HOUSTON — Houston-based United Space Alliance has received a $232.9 million extension of the NASA Space Program Operations Contract to support shuttle program closeouts through Sept. 30, 2013. NASA retired the 30-year shuttle program in late July after 135 missions.
Cubesats — the small, cheap spacecraft popular with engineering students due to their hands-on appeal as teaching tools — are attracting attention beyond the academy as their capabilities grow and launch opportunities proliferate. “It really is a technology; it’s not simply a cheap platform,” says Mason Peck, director of the Space Systems Design Studio at Cornell University. “There’s a lot more going on than that.”
Lockheed Martin has passed its 2011 flight-test targets for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, with aircraft now flying at a pace that, if maintained, will allow the company to exceed its target for a significantly higher number of flights in 2012. The test program completed its 875th flight for the year on Nov. 17, passing the full-year target of 872. A total of 6,809 test points were accumulated on those flights, exceeding the year-end target of 6,622, says J.D. McFarlan, Lockheed vice president for F-35 test and verification.
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Air Force will fight to protect key programs and capabilities from the drastic defense budget cuts being prepared by the congressional “super committee.”
To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) Nov. 29 - Dec. 1 — Certification Together International Conference, "An initiative to create exchanges between all kinds of companies involved in airborne projects, facing certification challenges, and to provide expert solutions," For more information go to www.certification-together.com/
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Air Force says it is delighted at the quality of initial imagery from the Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload (Chirp), the service’s first wide-field-of-view infrared staring payload in space.
NEW DELHI — India expects to wrap up the $11 billion Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft [MMRCA] deal by mid-December, Air Force Chief Air Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne said Friday. “We are calculating hard . . . by mid-December we should have very good sense of who has been selected,” Browne says.
RAIDER: Sikorsky has completed the preliminary design review on the S-97 Raider light tactical helicopter and has begun making parts for two prototypes that will be built and flown using independent research and development funds from the company and its suppliers. “Parts are in flow,” says Chris Van Buiten, vice president of R&D arm Sikorsky Innovations. First flight is planned for early 2014. Sikorsky still hopes to be able to offer the 220-240-kt. Raider, powered by a General Electric CT7-8 turboshaft, for the U.S. Army’s Armed Aerial Scout requirement.
Congress passed a “minibus” spending bill Nov. 17 that provides fiscal 2012 funding for the FAA and NASA while continuing to pay for the Defense Department at fiscal 2011 levels. The bill, which passed both chambers before a continuing resolution funding the government expired on Nov. 18, reflects the budget-cutting mood in Washington, carving $924 million out of the NASA budget.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is bringing back an amendment that would force the administration to sell 66 Lockheed Martin F-16 C/D fighter jets to Taiwan. The Senate defeated the amendment in a 48-48 vote during debate on a China currency bill last month. While the amendment was opposed by a number of senators who, like Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), thought it would set a bad precedent for weapons sales, others simply voted no because they had concerns about the bill it was attached to.
Envelope-expansion flight-testing of the U.S. Navy’s Northrop Grumman X-47B has been completed at Edwards AFB, Calif., and the unmanned combat aircraft demonstrator will shortly be shipped to NAS Patuxent River, Md., to begin the work-up for aircraft carrier trials in 2013.
LOS ANGELES — Australian researchers working on an ambitious scramjet-based access-to-space project have pushed back their launch target six months to early 2013 after electrical systems development proved slower to mature than expected. Scramspace 1 is the first step on the road to what Australia’s fledgling space business believes could be an affordable, reliable and repeatable launch system based on combined air-breathing and rocket propulsion. The effort is aimed at conducting free-flight tests of a Mach 8 scramjet.
A Nov. 18 story on NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory contained errors. The mission’s estimated cost is $2.5 billion, and it is due to launch as early as Nov. 25.
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Air Force says activation of its Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications satellite continues to progress well, and the launch of two more jam-proof satellites is now on track for 2012. Although launched in August 2010, the AEHF satellite took 14 months to reach orbit on Oct. 24, 2011, after debris in the propulsion system prevented the spacecraft’s liquid-fueled booster engine from placing the satellite in its correct apogee.
LONDON — The defense ministers from Europe’s Nordic countries are assessing cooperation in tactical air transport to enhance their operational effectiveness, they said after a regular meeting to discuss strategic concerns.
March 7, 2012 Andrew Mellon Auditorium Washington, D.C. Aviation Week’s 54th annual Laureate Awards recognize individuals and teams for extraordinary accomplishments that embody the spirit of exploration, innovation and vision. Join us to celebrate their significant contributions and the inspiration they provide. The 2012 Awards will be presented in each of the following categories: -- Aeronautics/Propulsion -- Business/General Aviation
House Republican lawmakers are asking Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for more information about the Obama administration’s missile defense plans — and whether they include sidelining a future component of the nation’s European missile shield. The congressmen, led by Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio,) chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, say the administration also may cut short plans to buy additional Ground-based Interceptors (GBIs).
Engineers on NASA’s multi-purpose crew vehicle (MPCV) would like to conduct an ascent-abort test before sending their capsule around the Moon on the first flight of the heavy-lift Space Launch System in 2017, but first they must find another $163 million to fund the recently announced flight test of its planetary re-entry system in 2014.
While this year’s U.S. Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment (AEWE) at Ft. Benning, Ga., is over, planning is already under way for next year’s experiment, which will feature simulated opposition forces equipped with better gear, including unmanned aircraft.
Aviation Week A & D Finance Conference Nov. 30 – Dec. 1, 2011 New York, NY Join a powerful exchange of A&D’s top CEOs pitching to Wall Street! Hear about business development, investment opportunities and growth strategies from leading companies. Be part of the only investor event that is open to industry. Register Today! www.aviationweek.com/events
LOOKING UP: When your co-workers could be congressional gold medal winning pioneers like Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and John Glenn, it is little wonder that you rank your employer as top-notch. Thus, NASA again ranked fifth in the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service’s annual tally of best places to work in the U.S. government, based on the Office of Personnel Management’s survey of more than 150,000 executive-branch employees.
