Aviation Week's Aerospace Expo Conference & Exposition will be held Oct. 1-3 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Calif., to bring together aerospace executives and exhibitors to discuss the future of the aerospace industry.
The Defense Department is warning that a Senate-passed $100 million cut in the Air Force budget request for the Space Based Infrared System-High (SBIRS-High) would delay the program by up to 18 months and increase the chances of a gap in the nation's missile launch warning capability.
MOSCOW - The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Eurockot Launch Service's Rockot vehicle to orbit its CryoSat research satellite. The launch is slated to occur from Plesetsk in June 2004, said the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Russia, one of Eurockot's parent companies. CryoSat is designed to monitor ice sheets and climate variability over the Earth's polar regions. The 70 million euro ($69 million) satellite will be the first launch in ESA's Living Planet program, established in 1998.
With union labor back to work at Boeing's suburban Philadelphia rotorcraft plant, the military programs at the site should suffer no lasting delays, according to the company. The United Aerospace Workers (UAW) Local 1069 walked out of the plant Sept. 14 as a result of an unresolved dispute over health benefits and job classification and seniority rules, marking the beginning of the first strike at the site in 28 years. The strike was resolved after a five-hour negotiation Sept. 21, and UAW workers re-entered the plant the next day.
NEW FACES: NASA has experienced "a rather significant shift" in agency leadership in the last few months, O'Keefe says. Three of its five enterprise associate administrators - William Readdy, AA for space flight, Mary Kicza, AA for biological and physical research, and Jeremiah Creeden, AA for aerospace technology - are new.
PURE PLAYS: "Pure-play" aerospace and defense companies in the United States - or those that don't sell to commercial markets - are expected to continue outperforming the market for the rest of the year, says a report from JSA Research in Newport, R.I. Pure-play aerospace and defense stocks in the U.S. have averaged 18 percent growth so far this year, compared with the S&P 500, which was down 21.7 percent.
NOT OLD: Recently repaired problems with cracks in space shuttle fuel liners and the bearings of the "crawlers" used to transport the shuttles to their launch pads don't mean the equipment is too old, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe says. Cracks were found in the liners of all four shuttles, prompting NASA to ground them until the cracks were repaired. "This is evidence of diligence, not of age," O'Keefe says, praising NASA's safety inspectors. Atlantis has been deemed ready to go for its Oct.
The Aerospace Industries Association unveiled a list of space policy recommendations for the Bush Administration on Sept. 20, including a proposal that could lead to a greater role for the Defense Department in developing reusable launch vehicles.
Raytheon defended its Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) in a statement released Sept. 20, responding to a recent General Accounting Office (GAO) report that cites "critical software problems" with the system that have yet to be solved.
DEFENSE BILLS: House-Senate conference committees are expected to continue working the week of Sept. 23-27 on the fiscal 2003 defense authorization and defense appropriations bills. Progress has been slowed by attention to other matters, including a possible attack on Iraq, but lawmakers still hope to complete final versions of both bills before heading to the campaign trail in October.
REASONABLE QUESTIONS: Several questions remain to be answered about the future of the V-22 Osprey regardless of whether it successfully completes the latest round of flight testing, according to Stephen Cambone, director Program Analysis and Evaluation for the Defense Department. "I think it is a reasonable question to ask that 'if for some reason the program is not successful, what are the alternatives?'" he says. "The other question is, 'if it is successful, what else do we need to do,' because there's still the issue of heavy and light helicopters.
C-130 REQUIREMENT: The Army's requirement that all components of its Future Combat Systems (FCS) be transportable on a C-130 aircraft is firm for the moment, although none of the requirements will necessarily remain absolute as the program evolves, according to Lt. Gen. John Riggs, director of the Objective Force Task Force. The most recent operational requirements document for FCS was delivered to the program Aug. 30, Riggs says. "We very much treat that as a baseline document," he says.
The Senate Commerce Committee has approved legislation that would boost funding for several research and development activities at the FAA, including efforts to increase aviation safety, make the air traffic control system more efficient and reduce aviation's impact on the environment.
The Bush Administration's new plan for U.S. security, released Sept. 20, is based on maintaining the American lead in military strength and striking pre-emptively if necessary. But it also sees this as "a time of opportunity" that can lead to "decades of peace."
The next test of the Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) segment of the ballistic missile defense program is tentatively scheduled for mid to late October, according to the Missile Defense Agency. MDA officials will have a better idea about the date after an initial flight readiness review is completed in early October, MDA spokesman Lt. Col. Rick Lehner told The Daily Sept. 20.
ICBM LAUNCH: An unarmed Minuteman III ICBM was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Sept. 19, the Air Force said. Two unarmed re-entry vehicles hit targets located at Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands. The flight was part of the Force Development Evaluation Program, which tests the accuracy and reliability of the weapon system.
Sept. 23 - 27 -- National Defense Industrial Association presents the 20th International Symposium & Exhibition on Ballistics. Rosen Centre Hotel, Orlando, Fla. For more information call Phyllis Edmonson at (703) 247-2588. Sept. 24 - 25 -- Military Electronics Conference & Showcase 2002, "Engineering for the Mobile Military." Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, Md. For more information visit www.mes2002.com.
Congressional advocates of the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet seem to be gaining ground in their drive to add money to the Bush Administration's fiscal 2003 budget request for the Boeing-made aircraft.
LASER JSF: Lockheed Martin plans to experiment with installing high-energy lasers on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) by putting the system in place of the JSF's shaft-driven lift fan, according to Neil Kacena, the company's deputy for advanced development programs. The fan gives the JSF vertical takeoff capability, and once it's removed, "not only do you have the volume required for the [laser] installation, but you've got a shaft that happens to be bringing 27,000 horsepower right there," Kacena says.
Credit analysts with Standard & Poor's lowered the credit ratings for Loral Space & Communications Ltd. on Sept. 19 over concerns about the company's liquidity. S&P analysts lowered the company's senior unsecured debt rating from "CCC+" to "CCC-" and the senior unsecured rating on Loral's subsidiary, Loral Orion Inc., from "B" to "CCC+." "These downgrades were based on concerns about Loral's liquidity and weak customer demand in the company's satellite leasing and manufacturing businesses," an S&P report says.
