INDIAN SPACE RESEARCH ORGANIZATION (ISRO) plans to launch its Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) for the first time next month, setting the stage for commercial launches of geostationary satellites weighing as much as two tons. Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan, head of the ISRO, told reporters in Bangalore the vehicle ultimately will be able to offer launch services at a cost about 25% lower than available elsewhere. The first flight, from Sriharikota on the Bay of Bengal, will be a test to gauge the reliability of the GSLV, according to Kasturirangan.
THOMPSON VALVES FC has received an order from SNECMA Moteur to supply cryogenic electrovalves for the third stage engines of the Ariane 5 space launch vehicle. The order for 10 flight sets will be Thompson Valves' first Ariane 5 job, although the electrovalves have been used on more than 100 Ariane launches in the engine fuel control and attitude and control systems on the third stage.
CORRECTION: An article in The DAILY of Feb. 6 incorrectly designated the engine for the planned NASA/Lockheed Martin X-33 reusable launch vehicle testbed. The Rocketdyne engine is designated the XRS-2200.
Engingeered Support Systems, Inc. of Missouri received a $66 million Air Force contract for the production of its Tunner 60-K Cargo Loader/Transporters, the company announced yesterday. The Tunner, designed and manufactured by the company's Systems&Electronics subsidiary, is a mobile vehicle with a load capacity of 60,000 pounds, which is designed to quickly load and unload cargo from military transport aircraft in support of global airlift operations.
While the USAF was launching an effort yesterday to regain its estimated $2 billion F-22 cost overrun, the Pentagon announced it will not even take the first step in scheduling the meeting to decide whether to move the program into low rate initial production (LRIP) until after Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has had a chance to completely review the program.
The U.S. Navy has selected BAE Systems Helicopter TERPROM terrain navigation and ground proximity warning system for flight demonstration onboard Navy helicopters. The trials, taking place at the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River, Md., on a SH-60B Seahawk trials platform, will continue until mid-2001.
The Senate Commerce Committee announced last week it has chosen new chairmen for two aerospace-related subcommittees: Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) for aviation and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) for space. Hutchison replaces Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.), who lost re-election last year, while Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) succeeds Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), who left Commerce. Sen. John Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) remains ranking Democrat on aviation, while Sen. John Breaux (D-La.) keeps the same position on space.
The U.S. Air Force's F-22 completed the first flight of Raptor No. 4006 Monday, its final congressionally mandated criteria required before the Pentagon will schedule a Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) meeting to decide whether the program is ready to enter low rate initial production (LRIP).
Lockheed Martin, Management and Data Systems, Philadelphia, Pa., is being awarded a $60,200,000 modification to previously awarded cost-plus-award-fee contract N00019-99-C-0049. This modification provides for the design and development of three full and two partial engineering development models, including modification kits, of the Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control System/Land Attack Missile Fire Control System/Naval Fires Control System. Work will be performed in Valley Forge, Pa. (51%); San Diego, Calif. (15%); Arlington, Va. (14%); Dahlgren, Va. (13%); Moorestown, N.J.
Tenzing Communications, Inc., announced an agreement with Hughes Global Services to offer global inflight broadband communications services to allow passengers to send and receive email and browse the Internet at speeds up to several megabits per second. Tenzing is a global communications provider and Hughes provides end-to-end satellite communications services to companies worldwide.
The crash of a U.S. Marine Corps AV-8B Harrier on Feb. 3 marks the 14th fatality and the 48th of the jump jets destroyed in a flying accident over the last decade. The accident Saturday involved a two-seat TAV-8B trainer version, which crashed during landing at about 4 p.m. local time at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. The accident claimed the lives of back seat instructor Maj. Todd S. Denson, Marine Attack Training Squadron 203, of Seymour Sevier, Tenn., and student pilot Capt. Jason K. Meiners, VMAT-203, of Avon Lake, Ohio.
Raytheon Company, Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $30,180,408 Cost-plus-award-fee/incentive-fee contract for engineering and manufacturing development of a MK 45 MOD 12/14 Target Detecting Device (TDD) under the Standard Missile-2 (SM-2) program. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be completed by September 2003. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Arlington, Va., is the contracting activity (N00024-01-C-5384).
TRW Space and Electronics Group, Redondo Beach, Calif., and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Sunnyvale, Calif., are each being awarded $25,600,000 modifications to firm-fixed-price contracts. This will provide a total system Preliminary Design Review as part of the program definition and risk reduction effort supporting the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). The NPOESS program is a joint DoD-DoC-NASA endeavor. The work is expected to be completed December 2002.
President George W. Bush announced yesterday that Paul Wolfowitz, undersecretary of defense for policy in the first Bush Administration, is his choice to be the No. 2 official at the Defense Dept. John Douglass, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association, praised the nomination, saying Wolfowitz is a policy expert and government veteran who will hit the ground running as deputy secretary of defense.
EchoStar Communications Corp. has bought two geostationary satellite launches from International Launch Services, one on an Atlas III and one on a Proton K. The deal announced yesterday also includes options for other launches, according to both parties. ILS has launched four EchoStar communications satellites on Atlas or Proton rockets to date, according to the joint venture of Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services and Lockheed Khrunichev Energia International.
LOCKHEED MARTIN has completed assembly of the first C-130J-30 for the U.S. Air Force, the company announced yesterday. The aircraft was rolled out of the company's main production building on Jan. 25. This aircraft is the first of five extended fuselage length USAF C-130Js currently under contract. The C-130J will be flown to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., to begin airdrop testing.
A second hypersonic X-43A research vehicle has now arrived for final pre-flight processing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., after the first vehicle was successfully mated to the Pegasus rocket booster last month. The second vehicle arrived at Dryden on Jan. 31, NASA announced yesterday. The first vehicle was mated to the Pegasus booster on Jan. 10, and its flight is currently slated for early summer.
Raytheon Co., Tucson, Ariz., was awarded on Jan. 26, 2001, a $44,707,518 letter contract to be definitized as firm-fixed-price, with a not-to-exceed cumulative total of $89,415,036. This procurement is for 1,007 Stinger Block I Missiles and associated system hardware. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. (60%); Farmington, N.M. (20%), and at various locations outside of the continental United States (20%), and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2004. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Saturday marked the completion of the flight test program for Boeing's X-32A concept demonstrator Joint Strike Fighter, when the aircraft landed at Palmdale, Calif. at the end of its 66th flight. The X-32A, fulfilling both Boeing's conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) and well as carrier variant (CV) requirements, has a total of 50.4 flight hours in the test program since its first flight on Sept. 18 of last year.
Engineers at NASA's Stennis Space Center are preparing to hot-fire two big new rocket engines that could play a major role in space transportation in the coming decade, putting each through their paces in configurations something like they will see in flight.
The first photographs of China's Chengdu J-10 single-seat multi-role combat aircraft to be posted on the Internet show, not unexpectedly, a close similarity with Israel's abandoned Lavi fighter. The J-10 has been under development with Israeli assistance since the late 1980s.
The sweeping review of U.S. defense policy and spending that President Bush promised on the campaign trail is underway and could be finished within three months or so, in time to feed the separate, legally mandated Quadrennial Defense Review, said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Dyncorp Technical Services, Ft. Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $24,197,880 increment as part of a $46,966,272 modification to firm-fixed-price with cost reimbursable line items contract DAAH23-00-C-0226, for C-12 and UC-35 aircraft life cycle support. Work will be performed in Ft. Worth, Texas, and at various locations inside and outside of the continental United States, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 31, 2002. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were six bids solicited on March 8, 2000, and two bids were received.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., is being awarded a $211,864,735 modification as part of firm-fixed-price contract DAAJ09-97-C-0005, to exercise the option for 24 UH-60L Black Hawk helicopters for Israel. Work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2003. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This is a sole source contract initiated on Jan. 24, 2001. The U.S. Army Aviation&Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity.
