Officials at EADS Astrium, prime contractor on the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle, say most of the components for the second ATV have been assembled and need only a final go-ahead to enter integration. A green light is expected toward year-end, once ESA has completed its production readiness review and integrated initial feedback from the Jules Verne shakedown flight, tentatively scheduled for November (see p. 182).
Israel's new Ofek 7 reconnaissance satellite should give the nation a better overhead view of its threatening neighbors than previous spacecraft, provided it checks out in orbit. Launched June 11 from the test range at Palmahim Air Force Base on a Shavit launch vehicle, the 660-lb. spacecraft went into a 193 X 372-mi. orbit with a focus on Iran, Iraq and Syria. It will replace the five-year-old Ofek 5 satellite and also bring the Israeli space-based reconnaissance program back to full strength following the loss of the Ofek 6 recon in a 2004 launch failure.
The space shuttle Atlantis astronauts, planning a fix late last week to reentry protection system damage on their left Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) pod, are benefiting from NASA's new attitude, which recognizes that just because an engineering solution seemed to have been proven out earlier does not mean it is the right course under more rigorous scrutiny.
Robert Cortelyou has been promoted to senior vice president-network planning, Pam Elledge to senior vice president-global sales and distribution, and Gail Grimmett to senior vice president-revenue management, all for Delta Air Lines. All were vice presidents. John Boatright is returning as vice president-corporate real estate. He held that position before becoming program project officer for Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Development Program.
John Donovan has become vice president-finance and administration for the Emrise Corp., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. He was senior consultant to the chief financial officer of AeroVironment Inc.
Mark Alexander and Gerald S. Gutterman have been named to the board of directors of the New York-based Sequa Corp. They are succeeding Gerald Tsai, Jr., and Stanley Zax, who have resigned. Alexander is a director of corporate strategy for the Ampacet Corp., while Gutterman is a retired chief financial officer of Sequa.
In the article "Going Hyper" (AW&ST Mar. 19/26, p. 40), the continuing progress in hypersonic aeronautics is highly praised. Yet for 50-plus years, the speed of mass air travel has remained essentially the same (in spite of great strides in technology).
Kuka's omniMove system is based on a wheel that consists of 8-9 specially shaped, non-driven rollers, mounted between two stable rims. Platforms/vehicles with these wheels can move in any direction from a standing start, or in motion. Direction changes are determined by the direction of rotation of each wheel relative to one another. Vehicles can be maneuvered with millimeter precision, the company says. Spirit Aerosystems of Wichita, Kan., is the first customer in North America; Kuka is widely use in MRO shops in Europe. Kuka Roboter, Attn.
Flying the upcoming Jules Verne mission to the International Space Station will tax Europe's spaceflight infrastructure to the limits, pulling together engineers across the continent and beyond for an on-line dress rehearsal of future missions that will send a 20-ton space freighter hurtling toward the station on autopilot.
Viva Macau will fly to Sydney three times a week, beginning Aug. 15. The company has also named former Qantas executive Con Korfiatis as chief executive, succceding Andrew Pyne, who has resigned for personal reasons. Korfiatis was founder of Qantas's Singapore business, Jetstar Asia.
J. Mark Borseth has been named senior vice president/chief financial officer of Eclipse Aviation, Albuquerque, N.M. He was vice president-global business processes for the 3M Co.
Carestream Health's NDT Solutions Group, servicer of Kodak Industrex products, has released a digitizer system and software bundle as a low-cost solution for digitizing, archiving and rapid sharing of images. The bundle includes Kodak V2.0 digitizer software and LS-85 large-format film digitizer with a single or automated six-sheet feeder. The software offers an automatic file save and naming function, allowing users to capture and review images faster than before, according to the company.
The team of Northrop Grumman, L-3 Communications and Lockheed Martin has conducted an inflight communications link using an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar. Raytheon also has used AESA for wide-band communication in a parallel program. Both companies want to pass data such as detailed, digital maps. Northrop Grumman describes its Radar Common Data Link (R-CDL) as a high-speed pipeline to offload data and imagery from tactical platforms. The link uses the radar's fire control transmitter and antenna for long range, two-way communications.
Neal Cohen, who has been executive vice president/chief financial officer, has been appointed executive vice president-strategy for international operations and CEO for regional airlines for Northwest Airlines. Succeeding Cohen will be Dave Davis, who has been senior vice president-finance/controller. Theresa Wise has been promoted to senior vice president from chief information officer. All are filling roles that will be vacated by the resignation effective July 31 of Phil Haan, who also was chairman of NWA Cargo.
D. Lynn Kelley has been appointed vice president-Six Sigma for Textron Inc., Providence, R.I. She succeeds John W. Mayers, who has become executive vice president-corporate development for the Textron Financial Corp. Kelley was performance solutions manager for Textron University.
June 27 is the U.S. Homeland Security Dept.'s new deadline for submitting proposals for a high-altitude unmanned aerial system (UAS) to detect and deter shoulder-fired missiles aimed at commercial aircraft. The department is seeking ideas for an airborne surveillance platform that can loiter at 60,000 ft., or higher, above an airport to protect aircraft from ground-to-air missiles. The department has identified six airports where the UAS may be tested: Denver; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Newark, N.J.; San Diego and Washington Reagan National.
Goodrich announced two sales of its rescue hoist system last week, with Sikorsky Aircraft opting to employ it on its H-92 Canadian Maritime Helicopter Project and AgustaWestland selecting it for AW139 helicopters to be used by Japan, Spain and the U.K. for maritime search-and-rescue operations. No dollar amounts were disclosed.
Etihad Airways appears to prefer discounts on future orders over cash compensation for the delay in Airbus A380 deliveries. "We are looking at the benefits on future orders," CEO James Hogan told Bloomberg News, implying that Etihad will go with Airbus in its next expansion phase. The airline has placed orders for four A380s, the first of which was due to arrive in 2009.
THE CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE has just selected Era Corp. and HITT Holland Institute of Traffic Technology of the Netherlands to install an Advanced Surface Movement Guidance Control System for Changi Airport. Era will provide the multilateration and Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast sensors plus the vehicle tracking units, while HITT will provide its display and processing system. Era has deployed a total of 1,000 ADS-B sensors in 20 nations.
It's official: U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command has its own force of unmanned Predator strike and reconnaissance aircraft. Twenty-one MQ-1 UAVs, along with support equipment and crews, were transferred from Air Combat Command. Another seven UAVs will be delivered to AFSOC after depot maintenance is completed this month. That will let AFSOC simultaneously operate up to six orbits or combat air patrols in several theaters.
European Union transport ministers this month have committed to include aviation in the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS), and to ensure that no barriers result from a September meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization. The U.S., other countries, and airlines have looked to the ICAO gathering to address the issue of aviation and pollution, but ministers from the EU countries are determined that any agreement arrived at in September should not block ETS plans.
Raytheon officials say they've been able to demonstrate significant advances in efficiency and output of solid-state lasers in the laboratory that show potential for space-based applications such as imaging and spectroscopy.
