BENGALURU, India — The overhaul of India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has been well received by many in the defense and aerospace community, but some still have reservations. Aviation Week spoke to a number of current and retired senior DRDO officials after the May 13 announcement (Aerospace DAILY, May 14). A majority hailed India Defense Minister A.K. Antony for finally charting a course correction for DRDO. The defense organization has often been criticized for its escalating costs and inability to deliver systems on time.
ANOTHER TRY: South Korea plans to make a second attempt at launching a satellite on June 9, almost 10 months after its first launch failed. The rocket is again a KSLV-1, and it should be the last launch of that model, which has been a technology demonstrator. A larger rocket, the KSLV-2, is planned. The KSLV-1 uses a Russian first stage and a South Korean upper stage. The KSLV-2 should have much greater South Korean technology content and be able to place 1.5 tons in low Earth orbit.
Thales Alenia Space has agreed that Ball Aerospace will integrate the space segment of the Iridium NEXT low-Earth-orbit satellite communications constellation so Iridium Communications Inc. will have a better chance to sell hosted payloads to the U.S. government.
HELO CARRIERS: French press reports speculate that a contract with Russia for four Mistral-class helicopter carriers could be announced during a visit by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on June 11 to Paris, where he is to open a big Russian trade fair. However, Viktor Khristenko, the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade, told reporters on May 31 that “he [was] not aware of any such announcement plans.” French President Nicolas Sarkozy indicated in March that he had approved negotiations for the vessels, which double as command, landing and hospital ships.
HOUSTON — NASA’s lifelike Robonaut 2 is ready for its actions to do the talking. Expectations are running high as the space agency and its commercial partner, General Motors, ready the muscular humanoid for an open-ended mission to the International Space Station. Scheduled to launch aboard the next-to-last shuttle mission, Robonaut 2 will assume a perch in the station’s U.S. laboratory. There, astronauts will carry out a series of engineering tests to determine whether it is compatible with humans.
BEIJING — A Long March 3C rocket launched the fourth satellite in China’s Compass positioning system on June 2. When complete, the system should have 35 satellites, 10 of which were due to be launched in 2009 and 2010. A Long March 3C was also used in January to launch the third Compass satellite, one of five to be placed in geostationary orbit. Low Earth orbit Compass satellites have been launched by Long March 3As. The first was sent up in 2007, though two experimental spacecraft were put into orbit in 2000.
September 29-30, 2010 ExCeL • London, UK Learn to maintain military assets longer; sustain aircraft beyond forecast; recover from budget cuts, delays and program cancellations, and develop new strategies required to deliver and support equipment. Learn more at www.aviationweek.com/events
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) received clearance from the 45th Space Wing Range Safety Office on June 3 to proceed with a launch attempt of the first Falcon 9 rocket, scheduled for 11 a.m. EDT June 4 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 40. If successful, the Falcon 9 will place a mockup Dragon capsule into a 250-km. (160-mi.) circular orbit, inclined 34.5 deg. relative to the equator.
LONDON — Delays in the A400M military transport and operational experiences in Afghanistan are starting to shape German air force modernization ambitions. Because Germany’s Transall C-160s have more airframe life remaining than France’s, the delay of the A400M is placing less strain on the country’s existing transports, but that does not mean the service can stand still.
LONDON — The Royal Air Force’s (RAF) second most senior officer, Air Chief Marshal Chris Moran, died suddenly on May 26. He was 54. Moran collapsed while taking part in a triathalon at RAF Brize Norton. The cause of death has yet to be made public. Moran was the Air Command commander-in-chief. His background was as a Harrier pilot, including an exchange tour with the U.S. Marine Corps in the mid-1980s when he was based at Cherry Point, N.C.
HYLAS-1: EADS Astrium has completed testing of Hylas-1, an advanced broadband satellite intended to bring high-speed Internet services to rural areas across Europe. Avanti Communications, which owns the spacecraft, says Hylas-1 is to be launched in the third quarter by Arianespace, probably on an Ariane 5. The unit was initially slated to be orbited by a Soyuz 2.1 launcher from its new pad in Kourou, French Guiana, but the pad is not expected to be ready until the fourth quarter.
Preparations to test the James Webb Space Telescope’s flight hardware are prompting an extensive remake of the giant thermal vacuum chamber that was so important during the Apollo era that it is now registered as a national landmark.
Orbital Sciences Corp. (OSC) has finalized a contract to supply a telecom satellite to Azerbaijan — the second deal in less than a month for U.S. contractors in the developing world following a Vietnamese satellite award to Lockheed Martin.
BENGALURU, India — The fourth limited series production (LSP-4) model of India’s light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas had its successful first flight at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited’s military airport here in Bengaluru on June 2. The flight, piloted by Group Capt. Suneet Krishna of the National Flight Test Center (NFTC), lasted 40 min. The pilot went supersonic and later recovered the full flight envelope, exhibiting confidence in the system.
The so-called Nunn-McCurdy statute meant to alert Congress to weapons system procurement cost overruns has run into a Pentagon review of its own, say senior Pentagon officials who will complete a cost estimate evaluation of the process next week.
PARIS — Iridium is poised to begin work on a new low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation following the selection of Thales Alenia Space to build the satellites, with backing from France’s Coface export-credit agency. Dubbed Iridium Next, the constellation is expected to cost $2.9 billion to develop, build and launch, making it the largest commercial satellite program ever. Selection of a prime contractor had been expected last year but was deferred when Iridium was sold to GHL Acquisition, a special-purpose investment company.
A Soyuz spacecraft descended by parachute into remote Kazakhstan late June 1, ending a 163-day journey to the International Space Station (ISS) for the Russian, U.S. and Japanese astronauts on board. The capsule carrying Oleg Kotov, the station’s former commander, as well as Timothy Creamer and Soichi Noguchi, the station’s U.S. and Japanese flight engineers, descended under clear blue skies to touch down at 11:37 p.m. EDT on the steppes of Kazakhstan.
PARIS — Asia Broadcast Satellite continues to pursue a low-risk expansion strategy that favors the acquisition of aging spacecraft from other operators over new satellite purchases. The strategy goes back to the origins of ABS, which fashioned its very first satellite, ABS-1, from the former Lockheed Martin/Intersputnik LMI-1, launched in 1999.
Japan has launched a second Servis satellite, intended to demonstrate the use of commercial-off-the-shelf technologies in space. The spacecraft was launched June 2 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia by a Rockot booster. A Rockot vehicle was also used to orbit Servis-1 in October 2003. It was the first mission of the year for Rockot, which is marketed by Astrium-Khrunichev joint venture Eurockot. Eurockot performed two launches last year for the European Space Agency, and was recently picked to perform two more.
SPLIT COMMAND: The Regional Command (South) in Afghanistan is being divided into two commands, in part to reflect the increased number of troops deployed in the region. The split sees the creation of Regional Command (South West) alongside a smaller Regional Command (South). The south western command will be held on a rotational basis between U.S. and British forces. First in charge will be U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Richard Mills. Most British ground forces are deployed in the south of Afghanistan in the Helmand region.
NOT SATISFIED: U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-N.Y.) is highlighting the scrutiny of war-related contracting. Towns is not satisfied with Pentagon answers so far over a past decision to award a $2.8 billion contract to KBR for logistics, theater transportation and postal services in Iraq, and he chided “significant delay” in response to alleged conflicts of interest in another award to services provider Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC). Towns said June 2 he wants more answers by June 4.
