Like most prime contractors, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems has found that with the investment required to be vertically integrated, it makes no sense for it to build everything on its own. It buys about 60% of what goes into its products and produces 40%, a ratio that would have been reversed a decade ago.
Space programs must be affordable, sustainable and realistic to survive political and funding dangers that have killed previous initiatives, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says. Speaking at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics meeting, Bolden said affordability, sustainability and realism have become his “mantra” while negotiating with officials in the White House Office of Management and Budget, as well as Congress. Affordability “is dominant,” while sustainability is needed to survive multiple sessions of Congress and presidential administrations.
Mark Fischer (see photos) has joined Greenwich AeroGroup ’s MRO Product Management team as director-MRO avionics products. Other key team members are Carl Lukas, who is director of MRO interior and completion products; and Brian Rehberg, who is director of MRO airframe products. Fischer brings experience gained at Gulfstream; Westar and Rockwell Collins, and Lukas has worked for Challenger Aviation Service GmbH., Bombardier Aerospace and Midcoast Aviation Savannah. Rehberg was recruited from Western Aircraft.
Even though no one has yet produced a commercially successful single-engine jet, candidates continue to appear. The latest is the Stratos 714 (see image at top of page). So far financed largely by Michael Lemaire, a French high-tech entrepreneur who found success in India and Silicon Valley, the four-year-old project just received enough outside funding to proceed with wind tunnel testing of a 1/8th-scale model to verify design developed through computational fluid dynamics. Those tests should occur in April, probably at the University of Washington.
Jan. 17-19—Civil Air Navigation Services Organization’s Middle East Conference. Park Rotana Hotel, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. See www.canso.org Jan. 20-23—U.S. Sport Aviation Expo. Sebring (Fla.) Regional Airport. See www.sport-aviation-expo.com Jan. 24-26—International Quality and Productivity Center’s “Airport Security Asia 2011.” Hong Kong SkyCity Marriott Hotel. Call +65 (67) 229-388 or see www.airportsecurityasia.com/Event
Feb. 1-2—MRO Middle East Conference & Exhibition. Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Feb. 16-17—A&D Technology & Requirements Conference. Washington. March 8—Laureates Awards. Washington. April 12-13—MRO Military Conference & Exhibition. Miami. April 12-13—MRO Latin America Conference & Exhibition. Miami. April 12-14—MRO Americas Conference & Exhibition. Miami. May 10-12—NextGen Ahead. Washington. May 24-25—A&D Cybersecurity Forum. Washington.
Robert Suhs is the new director of business development for PAS Technologies , Kansas City, Mo. He was a sales executive for Delta Air Lines’ TechOps Division and has held MRO management positions at Honeywell Aerospace and Sermatech International.
A new German experiment inside the space station may help engineers develop the fluid-management systems that will be needed for handling fuel and other fluids in microgravity. Developed by the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) at the University of Bremen, the Capillary Channel Flow (CCF) experiment is located in the station’s Microgravity Science Glovebox.
Engineers from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and the Applied Physics Laboratory will be able to test guidance, navigation and control systems for a prototype lunar/asteroid lander for as long as 60 sec., now that hot-fire tests of a peroxide-driven thruster setup at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., have validated the 16-thruster system—12 for attitude control, three for altitude and one to simulate lower gravity.
Conventional wisdom has it that, over time, the international airline industry will grow at a reasonably steady pace. But when examined at a more granular level, the ups and downs of the airline industry are apt to induce nausea. In mid-December 2009, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicted the scheduled airline industry would suffer a $5.6-billion net loss in 2010. A year later, IATA forecast a full-year 2010 net profit of $15.1 billion—a swing of nearly $21 billion.
Russ Hammer (see photo) has been appointed chief financial officer of Orbitz Worldwide of Chicago, succeeding Marsha Williams, whose retirement was announced in June 2010. Hammer was chief financial officer at Crocs.
A Franco-Chinese ocean-observing satellite mission will be the latest addition to the rapidly expanding fleet of spacecraft engaged in monitoring key ocean parameters that are major factors in predicting long-term weather and climate change.
American Airlines’ withdrawal and ouster from two of the three largest online travel agencies in the U.S. is merely the opening salvo in a broader battle over how its seats are sold, with potentially widespread ramifications for the airline industry in the U.S. and beyond. Two global distribution systems have retaliated against the carrier, underscoring the scope and stakes of the showdown.
Engineers from Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. will help NASA develop two robotic-technology demonstrations on the International Space Station, using Canada’s Dextre special purpose dexterous manipulator to simulate repair and refueling in space by locating and operating valves, transferring simulated liquid fuel and testing tools and other gear for capturing spacecraft in orbit. The U.S. agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center is funding the demos as part of its ongoing work on robotic in-space servicing.
The Italian military is looking to add several combat capabilities on the heels of a series of newly awarded contracts. On the near-term agenda is fielding of the first Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master advanced jet trainers, which are to be assigned to the Pratica di Mare-based experimental test wing near Rome. The unit will carry out extensive operational testing before the aircraft is handed over to training squadrons, replacing MB-339CDs in the advanced training role.
Rob Stewart has been appointed a New York-based managing director and U.S. head of Aerospace & Defense Investment Banking . He held a similar position covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Credit Suisse.
French space agency CNES has approved full-scale development of a microsatellite mission, dubbed Taranis, aimed at studying magnetospheric-ionospheric-atmospheric coupling involved in lightning, sprites and other transient optical phenomena, as well as precipitated energy electrons. The U.S., Japan, Poland and the Czech Republic will also take part in the seven-instrument mission, which is scheduled to be orbited in 2016.
Recent public disclosures, including the revealing article that ran in this magazine about China rolling out its first known stealth aircraft (AW&ST Jan. 3, p. 18), will keep military strategists and interested observers in the West busy for a long time trying to accurately establish the full implications—accurately being the operative word. U.S. intelligence knew about the J-20, but not that it would begin taxi tests in December.
NASA is finalizing expansion of its Integrated Systems Research program to tackle the problem of integrating unmanned air systems (UAS) into national airspace, but is re-assessing its immediate project priorities while awaiting the release of funding for 2011.
Doreen Gonzales (see photo) has been named senior manager-G650 procurement at Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. , Savannah, Ga. She has been senior purchasing manager for the company’s completion facility and had worked for parent company General Dynamics’ Convair division in San Diego.
Amy Butler (Washington), Graham Warwick (Washington)
The recently signed per-unit cost targets for the F-35 indicate its price is coming down with added orders, but the Pentagon’s top procurement executive says more steps are needed. The Pentagon’s most recent per-unit target price for the conventional-takeoff-and-landing (CTOL) version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is $111.6 million, according to program officials.
China is advancing its space capabilities by developing staged combustion, an engine technology that is likely to offer greater performance for the Long March 6 and 7, two of a family of launchers that the country will field around the middle of the decade. The smaller of the two, the Long March 6, may be the first to go into service, beating the flagship third member of the family, the Long March 5 heavy launcher.
As a long-time fan of your art and photography issue (AW&ST Dec. 20/27, 2010, pp. 33-70), I have to say that this year’s winners deserve special praise. The photographers in the Space category shone especially bright. Ben Cooper and Philip Christensen submitted entries that were not just beautiful, but thought-provoking as well. Nice!
Your articles and editorial (AW&ST Dec. 13, 2010, pp. 37, 58) regarding the French criminalization of the Concorde accident brought to mind an observation I made last October after landing at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. While traveling along its extensive taxiways, I commented: “This airport is the worst FOD nightmare I’ve ever seen.” Of course, this is purely anecdotal, but it was a valid observation. Perhaps the French have not sufficiently focused on foreign object debris (FOD) prevention at Paris CDG now or at the time of the accident.
Oliver Herberling has been appointed managing director for IEWC’s subsidiary, Peter Augsten Wire and Cable GmbH . He has been account manager and sales center manager. Herberling succeeds Gerald Mueller, who has stepped down from the position but will remain as a consultant. IEWC also named Cory McFarlane managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
