ABU DHABI — The former head of the New Mexico spaceport effort, Steve Landeene, will now work as chief adviser to the proposed spaceport in Abu Dhabi with an eye on clearing the way for potential Virgin Galactic operations. Landeene’s initial focus will be on the regulatory environment. The focus would then shift to determining the right location for the spaceport, Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said during the Global Aerospace Summit here.

COLORADO SPRINGS — The Pentagon has declared that the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) project has exceeded its original projected per-unit cost by 58.4%, triggering a rigorous review under the Nunn-McCurdy program oversight law. Through the EELV program, the government procures Atlas V and Delta IV rockets from United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. The cost growth was reported April 13 to Congress.

CYBER GAME: A U.S. Air Force cyber and outer space wargame starting April 20 at Nellis AFB, Nev., will for the first time include representatives from NATO members Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. Australia, Canada and Britain already are partners of the Schriever Wargame 2012 International Game. The wargame scenario depicts NATO counter-piracy operations around the Horn of Africa.

COLORADO SPRINGS — Though parts for the new GPS III satellites are costing more than planned, Lockheed Martin says the rigor applied by the U.S. Air Force in quality assurance is setting a new industry standard.

Senators approved draft legislation April 17 that rejects parts of the president’s budget request for NASA, cutting nearly $300 million from the development of commercial crew vehicles. The fiscal 2013 spending bill passed by the Senate Appropriations commerce, justice, and science subcommittee adds back close to $200 million for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS), a priority for Republicans Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas) and Sen. Richard Shelby (Ala.).

COLORADO SPRINGS — As part of a broad initiative to boost its share of the launch market and particularly the tightly contested medium commercial sector, Lockheed Martin is stepping up sales campaigns for its Atlas and Athena vehicles and appointing space and satellite marketing veteran Robert Cleave to head the business.

COLORADO SPRINGS — Lockheed Martin has begun hot-fire tests of a rocket engine designed to power a Reusable Booster System (RBS) demonstrator for the U.S. Air Force.

COLORADO SPRINGS — More than 1,800 space experts from industry and government are gathering for the 28th National Space Symposium, as NASA engineers and technicians prepare for a major shift in U.S. space activities this week. Crews at Kennedy Space Center are readying the space shuttle Discovery for its final ferry flight to Washington, where it will go on permanent display at the National Air & Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center.