CLARIFICATION: An Oct. 31 DAILY story should have made it clear that XCOR Aerospace's reusable launch vehicle launch license application for the FAA already is "sufficiently complete."
ENVISAT FORECASTING: Data from the European Space Agency's Envisat satellite is helping the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy provide a global ozone forecasting service in near-real time, ESA says. The institute has developed a service called the Belgian Assimilation System of Chemical Observations from Envisat (BASCOE), which maps and forecasts the concentration of ozone and in the stratosphere, as well as the concentration of 56 other chemicals - including some that can deplete ozone.
The U.S. Air Force's Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has completed its series of flights in Germany intended to demonstrate a new European-built electronics intelligence (ELINT) sensor and pave the way for the Euro Hawk procurement by the German ministry of defense (MOD).
LOWER TIER: The Army Lower Tier Project Office in Huntsville, Ala., which oversees the Patriot system and the Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS), is getting a new leader. Col. John Vaughn, just promoted from lieutenant colonel, is replacing retiring Col. Tommie Newberry as the office's project manager.
UNSATISFIED: House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) and Ranking Member Ralph Hall (D-Texas) aren't satisfied with NASA's response to their letter urging the agency to defer the development of the Orbital Space Plane (DAILY, Oct. 30), according to a joint statement. "Unfortunately, NASA's response does not directly address either of the concerns we raised in our letter," the statement says.
Nov. 3 - 5 -- Shephard's Heli Power 2003, "Preparing for the Unpredictable," Maritim Airport Hotel, Hannover, Germany. For more information go to www.heli-power.com. Nov. 3 - 6 -- Aircraft Survivability 2003, "Reclaiming the Low Altitude Battlespace," Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. For more information call Ann Saliski at (703) 247-2577, email [email protected] or go to www.ndia.org.
NH90 FACILITY: Defense contractor Patria officially opened new facilities for the final assembly of the NH90 helicopter in Jamsa, Finland, the company said Oct. 30. Work already has begun there, and Patria is to deliver 50 helicopters between 2005 and 2011, the first of which will to go the Finnish defense forces.
The FAA plans to decide by the end of November whether to proceed with a full deployment of Raytheon's Standard Terminal Automation Replacement System (STARS) or pursue an alternative, such as a combination of STARS and Lockheed Martin's Common Automated Radar Terminal System (Common ARTS), agency officials said Oct. 30.
Rockwell Collins' win of the Defense Advanced GPS Receiver (DAGR) production program, worth at least $238 million over the next eight years (DAILY, Oct. 30), is "huge," said Rick Tomy, the company's manager of surface military programs. "In the navigation business, which is what I'm responsible for" at Rockwell Collins, "this is kind of it," Tomy said in a telephone interview. "It's the contract for hand-held military GPS."
Orbital Sciences Corp. will provide two Pegasus launch vehicles and two Taurus launchers to NASA for scientific satellite missions scheduled to be launched from 2006 to 2008, the company said Oct. 30. The Pegasus vehicles will be used to launch satellites for NASA's Space Technology-8 and Small Explorer-10 missions.
A House-Senate panel approved a fiscal 2004 supplemental appropriations conference report late Oct. 29 that provides tens of millions of dollars above the Bush Administration's request to buy aviation, communications and radio-jamming equipment. The conference report contains $70 million to procure outer wing panels for the Navy's aging EA-6B aircraft, $15 million above the request. It also provides $15 million to buy EA-6B wing center sections, which were not funded in the request.
Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) plans to upgrade 100 UH-1N Huey and 180 AH-1W Super Cobra helicopters to the UH-1Y and AH-1Z configuration by 2014. The helicopters will be upgraded with common drive trains, new rotor heads and avionics and other equipment (DAILY, Oct. 27). The Pentagon's Defense Acquisition Board approved low-rate initial production for the upgrade program on Oct. 23.
California-based XCOR Aerospace is expected to become the first commercial reusable launch vehicle (RLV) developer to receive a launch license from the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST), following FAA's assessment that the company's application is "sufficiently complete."
Boosted by strong sales of small-caliber ammunition and work on a space shuttle booster program, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) on Oct. 30 reported revenue growth of 10 percent for the company's second quarter. Second-quarter sales rose from $513 million a year ago to $566 million. Net income rose from $28.4 million a year ago to $36.6 million.
Members of a House Science Committee panel expressed support for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's imperiled Space Environment Center (SEC) at a hearing Oct. 30. Located in Boulder, Colo., the SEC monitors and forecasts space weather phenomena such as solar flares that can adversely affect spacecraft, aircraft, or ground-based electrical power and communications systems. The center is in danger of losing half its staff or possibly closing if proposed congressional spending cuts for fiscal year 2004 are signed into law (DAILY, Sept. 29).
Although the 10-year forecast for NASA's space sciences budget looks positive, a central program could face trouble as it comes closer to reality, according to a contracting official. That program, Project Prometheus, is likely to draw opposition from some members of Congress and the public once work begins on the project, according to Steven Moran of Raytheon Co.
Lockheed Martin will provide information technology services to the Centers for Disease Control under a seven-year contract that could be worth up to $465 million, the company said Oct. 30. Lockheed Martin Information Technology will develop applications and support information technology work for the CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, the company said.
PRAGUE - Slovakia and the Czech Republic are unlikely to make a decision on the implementation of the "Common Sky" concept in airspace protection before next spring, according to a senior Slovak defense official.
Pratt & Whitney has successfully completed a key milestone in the development of the F135 engine for the Defense Department's F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), according to the company. The first production-configuration F135, which is mounted on a test stand at Pratt & Whitney facilities in West Palm Beach, Fla., achieved "military power" on Oct. 20, running at full power without the use of an afterburner, the company said. Pratt & Whitney declined to specify how much power was generated, saying such information is classified.
NEW DELHI - India conducted a successful flight test of the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos at a range in eastern India Oct. 29. Defense ministry officials here said the test, the missile's fourth, was conducted from a static launcher and BrahMos successfully achieved a maximum range of 290 kilometers (180 miles) and fulfilled all its mission objectives.
