The U.S. Navy may not speed up production of Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to two a year as planned even if the price goes below $2 billion per hull, according to the Navy's No. 2 leader. "There are a variety of shipbuilding activities that occur across the program, across the FYDP [five-year defense plan]," Adm. Robert Willard said. "The timing of two submarines a year is based on all of the variables associated with that annual program."
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) have signed a plan to secure the continued flow of environmental satellite data from NOAA-provided instruments aboard EUMETSAT's MetOp spacecraft to select U.S. users during "episodes that might otherwise require data denial," the agencies announced Feb. 22.
DUBAI RISING: If you like Dubai Ports World, the prospective buyer of the British company that operates six major U.S. ports, you'll love Dubai Aerospace Enterprise, the holding company being established to provide, among other things, aircraft leasing, airport development and management and MRO services. At $15 billion, part of it from the government of the United Arab Emirates, the company will be capitalized for a robust startup and early competitiveness in worldwide markets.
SEAL RIBS: The U.S. Navy awarded United States Marine Inc. of Gulfport, Miss., an $8.8 million contract for the Naval Special Warfare's 11-meter rigid, inflatable boat service life extension program. Restoration of 32 boats to like-new condition will be carried out in Gulfport and is expected to be finished by February 2011, the Defense Department said Feb. 23. The contract was not competitively procured - the boats are provided by the company. The high-speed, high-buoyancy, extreme-weather crafts carry a crew of three and special forces, according to the Navy.
To ensure that current and future Mars exploration missions will be able to communicate their data to Earth efficiently, NASA is in the early planning stages for a new orbiter mission that would launch to the red planet in 2013. "We're studying what that ought to be, and it's going to be a hybrid science/telecommunications orbiter," said Doug McCuistion, NASA's director of Mars exploration.
Senior aerospace and defense business executives have identified regaining industry's credibility in military space as the top priority, as well as pushing Congress to bump up NASA's fiscal 2007 budget by as much as $1 billion, the Aerospace Industries Association space council told reporters Feb. 24.
A vocal House proponent of maintaining 12 aircraft carriers in the U.S. Navy's force structure also is siding with plans to retire the USS John F. Kennedy early as the Navy is proposing again this year. "I believe strongly in the need for 12 carriers, and I will continue supporting this goal. However, investing in the future fleet is the way to achieve success," Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.) told The DAILY.
FUEL TANK ON WAY: A newly designed external fuel tank for Space Shuttle Discovery is expected to arrive at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., this week, NASA says. The huge orange tank, called ET-119, was scheduled to depart NASA Michoud Assembly Facility near New Orleans on Feb. 25 after being loaded on a covered barge. The barge will travel from the Mississippi River-Gulf of Mexico Outlet to Florida's Banana River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The journey is expected to take five to six days.
Telemetry problems with Eutelsat's Hot Bird 7A satellite forced a delay of at least 24 hours in the Feb. 24 planned launch of the heavy-lift Ariane 5 ECA vehicle poised at the European Space Center near Kourou, French Guiana. Arianespace said Alcatel Alenia Space, which built Hot Bird 7A, requested the postponement so its engineers could verify the telemetry circuit. A retry was not expected until at least 24 hours after the planned 05:11-6:21 p.m. Eastern time launch window on Feb. 24.
LAUNCH DELAYED: NASA has pushed back the planned launch of the Space Technology-5 (ST-5) smallsat-constellation mission by more than a week to give engineers time to review test data from the separation system that spins the three ST-5 satellites out like orbiting Frisbees. It was to have launched on Feb. 28.
FULL HOUSE - AGAIN: The space shuttle Discovery's return to the International Space Station for the second time since the Columbia accident will mark resumption of full staffing for the incomplete orbital facility. Although the start date remains uncertain, German astronaut Thomas Reiter is scheduled to join ISS Expedition 13 crewmates Pavel Vinogradov and Jeffrey Williams as a flight engineer when he arrives on the upcoming STS-121 shuttle mission.
James Finley, recently confirmed by the Senate to be deputy undersecretary of defense for acquisition and technology, was not familiar with specific recommendations of the U.S. Defense Acquisition Performance Assessment Group's executive report, according to responses he gave the Senate Armed Services Committee. But in prepared answers to SASC questions Feb. 15, Finley repeatedly noted the need to regain Capitol Hill's confidence in Defense Department acquisition after more than a year of program slips, scandals and even convictions.
GO SLOW: Washington officials are considering having the Commerce Department help the Air Force in its so-called "go-slow" approach to military space acquisition, Aerospace Industries Association space council members say. "That will be interesting to see how it comes out," says council member Donald Ellison, Advanced Products Corp. vice president for government relations. The idea is still in the "talking" stage, he says. Council members say the impetus is to "build back credibility."
MARS SCOUT: NASA plans to release the final announcement of opportunity (AO) for the next Mars Scout competition in early April. The competition will select a low-cost mission to launch to the red planet in 2011. "We had a draft AO on the street in the month of January, and we have comments back that we're reviewing and incorporating," says Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars exploration program. The Scout program competitively selects low-cost Mars science mission proposals, led by a principal investigator, to launch during every other Mars launch opportunity.
March 7 - 10 -- AVEX 2006 - 2nd International Air Show & Aviation Expo, Sharm El Sheikh International Airport, Cairo, Egypt. For more information go to www.avex-2000.com. March 12 - 15 -- 17th Annual NDIA Special Operations / Low Intensity Conference (SO/LIC), "An Interagency Look at the Global War on Terrorism," Hyatt Regency Crystal City Hotel, Arlington, Va. For more information go to www.ndia.org.
After traveling roughly 95 percent of its 300 million mile journey since launching last August, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is preparing for the riskiest phase of its mission on March 10 - insertion into the red planet's orbit. NASA has only a 65 percent success rate with Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI), according to the agency. "Now we're starting to enter into the realm where we've lost two spacecraft in the last 15 years," said Orbiter Project Manager Jim Graf, referring to the 1999 Mars Climate Orbiter and the 1993 Mars Observer.
GEARING UP: Personnel at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, are gearing up to provide maintenance for 18 of 21 F-22 Raptors that will be arriving for modifications in April, the Air Force says. Maintainers will develop mechanic training requirements, build a special F-22 work area, and make sure that needed parts are on hand. Experienced support personnel and technicians from thoughout the base will take part. Mike Dooner, 309th Aircraft Maintenance Group F-22 production chief, said in a statement that it is challenging to keep up with the latest weapon system technology.
MISSILES FOR TURKEY: Raytheon Missile Systems has been awarded a $35.6 million contract to provide the government of Turkey with 127 AIM-9X tactical missiles, 22 captive air training missiles, and 41 containers, the U.S. Defense Department said last week. The work will be done in Tucson, Ariz.; Rocket Center, W. Va.; and Andover, Mass. It is expected to be finished in March 2008. The contract was awarded under the Foreign Military Sales Program by the Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md.
RULES REVAMPING: A committee headed by former astronaut Mary Cleve, now associate administrator for science, is revamping NASA's public relations rules following the flap over attempts by headquarters public affairs officers to meddle in the release of NASA-funded science results. But some public affairs professionals at the agency - and some of the scientists they serve - are pessimistic about the chances for real change.
HAPPY DAYS: The days of Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing officials having to worry about the V-22 program's status are clearly over. The Pentagon is starting the paperwork to put in place a multiyear procurement contract for the tiltrotor, something that it's supposed to do only after a program is stable. Multiyear production would begin in 2008 and run through 2012, covering the purchase of 185 aircraft. The bulk of them, 159, would be Marine Corps MV-22s; the other 26 would be Air Force Special Operations CV-22s.
