SPACEDEV of Poway, Calif., has been awarded phase one of a contract to develop a shuttle-compatible propulsion module for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), the company announced. The company also expects to receive a phase two contract for the work, which would bring the total value of the two contracts to $1.6 million. The contract is to develop a low-cost propulsion capability to allow Air Force payloads to be boosted to higher orbits after being deployed from NASA's Shuttle Hitchhiker Experiment Launch System (SHELS).
Beginning next year, NASA plans to quadruple the amount of research it performs on the effects of space radiation on biological systems, in an effort to better understand and prepare for future manned space missions. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston is leading the radiation initiative, which is receiving a funding boost of roughly $25 million on top of a $15 million baseline program, according to Frank Cucinotta, manager for radiation health at JSC.
None of the six defense acquisition programs in breach of the Nunn-McCurdy amendment will be canceled now, the Pentagon's top acquisition official announced May 2, but he warned the programs will remain in the "spotlight" and could be terminated if problems continue. Six of the Defense Department's major defense acquisition programs recently reported cost growth over 25 percent, which put them in violation of Nunn-McCurdy.
DIRECTV INC. of El Segundo, Calif., will launch its DIRECTV 5 satellite from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome on May 6. International Launch Services will launch the satellite. DIRECTV 5 is a Space Systems/Loral 1300 series satellite, and will be positioned at 119 degrees West longitude. It will take over broadcast services being handled by DIRECTV 6, which will become an in-orbit spare once the new satellite becomes operational in July.
China and Russia recently agreed to develop a new generation of civil aircraft. This is the first agreement in a decade between China's Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. The two sides agreed to work out a cooperative program, to be signed in six months. A joint commission has been set up to draft the program.
BOEING's Delta IV booster has been moved to its launch pad in preparation for its first flight this August from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The vehicle, powered by the Boeing Rocketdyne RS-68 main engine, was lifted to a standing position on Launch Pad B at Space Launch Complex 37. On its first flight, the booster is scheduled to orbit a communications satellite for Eutelsat of France.
The number of spare aviation parts ordered from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) by the services declined 28 percent from fiscal 1996 to fiscal 2000, while the total dollar value of the sales rose by 54 percent, according to a General Accounting Office (GAO) report. According to the April 30 report, the total number of active duty Navy fighter and attack aircraft declined from 504 in FY '96 to 432 in FY '00. However, the number of Air Force fighter and attack aircraft remained steady at 963 during that same period.
LOCKHEED MARTIN, Bethesda, Md. Nolan D. Archibald has been elected to its board of directors. Archibald is chairman, CEO and president of Black&Decker Corp.
BALL AEROSPACE, Boulder, Colo. Jon M. (Mike) Cerneck has joined the company as vice president and general manager of the company's Defense Operations strategic business unit.
One of the first tasks of the new Air Force deputy chief of staff for warfighting integration will be to try to influence the next six-year funding cycle, according to the office's new head.
A U.S. Army and Northrop Grumman Corp. team has conducted a successful flight test of its Brilliant Anti-Armor Submunition, called BAT, which included deployment from an Army Tactical Missile System (ATCAMS) carrier missile. BAT is an autonomous submunition that uses passive acoustic and infrared sensors to seek, identify and destroy moving targets.
NASA audit woes will be over next year In his first appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee's VA-HUD-NASA panel, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe promised committee members that problems with the agency's audits will no longer be a "topic of discussion" next year.
In his first appearance before the Senate Appropriations Committee's VA-HUD-NASA panel, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe promised committee members that problems with the agency's audits will no longer be a "topic of discussion" next year.
Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), a member of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, has introduced a bill that would end a congressional requirement that the defense secretary write an annual report on the Air Force B-2 bomber. Tiahrt considers the report unnecessary because the B-2 is no longer in production. The B-2 report is one of 73 required reports that Tiahrt's bill would eliminate in a bid to ease paperwork burdens on the Pentagon.
As negotiations continue between the United States and Russia on the subject of nuclear arms reductions, the U.S. is holding firm to its position that it will not destroy nuclear warheads, according to a senior Defense Department official. Russia has continued to press the U.S. for an agreement that would make nuclear reductions irreversible, according to J.D. Crouch, the assistant secretary of defense for international security policy, who has been extensively involved in the bilateral negotiations.
The four-year, $2.9 billion contract awarded to "Gold Team" companies to design and build several DD(X) model destroyers likely won't have a substantial financial impact on them in the short term, according to company officials and financial analysts. The Navy awarded "Gold Team" companies Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and United Defense a $2.9 billion contract on April 29 to design, build and test 13 "engineering development models" (EDMs), or prototypes, by 2005.
COMMANDER CONFIRMED: The Senate April 29 confirmed Navy Adm. Thomas Fargo to be the head of U.S. Pacific Command and Army Gen. Leon LaPorte to lead the United Nations Command in South Korea. Fargo, who has been commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, and LaPorte, who has been deputy commanding general and chief of staff of U.S. Army Forces Command, had their confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee April 26.
COMMANDER CONFIRMED: The Senate April 29 confirmed Navy Adm. Thomas Fargo to be the head of U.S. Pacific Command and Army Gen. Leon LaPorte to lead the United Nations Command in South Korea. Fargo, who has been commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, and LaPorte, who has been deputy commanding general and chief of staff of U.S. Army Forces Command, had their confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee April 26.
GOODRICH CORP., Charlotte, N.C. Cindy Egnotovich has been appointed president, Engine and Safety Systems group. Harry Arnold has been appointed vice president and general manager, commercial programs, for its aerostructures business.
One of the first tasks of the new Air Force deputy chief of staff for warfighting integration will be to try to influence the next six-year funding cycle, according to the office's new head.
