A McGraw-Hill Companies 2001 Symposium set for May 23 in Washington, D.C., features two panels on aviation issues. The panel on "Capacity Problems in Commercial Aviation," includes Aviation Daily Editor-in-Chief Michael Miller, AviationNow.com Managing Editor James Mathews and James McKenna, Executive Director of the Aviation Safety Institute.
A leading Senate advocate of missile defense has called on the Bush Administration not to give away the right to pursue space-based missile defenses in exchange for political support for a limited system.
A group composed of members from the Bell-Boeing tiltrotor team, their V-22 Osprey subcontractors, the Navy and Air Force, is putting together a roadmap of what changes must be made to fix identified deficiencies and how long it will take to incorporate them into the aircraft.
Twenty-two contractors will split $767 million in contracts as part of NASA's first awards under its Space Launch Initiative program, aimed at finding ways to improve safety and reduce the cost of space travel. Sam Venneri, NASA's associate administrator for aerospace technology, called the program "the highest priority technology development program within NASA," at a press conference at NASA Headquarters. NASA released the first awards May 17 to contractors both large and small, including industry giants like the Boeing Co.
The National Reconnaissance Office is scheduled to launch its geosynchronous lightweight technology experiment, called GeoLITE, May 18 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. GeoLITE is an advanced technology demonstration satellite with a laser communications experiment and an operational UHF communications mission. The NRO will operate the spacecraft when in orbit, sources said. A Delta II booster will carry the satellite.
In spite of encountering some opposition in the national congress, General Patricio Rios, commander-in-chief of Chile's air force, recommended May 14 to President Ricardo Lagos that Lockheed Martin's F-16 fighter is the best technical option to replace Chile's older aircraft in service. The deal involves a dozen aircraft and is worth $600 million. Other bidders are France's Dassault, offering Mirage fighters, and the British/Swedish multinational company Saab, offering Jas 39 Gripens.
Lockheed Martin Astronautics has selected Saab Ericsson Space's Low Shock Separation System for use on the company's Atlas V launch vehicle, Saab announced May 16. The system will reduce launcher-induced shock to satellites by several orders of magnitude, according to Saab. The two companies have signed a 10-year contract for the systems. Saab Ericsson Space has provided separation systems for Atlas rockets since the late 1980s, according to the company, which is jointly owned by Saab and Ericsson.
Aerospace industry representatives offered their perspectives on the current problems facing the U.S. aerospace industry at the NASTC 2001 conference here earlier this week, along with the steps they believe must be taken to avoid further erosion of financial and human resources. Dain Hancock, president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, began his remarks to conferees with a sobering picture of the industry's health.
BAE SYSTEMS has won an 18-month, $3.3 million contract from the U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command for the program definition and risk reduction phase of the Ground Stand-off Mine Detection System Block I program, which integrates mine detection and neutralization into a multi-platform system.
General Dynamics Armament Systems has received a $5 million order from the U.S. Army Operations Support command for the production of Hydra-70 rockets and motors for the U.S. Army, Navy and foreign militaries, the company announced May 16. The order is part of a five-year contract the company was awarded in June 1999. The total contract value to date is $396.8 million, with a maximum potential value of $1.2 billion through the five-year contract period. Deliveries from this order are scheduled to run from June 2002 through June 2003.
Germany will spend $3.5 billion over the next four years on its space program - fulfilling its commitment to several European space projects, the German government said May 16. The new investment is aimed at increasing German industry's share of the global commercial revenues from aerospace while maintaining Germany's position as a world leader of space research, according to research minister Edelgard Buhlmahn.
PRATT&WHITNEY Canada Corp. announced the Bavarian Police will outfit their nine Eurocopter EC135 helicopters with the company's PW206B2 engines, starting in September. The helicopters, used for police and EMS duties, are currently powered by Pratt&Whitney's PW206B engines. The new engines will allow the helicopters to operate with higher take-off weights.
Senior Pentagon officials stressed mutual deterrence, not mutual destruction, during recent missile defense consultation meetings in Russia, according to sources familiar with the talks. Military personnel from the U.S. and Russia currently work shoulder-to-shoulder in areas such as Kosovo, and the expectation is for Russia to continue to be a coalition partner in future conflicts. This permits fundamental changes in an approach to deterrence, officials said.
The crew of a Turkish CASA CN-235 twin-turboprop military transport aircraft notified ground operations of an engine problem shortly before the plane crashed Wednesday in the eastern province of Malatya, killing all 37 people aboard, sources said. "There are no survivors and the exact reason for the crash is still unknown," a high-level air force official told Aviation Week&Space Technology. "We are still investigating the crash."
Aerospace and defense contractor L-3 Communications, based in New York City, has agreed to buy EER Systems in a deal valued at $105 million, the company announced May 16. L-3's buy of the Chantilly, Va., company could include a $10 million addition to the price, depending on EER's financial performance in 2001 and 2002. The acquisition is expected to close within 30 days.
THE X-40A, a technology demonstrator for NASA's X-37 robotic space plane program, made a successful sixth free flight test on May 16 at the space agency's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif. As was done in earlier tests, the unpiloted, unpowered X-40A was lifted to nearly 15,000 feet by an Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter and released.
The Boeing Co. plans to sell its ordnance division, located in Mesa, Ariz., to General Dynamics, which will relocated the business within its current operations. The sale is subject to U.S. government review, which is expected to be completed within the next 30 days, according to Boeing. The terms of the agreement, signed last week, were not announced. Boeing said its 55 ordnance employees will be offered the opportunity to join the General Dynamics Armament Systems team.
President Bush intends to nominate Marvin R. Sambur to be assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, research and development, the White House announced May 15. Sambur is currently a consultant with ITT Industries, where he has served for over 25 years. He has served in several capacities at ITT, including as president and CEO from 1998 to 2001; president and general manager of the ITT Aerospace and Communications Division from 1991 to 1998; and president and general manager of ITT's Electron Technology Division from 1998 to 1991.
Citing a need for "revolutionary" concepts, NASA is planning to incorporate a number of new technologies - including nanotechnology - into traditional aircraft engineering in an attempt to brighten the future of U.S. aerospace. "We feel that aerospace technology is vitally important to the country," said Gregory Reck, deputy associate administrator for Aerospace Technology at NASA. "We envision the need to develop really dramatic, new capabilities." Reck made his remarks at the National Aerospace Systems and Technology Conference here on May 15.
The aerospace unit of industrial manufacturer Eaton Corp. has signed an agreement with CargoLifter Development GmbH of Berlin and Brand, Germany, to provide the hydraulic power generation and distribution systems for the CargoLifter CL160 airship. The CL160 will be the largest lighter-than-air cargo airship in the world, and is designed to transport extremely large and heavy equipment and cargo carriers. The program has a revenue potential of about $250 million over two decades for Cleveland-based Eaton.
Alcatel will acquire the 48.83% stake in Alcatel Space currently held by Thales, the companies announced May 16 following a meeting of their boards of directors. The transaction is worth 795 million euros (about $700 million USD), to be paid half in cash and half in Thales shares. This will reduce Alcatel's stake in Thales from 25.3% to about 20%. The move will require European Commission approval.
Bernard Schwartz has stepped down as chairman and chief executive officer of troubled mobile satellite telephone company Globalstar L.P. of San Jose, Calif., as part of Globalstar's overall restructuring. Replacing Schwartz as chairman is Olof Lundberg, 57, a former executive at ICO Global Communications, Inmarsat and Swedish Telecom (now Telia), Aerospace Daily affiliate AviationNow.com reported.
A TRW-led team has tested a micro-thruster array - one-fourth the size of a penny - that could be used on tiny satellites, the company announced May 16. Individual micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) thrusters fueled with lead styphnate propellant fired more than 20 times at one-second intervals during a test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. Each thruster is the size of a poppy seed.
Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science plans to launch a Venus surveyor, currently named the Venus Climate Orbiter, in early 2007, officials said. The VCO is slated to begin its elliptical orbit of the planet by fall of 2009. It will orbit Venus for two years and use five cameras to observe the planet's surface and atmosphere. The spacecraft will weigh about 650 kilograms (about 1,400 lbs.), including 40 kilograms (88 lbs.) of observation equipment. The surveyor will be launched by an M-5 launcher.
The U.S. Air Force next month will pick a winner in an effort to develop a microsatellite capable of performing autonomous operations close to another space object. The winner of the Air Force Research Lab's XSS11 program, to be chosen June 6, will fabricate the 100-kilogram (220 lb.) satellite and work toward launch in 2004, according to Vern Baker, manager of the program in the Space Vehicles Directorate of the AF Research Lab at Kirtland AFB, N.M.
