Spacehab Inc. has joined Monsanto and two research institutes - one in Singapore - in a collaborative effort to conduct life science research in space. As an initial effort in the joint venture, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center of St. Louis, Mo., and the Institute of Molecular Agrobiology (IMA) of Singapore will join Monsanto and Spacehab in developing a protein crystal growth project for the STS-107 Space Shuttle mission, scheduled for January 2001.
Titan Corp. will develop a low-cost satellite based Internet communications terminal under an agreement with Satellite Terminal Access (STA), which was picked to provide terminals for France Telecom's planned broadband network. "We believe that there is a role for satellite-based technology in the international consumer broadband market and are looking forward to working with STA on the development of the new technology," said Titan's President and CEO, Gene W. Ray.
NASA Space Shuttle managers have set Jan. 31 as the earliest possible date for launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour on STS-99, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), pending closeout of some open work with the orbiters heat-shielding ceramic tiles.
Boeing has been awarded a $108 million, five-year U.S. Air Force contract to modernize the B-52H offensive avionics system, the company announced. The contract falls under the Avionics Midlife Improvement (AMI) program, which is to replace current avionics processors, data storage and navigation systems, Boeing reported. The upgrade also includes re-hosting avionics and weapons software.
A $23 million Eurofighter component production agreement announced yesterday by BAE Systems with Kongsberg Defense&Aerospace (KDA) is claimed to bring the Norwegian company into a strategic partnership with the four-nation industrial group, regardless of whether the aircraft is selected to fulfil Norway's new combat aircraft requirements. Under the agreement, KDA will manufacture the Eurofighter's carbon fiber rudder and flaperons, for which its investment and technology transfer from BAE will ensure a leading position in composite technologies.
TRW, Inc., San Bernardino, Calif., has been awarded a $156 million contract modification to provide design, development, analysis, operation and maintenance support services engineering and management programs, the Pentagon said. Work will be performed at Schriever AFB, Colo., and is slated for completion by January 2002. Individual delivery orders will be issued against this contract using fiscal years 2000 through 2002 research, development, test and evaluation funds, the Pentagon said. The contract was awarded by the Joint National Test Facility at Schriever AFB.
The U.S. Marine Corps' AH-1Z Cobra and UH-1Y Huey helicopters are completing the engineering design phase of their remanufacture and upgrade program and their first flight tests are slated for this October, according to program officials. Two flight test aircraft are being assembled, U.S. Navy Capt. Tom Curtis told reporters in Washington yesterday. An integrating test concept with contractor Bell Helicopter Textron and the Navy follows next, leading to operational evaluation (OPEVAL) in fiscal year 2003, Curtis reported.
Boeing Co., St. Louis, Mo., is being awarded an $11,000,416 option to a firm-fixed-incentive contract, F33657-97-C-2044-P00010, to provide for contractor support through Jan. 14, 2001 for the APG-63(V)1 radar on the F-15 aircraft. Expected contract completion date is Jan. 14, 2001. Negotiation completion date was Nov. 10, 1998. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Co., Arlington, Texas, is being awarded a $14,616,939 modification to previously awarded contract N61339-95-C-0045 to exercise an option for the production of 10 M109A6 Howitzer Crew Trainers (HCTs) and initial provisioned items. HCTs simulate functional aspects of an actual M109A6 howitzer; measuring, recording, and displaying actual firing data and monitoring the performance of crew and individual tasks. These HCTs will be used to train field artillery gunnery teams to deliver accurate and predicted fires. Work will be performed in York, Pa.
Globalstar will complete full commercial rollout of its global satellite telephone services in Mexico in February after final testing on the local gateways and completing dealer training programs. Meanwhile France's TESAM, a Globalstar partner, won an operating license from Egypt's Telecoms Regulatory Authority to develop satellite telephone services.
SpaceDev Inc., the U.S. firm that wants to commercialize robotic space exploration and eventually move into asteroid mining, has rescinded a 1998 stock-swap deal for a British satellite and spacecraft-builder, citing U.S. export-control laws. The management of Space Innovations Ltd., Newbury, England, reacquired what had been a wholly owned SpaceDev subsidiary in the deal, in which the common stock of the two companies was reexchanged and Leonard Culhane, chairman of the British company, will leave the SpaceDev board.
A Laser Detection and Ranging (LADAR) seeker is undergoing tests in the U.S. Air Force's Low Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS) precision-guided munitions Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) program, according to Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Tex. The Air Force has a $32.9 million ATD contract with Lockheed Martin to test LADAR on the LOCAAS, Mike Tower, LOCAAS program manager told The DAILY in a telephone interview.
Lockheed Martin Management and Data Systems, Philadelphia, Pa., is being awarded a $7,998,005 modification to previously awarded contract N0019-99-C-0049 to provide an estimated level-of-effort of 60,887 man-hours of engineering support for the tactical Tomahawk weapons control system program. Work will be performed in Valley Forge, Pa. (65%); San Diego, Calif. (15%); Washington, D.C. (6%); Dahlgren, Va. (5%); Cherry Hill, N.J. (4%); Moorestown, N.J. (3%); and Corpus Christi, Texas (2%), and is expected to be completed by December 2000.
President Clinton Friday ushered in what could bring about a higher level of aviation safety. Clinton and FAA Administrator Jane Garvey announced the Aviation Safety Action Program, or ASAP, a "new public-private partnership to increase aviation safety."
Less talk and more action is needed to transform U.S. warfighting capabilities to challenges of the 21st century, the Defense Science Board (DSB) has told the Pentagon. Dept. of Defense officials must put muscle into the shift, according to "DOD Warfighting Transformation," a new report by a DSB task force. Meeting new security challenges requires a comprehensive strategy and a roadmap, along with specific metrics to assess progress, the report said.
Duncan Aviation, Lincoln, Neb., is being awarded a $10,573,959 (base year total) as part of a firm fixed price with cost reimbursable line items contract with a cumulative total of $60,623,525. The contractor shall provide life cycle contractor support for C-23 Sharps aircraft. Work will be performed in Lincoln, Neb. and is expected to completed by Dec. 31, 2004. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There was an announcement in the Commerce Business Daily on July 9, 1999, and two bids were received. The U.S.
Boeing Co., Long Beach, Calif., is being awarded a $20,293,362 option to a time-and-materials contract, F33657-97-C-0008-P00074, to provide for various quantities of seven retrofit kits and associated installation support for the avionics, airframe, and software on the C-17 aircraft. Expected contract completion date is Dec. 31, 2000. Solicitation issue date was July 19, 1999. Negotiation completion date was Jan. 05, 2000. Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, is the contracting activity.
Raytheon Co., El Segundo, Calif., is being awarded a $200,251,988 firm-fixed-price order against a previously awarded basic ordering agreement. This order is for the procurement of 71 F/A-18 AN/APG-73 radar units for the Royal Australian Air Force and 40 F/A-18 AN/APG-73 radar kits for the U.S. Navy (19) and U.S. Marine Corps (21). Work will be performed in Forest, Miss. (45%); El Segundo, Calif. (35%); Andover, Mass. (11 %); Dallas, Texas (8%); and Newport Beach, Calif. (1%), and is expected to be completed by October 2002.
Controllers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have dropped their efforts to contact the Mars Polar Lander, conceding the $165 million spacecraft is lost. Imaging experts will continue to use the camera aboard the Mars Global Surveyor into next month to search for the lander's parachute or other visible evidence of what happened to the spacecraft after it entered the atmosphere en route to a retro-rocket assisted touchdown near the planet's South Pole.
Spacecraft controls analysts at Goddard Space Flight Center are trying to find a backup approach to attitude control on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory that will allow NASA to keep the big observatory flying despite the loss of one of its three gyroscopes last month. If the effort fails, controllers will have to bring the 35,000-pound spacecraft down in mid-March to avoid an uncontrolled reentry later than could threaten human life anywhere between 28 degrees North and 28 degrees South latitude.
Defense and aerospace companies began the short week yesterday with a mixed round of earnings reports and announcements. Rockwell International Corp. (NYSE: ROK) reported earnings per share (EPS) of $0.81 for its first-quarter 2000, which ended Dec. 31, versus $0.70 in the comparable period a year ago, a 16% increase. Sales for the quarter were up 3% to $1.66 billion from first quarter 1999. The company's revenue breakdown was 57% to U.S. commercial firms, 34% to international customers and 9% to the U.S. government.
Airbus Industrie said it took in 476 firm orders in 1999 to capture 55% of the global large-jet transport market. It was the second-best year in terms of orders and its best year in terms of market share, Airbus said. The consortium said it delivered 294 aircraft last year, bringing in record sales of $16.7 billion.
Intelsat has picked Matra Marconi Space, set to become a component soon of Europe's new Astrium space hardware company, to build a powerful new communications satellite for use over the Atlantic Ocean region. Awarded to Matra Marconi after an international competition, the Intelsat NI-Alpha platform will weigh 11,000 pounds at launch and carry 36 C-band transponders for service to all of the Americas and Western Europe from its orbital slot at 310 degrees East longitude.
Northrop Grumman Corp., Bethpage, N.Y., is being awarded an $11,487,000 firm-fixed-price contract to provide E-2C integrated logistics support and sustaining engineering services for the governments of France (40%); Taiwan (29%); Japan (16%), Egypt (14%) and Singapore (1%) under the Foreign Military Sales Program. Work will be performed in Bethpage, N.Y. (85%); Japan (7.5%); and Taiwan (7.5%) and is expected to be completed by December 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
