Air Force Bell Helicopter Textron 206B (5) Bell Helicopter Textron 212 (10) Bell Helicopter Textron 214ST (1) Eurocopter BO 105CB (6) IPTN CN-235 (1) Pilatus PC-7 Mk II (4) Sikorsky S-70A (4) Sikorsky S-70C (2)
Air Force Basler Turbo 67 Conversion (8) Beech 65-B80 (2) Beech D50 (1) Beech D55 (1) Beech T-34M (9) Bell Helicopter Textron 205 (5) Bell Helicopter Textron 206 (6) Bell Helicopter Textron 212 (14) Bell Helicopter Textron 412 (2) Bell Helicopter Textron UH-1H (21) Boeing 707-373C (1) Boeing 737-700BBJ (1) CASA C-212 (4) CASA C-212-100 (2) CASA C-295M (2) CASA CN-235M (3)
21700 Atlantic Blvd. Dulles, VA 20166, USA Tel. (703) 480-7500; Fax (703) 480-7544 www.geoeye.com OrbView-2 Commercial remote sensing and environmental and Earth resources monitoring. Orbital location is near-polar LEO at 438 mi. Carries one 1.1-km.-resolution multispectral imaging instrument with eight channels, six in the visible and two in the near-IR spectrum. Provides daily coverage of Earth’s land and oceans with a swath width of 2,800 km. from a polar orbital path. Launched 1997. 7.5-year design lifetime.
Douglas Royce (Forecast International/www.forecastinternational.com)
Military transport aircraft demand is projected to remain stable through 2017 as air forces worldwide are looking to replace aging aircraft and expand their capabilities. The U.S. military continues to acquire several transport types as part of ongoing recapitalization, and Western Europe is emerging as a major customer for transports as its nations face a need to support security missions in distant regions.
Air Force Beech C-12C (16) Beech C-12D (6) Beech C-12F (2) Beech C-12J (4) Beech T-1A (179) Bell Helicopter Textron TH-1H (1) Bell Helicopter Textron UH-1N (62) Bell Helicopter Textron UH-1V (2) Bell/Boeing CV-22 (7) Boeing 707-320C (1) Boeing 757-200 (1) Boeing B-52H (94) Boeing C-9A (2) Boeing C-9C (3) Boeing C-17A (165) Boeing C-22B (3) Boeing C-32A (4) Boeing C-32B (2)
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne has completed a third series of throttling tests on the Common Extensible Cryogenic Engine (CECE), concept hardware that may lead to the engine used to lower the planned Altair lander to the surface of the Moon. The latest CECE test article used a new injector design and propellant feed systems to eliminate potentially dangerous engine chugging by better controlling the flow of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to the combustion chamber.
2400 N St., NW Washington, DC 20037, USA Tel. (202) 969-6000; Fax (202) 969-6001 www.worldspace.com AfriStar Broadcasting, multimedia. Orbital location is 21° E geosynchronous. Carries six high-power DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) transponders. Eurostar-2000+ model. Launched 1998. AsiaStar Broadcasting, multimedia. Orbital location is 105° E geosynchronous. Carries six high-power DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) transponders. Eurostar-2000+ model. Launched 2000.
CYBER Building 5th Floor, JI. Kuningan Barat No. 8 Jakarta 12170, Indonesia Tel. (62-21) 520-9810; Fax (62-21) 520-9811 www.acesinternational.com ACeS 1/Garuda 1 Mobile communications. Orbital location is 123° E geosynchronous. Carries 140 spot beam transponders, C-band and L-band. Satellite is jointly owned with Jasmine International Overseas Ltd., Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications, Philippines Long Distance Telephone Co. and PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara. 2012 EOL.
The U.S. Air Force’s assistant secretary for acquisition, Sue Payton, has had her hands full as she oversees development of the Army-Navy Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM), Small-Diameter Bomb II (SDB II), AIM-120D missile and other upcoming weapons systems, as discussed in your article “Two Birds, One Stone” (AW&ST Aug. 4, 2008, p. 29).
The top Russian propulsion research institute for air-breathing engines, TsIAM Central Institute of Aviation Engines, has test facilities in Lytkarino near Moscow, and is Russia’s answer to the NASA Glenn Research Center and USAF Arnold Engineering Development Center. Rocket engine research is undertaken by TsNIIMash (Central Research Institute of Machine Building), which is in Korolev, near Moscow. TsNIIMash is also the primary research facility for strategic missiles.
Senior NASA managers believe they will be able to launch the final space shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope in May, but they won’t decide until March whether to release one of the two shuttle launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for the first flight test of the follow-on Ares I crew launch vehicle. Meeting with their human-spaceflight counterparts at the Johnson Space Center on Jan. 22, top Hubble program officials said they should have a replacement computer ready to go to the telescope in time for a May 12 launch.
French Defense Minister Herve Morin says France exported €6.3 billion ($8.13 billion) worth of military hardware last year, up from €5.5 billion in 2007 and the most since 2000. He predicted that a revamped export system introduced in 2007-08 will lead to a further increase this year and said he sees no reason why France cannot catch the U.K., the leading European arms exporter. A breakthrough foreign arms sale for the Rafale fighter is among the near-term targets.
