The House Appropriations VA-HUD-NASA subcommittee should "look seriously at what can be done to ensure the International Space Station lives up to its mission with a full crew complement," the House Aerospace Caucus wrote in a June 7 letter to leaders of the subcommittee. The subcommittee's examination should look at the possibility of adding modules and a "robust crew return system" to the station, according to the letter, signed by 19 lawmakers, including caucus co-chairs Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) and Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).
MOSCOW - A list of new space companies to be formed by 2006 as part of an ongoing government restructuring of the military and space industry here has been released. Although the federal consolidation program for 2002-2006 is still considered classified, the list shows several new space-related concerns the government intends to create. According to the list, the Khrunichev Center will become State Corporation Khrunichev, and will include eight companies.
JSF PARTNER: Norway will sign an official memorandum of understanding (MOU) June 20 to join the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) Program, followed by Italy on June 24, according to Kathy Crawford, a spokeswoman for the program. The Netherlands will have a JSF "document exchange" ceremony June 17, although the Dutch government already has signed onto the program, Crawford said.
TRW INTEREST: BAE Systems has confirmed it may be interested in acquiring TRW Inc. "This situation may offer an opportunity to extend further BAE Systems defense activities in North America," the company said in a June 10 statement. "The company has therefore established a dialogue with TRW."
As part of a continuing series of activities aimed at gearing up for the creation of a national "testbed" for missile defense, the Air Force's Space Based Laser Project Office is asking for contractors to help define a mid-course airborne tracking experiment. In a contract solicitation issued June 6, the Space Based Laser Project Office requested proposals from industry to help define an airborne platform to take part in a mid-course tracking experiment.
The Pentagon notified Congress June 7 that Switzerland has requested a possible foreign military sale of 222 AIM-C Sidewinder Tactical Missiles and associated equipment, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA).
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said June 10 that he hopes to delay the proposed cancellation of the Crusader artillery system at least until the Army completes a study of alternative systems. Levin accused the Defense Department of acting "precipitously" by trying to kill the Crusader before the Army could finish assessing the cost and performance of alternatives. The Army has supported the Crusader.
Air Force Space Command is proposing disseminating information from its space surveillance network through a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) rather than through NASA, according to a letter from the General Accounting Office (GAO). The space surveillance network comprises 40 optical and radar sensors located around the globe that track objects in space. U.S. Space Command maintains and operates the network at an annual cost of roughly $60 million.
The Pentagon's National Communications System (NCS) office is the only Defense Department function to be transferred to the newly created Department of Homeland Security, according to a Defense Department spokesperson.
NEW DELHI - India flight-tested the second Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) technology demonstrator vehicle on June 6 from Bangalore. The successful 28-minute flight of the TD-2 vehicle met all the test parameters and was a significant landmark for the LCA program, ushering it into the flight test stage, according to a statement from the Indian ministry of defense.
Four key lawmakers have told the State Department they would generally oppose the export of Predator and Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles to anyone outside the "NATO-plus-three" group of countries, according to a congressional aide.
The German engineering group Babcock Borsig AG announced June 7 that One Equity Partners had acquired a 75 percent stake in the German submarine company Howaldtswerke-Deutsche-Werft AG (HDW). Babcock Borsig retains a 25-percent-minus-one share in HDW. The announcement follows a March agreement between Babcock, the German tourism group Preussag and a financial investor to sell their 75 percent stake in HDW to One Equity Partners, an equity unit of Bank One Corp.
A Missile Defense Agency team charged with recommending ways to defeat countermeasures on hostile missiles has been told by another MDA team, led by Retired Air Force Gen. Larry Welch, to redo some its proposals, Welch said June 7. MDA has formed a red team to develop countermeasures and a blue team to propose ways to overcome those countermeasures. A third, or white team, chaired by Welch, acts as a referee, judging the realism of the red team's ideas and the viability of the blue team's suggestions.
June 13 - 14 --Aerospace America International Airshow hosts the Aviation Conference and Exposition (ACE 2002), the Westin Hotel, Oklahoma City, Okla. For additional information contact Don L. Schmidt or Carl Whittle, Aerospace America International Airshow at (405) 685-9546.
SHUTTLE DOCKED: Space Shuttle Endeavour delivered the Expedition Five crew to the International Space Station on June 7, according to NASA. The spacecraft docked at 11:25 a.m. CDT as they flew over the southern Pacific Ocean. The new crew will swap places with the old during Endeavour's eight-day stay at the station.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Creation of the new Department of Homeland Security won't change the way North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Space Command operate, nor is it likely to affect operation of the new Northern Command when it is established on Oct. 1, a spokesman for NORAD and the Space Command said June 7. "The basic answer is that the Department of Defense essentially remains unchanged," said Maj. Barry Venable. "We work for the Secretary of Defense - in NORAD's case, Canada and the United States."
The market for American military products in Japan has been a good one for the Boeing Co., and probably will remain so, according to aerospace and defense industry analysts. Boeing Chairman and CEO Phil Condit said during a business visit to Japan last week that the country's increased role in international peacekeeping may create an additional demand for Boeing military products.
TRW will upgrade the launch command centers that control Minuteman III missiles under a $65 million contract from the U.S. Air Force. The company will begin the system design and development phase of the ICBM Rapid Execution and Combat Targeting Service Life Extension Program (REACT SLEP), which will upgrade command and control hardware, software and support equipment.
UAV EXPORTS: Key Senate and House lawmakers say they would support the sale of General Atomics Predator and Northrop Grumman Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles to Australia, Japan, New Zealand and NATO members. In a June 5 letter, they tell Secretary of State Colin Powell they would support the sales as long as those countries have a clear national security requirement for the UAVs, won't arm the aircraft or re-export them without U.S. approval, and will adhere to the international Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
TURF BATTLES: Establishing a new Department of Homeland Security may lead to the same turf and budgetary battles that ensued after the creation of specialized agencies like the Drug Enforcement Agency, according to James Lewis, director of the Public Policy Program for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Agencies have trouble adjusting to new priorities, so just as the war on drugs led to the creation of the DEA, the war on terrorism has led to a new cabinet-level domestic security office," Lewis says.
REMAP REVAMP: The Research Maximization and Prioritization Task Force (REMAP) won't deliver its recommendations for NASA's science programs to the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) on June 12 as expected, NASA officials say. The panel's head, Rae Silver of Columbia University, "wanted some more time to fine-tune some particulars of the presentation," a NASA spokesman says. NAC Chairman Charles Kennel agreed to a delay, and the report now will be presented July 10.
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is modifying the Boeing Co.'s missile defense contract to allow the company to develop a sea-based X-band radar for the missile defense test bed, according to Department of Defense documents and officials. Boeing, the prime systems integrator for the U.S. ballistic missile defense system, will have its contract modified to allow the company to "develop a Sea-Based Test X-band Radar (XBR) capability in support of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) Program," according to a contract notice issued June 4.
Standard & Poor's placed L-3 Communications Corp. on CreditWatch with positive implications last week following the company's announced plans to issue 14 million shares of common stock and $750 million in senior subordinated debt securities due in 2012.
