Ariane 5 completed its fourth of seven scheduled missions this year – its busiest yet – with the launch of the sixth spacecraft for Arabsat and the first for ProtoStar, which has been buying up unused “hangar queens” for use in direct-to-home broadcast services for Asia-Pacific clients.
Thales Alenia Space will supply RF communications gear for Israel’s Amos-4 communications satellite under a subcontract with the satellite’s builder, Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). Ordered last August for launch in 2012, the 3.4 metric ton 4 kW satellite will have a mixed Ka-Ku-band payload enabling the operator, Spacecom, to extend telecom and broadcasting coverage to Africa and Central and Southern Asia from a new orbit slot between 64 and 76 deg. E. Long.
Senate appropriators look set to strip away fiscal 2009 funds for studying the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) come next fiscal year, although a high-profile committee member will try to reinstate the Bush administration’s request.
RADAR LOCK: Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a framework agreement July 8 that includes basing an existing U.S. midcourse missile defense tracking radar in the Central European country. The deal comes as U.S. officials struggle to find related agreement with Poland to host 10 ground-based interceptor missiles. The entire U.S. effort is vehemently opposed by Russia, although recent NATO endorsements have softened that criticism.
IRANIAN INDICTMENT: A federal grand jury in Miami returned an 11-count indictment July 3 charging Hassan Saied Keshari, Traian Bujduveanu, Kesh Air International Corp., and Orion Aviation Corp. for alleged participation in a conspiracy to export military aircraft parts to Iran. Allegations state that since October 2006, Keshari and Bujduveanu bought U.S.-made military aircraft parts in the United States for buyers in Iran and illegally shipped them to a company in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for reshipment to buyers in Iran.
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a sharp critic of big defense contractors, says he’s not interested in being Democrat Barack Obama’s running mate. “Last week I communicated to Sen. Obama and his presidential campaign my firm intention to remain in the U.S. Senate, where I believe I am best equipped to serve the people of Virginia and this country,” Webb said in a statement issued July 7. “Under no circumstances will I be a candidate for vice president.”
NEW DELHI — The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the French space agency Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) have signed an agreement covering the distribution of data from Megha Tropiques, an Indo-French tropical weather monitoring satellite scheduled for launch in 2009. The agreement was signed when a Joint Working Group of ISRO and CNES met on July 5-6 to review the progress of collaborative programs under the chairmanship of ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair and CNES President Yannick d`Escatha.
The two Russian members of Expedition 17 to the International Space Station (ISS) will go outside July 10 to retrieve a pyrotechnic bolt from the Soyuz crew vehicle that experts hope will aid their investigation of separation anomalies on the past two Soyuz re-entries. Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko will use a serrated knife to cut a flap in a thermal blanket over the bolt, withdraw it with a wrench and slip it into a blast-proof canister for its return to Earth, NASA officials said July 8.
REPAIR WORK: Boeing Australia Ltd. has gained FAA Part 145 certification for 737 air frame and engine repairs, both on-wing and off-wing, at Amberley and Eagle Farm in Queensland. They are the company’s first certified repair stations outside the U.S. and are expected to serve military, commercial and private executive jet customers. Amberley will specialize in heavy maintenance activity, including for 737 Airborne Early Warning and Control modification work done for Australia’s Wedgetail fleet.
In exchange for 626,002 shares of SkyTerra Communications voting stock, Boeing Satellite Services has reached a second agreement with Mobile Satellite Ventures to defer $40 million in payments on construction of the MSV-2 satellite. Earlier, Boeing extended a $76 million payment on the spacecraft. The latest agreement leaves in place a launch window extending from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the third quarter of 2010.
NEW DELHI – India will seek approval from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for its nuclear accord with the U.S. on July 28, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said, putting many minds at rest after months of indecisiveness. India’s Left party withdrew support for the ruling Congress party following the agreement, saying the deal would restrain India’s capability to follow an independent foreign policy.
A Raytheon-led team submitted its proposal to develop the ground segment for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series, or GOES-R, on July 8.
The Austrian military is considering buying a new jet trainer to replace Saab 105s and also offload some Eurofighter currency training to a lower-cost platform. No firm decision has been made yet, with an avionics upgrade to the Saab still a possibility. However, Austrian military officials suggest a new program is likely. Aircraft maintenance is an issue; the air force has 28 Saab 105s, but sometimes as few as six are ready to fly.
MOSCOW – The Russian air force wants to acquire two to three regiments (48-72 aircraft) of the Sukhoi Su-35 upgrade of the Su-27 Flanker until it begins to take delivery of its fifth-generation fighter, known as PAK FA. Russian air force chief Col. Gen. Alexander Zelin says the PAK FA prototype, the Sukhoi T-50, is tentatively scheduled to fly in 2009, with air force trials to begin in 2013. He is seeking government funding to field the Su-35 as an interim.
ARINC has appointed Stephen Waechter CFO and VP-business operations. Waechter joins ARINC from Arlington, Va.-based IT solutions company CACI International, where he was executive VP and CFO. “Steve [Waechter’s] career path is impressive and includes a rise through the ranks at General Electric, where he was VP-finance for GE Information Systems,” says ARINC Chairman and CEO John Belcher.
AIR FORCE Lockheed Martin Corp., Missiles and Fire Control of Orlando, Fla., is being awarded a firm fixed price contract for $80,000,000. The contract action will provide Gunship Multi-Spectral System 2 for the AC-130 Gunship. The purchase will include the 12 production units, three readiness spares packages kits, depot level spares, technical orders and data. At this time all funds have been obligated. 667th AESS/PK, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, is the contracting activity (FA8629-08-C-2402). NAVY
The planned last launch of a U.S. space shuttle is a little less than two years away – on May 31, 2010 – when the shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to lift off with a final load of supplies for the International Space Station (ISS). Under a new flight manifest issued July 7, NASA plans 10 more shuttle flights starting with the Oct. 8 launch of Atlantis on the final mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
BEIJING – China says the liquid oxygen-kerosene 120-metric-ton (265,000-pound) thrust engines of its upcoming Long March 5 rocket have passed initial tests, while significant progress has been made on the plant at Tianjin that will build the launcher. State media say the rocket will be 59.5 meters (195 feet) high and the launch weight will be 643 metric tons (1.42 million pounds). The diameter of the Long March 5 has previously been given as 5 meters (16 feet 5 inches), compared with 3.35 meters for the current Long March 3.
PARIS –The French air force has qualified the Rafale F3 multirole standard, which will give the fighter a naval attack, reconnaissance and nuclear attack capability. The first aircraft built to F3 standard will be delivered in early 2009, although not all of the associated weapon systems – AM39 antiship missile, Reco NG pod and ASMPA nuclear cruise missile – will necessarily be ready by then.
Eurocopter will produce EC725 Super Cougar medium helicopters at its Helibras subsidiary in Brazil under an agreement in principle signed on June 30 by the Brazilian and French governments. The protocol signed by Defense Minister Nelson Jobim and French Ambassador Antoine Pouilleute “reinstates Helibras as a manufacturer of large-sized helicopters,” with the Brazilian armed forces as the initial customer.
ARMY Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., Stratford, Conn., was awarded on June 30, 2008, a $46,310,832 firm fixed price contract for four UH-60M helicopters, material inspection and installation of auxiliary power unit kits. The work will be performed in Stratford, Conn., and is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2012. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One bid was solicited on Oct. 20, 2005. U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0003).
SABENA SUPPORT: The French defense ministry has awarded Sabena Technics, an affiliate of TAT Group, a contract to maintain and support its fleet of five DHC 6 Twin Otters, nine Mystere XX and 41 Embraer 121 Xingu aircraft. The award is for a period of four to five and a half years.
