Intelsat LLC, Intelsat's Delaware-based subsidiary, filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to operate Intelsat's C- and Ku-band global satellite system. "This filing is an extremely important step in our move to full privatization," said Conny Kullman, CEO of Intelsat. Intelsat, an intergovernmental entity set up by international treaty, plans to go private by April 2001. Right now, Intelsat is not licensed by the FCC or any equivalent international organization.
Software upgrades and configurations designed to accommodate the Year 2000 computer date-logic problem ran without a hitch in a Space Shuttle launch dress rehearsal last week, performing so well that the issue didn't even surface during a flight readiness review for the next mission held on Tuesday. "The test went as planned," said a spokesman for Kennedy Space Center, which oversaw the test during the regular Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test (TCDT) last Friday. "There were no significant issues."
Lockheed Martin's Sanders unit has won a $7 million foreign military sales contract from the U.S. Army to supply missile warning systems to Greece. The contract covers 17 of the company's AN/ALQ-156(V)1/(V)3T warning systems for Greece's CH-47 helicopter fleet. The system uses a pulse-Doppler radar to detect approaching missiles, and can automatically deploy flares and radio frequency decoys to deflect the threat, Sanders said.
Teledesic LLC has hired two top technology managers from Hughes Space&Communications to help set up its broad "Internet-in-the-sky" satellite constellation, the Bellevue, Wash.-based company reported. Bob Day, who spent 19 years at Hughes in satellite system analysis, design, operations and other areas, will be vice president of space technology, responsible for the technical design and implementation of the Teledesic Network satellites and satellite control centers.
The Pentagon's fiscal year 2001 budget includes a proposal to cut up to $800 million from the Air Force's Airborne Laser (ABL) program over the next five years -- a hit that would delay fielding of the missile defense system by at least seven years, industry sources told The DAILY. The cut, sources said, is between $600 million and $800 million over the future years defense plan and could add $1 billion or more to total program cost.
Textron (NYSE: TXT) didn't even need to announce earnings results before investors started to punish the stock, sending shares to a new 52-week low. Textron closed down $5.38 to $57.88 yesterday amid concerns it wouldn't meet the consensus estimate of $1.12 for its fourth fiscal quarter. The stock has traded down sharply since the beginning of the year. For the past few days, trading volume has been particularly high with over 3 million shares changing hands yesterday compared to an average daily volume of under 500,000 shares.
GEOFFREY E. PERRY, noted Russian space analyst and founder of the Kettering Space Observer Group, died of an apparent heart attack Jan. 18 near his home at Bude, England. He was 72. During the 1960s Perry was a physics teacher at the Kettering Grammar School. He hit upon the idea of having students intercept radio transmissions from Soviet satellites to calculate ground tracks and orbital parameters. The data they amassed began to reveal the characteristics of the spacecraft. The students also frequently eavesdropped on radio transmissions of Soviet cosmonauts.
ViaSat Inc. will buy the satellite networking business of Scientific-Atlanta Inc. in a $75 million cash transaction, the companies announced. The deal covers Scientific-Atlanta's products in the areas of broadband satellite network gateways, data transactions, telephony, mobile asset tracking, automated meter reading, remote monitoring and space imaging. The company's satellite network operations center also conveys, the companies said.
SEN. ROBERT KERREY (D-Neb.) announced yesterday he will not seek re-election. Kerrey, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said he wants to go back to private life.
Boeing reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter and fiscal 1999 results Wednesday as defense and aerospace firms began dropping their quarterly earnings announcements on Wall Street. The Seattle airplane builder reported a 106% increase in net earnings for fiscal 1999 versus 1998. Boeing beat analysts' expectations for the fourth quarter and the year, announcing earnings per share of $0.74 and $2.37, respectively. Consensus estimates had been $0.67 for the quarter and $2.27 for 1999.
First launch of an Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) from a Tornado F-3 aircraft has taken place at a U.K. test range, Raytheon Co. announced yesterday.
The U.S. Army is making the Future Combat System (FCS) its No. 1 science and technology (S&T) priority for the next budget, Army officials said yesterday. The program, with funding projected at $1.2 billion to $2 billion through 2005, is prompting the service to reprioritize other S&T efforts, Lt. Gen. Paul Kern, Army acquisition corps director, told a group of reporters during a luncheon at the Pentagon yesterday.
NASA officials in Russia are seeking clarification of human spaceflight plans there before the U.S. agency commits itself to splitting the next Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station to accommodate Russian delays, according to a spokesperson for NASA's Office of Space Flight. Russia's Cabinet decided yesterday to allow the use of Soyuz rockets, capsules and related gear originally intended for the International Station to send another crew to the deserted Mir orbital station in April, according to press reports from Moscow.
Orbital Sciences Corp. has completed development and testing of a new digital airborne communications unit designed for the regional airline and private aircraft markets. The CNS-12 system combines Global Positioning System navigation with air-to-ground communications. The modular unit integrates a VHF digital radio, GPS receiver and a keyboard display for free text and pre-formatted messaging and automatic generation of GPS Out-Off/On-in (OOOI) messages.
Commercial space and development firm SpaceDev has moved a step closer to the NASDAQ small cap market from the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB), filing a 10-SB form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). NASDAQ small cap market listing criteria have higher quantitative and qualitative thresholds than the OTCBB. The 10-SB registration statement signifies SpaceDev's intent to become a fully reporting company, one of the requirements for a NASDAQ small cap listing.
The proposed European ban on hushkits continues to rile American officials and the aviation industry. U.S. officials, including Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade David L. Aaron, met with the president of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Montreal as the first step in lodging a formal complaint against the European Union's noise reduction regulation.
Northrop Grumman Corp. announced the appointment of John Michaelsen as vice president and Integrated Product Team Leader - Airborne Early Warning Systems. Michaelsen succeeds Robert Schwarz, who is retiring after 36 years with the company. Michaelsen, based in Bethpage, N.Y., will lead and manage all aspects of AEW programs, including engineering, manufacturing, business development, business management and logistics support for domestic and international programs, the company said.
Volvo Aero will cooperate with GE Aircraft Engines on the F414 engine for the U.S. Navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, manufacturing structural and rotating components in the engine's fan and compressor area, according to a company statement. Volvo's Fred Bodin termed the deal "a natural continuation of Volvo's military cooperation with GEAE. "This new business coincides precisely with our product strategy and strengthen our position further, since the F414 is considered to be a military volume program over the next 15-20 years," he continued.
A report to the New Zealand cabinet in March may oppose the previous government's plan to acquire 28 ex-Pakistani F-16A/B fighters. Cancellation of the lease/purchase agreement was one of the main election campaign commitments of newly appointed Prime Minister Helen Clark. The report will be from the chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Committee.
Sweden's Defense Material Administration has confirmed the award of an SEK1.2 billion ($142.45 million) contract to Saab AB Gripen as prime contractor, in conjunction with Ericsson Saab Avionics and CelsiusTech Avionics, for a new integrated electronic warfare suite for Swedish Air Force JAS 39 multi-role fighters. The new EWS 39, which will replace the existing EW system in SAF Gripens, will incorporate many of the features developed for the NATO-compatible export version of the JAS 39.
Tecstar Inc., the solar cell manufacturer based in Newport Beach, Calif., has set up a new Optoelectronics Products Organization to take advantage of its foundry capacity in the production of epitaxial wafers for Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and related devices. The company said its Applied Solar Div., which operates the world's largest gallium arsenide metal oxide chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) foundry, will be made available to manufacturers of high and ultra-high brightness LED devices and lamps.
Pentagon officials said a national missile defense (NMD) kill vehicle failed to hit a target warhead in a test Tuesday because of a problem with its infrared seekers just seconds before the intercept was to have taken place. There are two IR seekers on the Raytheon-built exoatmospheric kill vehicle (EKV) and preliminary analysis shows that at least one of them did not work, a senior military official said.
Sir Ernest Harrison, chairman and founder of the U.K. Racal Electronics group, confirmed his acceptance late last week of Thomson-CSF's 1.8 billion pound ($2.95 billion) bid for the entire assets of his company. Following the earlier sale, for a reported 1.1 billion pounds, of Racal's telecom business, the U.K. company's current activities are mainly concerned with military communications systems, particularly in the aerospace field, plus industrial electronics.
