NAPLES, Italy — The European Space Agency (ESA) will propose making minor improvements to its new Vega rocket when the agency’s council of ministers meets in November to set ESA’s multiyear budget. One such improvement would involve boosting the fuel capacity of Vega’s P80 engine to compensate for a planned shift in the rocket’s launch trajectory, which Fabrizi says is necessary to ensure telemetry is accurately received from a ground-tracking station.
NAPLES, Italy — Russia’s Rockot small-satellite launcher will remain in service for government and commercial missions through the end of this decade, when the new Angara 1 light launcher in development at Russia’s Krunichev Space Center is expected to come online.
The National Space Biomedical Research Institute’s (NSBRI) Industry Forum is seeking competitive proposals for up to $250,000 in financial assistance under its Space Medicine and Related Technologies Commercialization Assistance Program to make traditional medical services suitable for human spaceflight applications or adapt advances in space medicine for use in traditional medical care. The deadline for submissions in the first of a two-stage competition process is Nov. 5. The Industry Forum will select successful first stage applicants by Dec. 10.
NAPLES, Italy — The space programs of the world are likely to become more competitive in the decades ahead, as industry takes a larger role in human access to space, but space agency leaders say spacefaring nations still must take the lead in pushing the boundaries of human exploration.
United Space Alliance (USA), NASA’s Houston-based space shuttle prime contractor, laid off 157 workers on Sept. 28 as program retirement and transition activities wind down. The losses — 121 personnel in the Cape Canaveral area; 35 in Houston; and one in Huntsville, Ala. — leave the space operations company with a workforce of 2,263. More layoffs are planned for December and January, though the numbers are not clear since disposal of other shuttle program assets and records is continuing, USA spokeswoman Tracy Yates said Oct. 1.
LONDON — Initial feasibility studies of a high-speed passenger aircraft designed to fly from Paris to Tokyo in less than 3 hr. have so far unearthed no major environmental obstacles to development, researchers say.
Mark C. Cherry has joined Aurora Flight Services, Manassas, Va., as president and chief operating officer. He succeeds Aurora founder John S. Langford, who will continue as chairman and CEO. Cherry was VP-corporate strategy and synergy at Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
Roger Sherrard (see photo) has been promoted to president of Irvine, Calif.-based Parker Aerospace, succeeding Bob Barker, who is scheduled to retire at year-end after 39 years with the company. Sherrard has been president of Parker Hannifin's automation and instrumentation groups. Greg Crowe has been promoted to VP-operations from VP and general manager of the Fluid Systems Div. He has been succeeded by Guy Martin, who was general manager of the Seal Group's Engineered Polymer Systems Div. Frank Dubey has become VP and general manager of the Control Systems Div.
Sir Martin Sweeting, executive chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. and director of the Surrey Space Center at the University of Surrey, England, has received the International von Karman Wings Award for his contributions to aerospace, presented by the Aerospace Historical Society and the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
As concerns about privacy and security begin to weigh on the launch of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in civilian airspace, the Senate is forming a bipartisan UAS Caucus to help smooth the industry's takeoff. Aviation enthusiast Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) are heading the push to move the industry out of the civilian world and into the hands of businesses and state and local governments.
Women in Aerospace has recognized nine women for their contributions to the aerospace industry and the advancement of women in the field with its 2012 awards. The Outstanding Achievement Award went to Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX; Aerospace Awareness Award to Susan Anderson, public affairs specialist at NASA's Johnson Space Center; Aerospace Educator Award to Shella Condino, advanced-placement physics and chemistry teacher; Leadership Awards to Simonetta Di Pippo, ASI European Space Policy Observatory, and to U.S. Sen.
Michael Merk has been named manager of real estate and business development at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. He was director of real estate for BAX Global.
Tom Roche (see photo) has been appointed VP-customer support at Tempe, Ariz..-based StandardAero. Alain Berube succeeds Roche as VP-turboprops and fleets from his previous role as VP-operations.
Von Gardiner (see photos) has been named senior manager for Defense Department programs, and John Wallace VP-market management of Vienna, Va.-based NJVC. Gardiner was director of communications and information with USAF Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., and Wallace has been sales director for capital markets and banking corporate accounts, as well as VP-financial services industry at Hewlett-Packard.
Academic exercises about whether Congress will allow a nearly $1 trillion in across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration to take effect in January are taking on an entirely new reality. Aerospace and defense companies are already beginning to announce plant closures, layoffs and cutbacks, and at least one of them is citing sequestration specifically.
It's official: President Barack Obama last week signed into law a measure that confirms full ownership rights to artifacts received by Apollo-era astronauts from their missions. According to the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, NASA managers routinely allowed astronauts to keep mementos, pieces of hardware and personal equipment from the spacecraft during the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. But beginning in the mid-2000s, NASA began to challenge the ownership of these artifacts.
Dean Foley has become sales manager of the aerospace division of West Springfield, Mass.-based Atlantic Fasteners. He has more than 25 years of experience in aerospace metals distribution.
Sir Martin Sweeting, executive chairman of Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. and director of the Surrey Space Center at the University of Surrey, England, has received the International von Karman Wings Award for his contributions to aerospace, presented by the Aerospace Historical Society and the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
