Arianespace and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have agreed to jointly market launch services in a bid to bring more launcher capacity to bear in a tight commercial market. The two companies will offer prospective customers launches on either the Ariane 5 or MHI's HII-A rockets. The two companies, along with Sea Launch, already were partnered on the Launch Services Alliance, which allows customers backup launch on the Ariane 5, HII-A or Sea Launch Zenit-3SL in the event one of the vehicles is unavailable. Current market
NIMIQ 5: Telesat Canada plans to launch its Nimiq 5 spacecraft on a Proton Breeze M in 2009 under a contract with International Launch Services announced April 26. The Space Systems/Loral spacecraft will carry 32 Ku-band transponders to deliver direct-to-home links from its orbital slot at 72.7 degrees west longitude. The Canadian firm used another ILS Proton Breeze M to orbit its Anik F3 on April 10 (DAILY, April 12).
THOR: Telenor has awarded a contract to Thales Alenia Space to build a new communications satellite, Thor 6, for high-power direct-to-home TV applications. The 36-transponder Ku-band spacecraft, set to enter service in mid 2009, will serve the Nordic countries, and Central and Eastern Europe. It was the first telecommunications satellite award for the manufacturer since it was taken over by Thales. It followed an award for a first GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) spacecraft, Sentinel-1, on April 18.
INSTRUMENT UNIT: Boeing plans to enter the competition to build the instrument unit for NASA's Ares I crew launch vehicle, according to a company spokesman. The U.S. space agency issued a draft request for proposals April 17 on the unit, which will house most avionics for the shuttle-derived launcher. An industry conference is tentatively scheduled for April 30 at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, with a final RFP expected early in June and source selection by the end of the year.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) plans to spend about $300 million over the next six years studying technologies and concepts for possible future space-based missile defenses, according to MDA Director Air Force Lt. Gen. Trey Obering. Out of MDA's $8.9 billion budget request for fiscal 2008, $10 million will kick off studies on a Space Based Interceptor Test Bed. This is down from the agency's FY '07 guidance, in which it planned to spend $45 million in FY '08 (DAILY, Feb. 26).
MARKET SHIFT: The Democrats' takeover of Congress means a $30 billion shift to homeland security markets over the next five years, according to a report from the Homeland Security Research Corporation. The Washington-based analysis firm forecasts that markets in equipment and services for air cargo security, immigration technology, border fencing, communications interoperability, chemical plant and hazardous materials security are likely to be affected by Democratic policies.
Congressional appropriators have opted not to provide funds for the U.S. Army's troubled Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH) program under the fiscal 2007 supplemental appropriations measure hammered out for the White House. The lawmakers and staff did not explicitly explain why in their summary of the House and Senate conferees' agreement, but they said they deleted requested Defense Department funding for procurement items better suited to receive funding through the normal budget process.
A collection of trade associations including the Aerospace Industries Association is celebrating 11th-hour congressional decision making to forego new procurement restrictions in the House and Senate versions of the fiscal 2007 supplemental appropriations measure.
GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER, Md. - Future astronauts may be able to keep the Hubble Space Telescope operating indefinitely thanks to a piece of hardware that will be attached to the observatory during next year's planned servicing mission.
NASA's Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) spacecraft has begun its two-year mission to study high-altitude ice clouds following its successful launch aboard a Pegasus XL rocket April 25. Orbital Sciences Corp. built both the spacecraft and the Pegasus launch vehicle, which was released from its Stargazer L-1011 carrier aircraft about 100 miles offshore west-southwest of Point Sur, Calif., at 1:26 p.m. Pacific time.
WAR PROFITEERING: The Senate Judiciary Committee has blessed a Democratic-pushed bill that seeks to curb supposed war profiteering highlighted by federal contracting for U.S. operations in Iraq. High-profile senators announced Feb. 15 that if enacted, the bill would make a series of immediate changes to the defense procurement process (DAILY, Feb. 21).
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) plans to collaborate with the governments of Poland and the Czech Republic on videos and other educational material to help sway citizens in both countries who oppose the idea of basing U.S. missile defense sites there.
UAV MEETING: Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England was scheduled to meet April 26 with Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii), chairman of the House Armed Services Air and Land Forces Subcommittee, on the contentious issue of the U.S. Air Force's proposal to assume authority over management of all military unmanned aerial vehicles flying over 3,500 feet. Though the Air Force claims it is getting support from its sister services, Army and Navy officials have yet to publicly endorse the idea.
Rebuffed by Congress last year over a proposal to convert submarine-based nuclear ballistic missiles into conventional strike platforms, the U.S. Air Force now is pushing for a so-called Conventional Strike Missile (CSM) that would be based on land and follow a different flight path than intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), an officer said April 25.
GUN SYSTEM: BAE Systems' Armament Systems Division has been awarded a $108.9 million contract modification to complete the design, development and integration of the Advanced Gun System for the DDG 1000 program. The work will be performed in Minneapolis, Minn.; Burlington, Vt.; and Baltimore, Md. It is expected to be complete by September 2009. The contract was awarded by the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command.
FLIGHT-TESTS: Thales says it has completed flight-tests of an active electronically scanned array radar antenna on a Mirage 2000 testbed, preparing the way for integration trials on the new-generation Rafale fighter in the second quarter of this year. Following final development and production engineering, the AESA radar is scheduled to enter series production in late 2010 as part of a package of enhancements, dubbed Post-F3, agreed to late last year. It will replace the passive phased array antenna that currently equips the Rafale.
U.S. Army and Navy officials say they are looking for safer propellant for use in five-inch and 155mm naval gunfire systems and various ground-based precision strike munitions. The challenge, they say, is to develop explosives and propellants that pack a punch, but only when they are supposed to - on the battlefield, not while in transport or elsewhere.
Independent auditors have concluded that unexplained accounting irregularities contained in financial statements for Dec. 31, 2005-Sept. 30, 2006 published by the Sagem Defense & Security Division of Safran were due to calculation errors and an inaccurate assessment of the profitability of certain defense contracts. In addition, the irregularities stemmed from noncompliance with prevailing accounting standards and rules - "in some cases deliberate" - the auditors found, adding that none of the events appeared to be attributable to Safran management.
LAUNCH ABORT TESTS: NASA's Constellation program will pay Orbital Sciences Corp. between $35 million and $57 million for as many as four test boosters based on U.S. Air Force Peacekeeper ICBM solid-rocket motors for tests of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle launch abort system. The competed award came through the Air Force's Sounding Rockets Program. The Space Development and Test Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., will conduct the launch abort tests at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
