Some of the companies that competed against the Boeing Co. and Science Applications International Corp. for the lead systems integrator contract on the Army's Future Combat Systems almost certainly will be contracted later for work on the program, according to a senior Boeing official. Bob Mitchell, director of strategic planning for Boeing's FCS program office, said March 8 that Boeing and SAIC intentionally took a different approach in drafting its proposal.
PRIVATIZATION CAUTION: NASA should have safety professionals assess plans to privatize the space shuttle program to make sure there is a "reasonable level" of NASA involvement and independent checks and balances, the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel says in its latest report. The panel is "concerned that any plan to transition from the current operational posture to one of privatization will inherently involve an upheaval with increased risk in its wake," says the report, which was released last week.
A third squadron of Predator unmanned aerial vehicles was activated March 8, according to the Air Force. The newly formed 17th Reconnaissance Squadron at Indian Springs in Nevada will have five Predator systems, a spokesperson from Air Force Air Combat Command told The DAILY. Each predator system is made up of four air vehicles, a ground control station, and a satellite link communications suite. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. is the prime contractor for the Predator.
EXPORT CONTROLLER: With the retirement of Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), Congress will lose a leading critic of efforts to overhaul export restrictions on dual-use products, which can have both military and civilian applications. Thompson, a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the ranking Republican on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, has argued against congressional proposals that he says would make it too easy for U.S. companies to sell sensitive technology to potential adversaries.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. is trying to interest the U.S. Navy in developing the company's Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle to land on and take off from aircraft carriers, according to company President and CEO Thomas Cassidy.
RESTRUCTURED SBIRS: The Air Force is working on a restructuring plan for the Space Based Infrared System High (SBIRS High) program, says Maj. Gen. Joseph B. Sovey, the new director of Air Force Space Acquisition. SBIRS High, a constellation of new satellites designed to replace the aging Defense Support Program, is behind schedule and over cost. "We're working on developing a restructured program that's executable," Sovey says.
Some members of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) have joined their House counterparts in suggesting that Congress may want to reduce procurement shortfalls by tapping the $10 billion war reserve fund that the Bush Administration has proposed in its fiscal 2003 defense budget.
INFRASTRUCTURE FEARS: The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel also warns that the ground infrastructure for supporting the shuttle fleet has "deteriorated and will not be capable of supporting the space shuttle for its realistic service life." Assets like facilities, ground support equipment, training devices and test and checkout gear are aging, as are the shuttles themselves. Maintenance and improvement of this infrastructure has been deferred to conserve resources for operations, leading to a backlog for restoration and upgrade work.
NASA releases top 100 contractor list for fiscal year 2001 The 100 contractors that received the largest dollar value of NASA direct awards to business firms during fiscal year 2001 are listed below. The awards to these contractors accounted for 88 percent of the direct awards to business firms during the year, according to NASA. CONTRACTOR (THOUSANDS) PERCENT TOTAL AWARDS TO BUSINESS FIRMS $9,209,726 100.00
HUBBLE WORK: Shuttle Columbia crewmembers completed the fifth spacewalk of the Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission March 8, installing a new cooling system on the Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer, which has been dormant since its coolant was depleted. Columbia is slated to land March 12.
PLANET FINDER: Although the Advanced Camera for Surveys installed on the Hubble Space Telescope last week will help the orbiting observatory seek extrasolar planets (DAILY, March 8), two astronomers plan to use relatively inexpensive, off-the-shelf components to do the same thing from the ground. David Charbonneau of the California Institute of Technology and John Trauger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory plan to use a telephoto camera lens attached to a charge-coupled device to look for large, gaseous planets moving in front of distant stars.
BACK TO BASICS: Despite posting a $53 million loss for fiscal 2001 (DAILY, March 8), Orbital Sciences Corp. has narrowed its operating losses, and programs focusing on missile defense and smaller satellites are expected to generate substantial revenue, says Chairman and CEO David Thompson. "Market demand for our sub-orbital, defense-related rockets and smaller GEO communications satellites is at an all-time high. We aim to add substantial orders at higher profit margins to our backlog during 2002 in these and other core product areas," he says.
SPACE BASED RADAR: With work underway on the analysis of alternatives for the Space Based Radar, the Air Force expects to make key decisions in the spring, according to Col. James Painter, the deputy director for requirements at Air Force Space Command. "We're heading to a pre-acquisition decision coming up in March or April," Painter says.
The Boeing Co.'s expertise in systems integration, simulation-based acquisition and software development played a key role in the Chicago-based company's selection to be the lead systems integrator for the Army's Future Combat Systems program, according to the program manager.
MISSILE REVIEW: The Navy is reviewing its options for a new land-attack missile capability now that it has decided not to develop the Land Attack Standard Missile (LASM) or the Advanced Land Attack Missile (ALAM), according to a Navy spokesman. LASM and ALAM were envisioned as supporting military forces going ashore, with LASM intended to hit such things as masses of troops up to about 150 nautical miles away, and ALAM geared toward hitting hard targets, such as bunkers, from 200 to 300 nautical miles away.
PANAMSAT CORP. has raised $2.05 billion in new bank debt and long-term notes, the company announced. The financing includes $1.25 billion in bank debt, including a revolving credit facility, and $800 million in 10-year senior notes that were sold in a 144a private placement. The financing covers the debt the company owes to Hughes Electronics Corp., which owes 81 percent of it, and will give the company the liquidity to pursue growth opportunities, according to President and CEO Joseph R. Wright. PanAmSat Corp. provides global video and data broadcasting.
The Boeing Co. has been selected to be the lead systems integrator for the Army's Future Combat Systems, the Army announced March 7. The Boeing Team, which includes Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), will be awarded a $154 million contract for the 16-month concept and technology development phase.
Orbital Sciences Corp. reported a loss of $31.7 million for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001, prompting its independent auditors to raise questions about its ability to continue as a "going concern."
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper said March 7 he sees no reason for the service to reduce the number of F-22 Raptors it plans to buy in fiscal 2003, despite a new recommendation by the General Accounting Office that procurement of the Lockheed Martin fighter aircraft be slashed from 23 to 13 planes.
RADAR SYSTEMS: Telephonics Corp. of Farmingdale, N.Y. will supply 14 RDR-1600 Search and Rescue, Weather Avoidance Radar Systems for AgustaWestland's EH-101 helicopters, the company announced March 6. The systems will be used in helicopters AgustaWestland is supplying to Denmark, and the contract value is about $700,000, according to the company. Work on the program will be done at Telephonics' facilities in Farmingdale and Huntington, N.Y. Delivery of the units is scheduled for 2003 through 2005. Telephonics is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Griffon Corp.
MACDONALD, DETTWILER AND ASSOCIATES LTD. (MDA) has entered into an agreement with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to extend a mission feasibility study for a proposed RADARSAT-2/3 Topographic Mission. The value of the contract extension is $1.1 million, according to the company. MDA is the prime contractor to the CSA for RADARSAT-2, Canada's next-generation Earth observation satellite. CSA has funded modifications to the RADARSAT-2 spacecraft to support a proposed tandem mission with RADARSAT-3.
Due to rising military demand for satellite communications capability, the Department of Defense will continue contracting with private satellite operators for most of the decade, according to several military officials.
GRACE LAUNCH: NASA and the German Space Agency are preparing to launch the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), a twin-satellite mission to track how water is transported and stored within the Earth's environment. The satellites are scheduled to launch March 16 from Russia.
GILCREST ELECTRIC&SUPPLY CO. INC., MUNIZ ENGINEERING INC. and SA TECHNOLOGIES INC. are minority contractors that were honored by NASA for their innovations and contributions to the aerospace agency's mission. Gilcrest Electric&Supply, of Elyria, Ohio, was honored last month as NASA Minority Contractor of the Year. It supports Glenn Research Center's Facilities and Test Engineering Division. Muniz Engineering Inc., of Houston, was awarded Minority Subcontractor of the Year.
