HARRIS CORP. says the two 12-meter-diameter mesh reflectors aboard Asia Cellular Satellite's Garuda 1 spacecraft have been deployed and checked out. The umbrella-shaped reflectors are the largest antennas known to have been deployed in space. Launched Feb. 12 aboard a Russian Proton, Garuda 1 will provide handheld mobile telecommunications for the Asia Pacific region. The 4,500-kilogram satellite was built by Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems in Sunnyvale, Calif., with Harris serving as subcontractor for the antennas.
TRW has tested its Alpha high-energy laser again, boosting its output power by 25% and increasing laser quality, the company reported. The six-second test at TRW's Capistrano Test Site marked the 22nd firing of the Alpha laser, a cylindrical hydrogen fluoride chemical laser designed in the mid-1980s. Jointly funded by the U.S. Air Force and the Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, Alpha is a precursor to the proposed Space-Based Laser Integrated Flight Experiment.
McDonnell Douglas Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Boeing Company, St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded a $54,812,443 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for the engineering and manufacturing development for the Advanced Mission Computer and Displays Program (AMC&D). The AMC&D system, which is based on an open architecture and modular design that allows for future technological and functional growth, will provide hardware and infrastructure software commonality that can be used across several aircraft platforms.
Citing strong revenue growth and operating performance across all sectors, General Dynamics reported net earnings of $184 million, or $0.91 a share, on sales of $2.55 billion for the first quarter of 2000. "This was an excellent quarter -- we started 2000 on a strong note, and expect solid results to continue throughout the year," said Nicholas D. Chabraja chairman and CEO of General Dynamics.
The Sea Launch Failure Review Oversight Board, meeting in Long Beach, Calif., to hear from teams investigating the launch failure of March 12, is making progress toward completion of its work in mid-May, said Jim Maser, chair of the board and chief engineer for Sea Launch.
Delfasco Inc., Afton, Tenn., is being awarded $8,000,890 as part of a $16,171,622 (total if all options are exercised) firm-fixed-price contract for 154,490 practice bombs, twin pack (MK76 MOD 5, 25 LB) and 259,605 practice bombs, bulk back (MK76 MOD 5, 25 LB), in support of U.S. Navy weapons delivery training. Work will be performed in Afton, Tenn., and is expected to be completed by Nov. 10, 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was an announcement on the World Wide Web on Jan. 21, 2000, and two bids were received. The U.S.
JAPAN'S JSAT has picked a Hughes/Arianespace combination for its next telecommunications satellite, the JCSAT-8, due for launch by the end of next year. The Hughes 601 model body-stabilized satellite will carry 16 Ku-band and 16 C-band amplifiers for coverage to Japan, East Asia, Australia and Hawaii. It will be the seventh satellite JSAT has ordered from Hughes, and is designated to replace 10-year-old JCSAT-2 in the orbital slot at 154 degrees East longitude. Arianespace will launch the satellite on either an Ariane 4 or Ariane 5.
A one-piece engine inlet duct segment made from composite material, designed to be assembled in the Lockheed Martin Joint Strike Fighter airframe with minimal fasteners, has successfully completed pressure tests, the company reported. The tests, a key step toward validating the use of integral composite attach flanges intended to eliminate thousands of fasteners, showed the duct resisted failure at twice its ultimate design load, according to Lockheed Martin.
Fairchild Aerospace says its first 44-seater 428JET will be delivered to launch customer Atlantic Coast Airlines about six months later than originally planned. The event is now slated for the end of the first quarter of 2003. The slip coincides with a Fairchild announcement of significant changes in the development process. Israel Aircraft Industries, which will deliver the green aircraft to Fairchild, is assuming more integration work than foreseen.
Higher-than-allowable cross winds at Kennedy Space Center forced NASA mangers to hold the Space Shuttle Atlantis at the launch pad yesterday, postponing by at least a day the second logistics mission to the International Space Station. Winds at KSC's Shuttle landing strip were gusting at 20 mph, exceeding the 17 mph maximum permitted level for a return to landing site abort in the event of a problem on ascent. The scrub was called about 15 minutes before a scheduled 4:17 p.m. EDT liftoff.
Lockheed Martin Corp., Vought Systems, Grand Prairie, Texas, is being awarded a $53,780,032 firm fixed price contract for the manufacture of 530 Extended Range Multiple Launch Rocket System Rockets. Work will be performed at Camden, Ark., and Grand Prairie, Texas, and is expected to be completed Feb. 15, 2003. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was 1 bid solicited on Oct. 14, 1999, and 1 bid received. The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. is the contracting activity (DAAH01-00-C-0044).
A Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle was damaged last Dec. 6 after a successful flight and full-stop landing at Edward AFB, Calif., because it was mistakenly commanded to taxi at 155 knots, the U.S. Air Force said yesterday. Damage to the vehicle, including its sensor package, was put at $5.3 million. Global Hawk No. 3 "accelerated to an excessive taxi speed and veered off the main runway, collapsing its nose gear and damaging its sensor suite," the AF said.
ITT Industries, Colorado Springs, Colo., was awarded on April 14 a $15,000,000 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide for research and development through April 13, 2005 in the area of ultra-wideband sources and antennas for communication systems. This effort will include source design and development, antenna design and development, materials physics, and advanced concept studies. At this time, $166,365 of the contract funds has been obligated. There were ten proposals received.
TRW Inc., Carson, Calif., is being awarded a $284,686,716 indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract to provide for the Distributed Mission Training Operations and Integration Program through April 16, 2005. The contractor will establish, operate, and maintain a networked real-time distributed training system. This program will allow the Air Force to operate a training system that will allow personnel at geographically separate locations to participate in exercises. Funds will be obligated as individual delivery orders are issued.
Boeing Co. completed the first phase of engine runs with its X-32A conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstration aircraft, the company announced. It reported no anomalies in tests of the Pratt&Whitney F119-614 engine, which began April 15 and included all power settings, maximum afterburner, vectoring the nozzle full throat, and running of the jet fuel starter and auxiliary power unit. Emergency system tests and emergency shutdowns were also performed.
Eaton Corp. said sales for the first quarter of 2000 were up 40% year-over-year to $2.33 billion, and that earnings per share hit $1.77 after non-recurring items, up 51% versus the prior year. One-time items included a pre-tax gain of $10 million, or $0.09 a share, related to asset sales and $8 million, or $0.07 per share, of restructuring charges. The company pegged operating earnings at $1.75 per share and comparable cash earnings per share at $2.04.
A Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle landed safely at Eglin AFB, Fla., on Friday, following a 10.5-hour flight from Edwards AFB, Calif., to participate in exercises demonstrating its reconnaissance capabilities. En route from Edwards to Eglin, Global Hawk Air Vehicle No. 4 carried out two missions along the southern U.S. coastline, according to a spokesperson at Eglin. "It did a border patrol/counter-narcotics mission," the spokesperson said in a telephone interview.
STOCKMARKETS in the U.S., France, Germany and the U.K. were closed April 21 in observance of the Good Friday holiday. The DAILY's Aerospace Stockbox will be published next in the issue of Tuesday, April 25.
The government of Norway has requested software and services in support of a potential direct commercial sale of five Aegis SPY-1 integrated weapon systems for new frigates. The Pentagon said the cost is estimated at $55 million. This proposed sale includes Aegis SPY-1F software support, Mk. 41 Vertical Launch System, Quadpack Missile Echo Units and test equipment to be used on Norway's new commercial frigates which replace the country's old Oslo class ships. Lockheed Martin, Moorestown, N.J., and Baltimore, Md., is the prime contractor.
ARMY TURNS TO DARPA: As the U.S. Army moves toward a lighter, network-centric force in its Future Combat System program, the service has turned to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. "Robotics plays a very large role in the system," says Larry Stotts, director for technology in the office of the deputy assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition and technology. "Robotics is a key enabling technology for FCS." DARPA will be bringing to the table unconventional designs and new ways of doing things to meet the new goals, he says.
FIRST FLIGHT: Neither of the Joint Strike Fighter competitors is trying to beat the other to first flight, despite the view of some that it has become a horserace. "Contractually and programmatically there is no real significance who flies first," says a Boeing spokesman, "just that we fly safely and demonstrate those aspects we're supposed to." A Lockheed Martin spokeswoman is on the same page. "What's important is making sure everything is safe and ready and that we have all the systems validated and verified," she says.
Lockheed Martin has won a recompetition to perform depot level maintenance for the C-9 airlifter fleets of the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. The company's Aircraft&Logistics Centers' Greenville Aircraft Center, S.C., won a $350 million, seven-year contract to handle depot level maintenance, including modifications, painting, engineering and technical services and field support, on the three services' fleet of 52 Boeing C-9 aircraft. Naval Air Systems Command awarded the contract.
Lockheed Martin Information Systems has received a $142 million U.S. Navy contract to support logistics operations for the service's Consolidated Automated Support System (CASS). The agreement with Naval Air Systems Command and the Naval Inventory Control Point combines resources maintained under separate contracts to reduce inventory, cut sustainment costs and improve the speed with which assets are repaired and returned to service, Lockheed Martin said.
Boeing has established an operation in the Netherlands to streamline the distribution of spare parts for European carriers. The Amsterdam Service Center near Schiphol airport is the eighth member of Boeing's spares distribution family. Establishment of another spares center in Europe is aimed at reducing customer procurement times and supporting the trend to just-in-time inventory management. The two main distribution centers are located in Seattle and Los Angeles, with regional centers in Atlanta, London, Dubai, Beijing and Singapore.
