ASIA SATELLITE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CO. LTD. (AsiaSat) has signed a lease agreement with Australia's Telstra Corp. for one and a half 54 MHz Ku-band transponders on AsiaSat 3S. AsiaSat's satellite capacity will be used to deliver Telstra's BigPond broadband services throughout the country, particularly in rural and remote areas. "AsiaSat 3S's unbeatable power and coverage will complement and enhance Telstra's existing broadband solutions, particularly to Australia's remote outback," said AsiaSat CEO Peter Jackson.
CTRL SYSTEMS, INC., of Westminster, Md., said its Ultraphonic 101 (UL101) diagnostic device will be flown by NASA on the shuttle mission STS-104 and will be used by astronauts on the International Space Station for various applications, including to check for gas leaks from the station. NASA selected the UL101 based on the hand-held device's ease of use, according to the company.
INTEGRAL SYSTEMS INC. of Lanham, Md., has become an independent solutions supplier (ISS) for Agilent Technologies for the satellite integration and test marketplace, the company announced. Agilent supports its ISS partners with cooperative market planning, referrals and access to Agilent's worldwide sales force. The two companies have recently been jointly marketing testing solutions for communications satellites.
The Boeing Co. has completed the first flight of its prototype CH-47F Chinook heavy-lift helicopter, the sixth Chinook type designed for the U.S. Army. The June 25 flight - which Boeing announced on June 29 - took place at the company's Philadelphia manufacturing facility. It involved hover and basic maneuvers.
KNOW DOSE: NASA scientists are awaiting a preliminary radiation interpretation from the Hungarian Space Office to get an idea of the radiation dosages astronauts receive on the International Space Station. The report will be based on readings of thermoluminescent detectors (TLDS) on the station, which are part of a radiation measuring system developed by the Space Station Biological Research Project at Ames Research Center, Calif., and the Hungarian Space Office.
RIGHT DIRECTION: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's fiscal year 2002 defense budget amendment is heading in the right direction to eliminate waste and inefficiency in the Pentagon budget, says Gen. Richard D. Hearney, president and CEO of Business Executives for National Security (BENS). "Inefficient and outmoded business practices eat up too much of the Pentagon budget," Hearney says.
(Editor's note: The following is excerpted testimony from the responses by John J. Young, nominated to be the assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Young testified June 27.)
NASA and the European Space Agency have altered plans for an international science mission to Saturn to work around a telecommunications problem with a probe aiming for the planet's moon Titan. The Cassini spacecraft's Huygens probe was supposed to parachute into Titan's thick atmosphere in late 2004. The new plan will bump that to Jan. 14, 2005, nearly two months later than originally planned.
FIGHT LIGHT: In light of changing threats and a diminished budget surplus, defense analyst Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, thinks the Army should focus on becoming a "lighter, more expeditionary force." Heavy ground force units should be replaced by "units that are maybe smaller in size, but have a much more lethal punch," he says.
XM SATELLITE RADIO'S second satellite, "Roll," has been formally handed over to XM by satellite builder Boeing and has started broadcasting, the Washington, D.C.-based company said. Roll has reached its final position in geostationary orbit at 85 degrees West longitude. The satellite, launched May 8, is performing beyond expectations, like XM's other satellite, "Rock," according to the company. XM plans the launch of its commercial digital satellite radio service later this summer. "XM's space infrastructure is complete.
The U.S. Army is sending six X-ray technicians to key Apache helicopter units around the world in an effort to determine which tail rotor blades on the aircraft need to be replaced. The effort is underway because one of the four tail rotor blades on an Israeli Apache failed during a June 11 flight, prompting an immediate landing at a base in Israel. No one was injured, but the Army wants to be sure there are no other such incidents.
DEEPWATER FUNDING: The Coast Guard would get $300 million to begin carrying out its $18 billion, 20-year Deepwater aircraft and ship modernization program, under a fiscal 2002 transportation appropriations bill recently approved by the House. The amount is $38 million less than the Bush Administration's request.
Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) is trying to add language to the fiscal 2001 supplemental appropriations bill that would allow the Bush Administration to operate a missile defense system at Fort Greeley, Alaska, according to Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). According to Nelson, the language would allow the defense secretary to use part or all of Fort Greeley to "to meet military operational, logistics and personnel support requirements for missile defense."
NEW REP: Newly elected Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) will join the House Armed Services and Science Committees. He is filling the House seat held by Rep. Norm Sisisky (D-Va.), who represented Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth until he died in March (DAILY, March 30).
UNPREDICTABLE: House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) disagrees with calls from some defense analysts to trim force structure to adapt to changing threats. "I think what we can predict is that the next conflict will probably be unpredictable," he says. "And that means you've got to have broad capability. And in the end you have to pay for that. We only have 10 army divisions, [so] why are we torturing ourselves over whether we can cut them more? We're down to a little over 2 percent of GNP being spent on defense.
INTERNATIONAL LAUNCH SERVICES (ILS) will launch Canada's Nimiq 2 satellite in late 2002 on an Atlas V rocket under a contract with the satellite's builder, Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems. The Nimiq 2 is an A2100AX model that LMCSS is building for Telesat Canada to provide direct broadcast services across Canada. ILS also launched the LMCSS-built Nimiq 1 satellite in 1999. Nimiq 2 is a high-power Ku/Ka-band satellite to be located at 91 degrees West longitude. The satellite's Ka-band payload will provide broadband services.
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. has begun full-scale fatigue testing of a U.S. Navy S-3 Viking anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft to see how much longer the venerable fleet of airplanes can keep flying. The S-3 Viking continues to be the backbone of the U.S. Navy's fleet even though it first entered service in the 1970s. The airplanes are certified for a structural life of 13,000 hours, which they are rapidly approaching, according to Lockheed Martin.
Rockwell International Corp., of Milwaukee, Wisc., will officially complete the spin off of its avionics and communications unit, Rockwell Collins, Inc., of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, at the close of business on June 29. For each share of Rockwell International common stock held on June 15, 2001, shareholders will receive one share of Rockwell Collins, Inc., stock.
Dassault Aviation is teaming with the French aerospace research institute Onera to pursue new development projects, including quiet-aircraft technology that the French plane maker said could resurrect its plans to proceed with a supersonic business jet. The teaming agreement covers both military and civil applications ranging from detectability and maneuverability for future combat aircraft to lowered operating costs and improved passenger comfort, Dassault said.
The Pentagon announced this week that management authority for the Airborne Laser (ABL), Space-Based Laser (SBL), and SBIRS Low programs will be taken from the Air Force and given to the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO). The change will not result in any personnel or facilities changes, according to BMDO spokesman Lt. Col. Rick Lehner. "It's just a management change," Lehner told The DAILY. "Everything stays the same."
Democrats on the House and Senate armed services committees criticized the Bush Administration's fiscal 2002 defense budget June 28, saying it pours money into missile defense at the expense of aircraft, shipbuilding and other needs.
U.S. Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Raytheon Co. a $12.3 million contract to continue providing AN/ALE-50A Towed Decoy Integrated Multi-Platform Launch Controllers, the company announced June 28. The award is an option to the original production contract that began in March 1999. Integrated Multi- Platform Launch Controllers provide towed decoy launch control on a variety of military aircraft. They are an upgraded version of Raytheon's ALE-50 Multi-Platform Launch Controllers.
Dynamics Research Corp., of Andover, Mass., will provide helicopter vibration analysis to the U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., under a $4.2 million contract. The program is an 18 month effort intended to improve the operational effectiveness of Army helicopters by using advanced identification, monitoring and analysis techniques to control adverse vibrations in helicopter components.
Large orbital "space hotels" could be a reality in the next 15 years if the U.S. does more to nurture the existing interest in space tourism - starting with paid shuttle rides, according to Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, president of Starcraft Enterprises and the second man to walk on the moon.
Aerojet will produce 2,251 additional warhead sections for the Army's Tube-Launched, Optically Tracked, Wire Guided (TOW) 2A missile under a $5.9 million contract from Raytheon Co., Aerojet announced June 28. The Sacramento, Calif.-based company is nearing delivery of the last of 1,113 TOW 2A warhead sections ordered by Raytheon in January 2000.
