Continued limits on the number of Russian launches to geosynchronous transfer orbit may kill the Lockheed Khrunichev Energia International (LKEI) joint venture that supplies the Russian Proton launch vehicle, according to Will Trafton, president of Lockheed Martin International Launch Services, which markets the Proton. He also told the Senate last week that, should LKEI fail, another joint venture, the one that supplies the Russian RD-180 engine for Lockheed Martin's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, would likely fail as well.
BBN Technologies, Cambridge, Mass., is being awarded an $8,500,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a cost-plus-fixed-fee pricing arrangement for system integration work on the Command Post of the Future (CPOF) program. The goal of the CPOF program is to double the speed and quality of command decisions by developing the technology to create an adaptive, decision-centered visualization environment for the future commander and his immediate staff. Work will be performed in Cambridge, Mass., and is expected to be completed July 2003.
Boeing and the U.S. Air Force launched the latest iteration of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) from an F-15E, marking the first time that the Boeing-built fighter has used a JDAM. In a recent test at Eglin AFB, Fla., the 500-pound JDAM kit was strapped to a Mk.82 gravity bomb, turning it into a smart munition with GPS navigation, guidance and control. The weapon was launched at 20,000 feet from a range of 5.25 miles and hit within three meters of its aimpoint. The kit was developed by Boeing for the worldwide inventory of 500-pound dumb bombs.
The July 20 issue of Spacebusiness TODAY reported that Iridium North America (Iridium NA) had won a $1.4 million contract for 1,000 Iridium phones from the U.S. State Department. In fact, the contract was won by Motorola's Commercial Government and Industrial Solutions Sector.
Alliant Defense Electronic Systems Inc., Clearwater, Fla., is being awarded a $2,144,217 increment as part of a $13,545,604 modification to cost-plus-fixed-fee contract DAAE30-98-C-1074, for the development, fabrication and testing of a smart 120mm munitions for the Abrams tank. Work will be performed in Clearwater, Fla. (79.01); and Rocket City, W.Va. (20.99%), and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. There were three bids solicited on Jan. 20, 1998, and three bids were received. The U.S.
Lockheed Martin has achieved two major milestones in its Joint Strike Fighter program since last month's Paris Air Show, a top company official told reporters here. Frank Cappucio, vice-president and program manager for the Lockheed Martin JSF team, said the first was completion of testing of the Pratt&Whitney F119-611 core engine for its initial flight clearance in the USAF's conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) X-35A concept demonstrator aircraft (CDA).
Lockheed Martin Corp., Tactical Defense Systems, St. Paul, Minn., is being awarded a $5,167,603 modification to previously awarded contract N00019-96-C-0129 to provide additional funding to procure 13 AYK-23 data processing sets, 13 airframe kits, and end of life parts for the S-3B aircraft. Work will be performed in Kanata, Ontario, Canada (88%) and Eagan, Minn. (12%), and is expected to be completed by June 2001. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured.
It's "too early" to determine the cause of the underspeed during the launch of Space Shuttle Columbia Friday, a NASA spokesman said. The problem left the orbiter seven miles below its expected orbit. A hydrogen leak is the main suspect, but the spokesman said NASA will not be able to determine if a fuel leak actually occurred, as some suspect, until the Shuttle's engines can be inspected. "Engineers will wait for the Shuttle to return so they can look at the engines, take them apart, and do analysis with the hardware," he said.
Raytheon Aerospace Co., Madison, Miss., is being awarded a $26,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the maintenance and logistics support of the Navy's fleet of 117 Bell Jet Ranger helicopters, which are used for pilot training by the Chief of Naval Air Training. Work will be performed in Milton, Fla. (98%) and Patuxent River, Md. (2%), and is expected to be completed by September 2000. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Raytheon Systems Company, Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $6,333,799 modification to previously awarded contract N00019-94-C-0257 to definitize spare parts and components for Tomahawk missiles. Work will be performed in Tucson, Ariz. (84%) and Andover, Mass. (16%), and is expected to be completed by May 2001. Contract funds in the amount of $842,477 would have expired at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
Companies are lining up to compete in the U.S. Army's Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (TUAV) program and invitations are to be extended within the next two weeks for a flyoff planned for late September. The competition to build 42 UAV systems for Army brigade commanders is valued at $325 million and a contract award for initial production will be announced in December, according to John C. Sundberg, deputy program director. The competitors have production-ready air vehicles and UAV operational experience.
Though a number of companies are interested, the U.S. business community is generally skeptical about the International Space Station's (ISS's) commercial usefulness, according to the General Accounting Office (GAO).
Harris Corp., Melbourne, Fla., has won a $110 million contract from the Canadian military to maintain and improve the avionics testing and repair process for its primary attack fighter. The contract has the potential to be worth $178 million with options. Under the contract, Harris will provide test systems, hardware and software support and avionics repair service for the CF-18 aircraft. The work will take place at a new Consolidated Automatic Test Equipment Support Facility (CATEF) in Calgary, Alberta.
The one hundred contractors that received the largest dollar value of NASA direct awards to business firms during fiscal year 1998 are shown below. The awards to these contractors accounted for 90 percent of the direct awards to business firms during the year. The smallest aggregate award to any contractor was in excess of $7 million. Of the one hundred contractors, 29 were small business firms and 20 were disadvantaged firms at the time of award. ONE HUNDRED CONTRACTORS (BUSINESS FIRMS) LISTED
The House-passed $792 billion 10-year tax cut bill will make it difficult for the Administration to bolster spending for defense procurement as it has planned, according to Democrats who opposed the tax measure. "This tax cut would make it extremely unlikely that other initiatives, including the $150 billion ten-year defense spending outlay increase proposed by the president, could be financed without returning to deficit spending," House Appropriations Ranking Democrat David Obey (Wis.).
MACHINISTS' VOTE: Members of Boeing's biggest union voted to approve a strike if talks with the company on a new contract come up short. The contract, which covers about 45,000 workers, expires Sept. 2. The International Association of Machinists has struck Boeing on two of the past three negotiations, but speculation about a walkout is being played down by union officials.
Boeing Business Jets selected Delta Air Lines' Technical Operations Div. as the primary aircraft heavy maintenance service provider for the Boeing NetJets fleet. General Electric Engine Services will provide primary engine maintenance services, and Delta also will provide selected engine maintenance services for the BNJ fleet of up to 29 Boeing 737 aircraft. BBJ is a joint venture of Boeing and General Electric, and BNJ is a collective endeavor between BBJ and Executive Jet, a Berkshire Hathaway company.
Boeing Co. announced the closing of the sale of its Boeing Information Services unit to Science Applications International Corp. A price was not disclosed. The deal, Boeing said Friday, "was closed after the successful completion of the standard regulatory review process."
The Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile is slated for another intercept test on Wednesday, an event the U.S. Army and prime contractor Lockheed Martin hope will its second success in a row. THAAD broke a string of six failures in a row last month when it intercepted a Hera target at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. (DAILY, June 11).
Successful launch of the Space Shuttle Columbia from Kennedy Space Center, Fla., early Friday morning was followed seven hours later by successful deployment of the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Launch came at 12:31 a.m. EDT July 23 after two postponements. About five seconds after launch, there was a voltage drop on one of two electrical buses, and one of two redundant main engine controllers on the center and right main engines shut down. The redundant controllers functioned normally, and the left engine was not affected.
NASA DOLLAR DECISIONS: Key congressional committees this week are slated to mark up their fiscal year 2000 spending bills for NASA. The Senate Appropriations panel on VA-HUD and Independent Agencies will be first to start work late today. A key issue will revolve around funding for the International Space Station program, particularly concerning continued cooperation with Russia.
XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to make an initial offering of common stock. The offering will be underwritten by joint-book-running managers Bear, Sterns&Co. and Donaldson, Lufkin&Jenrette, and will be co-managed by Deutsche Banc, Alex Brown and Merril Lynch. Washington D.C.-based XM Satellite Radio is developing satellite-based digital radio and plans to offer up to 100 channels of digital-quality sound to customers in their cars and homes.
