J. Chris Fairey has been named director of Safety and Mission Assurance at the Kennedy Space Center. He succeeds P. Thomas Breakfield, III, who has announced his retirement from NASA. Joel R. Reynolds, director of Safety Assurance at KSC is retiring from NASA. Ann D. Montgomery, has been promoted to deputy director of Safety and Mission Assurance at KSC.
House aviation subcommittee chairman John J. Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.) yesterday said he was concerned that a slip in the schedule of the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), announced the day before, will probably increase the cost of the $3 billion navigation system. "I'm sure in the end we'll have a good state-of-the-art system," but it will be expensive, Duncan said in an interview yesterday as the new session of Congress began.
John C. Kornegay, senior vice president of Kamatics Corp., has been named president of Kamatics Corp. He succeeds Alan A. Whitfield who will retire in March after 28 years in the position.
Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), with kickoff of the 106th Congress yesterday, vowed to push again this year to press aggressively for a national missile defense (NMD) system. "We should - this year, not at some vague time in the future - move decisively ahead with a national missile defense," Lott said. "I keep hoping the president will abandon his opposition to this essential safeguard for the American people and for our forces abroad. But, one way or another, I intend to forge ahead on this matter."
KHRUNICHEV plans to fly its new Briz-M alternative to the Block DM Proton kick stage built by RSC Energia in March or April, with the Russian Raduga-1 satellite aboard. Khrunichev has said the Briz-M can deliver as much as 3.2 tons to geostationary orbit using storable propellant (DAILY, Aug. 28, 1997). If the Briz-M works as advertised, it will also be used to launch a commercial satellite for Lockheed Martin Intersputnik, according to Itar-Tass.
Shahraum Scott Sobhani has been named vice president and general manager for Asia and the Middle East, responsible for assisting in the development and launch of Astrolink in these markets.
SPACEHAB INC. has signed a $5.15 million contract with the European Space Agency for research space in one of the U.S. company's pressurized modules on a Space Shuttle mission in September 2000. The flight, STS-107, is the first dedicated research flight in the five-year International Space Station assembly process. ESA has bought space in Spacehab's Research Double Module for its Advanced Respiratory Monitoring System, along with payload integration and operations services.
HOUSE lawmakers yesterday passed a rules package that changes the name of the House National Security Committee back to the House Armed Services Committee. The change to HNSC occurred when Republicans took control of the Congress four years ago.
The board of governors has approved the appointment of two new vice presidents and the promotion of a third: Ramanarayan (Ramu) Potarazu has been promoted to vice president, Operations, and chief information officer. Michel Garreau has been appointed vice president, Engineering. Mario Leonel has been appointed vice president, Corporate Development.
Theodore J. Forstmann, chairman since 1993, will also become chief executive officer. Also appointed to the Office of the Chief Executive: Bill Boisture has been promoted to president and chief operating officer from executive vice president; Chris Davis, executive vice president and chief financial officer, also becomes chief administrative officer; James Johnson, formerly president and chief operating officer, has retired, but will remain on the Gulfstream board of directors.
ARIANESPACE has been picked to launch the MSG 2 weather satellite for the European Meteorological Satellite Organization (Eumetsat). The European launch consortium said it will launch the second-generation weather satellite early in the second half of 2002 aboard an Ariane 5. Built by Alcatel, MSG 2 is the second new-generation European weather satellite. Weighing 4,400 pounds at liftoff, it will be able to transmit new weather images every 15 minutes.
The U.S. Trident missile submarine force could be reduced and savings could be shifted to other areas, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jay Johnson told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. Johnson, after being pressed by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), agreed that cutting the fleet of 18 Trident subs to 14 would still provide an adequate force. However, Johnson also explained that current law prohibits the Navy from making a reduction. The START II Treaty, which has not been ratified, proposes such a cut.
Bob Davis, vice president of Engineering and Technology is retiring from the company. David Swain, executive vice president of Phantom Works, will assume much of the responsibilities previously held by Davis. This includes all internal coordination and external relations on technical matters. The Technical Education activities formerly led by Davis will be consolidated with the Education Relations organization led by director Linda Martin.
Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications (LMGT) joined three Asian companies as an equity participant in Asia Cellular Satellite (ACeS), a satellite-based mobile telecommunications system, LMGT reported yesterday. LMGT joins Indonesia's P.T. Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN), the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., through its ACeS Philippines subsidiary, and Jasmine International Overseas Co. Ltd. of Thailand.
Boeing Co. said yesterday it ended the year with 559 commercial jetliner deliveries, including 191 in the fourth quarter. For the quarter and the year, respectively, Boeing delivered 24 and 116 737s, 74 and 165 next-generation 737s, 21 and 53 747s, 15 and 50 757s, 12 and 47 767s, 22 and 74 777s, three and eight MD-80s, 16 and 34 MD-90s and four and 12 MD-11s.
Four U.S. fighters fired air-to-air missiles at Iraqi aircraft in the "no-fly" zone over southern Iraq yesterday in two separate incidents, a Pentagon spokesman said. The incidents occurred about 100 kilometers apart between 10:15 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. local time (2:15 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. EST).
GILAT COMMUNICATIONS LTD., Petach Tikva, Israel, closed its merger with GE Capital Spacenet Services Inc., which will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gilat and be renamed Spacenet Inc. The unit designs and makes Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satellite earth stations and related hub equipment and software. Gilat also signed an agreement to acquire a 30% equity interest in Rehab Training Network Inc., which provides live, satellite delivered training programming for the U.S. health care industry, for $4 million.
First phase of a program to improve the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System-2 (ASARS-2) of the U.S. Air Force's U-2 aircraft has been completed, Raytheon Co. reported yesterday. ASARS-2 has been in service since the early 1980s and is intended to support field commanders.
President Clinton's pledge to bolster defense spending will satisfy the immediate needs of the military services, but won't solve all shortfall problems, the service chiefs told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday.
