KENNEDY SPACE CENTER - Boeing expects NASA to issue a draft request for proposals for its exploration ground launch services (EGLS) contract sometime between May 19 and May 31. The contract “picks up where the space shuttle flights stop” says Boeing Space Exploration Constellation Transition Director David Bethay, and has not been delayed by the recent decision to conduct a “blue ribbon” panel review of NASA’s manned space programs. T
SMALL WORLD: Under a U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory program to take small unmanned aircraft systems from conception to evaluation as rapidly as possible, L-3 Geneva Aerospace is to develop a concept for an airborne tube-launched expendable UAV. The company is one of several selected to bid for individual task orders under the SURE program to develop platforms, sensors and other technologies for Tier II and III small UAVs.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Launch Pad 39A in nearly perfect weather at 2:01 p.m. EDT May 11, kicking off the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Veteran astronaut Scott Altman commands the 11-day STS-125 mission, with retired U.S. Navy Capt. Gregory Johnson serving as pilot. Aboard as mission specialists are veteran astronauts John Grunsfeld — making his third trip to Hubble — and Mike Massimino, along with first-time astronauts Andrew Feustel, Michael Good and Megan McArthur.
The U.S. Coast Guard is still in the market for a tactical unmanned aerial system (UAS) to extend the surveillance reach of the new National Security Cutter fleet, the head of acquisition for the service said May 11. “We do envision some UAS flying off the flight deck of the Bertholf [the first National Security Cutter],” Rear Adm. Gary T. Blore, the Coast Guard’s Assistant Commandant for Acquisition, told a reporters’ roundtable.
The economic landscape beyond fiscal 2010 may “not be as rosy as projected,” according to Pentagon budget chief Vice Adm. Stephen Stanley, requiring belt-tightening of the nation’s defense budget.
A Monroe Doctrine for cyberspace — defining what constitutes an attack on America — may not be far off, contend some of the nation’s top officials with responsibility for network operations. But before anything else happens, the White House must define its role in network operation, which is expected to be the product of a 60-day review that is under way. “I think that is the first step,” said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency and a candidate to lead a new cyber command.
JAYHAWK EDGE: U.S. Air Force T-1A Jayhawks are to be upgraded with simulated sensors, countermeasures and weapon systems to improve navigation/electronic-warfare officer training. Two instructor stations will be added to manage the simulated combat systems. Camber will lead the upgrade program, with Stevens Aviation modifying the aircraft in Dayton, Ohio.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is seeking $19.1 million in the fiscal 2010 Homeland Security Department budget to hire more pilots, boat operators and support personnel. Included in the $11.4 billion CBP request — at 20 percent, the largest chunk of its parent department’s budget — CPB Air & Marine is seeking money to hire 68 pilots. Air & Marine says it plans to expand its capabilities across the 5,000-mile northern border as well as on, and over, coastal waters.
PHANTOM RAY: Boeing on May 8 unveiled the Phantom Ray — a version of its defunct X-45 unmanned combat air vehicle prototype. The company is using its own internal research and development funding for flight tests of the demonstrator, slated for late 2010 at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The X-45 lost the Navy-led Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) program to Northrop Grumman’s X-47 in 2007. Exclusive photos of the aircraft appear in Aviation Week’s May 11 issue and more information can be found online at www.aviationweek.com.
MANTIS: BAE Systems is aiming to fly the Mantis medium-altitude long-endurance unmanned aerial vehicle before the end of this month, says Kevin Taylor, managing director of the company’s Military Air Solutions business unit. The Mantis technology demonstrator is being jointly funded by the Defense Ministry and industry. The air vehicle is now at the Woomera range in Australia.
LOS ANGELES Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) hopes to reschedule a second launch attempt of the delayed Malaysian RazakSAT Earth resource satellite as early as next month, pending the availability of the Reagan missile test range in the Pacific Ocean and clearance of a suitable launch window.
GOING VERTICAL: XCOR Aerospace is refining the aerodynamic design of its Lynx suborbital launch vehicle and preparing for another round of wind tunnel tests following completion of initial subsonic testing at the U.S. Air Force Air Vehicle Directorate’s vertical wind tunnel at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
LONDON The British Defense Ministry is dumping a project examining sweeping consolidation of helicopter basing as a result of the potential costs of the program. Program Belvedere has been considering options such as the possible co-location of the Joint Helicopter Command’s support helicopters, with Royal Air Force Lyneham as a candidate site
STATION RESUPPLY: NASA can proceed with its effort to develop and fly commercial vehicles to resupply the International Space Station, now that an industry protest has been dismissed by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). In January, Chicago-based PlanetSpace — which includes Lockheed Martin, ATK and Boeing — protested its loss of $3.5 billion in contracts under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program to rivals Orbital Sciences Corp (OSC) and SpaceX.
Hawker Beechcraft expects to fly the AT-6B counterinsurgency (COIN) aircraft in late June, but is shifting focus to emerging U.S. irregular-warfare requirements because of delays to an Iraqi order for the armed turboprop trainer. Congress was notified in December of the proposed $520 million sale of 36 AT-6B Texan IIs to the Iraqi air force, but falling oil prices have hit Baghdad’s defense budget and an order has been delayed.
MOSCOW The Russian government has approved the consolidation of more than 20 aerospace radar and avionics companies to create a single entity responsible for producing land, air and space surveillance, reconnaissance and C2 systems.
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) is concerned about the Obama administration’s plans to cut Missile Defense Agency spending by $1.4 billion, but he doesn’t see trimming the planned increase in Army and Marine Corps end strength as a tradeoff.
WARRIOR OVERHAUL: Bell Helicopter and the U.S. Army soon will begin to work through the many elements of Life Support 2020, a program that will extend the service life of the Kiowa Warrior OH-58D with sensor, safety and platform upgrades. The first task is to place a Forward Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) ball on the nose of the aircraft and remove the sensor ball from the mast, which may require some rebalancing of the aircraft’s center of gravity and a skid extension so the FLIR ball doesn’t scrape the ground.
LORAL TAPPED: Asia Satellite Telecommunications Co. has picked Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) to build AsiaSat 5C, a new satellite that will serve as a backup for AsiaSat 5, currently under construction at SS/L for launch in the third quarter. The move will ensure service continuity for customers using AsiaSat 2, which AsiaSat 5 is intended to replace, in the event of a launch failure. The application the new spacecraft will serve if the launch is successful was not specified.
