European Commission vice president Jacques Barrot is urging European transport ministers to throw their support behind the Galileo navigation and timing satellite system that aims to compete with the Global Positioning System. But he is also signaling that fundamental changes in how the program was to be structured may be needed to achieve the vision Europe set for itself years ago.
The U.S. Air Force plans to give its fledgling Cyberspace Command "major command status," possibly as early as late summer 2007, the service's top officials told Congress March 21. The command's elevation reflects the importance that Air Force leaders attach to cyberspace as a battlefield and terrorist sanctuary -- as well as a communications and intelligence-sharing venue.
The second flight of Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) low-cost Falcon 1 rocket on March 20 reached 200 miles altitude but did not make it to orbit due to the premature shutdown of its second-stage Kestrel engine. Liftoff took place at 9:10 p.m. Eastern time from the U.S. Army's Kwajalein missile range in the Marshall Islands. A prior launch attempt on March 19 was aborted a few minutes before liftoff due to a communications glitch that was fixed with a software update.
Boeing and its partners became the first team to successfully demonstrate the ability of its transformational satellite (TSAT) laser communications system to deliver high-power operations at three data rates during recent U.S. Air Force tests, the prime contractor announced March 21. Boeing is battling another team lead by Lockheed Martin to win the contract to build the Air Force's TSAT constellation -- with an estimated value up to $18 billion -- meant to provide a laser-linked orbital router network. Both companies are conducting the same type of tests.
Austria's first Eurofighter Typhoon is now in flight-testing, just as the government in Vienna decides what to do with the program. There's a political debate raging in Austria over the decision-making process and size of the program that led the country to sign up for 18 aircraft. The question now is whether the buy will be truncated, as some in government are advocating. A decision is pending.
RAPID II: NASA has selected Space Systems Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., and MicroSat Systems Inc. of Littleton, Colo., to receive Rapid Spacecraft Development Office (Rapid II) contracts with a minimum value of $50,000 each. Each of the Rapid II contracts has a potential maximum value of $1.5 billion. Rapid II is a multiple-award contract for core spacecraft systems and nonstandard services which can include operations, components and studies to meet the government's space, Earth science and technology needs, according to NASA.
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and prime contractor Lockheed Martin are now targeting 2009 for the first "hover test" of the Multiple Kill Vehicle (MKV). The test will take place at the National Hover Test Facility at Edwards Air Force Base in California, according to Doug Graham, vice president for advanced programs at Lockheed Martin missile defense systems.
The U.S. Air Force is navigating its way through requirements and operational concepts for the domain it has recently tagged as its own: cyberspace, service secretary Michael Wynne says. "It's clouded with a lot of legal aspects," Wynne said March 19 during a breakfast speech on Capitol Hill. "We can play defensive, but not offensive," he said. "But we can do red flags (exercises)." Little trouble
NASA has chosen Glenn Research Center's Space Power Facility in Sandusky, Ohio, to perform integrated environmental testing of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), the agency announced March 19. The tests will simulate environmental conditions such as those the Orion will experience during launch, in-orbit operations and re-entry. Thermal, acoustic and mechanical vibration and electromagnetic compatibility testing will be conducted on Orion's full assembly.
House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) said March 20 that readiness will be a pre-eminent HASC concern under his tenure, and he defended Democratic moves to redirect requested funds like those for next-generation fighters to pay for more immediate combat-related needs. But the newly installed HASC chairman also said the U.S. military must invest for the unexpected in future warfare, and he cited prescient congressional mandates to build aircraft carriers ahead of World War II.
The National Governors Association has written the House Budget Committee urging the panel not to forget the need for federal funding to re-equip Army and Air National Guard units returning from abroad. "Unless this equipment is replaced in a timely fashion, the ability of our Guard units to train for future military actions or respond to citizens' needs in an emergency is greatly diminished," the March 19 letter said.
The U.S. Air Force intends to resolicit bids from Lockheed Martin, Sikorsky Aircraft and Boeing in the recent competition to replace the current Air Force fleet of combat, search and rescue (CSAR-X) helicopters, but the service is not looking to reopen the competition to new bidders, Secretary Michael Wynne told reporters March 20. Wynne, speaking after testifying in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also said the Air Force will look to the Government Accountability Office to be its "quality agent" in the competition.
ISS NETWORK: International Space Station Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer Suni Williams this week will conduct some of the work required to install the station's new integrated station computer network, which is 10 times faster than the station's current local area network (LAN) system, according to NASA. The new network will use Ethernet connectivity over a router through either cable or wireless equipment, eliminating the need to run cables through the U.S. segment into the Russian segment.
ARBITRATION GUIDANCE: The Department of the Navy, which includes the Marine Corps, has adopted a policy that authorizes contracting officers to use binding arbitration procedures for issues in controversy arising under procurement contracts using appropriated and nonappropriated funds, according to a March 20 notice in the Federal Register. The guidance was signed into effect March 5, according to the Navy.
General Dynamics Land Systems business unit announced late March 19 that the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command awarded it a $144 million contract modification for continued system development and demonstration (SDD) of the troubled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle (EFV) program. 'Design for reliability' The contract funds the "design for reliability" effort through September 2008, the company said.
MORE UNITY: Aerospace industry members need to lock arms with each other instead of taking up arms against one another, according to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne. "I'm wary about the aerospace industry," Wynne said March 19 at a breakfast on Capitol Hill. Wynne called on aerospace companies to develop a coalition and caucus to present a united front with Congress, similar to U.S. shipbuilding industry efforts through the years. The aerospace industry needs to be more collaborative and less competitive in certain areas, Wynne says.
The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) has awarded Lockheed Martin a $376 million hardware and services contract for the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile program, the company announced March 19. The contract includes the production of 112 hit-to-kill PAC-3 Missiles, launcher modification kits, spares and other equipment, as well as program management and engineering services.
The recent Chinese tests to disrupt and destroy satellites and their capabilities are causing the U.S. Air Force to alter the way it looks at satellites and other space operations, service Secretary Michael Wynne said. The Chinese tests had an immediate impact on the Air Force's mindset, Wynne said March 19 during a breakfast speech on Capitol Hill. "We were shocked, but not surprised," Wynne said. "We were shocked because it was an aberration of behavior - and the initial denial it was theirs at all."
The second fiscal 2007 supplemental appropriations measure, including roughly $100 billion for defense requests, is headed for a showdown as the White House threatens to veto any measure that includes a troop-withdrawal timeline while the Pentagon declares an imminent need for the funds. The Democratically controlled House is slated to take up its appropriators' politically divided recommendation later this week, but President Bush has decried around $24 billion in additional funds added last week in a committee markup.
JSOW CONTRACT: Raytheon has been awarded a $93.8 million delivery order for a network-enabled, moving target capability and seeker redesign for the AGM-154C-1 Block III Joint Standoff Weapon. The contract includes development, test and delivery of replacements for obsolete seeker processor and detector components.
By the end of this year Japan will have upgraded all four of its Aegis destroyers to perform missile defense missions in anticipation of conducting its first missile defense test with the system in December, according to Aegis prime contractor Lockheed Martin.
