Avio has successfully carried out the first test firing of a liquid oxygen/methane combustor earmarked for a new upper engine that could equip Italy's Vega light launcher. The test, carried out at Avio's Collefrerro plant near Rome, lasted two seconds, but engineers ultimately hope to achieve a 20-second burn.
EADS on Nov. 8 cut its operating profit forecast for the year by 400 million euros ($590 million) to breakeven, as the company's top executive called on European governments to provide relief to help offset the impact of a rapidly sinking U.S. dollar. The dollar's swoon limited EADS' revenue growth to just 300 million euros in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, despite 10 more Airbus jet deliveries and stronger output at the company's defense units. Airbus jets are priced in U.S. dollars but most of the company's costs are in euros.
NEW DELHI - The first two of 66 Hawk advanced jet trainers to be delivered to the Indian air force as of part of a total training package required to meet the country's training needs have left the U.K. for Bidar in India. The contract for the aircraft was signed in March 2004. Twenty-four are being built in the U.K. by BAE Systems and 42 will be manufactured under license in India by Bangalore-based government defense manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.
China's space programs are being swept up in the country's ongoing economic modernization, with the national space administration saying it will call for outside tenders for participation in its second lunar exploration mission. Bidders "could include scientific research organs, universities and also private companies," says a spokesman. He stresses the opportunities for private firms: "For sure, private companies should be qualified, especially in technological and managerial capabilities, in order to participate in the space technology development."
MISSILE REACTION: U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command chief Lt. Gen. Kevin Campbell says that regional combatant commands must standardize their processes for reacting to ballistic missile launches - a fact highlighted by the 2006 salvo of ballistic missile tests in North Korea. For example, response procedures need to be uniform for commanders in Europe, the Pacific and the Middle East, he says. Operators at U.S. Strategic Command, which has global reach as a provider of forces, need to have predictable measures in dealing with the regional combatant commanders.
PARIS - The European Space Agency (ESA) is deferring a development go-ahead for its next Mars mission and considering a German-led lunar mission as it attempts to align exploration ambitions to budget realities.
Nov. 13 - 14 - International Space Security Conference, "Scope and Prospects for Global Cooperation," Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. For more information call +44 775 964 5213 or go to www.spacesecurityprogramme.org. Nov. 12 - 14 - American Astronautical Society National Conference: "Celebrating 50 Years - But, What's Next?" South Shore Harbour Resort, Houston, Tex. For more information go to www.astronautical.org.
BREAKING GROUND: NASA will break ground this week for a new launch pad at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., for tests of the Orion crew exploration vehicle launch abort system. First firing of the solid-fuel rocket that would pull the Orion crew compartment off a failing Ares I launch vehicle is targeted for Sept. 23, 2008. Meanwhile, the agency cut the ribbon on three new 18-meter Ka-band antennas built at the U.S. Army facility to handle the growing volume of data from scientific satellites.
"Not surprisingly, Iraq and Afghanistan dominated" recent internal Pentagon discussions over future war-fighting requirements, according to Army Lt. Gen. Carter Ham, director of operations for the joint staff.
SHUTTLE HEARING: Top NASA officials will address the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Nov. 15 in Washington to discuss the space shuttle program and the agency's contingency plans in case the fleet can't fulfill all its mission requirements before its retirement deadline in 2010. Administrator Michael Griffin, Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier and Associate Administrator for Exploration Richard Gilbrech will address the panel.
DELTA IV: The most spectacular launch of an all-liquid fueled booster since the Apollo 17 Saturn V in 1972 is set for Nov. 10 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., with the planned nighttime liftoff of a two million pound thrust United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy. The triple-body 232-foot tall vehicle, flying only its second mission, is to propel the final Northrop Grumman Defense Support Program (DSP) missile warning satellite directly into geosynchronous orbit.
International Space Station crew members are scheduled to move the pressurized mating adaptor (PMA-2) where space shuttles dock on Nov. 12, following a Nov. 9 spacewalk by Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko to disconnect it from the U.S. Destiny laboratory.
MORE TROUBLE: More international cooperation is needed to keep terrorists from benefiting from a generation of advanced conventional weapons under development, Rand Corp. says. Weapons of concern include GPS-guided advanced mortar systems and sniper rifles that can strike a target from up to two kilometers away. "The good news is there is still time to rein in this threat before it fully develops," says Rand senior physical scientist James Bonomo.
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT: Under a new Defense Department strategy to boost defense program manager empowerment and accountability, DOD plans to enhance personnel development opportunities, provide more incentives and arrange knowledge-sharing opportunities, according to congressional auditors. For example, DOD will increase "just-in-time" training, establish a formal mentoring program and start program management forums, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported Nov. 9.
RADAR MARKET: Forecast International projects that the worldwide radar market will be worth $50 billion over the next 10 years, driven by new technology. "The expanding availability of technology is increasing the appeal of many radar systems that were previously available only to the largest and best equipped militaries," says William Ostrove, author of the study. Active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology is proving to be a market driver, the group says.
SATELLITE WATCHDOG: Orbital Sciences Corp. will develop a nanosatellite that can provide local space situational awareness and detection of anomalies in the area of a host satellite under a $29.5-million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate. The nanosatellite is to be capable of flight experiments by early 2010. The production design will have a three-year operational life with a one-year life in geo-synchronous orbit. The satellite will be designed to have a minimum impact on the host satellite and minimum intervention from Earth.
SKYNET POSTPONED: Arianespace is deferring the launch of the U.K.'s second new-generation Skynet 5 military communications satellite while engineers grapple with an unspecified equipment fault on the satellite's Ariane 5 booster. No new launch date has yet been set. Skynet 5B, built by EADS Astrium for EADS's Paradigm affiliate, was set to go up Nov. 9, accompanied by a Brazilian commercial telecom satellite, Star One C1. Star One C1 was built by Thales Alenia Space for Star One, a subsidiary of Brazil's Embratel.
LUNAR TECHNOLOGY: Top officials will NASA's exploration program will be on hand for the agency's first exploration technology exchange conference Nov. 14-15 in Galveston, Texas. The event will focus on transport to the moon, lunar operations and outpost technology, NASA says. It is intended to facilitate dialogue among NASA personnel, major aerospace contractors, subject experts in industry, the Defense Department, government agencies and academia about capabilities needs and potential technology solutions for space exploration.
SIMULATED AWARD: General Dynamics said its Information Technology business unit was awarded a potentially $146 million, five-year contract to support the U.S. Air Force Simulations, Training and Experimentation program. The company will support planning and conduct of the Air Force's mid-term war game, "Unified Engagement." GD has provided similar services since October 2001.
With delay-related losses mounting, EADS will likely ask core customers of the A400M military transport aircraft for relief from its fixed-price development contract. With the program running at least half a year behind schedule, the Airbus Military consortium dominated by EADS is being hit financially. EADS took a 1.37 billion euro earnings charge Nov. 7 due to the delays.
Raytheon will conduct a December test of its Net-Centric Airborne Defense Element (NCADE), an air-launched intercept system designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in boost phase within seconds after launch. Internationally, competition to develop this type of weapon is fierce. Raytheon's offering is a longer-range version of the AIM-120 advanced medium range air-to-air missile (AMRAAM), and could easily be launched from manned or unmanned aircraft and airships (DAILY, May 22, 2006).
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says the U.S. and its allies have started down the path toward the "de-nuclearization of North Korea," although they are "far from reaching" that goal. Gates and Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of National Defense Kim Jang-soo briefed reporters from Seoul, Korea on Nov. 7, in a bid to reaffirm ties between the two countries and present a united front against the threat of a nuclear North Korea.
MRAP ARMOR: The first Explosively Formed Penetrator (EFP) kits for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles will be built at the end of November at Rock Island Arsenal, according to John Young, acting Pentagon acquisitions chief. The first MRAP vehicles with installed EFP kits are undergoing testing--three of these have been received with EFP protection kit packages in "various stages of engineering." Add-on specialty armor material required to protect the MRAPs, called P900 or XPA, is only manufactured at a few foundries.
