U.S. researchers are planning to fly hundreds of samples of coating materials - from paint to lubricants - to the International Space Station this summer to see how the substances withstand a long stretch in extreme temperatures and ultraviolet light. The findings could give scientists new clues both into developing future spacecraft as well as making various materials last longer on Earth, Aerospace Daily affiliate AviationNow.com reported.
Precision Castparts Corp. of Portland, Ore., has signed a five-year agreement with FiatAvio of Turin, Italy, to manufacture castings for aircraft engines, the company announced July 5. The agreement, worth about $130 million through 2005, calls for Precision Castparts to build 22 castings for aircraft engine programs, according to the company. The work will be performed at PCC Structurals' large parts facility in Portland, PCC France in Ogeu-les-Bains, and Wyman-Gordon Castings' small structurals operation in Portland.
The Indian Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) plans to revamp its surface-to-air (SAM) Trishul missile program and develop a new version of the missile. The New Indian Express daily reports that the move comes from repeated failures of the quick reaction missile to clear test parameters and the eventual delay in its induction into the Indian navy inventory.
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will be demonstrated at the first exposition of unmanned aviation, scheduled for July 30 at the Webster Field annex of the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. The Navy's Program Executive Office, Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems (AUVSI) will host the demo, which will be the kickoff to AUVSI's annual conference, which is being held at the Baltimore Convention Center.
ARIANESPACE has named Clayton Mowry as president of Arianespace, Inc., which will place the Satellite Industry Association official atop the French company's U.S. affiliate. Mowry, whose appointment will be official August 6, will manage the U.S. customer, industry and government relations for Arianespace.
Despite its establishment of an office dedicated exclusively to military transformation (DAILY, Jun. 29), the 2002 defense budget leaves many tough questions about transformation unanswered, according to some defense analysts. Although the amended 2002 budget represents the largest single-year defense spending increase since the mid-1980s, much of the extra spending is dedicated to improving military healthcare and other quality-of-life issues.
Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.) has been unsuccessful so far in his bid to get fiscal 2002 funding for a study on whether new space shuttle orbiters should be built. McKeon's request is not expected to be included in the FY '02 spending bill that the House Appropriations VA-HUD subcommittee is scheduled to consider next week, a committee aide told The DAILY July 5. The VA-HUD panel is responsible for NASA's budget.
Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah), a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, has said he wants a one-year extension of the Defense Production Act (DPA), not the three-year renewal requested by the Bush Administration (DAILY, June 14). The Banking Committee has jurisdiction over the DPA. In a recent statement, Bennett also said he favors requiring the Administration to provide a modernization plan for the DPA in six months.
A study released July 3 by two United Kingdom think tanks found that the British government is annually subsidizing that country's defense industry with 420 million pounds ($588 million) of taxpayer money. "The Subsidy Trap," published jointly by the Oxford Research Group and Saferworld, outlined four types of direct subsidies given to the U.K. defense industry.
Scientists will use satellites, lasers, computers, aircraft and other tools to carry out NASA-funded studies aimed at learning more about the global carbon cycle. NASA has awarded 80 research grants, worth about $50 million, to universities, government laboratories and other organizations (DAILY, July 5). The space agency had received 288 proposals in response to a research announcement made in 2000.
The European Space Agency's Artemis satellite is still on schedule for its July 12 launch after a ground crew at the Kourou, French Guiana launch site overcame fueling problems last week. Workers had difficulty loading hydrazine, the fuel that drives Artemis' thrusters, forcing them to empty the tanks and load them again, according to ESA.
Eutelsat, the Paris-based intergovernmental provider of satellite communications services, announced earlier this week it has become a limited liability commercial company. The new company, to be called Eutelsat S.A., will be headed by Giuliano Berretta, former director general of the Eutelsat organization. Berretta was appointed chairman of the board and CEO by the new company's 15-member supervisory board.
Ratings analysts with Standard&Poor's affirmed their "A" credit rating for Honeywell International Inc., and removed the company from CreditWatch, despite a July 3 ruling from the European Commission preventing the company's acquisition by General Electric Co. The analysts said the affirmation reflected Honeywell's substantial operating diversity, solid competitive position, strong financial profile and moderate financial policy.
CAE of Toronto has received $40 million in flight simulator work from Japan Airlines (JAL) and SAS Flight Academy of Stockholm, Sweden, the company announced July 5. JAL has ordered two full flight simulators and SAS Flight Academy ordered a major upgrade to its Airbus A320-200 full flight simulator. The JAL simulators will train pilots on the Boeing 767-300ER and the Boeing 777-200ER, and both will be installed in JAL's training facilities in Tokyo.
The U.S. Army's Space and Missile Defense Command is eyeing potential uses of an unmanned airship that could fly at 70,000 feet for six months at a time. The projected High Altitude Airship (HAA) would have many of the benefits of a geostationary satellite, but wouldn't be as expensive and could be retrieved periodically for maintenance, according to Hank Holmes, demonstration manager for the program at SMDC headquarters in Huntsville, Ala.
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft has completed its second trajectory correction maneuver, marking the end of its early cruise phase, according to the space agency. The orbiter, launched April 7, fired its thrusters for 23 seconds on July 2, changing its velocity by 0.9 meters per second (about two miles per hour), according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which is managing the mission.
Sikorsky's CYPHER II unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) achieved its first tethered flight last month, the Stratford, Conn.-based company announced July 5. Sikorsky said the June 15 flight was the first time the experimental aircraft had flown. CYPHER II is being built for the U.S. Army Night Vision Labs in Fort Belvoir, Va., and will be used for testing small sensors next year.
Northrop Grumman Corp. and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS) have teamed up to offer the Pratt&Whitney JT8D-219 powerplant to re-engine NATO's fleet of airborne warning and control systems (AWACS) and trainer cargo aircraft (TCA), the companies announced July 5. Under the terms of the agreement, EADS would be the prime contractor and would perform the aircraft modifications. Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems Sector would provide engineering support and conduct the military qualification of the re-engined AWACS aircraft.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) told The DAILY July 3 that he will oppose amendments to increase spending in the fiscal 2001 supplemental appropriations bill. He noted that Congress has already approved a budget outline limiting the supplemental to $6.5 billion, its current price tag.
The Boeing Co. announced it will lead an international team to pursue the second phase of the Coast Guard's lucrative Deepwater Capability Replacement Project contract. Boeing's team for the second phase of the Deepwater program competition includes the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. (EADS), Construcciones Aeronauticas S.A. (CASA) of Spain, and Eurocopter of France, both of which are owned by EADS. Domestic partners include John J. McMullen Assoc. Inc. of Alexandria, Va. and Litton Avondale Industries, of New Orleans.
CMC ELECTRONICS of Montreal has been selected as cockpit avionics systems integrator for Boeing B747 aircraft by Saudi Arabian Airlines, Corsair and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines. CMC will supply its CMA-900 Flight Management System for the B747 fleets, according to the company. The CMA-900 uses the Global Positioning System to provide navigation and oceanic and remote area operations capability.
Fitch Inc., the international ratings agency, affirmed its debt rating for Raytheon Corp. July 3 despite recent reports of higher cost estimates to complete construction projects abandoned by the Washington Group International. Fitch analysts said the ratings outlook for the company remained stable.
An independent federal agency said this week that the U.S. civil aerostructures industry is losing "some of its competitive edge" as a result of consolidation in the large civil aircraft industry (LCA), Aerospace Daily affiliate Aviation Daily reported.
PANAMSAT has become the platform for the international distribution of nearly all major Korean broadcasters, the company announced. The company's PAS-2, PAS-8, PAS-9 and Galaxy XI satellites, as well as a Napa Valley, Calif., teleport facility, form the backbone of a distribution network broadcasting Korean programming throughout Asia and the Americas, according to the company.
The Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded Integrated Sensors Inc. a $99,000 contract to study radar that could locate ground targets hidden under trees and bushes and other thick foliage. The Utica, N.Y.-based company will investigate radars capable of seeing through foliage. It will look at synthetic aperture radar, which can image fixed targets, and ground moving target indication radar, which helps detect moving targets or vehicles.
