Space analysts predict no sweeping changes in NASA's relationship with its contractors in the wake of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB) report, although they agree the agency will have to increase its active participation in day-to-day shuttle operations. Faced with shrinking budgets, NASA in the mid-1990s partially consolidated its 86 separate space shuttle contracts under one contract - the Space Flight Operations Contract (SFOC) - as a means of controlling costs.
AEROJET of Sacramento, Calif., recently completed a successful hot-fire test of a full-scale Tri-Fluid Injector, a component of the Advanced Reusable Rocket Engine (ARRE). The company is developing the engine for the U.S. Air Force's in-space reusable propulsion and maneuvering requirements. The injector, the engine's main combustion device, mixes non-toxic hydrogen peroxide and jet fuel with the engine's decomposed peroxide turbine exhaust.
Boeing has been picked to build the U.S. Air Force's 250-lb. class precision guided Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), beating out rival Lockheed Martin for the work, which could be worth about $2.5 billion over 15 years, the Air Force announced Aug. 28. Marvin Sambur, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, said Boeing's McDonnell Douglas subsidiary will get the $188 million system development and demonstration contract for the program.
Northrop Grumman Corp. announced Aug. 28 that it has submitted a proposal for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's targets and countermeasures program, becoming at least the third company to announce plans to compete for a project valued at more than $1 billion during the initial four-year period. Northrop Grumman said its Mission Systems sector has assembled a team that includes almost 20 companies, including Honeywell Aerospace Electronic Systems, ITT Industries and Orbital Sciences Corp.
Lockheed Martin has teamed with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems to pursue the U.S. Navy's $2 billion Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aerial vehicle program, the company said Aug. 28. General Atomics said earlier this week that it will offer its Predator B-ER (Extended Range) UAV for the BAMS program (DAILY, Aug. 25), the Navy's effort to develop a high-altitude ocean surveillance UAV.
Space module manufacturer Spacehab Inc. posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $20.1 million partly due to the grounding of NASA's space shuttle fleet, company officials said Aug. 28. Excluding a charge of $16.1 million for work that is no longer being funded "due to uncertainties in human space flight programs," Spacehab's net loss for the quarter totaled $4 million.
The U.S. Air Force hopes a new reorganization of its non-space acquisition management structure will help produce dramatic reductions in the time it takes to develop new weapon systems, a service official said Aug. 28. Marvin Sambur, the Air Force's acquisition executive for all non-space systems, told The DAILY that his near-term goal is to have his programs meet their cost and schedule objectives within a year. Many of those programs now fail to meet those targets.
Northrop Grumman, United Defense Industries and Boeing were selected on Aug. 28 to join other partner companies working on the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program. The selection, made by the Army and its Lead Systems Integrator (LSI) team of the Boeing Co. and Science Applications International Corp., brings the total number of "Team One" companies to 21. Those companies have identified more than 100 suppliers that also will be participating in the FCS program.
ROANOKE, Va. - The U.S. Air Force is scheduled to receive its first Panoramic Night Vision Goggles (PNVGs) for pilots in 2004, according to co-developer ITT Night Vision. Pilots have long sought a wider field of view than the 40 degrees offered by traditional night vision systems, according to ITT. The PNVGs, which feature four 16-millimeter night vision tubes, will offer a seamless 100-degree field of view that should prevent pilots from constantly having to scan horizontally. Insight Technologies is leading the PNVG effort, with ITT providing the tubes.
A small remotely controlled aerial vehicle that would help protect an airbase by spraying pesticides around it is being eyed by the Air Force's Force Protection Battlelab. The vehicle would dispense very small amounts of spray and granular pesticides per acre - five ounces of droplets and three pounds of granules - according to an Aug. 27 FedBizOpps notice.
AMERICAS AEROSPACE QUALITY GROUP David Eagan, director of production quality for Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector, has been elected chairman. AURA SYSTEMS, El Segundo, Calif. James S. Harrington, a senior investment banker, has been elected to the board of directors. FLIR SYSTEMS, Portland, Ore. Tony Trunzo has joined the company as senior vice president of corporate strategy and development. METAL STORM LTD., Arlington, Va.
The U.S. Army is fielding the first 25 operational Viper Strike munitions next month after Northrop Grumman reported "surprisingly successful" test results during an accelerated, four-month development program, a senior company executive said Aug. 27.
Some of NASA's earth science functions should be transferred to another part of the federal government to help the aeronautics and space agency focus on its core missions, according to a U.S. lawmaker.
Raytheon and DRS Technologies have agreed to compete separately for contracts to produce infrared sight systems for two combat vehicle programs. The agreement comes after the U.S. Justice Department objected to a proposed plan to jointly produce an infrared sight system for the Marine Corps' Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAAV), which has been renamed the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV).
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) intends to award follow-on study contracts to Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky as part of the VXX Presidential Helicopter replacement program, in anticipation of releasing a request for proposals (RFP) for the next phase of the program this fall. Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky, and Bell Helicopter delivered study contracts to NAVAIR earlier this year on how their candidate aircraft - Lockheed Martin's US101, Bell's V-22, and Sikorsky's S-92 - could be tailored for the executive transport mission.
WINDOW WORK: Zygo Corp. of Middlefield, Conn., will supply custom sapphire windows to Northrop Grumman for use in advanced infrared target acquisition systems, the company said Aug. 27. Zygo's windows will be used in the F-16 Block 60's integrated forward-looking infrared system, the company said.
The launch contracts signed by ICO Global Communications before it entered bankruptcy are likely to be renegotiated, according to Phil McAlister, director of space and telecommunications for the Futron Corp. ICO, which emerged from bankruptcy in May 2000, had scheduled 10 launches aboard three launch vehicles, he said. One was to take place aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS, four were scheduled on Proton rockets, made by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center in Moscow, and five were scheduled aboard Boeing Delta III rockets.
"We get it," NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe repeatedly said during a press conference in Washington, referring to the Columbia Accident Investigation Board's (CAIB) insistence that NASA must make fundamental changes to its culture to prevent more disasters like the Feb. 1 shuttle loss.
The Missile Defense Agency hopes a contract it recently awarded to Lockheed Martin will help shore up the fragile industrial base for optics used in the Airborne Laser (ABL) program, according to a Defense Department official. The 10-year contract, which is worth up to $250 million to Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. of Sunnyvale, Calif., also is designed to make the optics production process consistent and reliable, the official told The DAILY Aug. 27 in an e-mail responding to questions.
