GTE Government Systems Corp., Communications Systems Division, Taunton, Mass., is being awarded an $11,215,262 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract DAAB07-94-C-N853, for common hardware/software items for Project Manager Army Tactical Command and Control Systems (PM ATCCS) computers and associated peripherals for battlefield commanders. Work will be performed in Taunton, Mass., and is expected to be completed by April 10, 2005. Of the total contract funds, $93,440 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
INTEWLX Corp., Leesburg, Va., is being awarded an $11,500,000 fixed-price-with-award-fee contract to provide for FY2000 contractor logistics support, technical software system support, and major modifications for the training devices supporting the B-52 aircraft. This is an on going service contract, there for no contract completion date is provided. Solicitation issue date was May 21, 1999. Negotiation completion date was July 30, 1999. Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42630-99-D-0224).
The House Appropriations Committee on Friday restored $400 million to previously proposed NASA reductions, but left a number of programs cut and eliminated. The full House this week will take up the bill, which provides $12.7 billion for NASA in FY 2000, $900 million below the NASA request and $1 billion below last year's request.
The World Trade Organization yesterday upheld earlier findings that Brazil and Canada were illegally subsidizing sales of regional aircraft, and ordered both to halt the practice within 90 days. The ruling hits Brazil's Embraer and Canada's Bombardier. The WTO's Appellate Body upheld WTO rulings in March that Canada's Technology Partnership program, which benefits Bombardier, and Brazil's ProEx program, which boosts Embraer, were both engaged in illegal export subsidies. Both nations had appealed the rulings.
The House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics moved quickly last week on a bill to extend federal indemnification for U.S. launch service providers for five more years. H.R. 2607, which would also authorize monies for federal commercial space offices and require a study of risk sharing between the government and the launch industry, was introduced on Monday by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.). The subcommittee passed it on Thursday.
Hill staffers are considering rewriting the language creating federal loan guarantees for launch vehicles in Senate bill S. 469, sponsored by Sen. John Breaux (D-La.). The changes would mean that launch firms would have to convince the market place to give them financing first. The bill would also be expanded to include guarantees for some launch site infrastructure.
As the House slashed NASA's budget by just under $1 billion last week, Dan Tam, NASA's assistant to the administrator for commercialization, told a conference at Ames Research Center in Sunnyvale, Calif., that the White House has given NASA permission to seek legislation allowing it to enter into commercial contracts for Space Shuttle services.
Raytheon Systems Co., Falls Church, Va., is being awarded a $2,500,000 increment as part of a $42,500,000 (base year total) cost-plus-award-fee/level-of-effort contract, with a cumulative total of $205,777,579, if all options are exercised. The project is for the Extended Air Defense Testbed (EADTB) Support, Maintenance and Enhancement Program. The contractor will be responsible for user/customer support, operations and maintenance and enhancement of the EADTB systems. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Ala., and is expected to be completed by Jan. 28, 2009.
While Deep Space I flew within 10 miles of Asteroid Braille, the spacecraft failed to take any close-range photos, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), said. The best black-and-white image seen so far is at about 70 minutes prior to closest approach, with the asteroid appearing as just four pixels across, JPL said, adding that an "apparent target-tracking problem appears to have jeopardized further photo return."
Northrop Grumman Corp., Electronic Systems Co., is being awarded an $11,540,000 increment as part of a $157,800,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee (multiple incentive) and firm-fixed-price contract for preplanned product improvement of the Brilliant Anti-armor Submunition Continued Development Program, with options for Operational Test Support, Multipoint Warhead Initiative, and BAT submunitions hardware. Work will be performed in Baltimore, Md. (52%); Huntsville, Ala. (43%); and Rolling Meadows, Ill. (5%), and is expected to be completed by May 31, 2003.
NASA's Lunar Prospector impacted on the moon early Saturday, hitting the surface near the South Pole at 5:52 a.m. EDT. NASA said the Lunar Prospector team did not reacquire the signal from Prospector, so it definitely hit the moon, and while no visual sightings of a dust cloud have been reported, observations are continuing.
TEXTRON BELL HELICOPTER acquired Edwards&Associates Inc., a maker of helicopter customization kits and accessories, and a leader in the sale of after-market Bell helicopters, Bell reported yesterday. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Edwards&Associates has facilities in Bristol, Tenn., and Stockton, Calif., and reported 1998 sales of about $47 million. its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Aeronautical Accessories Inc., Aeronautical Plastic Inc. and Rotor Blades Inc., make and sell full proprietary customization kits.
The Mir space station crew installed a new computer to replace one that failed Friday. The "orientation and docking management computer ... is now controlling the station," said an official of Mission Control near Moscow. Malfunction of the old computer prompted the crew to rely on a backup system until the new one was installed. But the crew took advantage of the shutdown to carry out some maintenance work.
Darlington Inc., Arlington, Va., is being awarded a $4,005,925 cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for systems engineering and technical support for the Fleet Systems Engineering (FSE) Program. The contract will provide front-line emergency support to battle groups that use the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command internet protocol based products. The contract contains options, which, if exercised, will bring the total cumulative value of the contract to $54,639,287. The work will be performed in fleet locations worldwide (30%); Virginia Beach, Va. (30%); San Diego, Calif.
Boeing Defense and Space Group, Seattle, Wash., is being awarded a $43,700,000 modification to previously awarded contract N00019-97-C-2034 for the procurement of one C-40A aircraft. Work will be performed in Seattle, Wash., and is expected to be completed by August 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with fourteen proposals solicited and two offers received. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md. is the contracting activity.
The U.S. Navy Extremely High Frequency (EHF) Satellite Communications (SATCOM) program will be operational 25 months behind schedule because of the April 30 Milstar launch failure. The delay was reported to Congress yesterday in the Pentagon's quarterly Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) document, which covers acquisition cost and schedule changes from December 1998 through June 1999.
United Technologies Corp., West Palm Beach, Fla., is being awarded a $6,466,847 modification to a firm-fixed-price contract, F34601-98-G-0005-SAHR, to provide for 17,650 Fourth Stage Vane Assemblies applicable to the F100 engines on the F-15 aircraft. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Expected contract completion date is 706 each per month beginning Dec. 31, 1999 and continuing at the rate of 706 each per month thereafter until complete. Solicitation issue date was July 14, 1999. Negotiation completion date was July 14, 1999.
The Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile yesterday scored its second hit in a row after a series of failures. The Lockheed Martin-built missile intercepted a target in a test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., that was more challenging than the previous test. And, said Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish, director of the Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, "Not only did we hit a bullet with a bullet, but we think it went tip to tip."
Description: THIS NOTICE CONSTITUTES AMENDMENT NO. ONE (1) TO THE COMBINED SYNOPSIS/RFQ FOR FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR DEPLOYABLE BOOM TECHNOLOGY. Companies shall acknowledge all amendment(s) in their quote. This notice serves as the official amendment to subject synopsis/RFQ and a written amendment will not be issued. The purpose of this amendment is to answer questions submitted regarding this solicitation. Questions and answers can be uploaded from the NAIS website. The due date for receipt of offers is extended to August 13, 1999.
AlliedSignal Aerospace Avionics and Lighting signed a definitive agreement to acquire NavRadio of Golden, Colo. Terms of the deal were not announced. NavRadio is a leader in Very High Frequency (VHF) digital radio design and data link technologies. The company has designed the operational platform for all digital radios that have been certified for use in general aviation aircraft.
Raytheon Missile Systems Co., Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded $4,305,018 as part of a $28,262,663 (base year total) firm-fixed-price contract with a cumulative total of $193,662,663, if all options are exercised (base year plus four option years). This requirement is for the retrofit of 267 STINGER-RMP (Reprogrammable Microprocessor) Missiles to Block I configuration, which includes a battery upgrade, addition of a roll frequency sensor, and software upgrades, and requires extensive tear-down of major portions of the missile and knowledge of its interfaces.
NASA's latest cost estimate for a set of liquid fueled reusable boosters to replace the solid-fuel boosters that now carry the Space Shuttle through the thickest part of the atmosphere is $4.5 billion, well down from early estimates that have ranged as high as $12 billion but still a stretch for the overbooked agency.
The House Science Committee's Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee on Friday passed the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 1999 by a 19-3 margin, with two abstentions. The legislation is aimed at ensuring that U.S. tax dollars do not subsidize any Russian aerospace enterprises that the president determines are assisting Iran's efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles.
EUROPEAN CAUTION: Managers of the world's other human-rated launch vehicle, the venerable Russian Soyuz, are much more bearish than the Americans about the prospects for boosting their system's commercial potential. Jean-Yves Le Gall, chairman and chief executive of the Franco-Russian Starsem joint venture, says a big stumbling block to launching the Soyuz from Europe's equatorial space center in French Guiana is the cost of building a new launch pad. "We have to see if it makes sense," he says.
