The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence's QinetiQ, one of Europe's largest military research and development organizations, is seeking a strategic partner as the first stage in its transfer to the private sector. QinetiQ employs about 9,000 scientists, technicians and assistants.
Air Force Secretary James Roche said March 6 that the service plans to spend the next several months analyzing technical information that the Boeing Co. and the European Aeronautics Defence and Space Co. (EADS) have submitted in hopes of paving the way to win a lease for 100 new aerial refuelers. The Air Force hopes the review will help it determine whether to negotiate a lease with one or both of the companies, Roche told reporters after testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on the Bush Administration's fiscal 2003 defense budget.
Nicholas J. Novasic, CFO, will be leaving the company's full-time employment in March, but will remain as a part- time adviser for capital market and related matters.
Jeffrey D. Grant has been appointed vice president, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance for TRW Space&Electronics. Darryl M. Fraser and Maureen P. Heath have joined TRW as vice presidents of TRW Systems and Space&Electronics respectively. Dr. Donald C. Winter, president and chief executive officer of TRW Systems, has been elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
SPACEHAB CONTRACT: Spacehab Inc. has signed a contract modification with NASA worth $4.2 million to provide its pressurized Logistics Single Module and unpressurized Integrated Cargo Carrier for two assembly and cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, the company said March 6.
Larry McCracken, vice president of public relations at The Boeing Co., has been appointed chair of the Aerospace Industries Association's Communications Council for 2002. Phyllis Piano, vice president of corporate affairs and communications at Honeywell Co., has been named vice chair of the Communications Council for 2002.
SATELLITE LAUNCH: NASA plans to launch the second of three advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellites on March 8. The satellite will provide high-data-rate communication links with the space shuttle, International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope and other spacecraft, and track expendable launch vehicles.
The head of U.S. Pacific Command said March 5 that he is short of airlift, intelligence and refueling aircraft, and that the Defense Department should resume development of sea-based, terminal-phase missile defenses to help protect the forces he oversees.
Boeing has awarded Orbital Sciences Corp. a contract, valued at $900 million or more over eight years, to develop a new booster vehicle for the Missile Defense Agency's (MDA) Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) program, Orbital Sciences announced Mar. 4. Orbital Science's contract includes $400 million for a development and test phase, to be carried out from 2002 to 2006. If approved, a follow-on $535 million production, deployment and support phase would be conducted from 2003 or 2004 through 2010.
Aerostats and high altitude airships are among the leading candidates to join next year's list of technology programs slated for accelerated development, according to industry and Pentagon officials. The Pentagon's fiscal year 2002 list of Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations was unveiled March 5, but under the revised schedule, next year's proposals already are being reviewed.
WARNING SYSTEM CONTRACT: Cubic Defense Systems will provide 81 Ground Proximity Warning Systems for U.S. Navy helicopters under a $2.1 million contract, the company announced March 5. The system uses sound warnings such as "pull up!" and "altitude!" to keep pilots from unintentionally flying into the ground or water. Cubic is scheduled to begin delivering the systems in September for the Lot 5 award, a continuation of previous orders.
Astronauts replaced the Hubble Space Telescope's port solar array during a seven-hour, 16-minute spacewalk on March 5. Mike Massimino and Jim Newman replaced the original array with a smaller, more powerful array. Columbia astronauts replaced the Hubble's starboard array on March 4 (DAILY, March 5).
Despite the initial interest of investors and consumers, the long-term success of digital satellite radio will depend on a number of factors, the most important of which is subscriber acquisition costs, according to several satellite industry analysts. "Frankly, we think that the best hope for the satellite industry in the next two, three, four, five years ahead is in satellite radio," said Jimmy Schaeffler, chairman and CEO of the Carmel Group, a media research organization based in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif.
FY 2002 Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration new starts 1. Active Denial System 2. Agile Transportation 3. CASPOD (Contamination Avoidance at Seaports of Debarkation 4. Coalition Information Assurance Common Operational Picture 5. Expendable UAV 6. Homeland Security Command&Control 7. HYCAS (Hyperspectral Collection and Analysis System
NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe has named Frederick D. Gregory to be associate administrator for space flight and Mary E. Kicza to be associate administrator for biological and physical research at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Gregory, an astronaut who has logged more than 455 hours in space during three shuttle missions, will be in charge of the agency's human space flight programs.
More powerful satellites, coupled with overcapacity, will create a wave of consolidations in the satellite industry over the next 10 years, a satellite industry analyst predicted March 5 at the Satellite 2002 Conference. Ed Cornet, vice president of Booz Allen and Hamilton, a management consulting firm headquartered in McLean, Va., said much of the sluggish growth in the satellite industry over the last few years can be attributed to advances in satellite technology and better use of the spectrum.
The Indian Ministry of Defence has decided to induct the BrahMos (PJ-10) Indo-Russian supersonic anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) on the Indian navy's Rajput-class ships. Developed by BrahMos Pvt. Ltd., an Indian-Russian joint venture, the missile will be pressed into service after June, when its sea trials are scheduled.
NASA successfully contacted the Pioneer 10 space probe over the weekend, according to the aerospace agency and spacecraft builder TRW Inc. Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Deep Space Network in Goldstone, Calif., sent a signal March 1 to the spacecraft, which is 7.4 billion miles from Earth. Twenty-two hours later, scientists at the network's facility in Madrid, Spain, heard a response.
SPARTAN SELECTED: Greece has selected the C-27J Spartan for its Greek Medium Range Transport Aircraft (MRTA) program, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and venture partner Alenia Aeronautica announced March 5. The procurement calls for 12 aircraft with an option for three more, and could have a value to Lockheed Martin of up to $200 million, according to the company. The C-27J Spartan was jointly developed by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics and Alenia Aeronautica, a subsidiary of Italy's Finmeccanica.
GULFSTREAM BUY: Japan's government has allocated $84.4 million to the coast guard to buy two Gulfstream V search and rescue aircraft. The 6,213-mile range aircraft are scheduled to be delivered in 2004 and will be flown mainly for anti-pirate operations in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and other parts of southeast Asia. They are equipped with radar systems from Thales.
The U.S. should dramatically increase spending on space-based missile defense programs to speed up their development and ensure the nation has the best protection possible against ballistic missile threats, according to recent statements by Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colo.), whose congressional district is near U.S. Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.
Eleven of the proposals selected for this year's Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program are focused on supporting the war on terrorism, according to Sue Payton, deputy undersecretary of defense for advanced systems and concepts. Funding for Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations (ACTDs), is provided to quickly transition promising technologies into procurement programs. A number of high-profile programs, such as the Predator and Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles, started as ACTDs.
As part of a continuing United Kingdom cutback on defense spending, the Royal Navy's force of 50 BAE Systems Sea Harrier FA.2 air defense/attack fighters will be eliminated in 2006. The aircraft entered service in 1994. Their pilots and support personnel will be transferred to the Joint Force Harrier's (JFH) main base at RAF Cottesmore, to operate about 36 upgraded first-line Harrier GR.9As.
The Defense Department's efforts to develop a missile shield for the U.S. deserve greater scrutiny in light of new reports by the General Accounting Office that show an early test was not as successful as the Pentagon claimed, according to lawmakers who requested the GAO studies.
Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan replaced a solar array on the Hubble Space Telescope on March 4, completing the task during a seven-hour spacewalk. They replaced Hubble's starboard solar array with a smaller one that will provide more power and reduce the rate at which the telescope's orbit decays. The spacewalk was the first of five planned for the STS-109 shuttle mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Grunsfeld and Linnehan also installed the new array's electrical support components and did setup work for upcoming spacewalks.
