Donna Bethea-Murphy, vice president-regulatory engineering for Iridium Satellite, Bethesda, Md., has been elected chair of the Satellite Industry Assn.
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. will use its new second-generation UK-DMC2 multispectral imaging satellite to help map sub-Saharan Africa under a contract awarded last week to affiliate DMCii. Launched on July 29 with another second-generation spacecraft, Deimos-1 (AW&ST Aug. 3, p. 31), the 22-meter-resolution UK-DMC2 makes it possible to map large areas within a much tighter timescale than earlier 33-meter-resolution imaging birds. The European Space Agency, which is funding the mapping campaign, wants all 48 countries in the region to be covered by September 2010.
The northernmost U.S. space launch facility has a perfect record, which it is hoping to maintain and build on with additional, quick-turn capacity. Construction is under way on a rocket motor storage facility here that, once completed, is intended to give the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) the capability to stack, fuel, program, launch and track a satellite-carrying missile within 24 hr. of mission go-ahead.
Italy and the European Space Agency hope veteran Italian cosmonaut Roberto Vittori can get one space shuttle flight under his belt before the fleet retires next year or in 2011. An Italian air force colonel, Vittori has been designated by ESA and the Italian space agency (ASI) to fly as a mission specialist on STS-134, which is to be launched either in July or September 2010 on Discovery or Endeavour, respectively. The final scheduled shuttle mission, STS-134, is to carry the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the ISS.
The six astronauts and cosmonauts who make up the full-size crew of the International Space Station are set to receive a load of hardware this week designed to make their orbiting outpost a working microgravity research facility.
France’s Egis has been awarded a contract, in partnership with Steria of the U.K., to help define, vet and validate concepts and prototypes, and provide management assistance for portions of Europe’s Sesar air traffic management implementation program managed by France’s air navigation services (DNSA). DNSA, a member of the Sesar Joint Undertaking, is responsible for development of en route airspace, terminal maneuvering area and airport operational activities.
The first Russian-built Antonov An-148 was on display at the show, during which the Ilyushin Finance Co. agreed with state-owned Vnesheconombank on a memorandum of understanding that could lead to the financing of up to 70 aircraft. Russia’s Rossiya airline has six aircraft on a firm order. An-148s are being produced by the Voronezh-based VASO production plant in cooperation with Ukraine’s Aviant company.
Apply now. The FAA is offering abundant aerospace career opportunities for one of the toughest, most demanding jobs in the world—air traffic controller.
Running mission control and gathering data from NASA’s Deep Space Network to support the Kepler planet-hunting mission is providing students at the University of Colorado at Boulder with valuable hands-on aerospace training.
United Arab Emirates-based Airfreight Aviation and Russian Helicopters signed a contract last week covering the provision of 20 Mil Mi-171 medium-lift helicopters. Delivery will be in 2010. Airfreight Aviation’s maintenance center in Sharjah services civilian Mi-8s and Mi-17s. There are suggestions the final destination of the Mi-171s may be Iraq.
USAF Brig. Gen. Susan Y. Desjardins has been selected for promotion to major general and to director from deputy director of strategic plans, requirements and programs at Air Mobility Command (AMC) Headquarters, Scott AFB, Ill. USAF Brig. Gen. Douglas J. Robb has been nominated for promotion to major general. He is command surgeon at AMC Headquarters. Brig. Gen. Harry D. Polumbo, Jr., has been appointed director of plans and programs at Headquarters Air Combat Command (ACC), Langley AFB, Va.
A prototype of the Dozor-3 unmanned air vehicle (UAV), which is being developed by Russian companies Transas and Kronstadt to provide a medium-altitude long-endurance capability, was shown for the first time at the show. The Dozor-3 has a takeoff weight of 610 kg. (1,344 lb.) and is intended to provide endurance of more than 30 hr. at 23,000 ft., with a payload of up to 120 kg. The mockup was fitted with what appeared to be a Sagem electro-optical sensor turret. The UAV also can be fitted with a radar. First flight of the prototype is scheduled this year.
An attack derivative of the Surion utility helicopter is shaping up as a likely project to sustain Korea Aerospace Industries’ hard-won aeronautics development skills.
I share the skepticism of Jim Hendershot about the prospects for space solar power sending 200-megawatt beams of energy down from kilometer-size solar-power satellites in geostationary orbits (AW&ST June 22, p. 9; Apr. 20, p. 39).
The final Delta II launch for the U.S. Air Force sent a Global Positioning System spacecraft toward its operational orbit Aug. 17, capping a 48-mission series of flights with the Boeing-developed rocket. Liftoff with GPS IIR-21(M) came at 6:35 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. The spacecraft deployed nominally after a 1-hr. 8-min. flight. The new satellite was the eighth and last spacecraft in the GPS IIR-M series built by Lockheed Martin Navigation Systems.
Eric Bermingham states “some form of regulation must be forced on the airlines if the industry is to stabilize and generate decent, reliable income for its employees.” Michael Harbeck says “It is hard to watch the demise of airlines that started by carrying the mail.” And Karl Kettler writes of the many airline failures and low profits, and wistfully dreams of when “rarely was there talk about overcapacity, draconian cuts or multiple bankrupcies by the same airlines” (AW&ST Aug. 3, p. 8).
After three decades with BAE Systems in a variety of increasingly senior roles, Steve Mogford left the company in 2007 to join Selex Galileo as its CEO. He discussed the challenges and successes of bringing numerous Italian and British business units together under one banner, as well as Selex Galileo’s ambitions, with Aviation Week & Space Technology London Bureau Chief Douglas Barrie. AW&ST: What were your aims in trying to bring together the Italian and the U.K. elements of the company?
The U.S. and Colombia are cooking up an agreement to expand cooperation against drug-trafficking, transnational crime and terrorism. Watch for it to include more U.S. access to Colombian military facilities. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signals that it is not about projecting power regionally, but helping Bogota internally. “There will be no significant permanent increase in the U.S. military presence in Colombia,” she vows. Washington has been helping a counternarcotics and insurgency program with airborne crop-eradication and intelligence.
Eric Bermingham cites deregulation as the cause of airline woes. He makes no mention of one enormous drag on profitability: the ability of terminally ill major carriers to continue operating while in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
AgustaWestland plans to have fully integrated Polish helicopter maker PZL Swidnik by year-end, after being named the preferred bidder in the privatization process.
Combining its engineering prowess with a flexible production setup and decentralized management style, connector manufacturer Souriau is managing to continue expanding market share despite the economic slowdown.
Kenneth A. Myers, 3rd, has become director of the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency , Ft. Belvoir, Va. He was a senior professional staff member for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) are analyzing data from an unprecedented experiment with their lunar orbiters to determine if their first joint observation turned up evidence of water ice at the Moon’s north pole. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and ISRO’s Chandrayaan-1 were only about 20 km. (12.5 mi.) apart when they focused their synthetic aperture radars (SARs) on the bottom of the Erlanger Crater Aug. 20, looking for the brightness characteristic of water ice.
