The New Skies NSS-9 and Eutelsat Hot Bird 10 satellites are being prepared at the European Spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana, for a scheduled Feb. 12 launch atop an Ariane 5 ECA booster. The mission, which also will carry France’s Spirale early warning demonstrator, will be the first of the year for Arianespace.
With no word from India’s defense ministry as to when field trials of the 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft will be held, competitors are increasingly worried they will be delayed until 2010.
Air Force Antonov An-26 (1) Boeing C-47 (2) British Aerospace HS.748 (1) De Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 (1) Dornier Do 28D-2 (2) Eurocopter AS350 (1) Rockwell 500B (1)
Michael A. Taverna (Paris), Frank Morring, Jr. (Washington)
European Space Agency and NASA planners will decide in the coming days which path, if any, they will jointly pursue in the next phase of exploration of the outer planets.
Regarding Raytheon Chairman William H. Swanson’s “Plea To Upgrade Education” (AW&ST Jan. 5, p. 58), varsity sports are more important in most U.S. schools than academic education.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s proposed plan to double enplanement charges to cover capital improvements has prompted Delta Air Lines to threaten routing its connecting traffic to other Eastern U.S. hubs. In a letter to the airport’s aviation general manager, Ben DeCosta, Delta Vice President of Corporate Real Estate John W.
Russia is trying to shore up its defense industry. Hit by credit facilities drying up, the sector is also struggling with debt and bottlenecks in the financing and delivery of domestic procurement programs. The government’s proposed “bailout” package—unveiled by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin—is based on increased domestic expenditure for research and development, as well as for production, of weapons along with upgrades for already fielded systems. Increased expenditure would see a total of 1 trillion rubles ($30.5 billion) allocated for procurement in 2009.
Air Force Bell Helicopter Textron 412 (2) Mikoyan MiG-21bis (5) Mikoyan MiG-21UM (1) Mil Mi-17 (3) Mil Mi-24 (1) Police Bell Helicopter Textron 212 (2) De Havilland Canada DHC-6 (2) Mil Mi-8 (2)
A team from the Georgia Institute of Technology has developed algorithms for an En Route Traffic Optimization project that promises to reduce commercial aviation fuel consumption by more than 1 billion gallons a year and provide environmental benefits.
AeroVironment has opted for Rockwell Collins’s Athena 411 inertial navigation, GPS, air data, attitude, heading, reference system for its Global Observer unmanned aircraft system. The UAS is liquid hydrogen-powered and will fly at a 65,000-ft. altitude for up to seven days. It’s being developed for the U.S. Special Operations Command as well as for other military and civilian applications. The Athena 411 integrates solid-state gyros and accelerometers, magnetometer, GPS receiver and air data sensors in one small unit.
12/5, str. 7, Kursovoy Pereulok Moscow 119034, Russia Tel. (7-495) 730-0450; Fax (7-495) 730-0383 www.rscc.ru Bonum-1 Broadcasting, data transmission, Internet access. Orbital location is 56° E. Carries eight Ku-band transponders. 2010 EOL. Ekran-M Broadcasting. Orbital location is 99° E. Carries two C-band transponders. Launched 2001. 3-year design lifetime.
The U.S. Navy has awarded Alliant Techsystems a $55-million contract to begin low-rate initial production of the AGM-88EAdvanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (Aargm). The low-rate buy is for 27 missiles. This is an upgrade for the High-Speed Anti-Radiation (HARM) system that incorporates a millimeter-wave terminal seeker and GPS/INS, and it was jointly developed by the Navy and Italian air force. The weapon is designed to destroy air defense targets and counter radio-frequency shutdown tactics.
