could also be installed in aircraft to prevent air collisions.
ORBIT COUNT: Between 600 and 610 satellites are operating today in Earth orbit or in deep space, according to a survey released Oct. 2 by the Teal Group of Fairfax, Va. Thirty have been launched in the last nine months, two-thirds of which were manufactured by U.S. companies, the survey says.
The 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) report released by the Department of Defense (DOD) Oct. 1 lists the upgrading of space systems as one of six critical operational goals which will provide the focus for DOD's transformation effort. "DOD will pursue modernization of the aging space surveillance infrastructure, enhance the command and control structure, and evolve the system from a cataloging and tracking capability to a system providing space situational awareness," says the report.
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), a senior member of the House Armed Services and Science committees, proposed Oct. 2 that the U.S. and Russia increase cooperation on missile defense, space technology, weather satellites and several other aerospace fronts.
September 26, 2001 Lockheed Martin Corporation Systems, Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a $7,982,000 cost-plus-award-fee contract modification to provide for upgrade to MH-53 Helicopter simulator. At this time, the total amount of funds has been obligated. This work will be complete September 2003. Lockheed Martin Information Systems will perform this effort at the 58th training Support Squadron, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. The Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42630-00-C-0206, P00021).
Pacific Aerospace&Electronics Inc. has announced it received electronics contracts worth nearly $4.1 million in the past 60 days, an announcement that follows a series of setbacks for the financially strapped company. Nearly $3.8 million of the orders are related to defense projects, company officials said. "We are particularly pleased to announce the diversity of these orders," said company President and CEO Don Wright.
NASA's Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP) is ready to examine the oldest light in the universe now that it has settled into its distant home in space, NASA announced Oct. 1. The aerospace agency said MAP has arrived at L2, a semi-stable gravitational location that is one million miles from Earth, in the direction opposite the sun.
A rocket nozzle for the Boeing Delta IV's RS-68 engine has passed four flight certification tests and is ready for production and use on the Delta IV's first flight next year, nozzle maker Alliant Techsystems (ATK) announced Oct. 1. The nozzle's certification tests, performed at the John C. Stennis Space Center, Miss., simulated the most extreme mission cycles that could be experienced in flight, according to ATK.
SEA LAUNCH has signed an agreement with PanAmSat Corp. to launch the Galaxy XIII/Horizons-1 satellite in the fourth quarter of 2002. The new satellite will support PanAmSat's cable program distribution services, as well as the company's new joint venture with Japan's JSAT Corp. to provide expanded Ku-band services in North America and extended services to Japan and Asia via a Hawaii-based relay station.
STRATASYS, INC. of Minneapolis is touting its rapid prototyping system as a way for NASA to build spare parts in space. The company's fused deposit modeling (FDM) system creates solid models from computer-aided design files using polycarbonate, ABS plastic, wax and other materials. The aerospace agency has experimented with the company's system, according to Stratasys. NASA engineers placed a Stratasys FDM system on its KC-135 aircraft, which is used to simulate weightless conditions.
The new congressionally mandated aerospace commission, whose formation was delayed by several months, is finally gearing up to begin its work, and is doing so in an environment that has changed dramatically since legislation creating the panel was passed last year. The Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry is assembling a staff and has set up an office in Crystal City, Va. It is scheduled to hold its first meeting, an organizational session, on Oct. 2 and its first public meeting on Nov. 27.
B/E AEROSPACE INC., which builds aircraft cabin products, announced it has a cockpit security system that could be ready for installation as early as January. The system features an anti-ballistic cockpit door and a camera system enabling the flight crew to monitor the passenger cabin.
SUTRON CORP.'s SatLink High Data Rate Satellite Transmitter has been bought by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. SatLink will be part of AERONET, the center's global network of 165 remote sensing aerosol monitoring stations. AERONET's automatic data acquisition, transmission and processing facilitates building local, regional and global databases which are fundamental for understanding the influence of atmospheric aerosols on climate change.
DRS Technologies Inc. has completed the $67 million acquisition of the assets and some liabilities of the Boeing Co.'s Sensors and Electronic Systems business unit, the company announced Oct. 1.
EMS TECHNOLOGIES, INC., announced that the first production units of its new CALTRAC Star Tracker system has been launched aboard the NASA mission Genesis, which launched in August to collect samples of the solar wind. The CALTRAC Star Tracker was developed by the EMS Space&Technology Optical Products Group in Ottawa, Ontario, and is a compact instrument that includes optics, detector, signal processing electronics, power supplies and the tracker structure in a single unit. Star trackers assure that satellites maintain the proper attitude while in flight.
INTEGRAL SYSTEMS, INC., of Lanham, Md., has signed a long-term agreement with global satellite telecommunications company New Skies Satellites N.V. to expand the New Skies ground control system that it delivered in December 2000. Under the terms of the five-year agreement, Integral Systems will be the preferred supplier of ground systems for New Skies, and will offer New Skies preferred pricing for ground systems.
ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. has signed a contract to build and launch a geostationary communications satellite for Japan's Broadcasting Satellite System Corp. (B-SAT). The BSAT-2c will be the third satellite Orbital will build for the company. BSAT-2a, launched in 2001, is now in orbit. The BSAT-2b was left in a useless orbit after an Ariane 5 booster malfunctioned in July (DAILY, July 16).
