GERMAN ARMOR: The German army will not see any cuts in its 765 Fuchs (Fox) armored personnel carriers, 175 of which are being upgraded to the A8 standard. In addition to the improved ballistic protection and new axles able to support nine tons of the Fuchs 1A7, the Fuchs 1A8 features further improvements in ballistic and mine protection and adds protection from improvised explosive devices, both blast and explosively formed projectiles. By the end of 2011, 88 Fuchs 1A8s had been delivered by Rheinmetall.

HOUSTON — An emerging space environmental movement finds a new forum in “Space Junk 3D,” a new documentary that dramatically illustrates the collision threat posed by the accumulation of manmade space debris to Earth-orbiting satellites offering a range of services all too often taken for granted. Those include cell, smart phone and broadcast communications, weather forecasting and GPS navigation data, not to mention vital but less visible support for national security.

The past year has seen a lot of turbulence in the stock market, but there have been a few bright spots for investors in aerospace and defense companies. Shares in suppliers of aerospace components fared particularly well in 2011 as Airbus and Boeing ramped up output, and soaring order numbers added to the airframers’ already bulging backlogs.

Tight budgets and other factors have left the U.S. facing “serious gaps” in its ability to monitor the Earth’s climate from space, both for near-term forecasting and for tracking longer-term changes, a panel of the National Research Council has found.

PARIS — Years have ticked by since European launch consortium Arianespace turned a profit. Despite Europe’s economic crisis, the market for commercial satellite communications is strong and conditions for launch providers are generally favorable. Yet the Evry, France-based launch services company continues to rely on government subsidies.

LONDON — The British government plans to set up a technology center to foster work on satellite applications.

NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (Grail) spacecraft will spend the next month refining their orbits around the Moon, where they will provide the most detailed gravity maps available and important clues to the origins of Earth’s big satellite.

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