The U.S. Air Force used an Orbital Sciences Corp. Minotaur 1 launch vehicle to orbit its TacSat-3 research spacecraft and a pair of piggyback NASA payloads, after weather and technical delays kept the mission stuck on the ground at Wallops Flight Facility for two weeks. Liftoff from the site on Virginia’s Eastern Shore came at 7:55 p.m. EDT May 19, and the four-stage launch vehicle performed as expected.
The new U.S. Huey and Cobra helicopters grounded in early May are being repaired, and with the problem identified, the Marine Corps said cost and schedule will not be affected. U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) issued a temporary grounding bulletin on six UH-1Y Hueys and one AH-1Z Cobra after discovering extensive damage to the main rotor gearbox on two of the new Hueys (Aerospace DAILY, May 4). Program Manager Col. Harry Hewson said one of the Hueys was cleared immediately of problems, leaving only six aircraft grounded in total.
More battlefield communications capabilities, jammers, infrared satellites and F-35 spares and support equipment are among the $1.9 billion in unfunded priorities for the U.S. Air Force along with the fiscal 2010 budget request sent to Congress this month. The list was sent to Congress May 18 by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz in response to a request from Rep. John McHugh (N.Y.), the ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee.
The U.S. Marine Corps’ CH-53D Sea Stallion fleet is facing a higher scrap rate on its rotor blades than in the past, and the service is juggling priorities to avoid a gap in capability. An Improved Rotor Blade (IRB) program will eventually replace D-model blades with those flying on the CH-53E Super Stallion. Program Manager Capt. Rick Muldoon said the D-blade scrap rate has spiked more than 80 percent.
DARPA BUDGET: Plans to move rapid-deployment and ultra-endurance unmanned aircraft, hypersonic-vehicle engines and anti-ship missiles into flight demonstration programs will significantly boost the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s planned spending on advanced aerospace systems in fiscal 2010, although its overall budget request is up just under 4 percent from FY ’09, at $3.25 billion.
Defense acquisition reform legislation endorsed by the Obama administration is edging closer to enactment with the Senate and House reaching a compromise on their competing bills. Negotiators for both bodies reached agreement May 19 on language for combined legislation. It must now be passed separately by both the House and Senate before it can go to President Barack Obama’s desk for his expected signature.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Final elements of the International Space Station (ISS) are moving toward completion in NASA’s Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) here, where near-term work is focused on completing the payload for STS-127, scheduled for a June 13 launch.
Boeing has again asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate NASA’s award of the next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) space segment prime contract to rival Lockheed Martin. Boeing originally protested Lockheed’s win of the weather satellite contract in December, but before GAO could complete its review process the agency elected to redo the source selection on its own.
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The Obama administration’s proposed fiscal 2010 budget for NASA does not contain enough money to realize the George W. Bush administration’s goal of returning astronauts to the moon by 2020, Acting Administrator Chris Scolese told House lawmakers May 19. “Clearly the situation as it stands right now means we couldn’t do the program of record — putting humans on the moon by 2020,” Scolese told members of the House Science and Technology Committee.
ON THE MOVE: The U.S. Air Force is shifting its U.S. Air Forces Central (CENTAF) headquarters personnel to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, to better focus support for soldiers fighting in the region, according to Gen. Norton Schwartz. The service’s chief of staff told a House Armed Services Committee hearing May 19 that the three-star overseeing CENTAF will move with up to 50 staff and focus “like a laser” on Afghanistan and Iraq.
PATUXENT RIVER NAVAL AIR STATION, Md. — The U.S. Navy said May 18 that its new heavy-lift helicopter, the CH-53K, has run into cost and schedule problems. The service is not providing detailed dates or budget numbers yet. “I’m hesitant to throw numbers out,” program manager Capt. Rick Muldoon told Aerospace DAILY. He sent a Program Deviation Report for the Critical Design Review (CDR) to the Pentagon’s acquisition headquarters in January. But the service is still in the throes of navigating the new budget and is unwilling to provide specific figures.
U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz said increasing production rates for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and developing the next-generation bomber are at the top of his wish list of projects to fund if the service had more money. Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on the Air Force’s $160.5 billion fiscal 2010 budget request May 19, Schwartz said service leaders felt they had enough tactical aircraft capability despite Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ plans to halt F-22 Raptor procurement at 187 aircraft.
The U.S. Air Force’s chief of staff said the service will buy “not less than 38” C-27J airlifters, though he and Army leaders said the final number has not yet been determined. The Pentagon sliced the prospective buy from 78 to 38 aircraft in the fiscal 2010 budget sent to Congress this month.
PARIS — Elbit Systems is trying to further expand the market reach of its unmanned air systems (UAS) with its eyes now on the potentially huge U.S. market through a joint venture agreement with General Dynamics. The joint venture, UAS Dynamics, has initially set its sights on the U.S. Marine Corps Small Tactical Unmanned Aircraft System (STUAS) Tier II program. A large version of the Skylark, called Hermes 90, and the Hermes 450 would be covered by the agreement. The two companies are equal shareholders in the joint venture.
ROUGH PATCH: The next two years could be rough for aerospace and defense companies as the credit crisis continues to play out, says consultancy Deloitte in a new study. Developing new business in emerging markets, such as the Middle East and India, and keeping a tight rein on costs are some of the firm’s recommendations. The industry ended a record 2008 with $595 billion in revenues, despite a meltdown in commercial orders and a strike at Boeing.
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, Houston — The crew of the Space Shuttle Atlantis released the Hubble Space Telescope early May 19, dropping it off the robotic arm with a full set of functional instruments for the first time since it was launched. “Hubble has been released,” Atlantis Commander Scott Altman radioed. “It’s safely back on its mission of exploration.” Live video of the release, which came at 8:57 a.m. EDT, wasn’t available because the Ku-band antenna needed to deliver it was being used in radar mode to track the telescope.
ALL ABOARD: While the auto industry contracts, U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is seeking displaced midcareer automotive engineering professionals as the government tries to buttress its inherent ability to acquire and manage increasingly complex military systems. “These are experienced, midcareer men and women who can immediately make a contribution to our organization,” says Vice Adm. Kevin McCoy, NAVSEA commander.
To speed up the process of replacing the aging U.S. Air Force refueling tanker fleet, a leading defense authorizer in Congress has suggested having the competition’s winner assemble it in more than one location.
With the cancellation of the Manned Ground Vehicle (MGV) component of the U.S. Army’s Future Combat Systems (FCS) and a potential reworking of the whole effort, the service is nonetheless still being challenged to answer questions regarding cost overruns.
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NEW DELHI — Indian defense projects that were stuck in the pipeline are now expected to move with the return of a Congress party majority government following five years of coalition rule. “India has a firm and stable government. Now there will be no need for any repeat negotiations that we were fearing would happen if a government supported by the left-wing [Communist] party came in,” one Western vendor commented to Aerospace DAILY.
