Aviation Week & Space Technology

French Defense Minister Alain Juppe says implementing a new defense cooperation treaty with the U.K will be one of his top objectives. Juppe said last week he will give top priority this year to applying the treaty, which was signed on Nov. 2. Juppe also says he intends to reinforce ties with Germany and shore up European defense, in both the European Union and NATO.

Operators with small spacecraft will have a one-stop place to shop for launch services under a teaming arrangement by two specialists in organizing piggyback rides on U.S. and other launch vehicles. Spaceflight Services Inc., a Seattle-based spin-off from Andrews Space Inc. and Innovative Space Logistics BV (ISILaunch), based in Delft, Netherlands, will begin offering low-Earth-orbit rides for cubesats, nanosats, microsats and EELV Secondary Payload Adaptor (ESPA) spacecraft this year.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program took up a lot of real estate in the national and international press and trade media in 2010, and the critical attention will continue into 2011. The sheer size of the program to supply the U.S. military and partner nations with a stealthy and relatively affordable strike fighter, coupled with questions about prime contractor Lockheed Martin’s ability to stick to the schedule and meet cost targets, makes it the No. 1 target of industry speculation.

Astronaut Steve Bowen, a five-time spacewalker, will replace Tim Kopra as an extravehicular activity crewmember on the upcoming STS-133 assembly mission to the International Space Station. Kopra suffered a hip injury in a Jan. 15 bicycle accident. The mission remains targeted for launch on Feb. 24.

For missile defense in the U.S., 2010 ended as it began: with a major flight-test failure of its linchpin Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) homeland protection system. Sandwiched between these two failures, the first taking place last Jan. 31, were ongoing struggles with quality control in setting up and executing tests as well as in contractors producing critical hardware for the defense systems.

U.K. military planners are cobbling together a new road map to bridge capability gaps that emerged from last year’s Strategic Defense and Security Review (SDSR) even as they brace for further cuts to plug funding shortfalls.

Can a small turbine-engine market long dominated by Pratt & Whitney Canada and Williams International accommodate another competitor? When the market entrant is one of the “Big Three” engine manufacturers, then the answer is likely yes. General Electric’s push to build its business and general aviation unit into a $1-billion company by 2020 is spearheaded by the HF120 turbofan developed jointly with Honda and the H80 turboprop re-engineered from the M601 produced by Czech manufacturer Walter, which GE acquired in 2008.

The military transport market will see production of almost 900 new aircraft over the next decade, but the raw numbers obscure major changes in the landscape. Production of the Boeing C-17 could end, leaving the strategic transport market to the Airbus Military A400M, while the Lockheed Martin C-130J will face a challenge for the tactical sector from Embraer’s new KC-390.

As prime contractor for Iridium’s next-generation constellation, Thales Alenia Space is gearing up to build communication satellites on a scale to which the industry is not accustomed. Iridium Next involves the one-for-one replacement of the company’s low-Earth-orbit (LEO) constellation of 66 satellites in six orbital planes. Including six in-orbit and nine ground spares, 81 satellites will be built in less than four years—a rate approaching four a month.

Despite nascent signs of order recovery in the turboprop market, ATR expects another year of treading water before deliveries and revenue experience a step change in 2012. Revenue is expected to jump to $1.8 billion from the current level of approximately $1.35 billion, in part based on the strength of $2.4 billion in new orders (80 firm, 33 options) booked by the turboprop maker in 2010, says CEO Filippo Bagnato.

With the promise of cutting operating costs, simplifying maintenance and eliminating emissions, Bye Energy is collaborating with Cessna on an electric-powered 172 Skyhawk, with the proof-of-concept aircraft expected to fly this spring. Battery power will provide a 2-hr.

Telespazio has acquired Vega Space—a U.K.-based company with facilities in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain specializing in space mission design, development and operational support—and the space unit of Genoa-based Elsag Datamat. The acquisitions will reinforce Telespazio’s service technology portfolio and expand its institutional market footprint.

An ad hoc committee of the National Academies will meet Jan. 28 to update the 2002 report on technical issues related to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Their conclusions could be a launching point for the Obama administration’s goal to secure Senate ratification of the 1996 treaty.

For a concept focused on speed of reaction, operationally responsive space (ORS) has taken time to gain momentum. But there will be launches this year of the ORS-1 reconnaissance satellite and second X-37B orbital test vehicle (OTV-2). Goodrich Corp.

Thai Airways International’s outspoken president, Piyasvasti Amranand, has set the goal of transforming Thai into one of the world’s top five airlines. This will be tough to achieve, but not impossible. The national carrier’s board this month approved an investment plan for 2011-17 in which 37 aircraft will be acquired to replace older types and aid expansion.

Size, speed and staying power appear to be obsessions in business aviation, and while market demand has yet to recover, manufacturers are already developing larger, faster and longer-range aircraft in anticipation. When Gulfstream announced in 2008 that it planned to build the biggest, fastest, longest-range purpose-designed business jet, the G650, it was only a matter of time before Bombardier responded to the challenge to its Global Express.

ViaSat has rescheduled the launch of its high-throughput Ka-band broadband satellite, ViaSat-1, to the summer, instead of in the first quarter of this year, as previously planned. The delay was attributed to the need for additional tests and repairs after the spacecraft was damaged during trials. ViaSat says full costs for the postponement will be assumed by the manufacturer, Space Systems/Loral. According to SS/L, the problem was minor and has been corrected.

Meggitt’s $685-million purchase of Pacific Scientific Aerospace continues an acquisition spree for European aerospace and defense suppliers as they look to meet Airbus¹s and Boeing’s desire for stronger, more diverse partners.

General Electric is counting on a joint venture with Avic in Shanghai to propel the company into the front ranks of avionics suppliers, just as its 50-50 partnership with France’s Snecma turned CFM International into a powerhouse engine maker.

Anyone asking “Where’s my flying car?” in 2011, can look to Woburn, Mass., and start-up company Terrafugia, which plans to fly, certify and begin deliveries of its Transition roadable aircraft by year-end.

Virgin America will soon begin talks with Pratt & Whitney and CFM International to determine the powerplant for its Airbus A320 New Engine Option (NEO) narrowbodies.

Airbus’s launch of the A320 New Engine Option (NEO) poses the question: When will the next all-new generation of single-aisle airliners emerge? Will Boeing follow its rival and re-engine the 737, pushing any new design beyond 2020, or will it gather up technology becoming available and make an early move to an all-new product? With the latest generation of engines already in development, the issue is the timing and impact of other fuel-saving and emissions-minimizing technologies such as drag-reducing laminar flow and new weight-saving materials.

Can the continued strength of the commercial aircraft market offset the growing pressure on defense procurement? How the industry will fare in 2011 and beyond—from aircraft, rotorcraft and spacecraft to avionics, engines and weapons, and from airline operations to cybersecurity—is the theme of Aerospace 2011, an integrated print and online product that can also be found at AviationWeek.com/Aerospace 2011. Cover design by AW&ST Art Department.

Despite some hopeful signs, the business aviation market is still mired in a pronounced downturn. A rapid collapse of demand in late 2008 and early 2009 brought a booming business aircraft market to a halt. Orders dried up, customers began deferring deliveries, and cancellations started to eat away backlogs.

COMBAT AIRCRAFT: Further delays to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and additional orders for legacy combat aircraft will keep the international fighter market competitive through this decade. See pp. 50, 54, 56 and 155. MILITARY TRANSPORTS: Europe’s A400M and Brazil’s KC-390 are set to challenge U.S. dominance of the airlift market, unless a follow-on to the successful C-130J emerges later in the decade. See p. 60.