WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio — Two of the facilities quickly set up to modify KingAir 350ERs into new U.S. Air Force intelligence collectors are finishing the final elements of their MC-12W work, says Col. Daryl Hauck, program executive officer for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) here.
The U.S. Senate version of the latest off-book appropriations bill for U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan would redirect funds toward four Joint Urgent Operational Needs Statements. They are: Very Low Collateral Damage Weapon Mk 82, SOCCENT ISR Payloads, Marine Corps Unmanned Aerial Systems Resupply, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal Team equipment.
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio — The U.S. Air Force is planning to conduct a competition to select a competitor to Boeing for $6.3 billion in C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) kit installations, but a developmental hurdle remains. Boeing, which was selected to develop the AMP kit, has completed flight testing of the system. But at least one task remains based on findings from those flight tests, according to Col. Kevin Buckley, acting commander of the wing that procures the kits at the Aeronautical Systems Center here.
NEW DELHI — The Indian navy is changing its planning strategy to an emphasis on capabilities rather than focusing on the number of platforms, according to naval chief Adm. Nirmal Verma, and will be a lean, fully networked force by 2022. “There is a change from the old ‘bean-counting’ philosophy to one that concentrates upon ‘capabilities’,” Verma says.
BOOST SESSION: A committee of the National Research Council charged with examining the concepts and systems for boost-phase missile defense and alternatives is hearing from invited advocates and critics in Washington on May 19.
AKATSUKI DELAY: The launch of Japan’s Venus climate orbiter, “Akatsuki,” was postponed five minutes before its scheduled early morning liftoff May 18 due to unfavorable cloudy weather over Tanegashima Space Center. The satellite, also known as “Planet-C,” is designed to investigate the mysteries of the Venusian atmosphere. The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries H-IIA rocket is being emptied of fuel and refueled in time for a May 21 launch attempt at 6:58 a.m. local time. The launch window remains open until June 3.
German researchers are continuing work on advanced thermal protection systems (TPS) for returning spacecraft. At the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology in Gottingen, a scale model of the upcoming Sharp-Edged Flight Experiment (Shefex II) flight article is being subjected to blasts of air at 12,000 km. per sec. (7,456 mph) in a hypersonic wind tunnel. The module uses actively cooled ceramic tiles to dissipate the heat of re-entry.
HOUSTON — Astronauts from the shuttle Atlantis successfully attached the $200 million Russian “Rassvet” mini research and docking module to the International Space Station early May 18, carrying out the task with the unprecedented use of the outpost’s long robot arm as a propulsion device. The 23-foot-long compartment was attached to the station’s 12-year-old cornerstone Zarya module at 8:20 a.m., EDT.
PARIS — Arianespace executives say the Ariane 5 rocket is set to return to service after a month-long delay due to a hiccup in the helium pressurization system. The rocket has been grounded since April 12 when the Paris-based launch provider decided to investigate the reasons for a pressure regulator defect that caused a postponement in the last 2009 Ariane 5 mission, on Dec. 18, and led to repeated delays of the first 2010 mission. The regulator serves to maintain pressure in the hydrogen and oxygen tanks.
The U.S. Army is shifting management responsibilities for system development and acquisition from the old Future Combat Systems (FCS) program — currently aligned under Program Executive Office Integration (PEO I) — to PEOs that already manage similar systems.
LONDON — As NATO works to develop a new strategic framework, a group of experts asked to help inform the deliberations is calling on the alliance to make missile defense and cyber-protection part of its future plan.
A week after the first fully equipped AH-64D Apache Block III helicopter took its first flight, the test aircraft is preparing for an electrical loads demonstration.
HEAD CHECK: The U.S. Army said late May 14 it has initiated a recall of about 44,000 Advanced Combat Helmets produced by ArmorSource LLC (formerly Rabintex USA LLC). “The exact risk to soldiers wearing the recalled helmets is still being determined; however, sample testing from a quarantined inventory revealed that the helmets did not meet Army specifications,” a Pentagon statement said.
CUBED RFP: The U.S. government should issue a request for proposals June 16 for the design, manufacturing, testing and delivery of two space-qualified CubeSats with integrated space environmental monitoring payloads. “The U.S. Air Force is interested in exploring and assessing concepts of operation for collection of space weather phenomena and ingestion into existing and/or future space weather models while constraining the spacecraft to the size, weight and power (SWaP) of a 3U CubeSat form factor,” said a May 12 document available on FedBizOpps.gov.
GPS IIF: The U.S. Air Force is planning to launch its first Boeing GPS IIF satellite May 20 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The window for the launch of the Delta IV rocket begins at 11:29 p.m. EDT and will remain open for 19 minutes. GPS IIF will provide a new civil safety-of-life signal called L5. It also will provide higher accuracy with advanced atomic clocks. The Air Force plans to buy 12 GPS IIF satellites.
ARMY Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wis., was awarded on May 7 a $410,066,021 firm-fixed-price contract for the production of 2,634 Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles; 2,230 trucks; and 404 trailers. The work is to be performed in Oshkosh, with an estimated completion date of March 31, 2012. Bids were solicited on the World Wide Web with three bids received. TACOM LCMC, Warren CCTA-ATB, Warren, Mich., is the contracting activity (W56HZV-09-D-0159)
SES World Skies is preparing a pair of orbital maneuvers designed to minimize disruption from a wandering Intelsat spacecraft. The wayward satellite, Galaxy 15, has been drifting away from its orbital slot at 133 deg. W. Long. since it went out of control on April 5 and began threatening to interfere with surrounding satellites (Aerospace DAILY, May 12, 17). SES World Skies’ AMC-11, located at 131 deg. W., is the nearest spacecraft at risk in the geostationary belt, about 22,000 mi. from Earth, where telecom satellites typically orbit.
Fresh off a stint as chief of staff for NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, George T. Whitesides is picking up the reins as CEO at Virgin Galactic, the startup space tourism company that is part of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group.
WORK ON SITE: BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and SAIC are among 11 companies receiving indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts supporting information technology for the defense intelligence and greater intelligence communities under the Solutions for the Information Technology Enterprise (SITE) program. SITE will have a ceiling of $6.6 billion over five years. Competition among the firms for task orders under the SITE program will begin this summer.
HOUSTON — Spacewalking astronauts struggled May 17 to install a communications antenna atop the International Space Station, a task that was interrupted briefly by a command and control computer problem aboard the orbiting laboratory. The seven-hour spacewalk, the first of three excursions planned this week by the crew of the shuttle Atlantis, came to an end at just after 3 p.m., EDT, with the new antenna still in need of some work.
LONDON — The U.K. likely remains months away from granting initial approval to replace its Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarine. Nuclear deterrent is one area that is having to be carefully negotiated by the U.K.’s new coalition government. The Conservatives support a submarine-based ballistic missile deterrent, while the Liberal Democrats opposed a “like-for-like” replacement, instead expressing an interest in alternative systems (Aerospace DAILY, April 15).
