NASA’s Dawn spacecraft has confirmed that one of the largest objects in the Main Asteroid Belt is actually a tiny planet-like body that formed around a molten interior.
Satellite operators in Vietnam and Japan will take on-orbit deliveries in June and July, respectively, of Lockheed Martin communications satellites launched in tandem on an Ariane V ECA Tuesday evening. Vinasat-2 and JCSAT-13, both based on Lockheed Martin’s A2100 satellite bus, lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, on time at 6:13 p.m. EDT May 15, and returned their first signals from geostationary transfer orbits by 7:20 p.m. EDT, according to the satellite manufacturer.
Industry organizations disagree on who should manage and operate unmanned aircraft system (UAS) test sites, but they all believe a UAS test program should be used to gather critical safety data, develop certification and training standards and ensure sense-and-avoid capabilities.
PENTAGON ROSTER: On May 15, the Senate Armed Services Committee voted to approve several civilian nominations to Pentagon posts, including Frank Kendall to be under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics; James Miller as under secretary of defense for policy; Erin Conaton as under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness; Kathleen Hicks as principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy; and Jessica Lynn Wright as assistant secretary of defense for reserve affairs.
In defending their prized new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) program from recent congressional attacks and disparaging media reports, U.S. Navy officials note they have been able to get the ships out to sea more quickly than other warship fleets. But some defense analysts wonder if the Navy has pushed the LCS program along too quickly, relying on concepts and plans not fully developed.
ITT Exelis says it is making rapid progress in deploying the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) network in the U.S., with more than 60% of the required ground stations now completed. The manufacturer tells Aviation Week that it has constructed 428 ADS-B radio stations. The current plan is for 700 stations: 647 in the continental U.S., 41 in Alaska, nine in Hawaii, and one each in Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
To deal with the problems witnessed firsthand by Aviation Week and other issues identified on the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom, the U.S. Navy is paying more money than it had planned to repair and maintain the ship.
U.S. officials continue to demonstrate a balancing act between creating a closer, more interactive relationship with China — particularly its military — and expressing disapproval over a steady stream of cyber intrusions and increasing hostility in the South and East China seas with Washington’s allies. “The context in Asia is changing, [but] America’s interests in Asia have not,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a May 14 address to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “
Against the wishes of the U.S. Air Force, House lawmakers recommend continuing to buy three additional Northrop Grumman Global Hawk aircraft and 17 Alenia Spartan aircraft.
The U.S. Navy will rely heavily on air components — including those of the Air Force — in the Air-Sea Battle (ASB) construct, according to Adm. Jonathan Greenert, chief of naval operations (CNO).
HOUSTON — International Space Station astronauts Don Pettit of NASA and Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency have replaced a UHF communications unit aboard the station that will be required for the upcoming berthing of the unpiloted SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule. The Dragon is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., atop a Falcon 9 rocket on May 19 at 4:55 a.m. EDT, initiating the first U.S. commercial resupply mission to the orbiting science lab.
ARMY General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., Poway, Calif., was awarded a $141,832,994 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract. The award will provide for the services in support of the MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft systems. The work will be performed in Poway, with an estimated completion date of May 7, 2013. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-12-C-0075).
GENEVA — The U.K. will spend around £160 billion ($260 billion) on defense equipment and services in the next decade, which includes more than £4 billion set aside as a “contingency reserve,” Defense Secretary Philip Hammond told Parliament May 14.
Rockwell Collins France is demonstrating a radar-based helicopter obstacle detection system to the French army as it talks to manufacturers about a related system to warn of rotor strikes when landing in confined spaces. Both systems use the same 13-ghz, Ku-band electronically scanned radar technology developed by the company’s French operation.
NEW FALCON: NASA has modified its NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract with SpaceX to add an additional configuration of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket to its fleet. The SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 “will be available to the agency’s Launch Services Program to use for future missions in accordancea with the on-ramp provision of NLS II,” NASA says in an announcement.
DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Telephonics Corp., Farmingdale, N.Y., was awarded a firm-fixed-price, sole-source contract with a maximum $47,099,407 for interface control units and equipment. There are no other locations of performance. Using service is Army. Type of appropriation is Army Working Capital Funds. There was one proposal with one response. The date of performance completion is May 6, 2017. The Defense Logistics Agency Aviation, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (SPRRA1-12-D-0104).
SAN DIEGO — The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS-1) USS Freedom is plagued by extensive corrosion and manufacturing issues more recent and serious than anything the Pentagon or prime contractor Lockheed Martin has publicly acknowledged thus far. This is based on a guided tour of the ship in dry dock, as well as sources intimately familiar with Freedom’s design, repairs and operations, U.S. Navy documents and defense analysts.
