RLV DEBATE: The cost for NASA to develop a second-generation reusable launch vehicle has been estimated informally at about $10 billion, but some experts say the space shuttle will meet NASA's RLV needs until a "third generation" vehicle becomes available in 2025, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service.
ISR MANAGER: Raytheon's command, control, communication and information (C3I) segment plans to focus the majority of its resources on developing a system to coordinate the operations of all platforms with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, says Frank Marchilena, executive vice president of Raytheon's C3I Systems segment. Marchilena says the ISR market represents about $15 billion for Raytheon over the next five years.
A successful test last week of the Air Force/Lockheed Martin Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) clears the way for the next phase of testing, according to an Air Force official. Dale Bridges, technical director of the Lethal Strike Program Office at the Air Armament Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., said the April 4 test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., was the last in a series of development firings and that operational tests are slated to start next month.
AVOIDING ALGORITHMS: As part of their work on collision avoidance systems for unmanned aerial vehicles (DAILY, March 26), researchers with NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) program are working on software algorithms capable of telling a UAV whether an incoming aircraft is a collision threat. "One of the very difficult things is to ... determine what the flight path of that [other] aircraft is, just based on the tracking information," says ERAST Program Manager Jeff Bauer. "So [we're] really focused on ...
Raytheon Co. plans to draw on its expertise as a systems integrator and designer to compete for several contracts relating to homeland security and defense, a senior Raytheon official said last week during the company's annual investors conference. Hugo Poza, vice president and general manager of Strategic Systems, said Raytheon sees homeland security as a rapidly emerging market. "While funding is becoming more clear, the requirements are still evolving," he said.
In a new regulation that took effect March 29, the Department of State has exempted universities and other accredited institutions of higher learning from registration and licensing requirements that normally would be imposed on all entities involved in developing commercial satellites.
The Air Force is studying methods of disposing of spent upper stages from Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles (EELVs), which will remain in orbit around the Earth after the vehicles directly inject satellites into medium Earth orbit (MEO). The first scheduled direct injections by an EELV will be the launch of Block IIF Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, starting in 2005.
MILESTONE REVIEW: Canada's RADARSAT-2 payload passed its critical design review, satellite builder MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) announced April 5. The imaging satellite's bus passed its critical design review in December, and final manufacture can now begin, the Richmond, B.C.-based company said. The payload includes a synthetic aperture radar active phased array antenna. RADARSAT-2 is slated to launch in 2003, and once launched it will be operated by MDA for the Canadian Space Agency.
EXPLOSIVE PARTNERSHIP: Raytheon and Northrop Grumman are teaming to pursue a contract to train personnel and install explosive detection equipment in all commercial U.S. airports by year's end, in accordance with the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001. The act mandates that all checked baggage in all 438 commercial airports in the U.S. be screened by Dec. 31. The team expects to install 1,850 to 2,200 explosive detection machines and 5,000 explosive trace detection machines within nine months if it wins the contract.
H-1 BREACH: The Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) held an interim meeting April 3 to review the troubled H-1 helicopter upgrade program, which was reported in breach of the Nunn-McCurdy Act last month. Based on the Nunn-McCurdy Act, Pentagon acquisition czar E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, Jr. must certify the program is necessary for national security, that no alternatives exist, and that the program can be restructured to maintain costs. If those conditions are not met, Aldridge must terminate the program.
MILESTONE REVIEW: Canada's RADARSAT-2 payload passed its critical design review, satellite builder MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) announced April 5. The imaging satellite's bus passed its critical design review in December, and final manufacture can now begin, the Richmond, B.C.-based company said. The payload includes a synthetic aperture radar active phased array antenna. RADARSAT-2 is slated to launch in 2003, and once launched it will be operated by MDA for the Canadian Space Agency.
Raytheon Co. plans to draw on its expertise as a systems integrator and designer to compete for several contracts relating to homeland security and defense, a senior Raytheon official said last week during the company's annual investors conference. Hugo Poza, vice president and general manager of Strategic Systems, said Raytheon sees homeland security as a rapidly emerging market. "While funding is becoming more clear, the requirements are still evolving," he said.
ISR MANAGER: Raytheon's command, control, communication and information (C3I) segment plans to focus the majority of its resources on developing a system to coordinate the operations of all platforms with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, says Frank Marchilena, executive vice president of Raytheon's C3I Systems segment. Marchilena says the ISR market represents about $15 billion for Raytheon over the next five years.
H-1 BREACH: The Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) held an interim meeting April 3 to review the troubled H-1 helicopter upgrade program, which was reported in breach of the Nunn-McCurdy Act last month. Based on the Nunn-McCurdy Act, Pentagon acquisition czar E.C. "Pete" Aldridge, Jr. must certify the program is necessary for national security, that no alternatives exist, and that the program can be restructured to maintain costs. If those conditions are not met, Aldridge must terminate the program.
Engine firings to raise the orbit of Boeing's troubled Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) should resume by the third week of April, according to Boeing spokesman George Torres. In the interim, engineers at Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) are continuing their analysis of a workaround solution for propellant tank problems on TDRS-I that could jeopardize its operational life.
LAUNCH BUMP: NASA has set April 8 as the new launch date for the shuttle Atlantis' mission to the International Space Station to install part of its truss. A hydrogen leak on the shuttle's mobile launch pad forced NASA to scrub the planned April 4 launch.
April 6 - 11 -- NAB 2002 - The Convergence Marketplace, Las Vegas, NV. For more information or registration, go to www.nab.org/conventions or call 1-202-429-5419 or 1-800-342-2460. April 8 - 11 -- The Space Foundation presents the 18th National Space Symposium- Opening the Space Frontier, The Next Giant Step. The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO. For more information call (800) 691-4000. (Exhibit hall sold out)
RLV DEBATE: The cost for NASA to develop a second-generation reusable launch vehicle has been estimated informally at about $10 billion, but some experts say the space shuttle will meet NASA's RLV needs until a "third generation" vehicle becomes available in 2025, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service.
NO MORE SANCTIONS: Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet states, have been removed from the State Department's list of countries prohibited from engaging in defense trade with U.S. companies. The official ruling was added to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations on March 29, and says U.S. companies now can apply for licenses to export and import defense services and items from the two countries. Armenia and Azerbaijan were added to the list in 1993, when they were warring over competing territorial claims in Nagorno-Karabakh.
NO MORE SANCTIONS: Armenia and Azerbaijan, both former Soviet states, have been removed from the State Department's list of countries prohibited from engaging in defense trade with U.S. companies. The official ruling was added to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations on March 29, and says U.S. companies now can apply for licenses to export and import defense services and items from the two countries. Armenia and Azerbaijan were added to the list in 1993, when they were warring over competing territorial claims in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Dassault Aviation accused South Korean military officials of unfairly favoring the Boeing Co. in a multi-billion fighter jet competition and filed a lawsuit to halt the program, the Associated Press reported April 4. 'Definite breach of fairness' Yves Robins, Dassault's vice president of international relations, reportedly said Dassault has "definite reasons to believe there is a breach of fairness and a breach of transparency in the competition."
Lockheed Martin Corp. will not offer additional concessions to striking workers at its military aeronautics facility in Marietta, Ga., according to an internal document obtained by The DAILY. Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers local 709 voted to strike March 10 after disagreeing with the company's final salary and benefits package (DAILY, March 12). The document says the company has made its best and final offer.
The airframes of the Air Force's B-52 bombers will have to be monitored for "unforeseen aging problems" as the aircraft continue to be used in the war on terrorism, according to Navy Adm. James Ellis, commander-in-chief of U.S. Strategic Command, who testified last month before the Senate Armed Services Committee's strategic forces panel. The Air Force's 94 B-52s are more than 40 years old on average, and the B-52 is scheduled to remain in service until about 2040.
F-2 WORK: Lockheed Martin Aeronautics will manufacture components, including aft fuselages and wing leading-edge flaps, for 12 Japanese F-2 fighters under a $200 million contract from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Lockheed Martin already is producing components for the first 45 F-2 aircraft under five previous annual contracts, according to the company. The latest contract is the largest award yet for the work, with deliveries to start in April 2003. The F-2 is based on the design of Lockheed Martin's F-16.
