LAUNCH POSTPONED: South Korea is deferring the planned Aug. 11 launch of its first space rocket, KSLV-1, because of irregular performance of a secondary booster pump designed to pressurize oxidation agents. Data from project partner Russia show the pump’s output spiked during testing, behavior that could cause cavitation downstream and even explosion of the engines, says the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (Aerospace DAILY, Aug. 4).
The U.S. Air Force’s official launch of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) signals the reinvigoration of the service’s nuclear enterprise, according to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz.
LET US IN: The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry is pushing hard for faster integration into the U.S. national airspace, and is planning a demonstration of how UAVs and manned aircraft can fly in harmony. A cooperative research and development agreement between UAV builder AAI and FAA will set up a technical center at the FAA facility near Atlantic City, N.J.
DENVER A newly-formed industry advocacy group will boost the case for operational hypersonic systems and a formalized high-speed development road map as the U.S. air-breathing hypersonic enterprise enters what researchers believe is the most pivotal period in its checkered 50-year history.
ProtoStar Ltd., a Bermuda-based company set up by a group of U.S. satellite and finance executives to acquire existing geostationary satellites and run them for profit, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware and plans to sell its spacecraft to cover its debts.
LONDON – The U.K. defense ministry will proceed with a major life extension program for the RAF’s Puma HC1 helicopter fleet that will equip the aircraft with new engines and avionics. The decision to approve the more than £300 million program was taken after the MoD decided it was “not feasible to advance the purchase of the (replacement) Future Medium Helicopter” at this time.
Against a backdrop of unanswered questions on the extent of potential program delays, Sikorsky celebrated the arrival of the first set of 8,500 supplier parts that will comprise the U.S. Marine Corps CH-53K Heavy Lift helicopter.
WEARABLE CONTROL: The U.S. Marine Corps awarded QinetiQ North America a $2 million contract to develop a universal wearable controller to operate a wide variety of unmanned ground and air vehicles and unattended ground sensors. The Common Robotic Controller will be lightweight and designed to fit in with other equipment that Marines are required to wear and carry.
NASA’s Kepler Exoplanet hunting observatory’s instruments are working so well that they have given astronomers their first image of the glow of a hot gasbag planet larger than Jupiter as it circles the backside of a star.
The Pentagon may supersede the Marine Corps’ ban on social networking sites, a DOD spokesman said. The Defense Department sets policy for the services and is studying the prohibition. “The deputy secretary has ordered this review by the chief information officer,” spokesman Geoff Morrell said. “It will be…the most exhaustive look that we’ve taken at this new phenomenon of social network [for] a better understanding of the pros and cons.”
For those trying to keep track, the Pentagon has agreed to split the duties of 9th Air Force, which has provided command direction for air war operations in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Now part of the organization has become U.S. Air Forces Central Command and will be based in theater, undoubtedly Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.
DENVER – Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) is testing modifications to the gas generator of the J-2X engine for the upper stages of the Ares I and V launch vehicles after discovering low-level instabilities in a ‘workhorse’ unit during proving runs at Marshall Space Flight Center.
The U.S. Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) will break ground on its new Ground System Power and Energy Laboratory in Warren, Mich., on Aug. 17. TARDEC describes the facility as a “one-of-a-kind research and testing laboratory complex” comprising eight different labs that will “serve as the cornerstone for the Army’s next generation of power and energy initiatives.
DEPLOYABLE REFLECTOR: Northrop Grumman said recently its deployable satellite reflector and boom assembly will help NASA’s Jet Propulsion Jet Laboratory (JPL) map soil moisture and the freezing and thawing cycles globally. The Astro-Mesh Lite configuration deployable reflector will be used on JPL’s Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) mission targeted for launch in 2014. The mission will use a combined radiometer and high-resolution radar to make direct measurements of soil moisture.
U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) needs to do a better job of managing the way it contracts for and operates maritime shipping to support current military conflicts, a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says. “USTRANSCOM has no formal process to implement or document DoD requirements to annually size the United States sealift fleet in order to meet peacetime, contingency, and projected wartime requirements,” the IG report says in its July report.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) claim they are creating a “common marketplace” for commercial satellite communication (comsatcom) services, worth more than $5 billion over a decade for all of the federal government.
Experts from Wyle’s Integrated Science and Engineering Group will continue supporting life sciences work at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston under a $201 million option exercised by the U.S. space agency. The award brought the total potential value of NASA’s contract with Wyle to $976 million.
INDIAN FLIR: The Indian Air Force awarded FLIR Systems a $7.2 million contract recently under the U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program for the company’s Star SAFIRE III infrared multisensor surveillance systems, training and related services. The units delivered under this award will be installed on C-130J Fixed Wing Surveillance Platforms in support of Indian Ministry of Defense airborne missions. Deliveries are expected to be completed by 2011.
While acknowledging the acquisition community has little to do with determining strategy or policy, the Navy’s outgoing Assistant Secretary for Expeditionary Warfare, Roger Smith, said the U.S. Marines need to retain the capability to perform forcible entry.
In a new study looking at a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan, Rand Corp. has concluded that the air war at least “could essentially be over before much of the [American and Taiwanese] air forces have even fired a shot.”
RADIO REPORT: Defense departments worldwide will spend about $11.05 billion on 25 different multimission communications development, acquisition, and maintenance programs over the next decade, according to U.S. consultancy Forecast International. “Replenishing communications equipment used in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the excessive costs of and setbacks in the development of the U.S. DOD’s Joint Tactical Radio System are the principal factors driving current expenditures for multimission communications,” says Greg Giaquinto, senior analyst.
