DRAPER TAPPED: NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas on Nov. 23 awarded the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory of Cambridge, Mass., a five-year, $45.8 million contract for the development of advanced guidance, navigation and control (GNC) systems, as well as avionics technology development and analysis. Johnson’s Engineering Directorate will oversee the work for the space shuttle, International Space Station and future spacecraft that the agency will develop. Effective Dec.
NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (Sofia) flying observatory will make its first scientific flight Nov. 30, taking off in early evening darkness from the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif.
LONDON — France is due to sign over authority for a large portion of its airlifters to the European Air Transport Command on Nov. 30. The EATC is a partnership of Germany, France, the Netherlands and Belgium to consolidate airlift assets to gain efficiencies. Germany signed over its airlifters and shut down its airlift planning cell in October, and the Netherlands followed on Nov. 26. Belgium, the final partner, plans to do so in January, says air force Col. Mike de Coninck, an EATC official.
METAL M&A: Boeing is taking a small step in vertical integration with an agreement to acquire Summit Aeronautics Group of Helena, Mont., a key supplier of machined titanium and other hard-metal parts for its 747-8, 787 programs and some military aircraft. Terms were not disclosed for the deal, which is expected to close by year’s end and bring the company, which employs 135 people, into Boeing Fabrications. Summit is expected to gain additional 787 work after the transaction closes. The machine parts it makes for Boeing military programs were not disclosed.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Space Systems Corp. of Sunnyvale, Calif., was awarded an $85,859,894 contract modification to exercise the option to continue service under MILSATCOM Orbital Operations and Logistics Support. At this time, no funds have been obligated. SMC SLG/PKM, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., is the contracting activity (FA8808-10-C-0002, PO0016).
LONDON — In a bid to cut costs, NATO is considering changing the line maintenance approach for its Boeing C-17 fleet. Boeing provides the current line support for the Heavy Airlift Wing’s three C-17s based at Papa AB in Hungary. But because the company uses retired U.S. military personnel on expensive expatriate contracts, the alliance wants to find alternatives, says Gunnar Borch, general manager of the NATO Airlift Management Agency.
LONDON — The Norwegian government has signed a development contract worth 82 million Norwegian kronor ($13.3 million) with Nammo Raufoss for work on a 25-mm. round to arm the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. Industry is co-funding the program, due to wrap up by the end of 2012, with 28 million kronor of its own money, the Norwegian defense ministry says. Another 7 million kronor will come from defense research funding, for a total program bill of 120 million kronor.
PARIS — The European Commission and European Space Agency have issued a resolution urging that all European institutional bodies consider participating in the International Space Station (ISS) and use it as a stepping stone to implementing an international exploration program.
Los Angeles — New funding will enable General Electric to design, build and test a full Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology (Advent) demonstrator turbofan for future U.S. Air Force next-generation military engine requirements. Although GE and Rolls-Royce North America’s LibertyWorks were both awarded contracts in 2009 to proceed into Phase 2 of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Advent demonstration program, funding constraints at the time meant only Rolls was contracted to build and test a full engine.
BENGALURU, India — India is preparing for the first launch of an upgraded version of the Agni-II missile. Known as the Agni-II Plus, Agni-II Prime or A2, this nuclear-capable missile was developed by India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). The surface-to-surface missile can hit targets at ranges between 2,500 km. and 3,000 km. (1,550-1,860 mi.), bridging the gap between the 2,500-km.-range Agni-II and 3,000-km.-range Agni-III missile.
HOUSTON — Ad Astra Rocket Co. has achieved a new performance record for the VX-200, the propulsion pioneer’s lab-based prototype for a flight-test version of the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (Vasimr). The VF-200 flight version is in line for a perch on the International Space Station in late 2014. The argon-fueled, two-stage 200-kw. prototype achieved 5.7 Newtons of thrust with an exhaust velocity of 50 kps. at 72% thruster efficiency in trials at Ad Astra’s Houston lab and vacuum chamber earlier this month.
HOUSTON — Though nearing a 2011 retirement, NASA’s shuttle program has not lost a penchant for throwing a curve ball — this time a collection of cracks on a region of Discovery’s external fuel tank that separates internal oxygen and hydrogen propellant containers.
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PARIS — A French navy Rafale F3 fighter crashed Nov. 28 at the beginning of close air support operations in the Arabian Sea. The pilot was recovered by helicopter after ejecting safely. The aircraft was operating from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in support of the NATO task force in Afghanistan. The carrier arrived on station on Nov. 25 with a complement of 10 Rafale F3s, and 20 or so sorties had been flown since that time.
BENGALURU, India — India’s Tejas Light Combat Aircraft is ready to undergo another round of crucial sea trials in Goa. Sources tell AVIATION WEEK that this time the testing will involve the firing of a missile and the jettisoning of a drop tank. The trials are set to take place this week at Naval Air Station Hansa, Dabolim, in Goa. Tejas successfully completed earlier sea trials in September as part of its Out of Station Flight Test Plan. Pilots from the Bengaluru-based National Flight Test Center will perform the weapon trials this time.
Beverly Hills, Calif. – U.S. military space programs, which have suffered through a decade of multibillion-dollar cost overruns and massive delays, must become more competitive to maintain funding as defense budgets flatten, according to senior Pentagon officials.
The U.S. Air Force’s senior officer has acknowledged concern over the Lockheed Martin F-35 program, in particular slow software development that may push the Joint Strike Fighter’s operational debut into 2016.
LONDON – The Argentinean government is looking to upgrade the air force’s fleet of C-130s to keep the platforms viable until around 2040. The program would encompass five C-130s, four H-models and one E-model, according to the U.S. government. The project, which is still in the planning stage, is expected to be run as a foreign military sales program.
HISPASAT 1E LAUNCH: Space Systems/Loral shipped Hispasat 1E to the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guinea, Nov. 24 in preparation for a December launch on an Ariane 5. The satellite carries 53 Ku-band transponders to serve direct-to-home, digital terrestrial television and broadband mobile, land and marine services from 30-deg. West longitude for coverage of Europe, the Americas and North Africa. The Hispasat Group serves Spanish and Portuguese-speaking populations.
HOUSTON – During a NASA Shuttle Program Requirements Control Board meeting on Nov. 24, shuttle program managers decided on another incremental delay in plans for an early December launching of Discovery, giving them more time to assess whether external fuel tank damage found after a Nov. 5 launch scrub has introduced additional risk. The decision dashed plans to make a second round of attempts to begin Discovery’s 11-day assembly mission to the International Space Station between Dec. 3 and Dec. 7.
The Chinese space officials who NASA Administrator Charles Bolden met in Beijing will not be coming to the U.S. for a reciprocal visit in December, as they had hoped, but there may be a visit in 2011. Nor is Anatoly Permanov, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, likely to get much traction soon with a list of possible cooperative projects he discussed with Bolden in Washington Nov. 18. Like Wang Wenbao, director general of the China Manned Space Engineering Office, Permanov will have to wait until the U.S. political climate becomes more stable.
