SEA LAUNCH managers have set liftoff of the venture's Zenit booster with a demonstration payload for 5:18 p.m. EST Saturday, a postponement of one day to allow time to get in position about 1,400 miles south of Hawaii.
The next three to five months will be an important period for larger defense companies looking to build confidence that they can meet or exceed earnings estimates for 1999-2000, according to Merrill Lynch analyst Byron Callan.
The Integrated High Payoff Rocket Propulsion Technology program (IHPRPT), a joint industry-government research program on space propulsion, may be hurt by proposed budget and personnel cuts at Edwards AFB, Calif.
3/17/1999 NASA JSC Classification CLASS 61 SOL 9-BH13-44-9-18P; General Information - Solicitation Number: 9-BH13-44-9-18P; NAIS Posted Date: Mar 17, 1999; CBDNet Posted Date: Mar 17, 1999; Response Date: N/A; Classification Code: 61 - Electric wire& power& distribution equipment; Contracting Office Address NASA/Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas, 77058-3696, Mail Code: BH
The House and Senate Budget Committees have both added about $8 billion to the White House request for defense spending in fiscal year 2000. The Senate Budget Committee last week added $8.3 billion to the $280.5 billion defense budget authority request, for a total of $288.8 billion. The House Budget Committee yesterday increased the requested amount by $8 billion. The increases, which had been pushed by key members of the defense committees, were not a surprise.
A rigorous set of independent analyses has convinced Boeing managers the company's new Delta III space launch vehicle is ready for a second attempt at flight, following last year's first-flight launch failure.
Integrated military and contractor test teams are fine tuning the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and V-22 Osprey for separate operational evaluation trials. The Super Hornet has a few weapon separation tests to complete before production model aircraft enter opeval in May, Navy Test Director Capt. Bob Wirt said Friday.
TELEDYNE RYAN won a $45 million contract to support advanced concept development of the Global Hawk high altitude endurance unmanned aerial vehicle. The contract was awarded Friday by the U.S. Air Force's Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.
The Pentagon's Ballistic Missile Defense Organization hopes this week to have a firmer plan in place for the future of the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS). DOD Acquisition Chief Jacques Gansler is expected to report on the outcome of his meetings last week with the Italian and German partners. Continued European cooperation and cost sharing have been in question since the Pentagon announced its decision to reduce the scope of the program and make the Patriot PAC-3 its primary weapon system, rather than developing a new missile.
An antenna mounted on the Russian-built Zarya Station module by spacewalking U.S. astronauts last December is malfunctioning, cutting the early capability of the unoccupied Station to receive signals by about 15%. Controllers find the antenna doesn't work properly when the Station is in certain orientations, but they haven't been able to get a good look at it with a nearby outside television camera so they can only guess what's wrong. Possibilities include loose insulation and damage from orbital debris.
Northrop Grumman has made arrangement with Kistler Aerospace Corp. to increase its investment in Kistler's K-1 reusable space launch vehicle program. The increased Northrop Grumman commitment came on the same day that it reported a write-off associated with its work on the program. It said the cost would be another $20 million from 1998 in profits (DAILY, March 19).
The Senate Commerce Committee Thursday is slated to hear all sides on a bill offered by Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) that seeks to privatize Intelsat, the international satellite communications consortium, and Comsat, its U.S. signatory. The hearing on the Open-market Reorganization for the Betterment of International Telecommunications (ORBIT) bill is slated to be followed by a markup few weeks later, aides said. Intelsat opposes the bill and is skeptical of its ability to achieve privatization that would be pro-competitive.
Several programs are at the core of the agreement between the U.K.'s GKN and Italy's Finmeccanica to merge their helicopter operations (DAILY, March 19).
Lockheed Martin Tactical Aircraft Systems said it has delivered the first wing-box assembly for a production F-2 aircraft. The wing-box and related parts were presented to representatives of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), prime contractor for the aircraft. Lockheed Martin also supplies aft fuselages, leading edge flaps and stores management systems for the F-2 program. The parts are being mated to other major components at MHI's facility in Nagoya, Japan.
While rising stock prices will eventually choke off consolidation of second tier U.S. aerospace and defense companies, that's not too likely to happen over the next few years, according to Paul Nisbet of JSA Research. Depressed stock valuations and the realignment of suppliers will likely accelerate merger and acquisition activity through 2000, he says, adding that most forthcoming domestic mega-deals will be consummated before the end of this year.
C.T. "Tom" Burbage has been named president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems (LMAS) and a vice president of Lockheed Martin Corp., effective April 5, the company reported Friday. Burbage will replace William Bullock, who will be on special assignment as a special adviser and corporate vice president until his planned retirement later this year.
CHARLES STARK DRAPER LAB reported successful first demonstration of combined spacecraft attitude control and energy storage using its Attitude Control and Energy Storage (ACES) flywheel system.
The U.S. Defense Dept. is restructuring the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program to keep it on schedule and on budget, said Marine Brig. Gen. Michael A. Hough, the JSF deputy program director. "We resculpted the overall program so that it all fits in, and so we can do everything with adequacy, clarity and balance [without going over set costs] and without impacting the quality of that overall program," Hough said in an interview with The DAILY Friday at the annual Association of Naval Aviation conference in Arlington, Va.
A delay of nearly two years in the planned service entry date of the Royal Air Force's upgraded British Aerospace Nimrod MRA.4 maritime reconnaissance aircraft were admitted to Parliament by John Spellar, the Under Secretary of State for Defense. He also acknowledged a small cost increase.
