In a cost-cutting move, Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems is shifting about 70 employees from Sunnyvale, Calif., to its Newtown, Pa., facility, where it builds commercial and military satellite communications payloads. Program management, business operations, satellite engineering and design, business development and executive functions will make the move, while final assembly and testing of A2100 spacecraft will continue at the company's Commercial Satellite Center in Sunnyvale.
On the eve of the U.S. Congress' August recess, Republicans sought to restore presidential ``fast-track'' free market trade authority, considered crucial to controlling and eliminating state subsidies for the manufacture of large commercial jets. But the latest lobbying blitz to limit legislative intervention in White House-negotiated free trade accords must face the long-standing Democratic insistence that fast track be tied to stronger protections for labor and environmental concerns.
YARDNEY TECHNICAL PRODUCTS of Pawcatuck, Conn., is developing high-performance rechargeable lithium-ion batteries to replace the NiCad ones currently in use in the B-2 bomber, as part of a Link 16 avionics upgrade program. Yardney believes this will be the first aircraft use of Li-ion batteries. Yardney's Li-ion cells offer significant reduction in battery weight. During the last year, the company has increased the continuous discharge capacity of the cells from five times the ampere-hour capacity of the cell (or 5 C) to a rate of more than 20 C.
The third U.S./Russian crew for the International Space Station is set for launch on Discovery this week for a four-month ISS flight that will stress logistics and science. During eight days of docked operations, the STS-105 Discovery astronauts, along with the new Expedition 3 crew and outgoing second crew, will unload about 6,500 lb. of cargo from the Italian/Alenia Leonardo logistics module. The orbiter crew will also transfer about 1,500 lb. of extravehicular activity (EVA) hardware from the shuttle payload bay to the ISS.
NASA picked Boeing, Lockheed Martin and TRW for $300,000 studies of ascent vehicles to lift rock and soil samples from the surface of Mars in a sample return mission in 2011 or later. The six-month studies are to produce concepts and road maps for small rockets that would be able to remain on the surface for a period of months and then fire to lift a sample canister into space for the first leg of its trip to Earth.
Boeing is continuing construction of the X-37 orbital testbed at a normal pace, despite uncertainty over the program's future that may not be resolved until late this year, when a decision is expected on whether to include it in NASA's Space Launch Initiative.
For Arianespace, which is struggling to ramp up the Ariane 5 (shown) in the face of questionable public support in Europe and a mounting challenge from U.S.-Russian operators, the July 12 mission failure could hardly have come at a worse time. An upper stage engine malfunction left the European Space Agency's Artemis experimental communications spacecraft and Japan's BSAT-2b telecom satellite in degraded orbits (AW&ST July 23, p. 38).
The Brazilian government issued a request for proposals for 12-24 fighter aircraft valued at $700 million. Alenia Aerospazio is bidding the Eurofighter; Boeing, the F-18E/F; Lockheed Martin, the F-16; Rosoboronexport, the Sukhoi Su-30; Saab-BAE Systems, the Gripen; and Embraer (representing Dassault), the Mirage 2000BR. Bids are due Oct. 1, and the contract will be let in June 2002.
Alicia Hartong considered the real estate adage--location, location, location--when she chose aerospace over an engineering career in the automotive or paper industries. With her mechanical engineering degree, she thought she could build an entire career in aerospace in her hometown of Dayton, Ohio.
Professional technical societies should initiate programs to capture specialized aerospace knowledge that once was inherent in military standards and specifications, according to George K. Muellner, president of Boeing's Phantom Works. Compliance with those standards is rarely a stated requirement in today's Pentagon contracts, and many ``milspecs'' no longer reflect state-of-the-art practices, he says.
Virgin Atlantic Airways posted a nearly 20% increase in revenues for the fiscal year ending Apr. 30, to 1.52 billion pounds ($2.16 billion) from 1.27 billion pounds the previous year. But it warned that the U.S. economic slowdown had begun to affect transatlantic operations, especially business traffic, in the last quarter. Pre-tax profits, which includes the airline's cargo and holiday charter operations, grew to 45.5 million pounds from 40 million pounds.
Ross Perot, Jr., president/CEO of Perot Systems and chairman of the Hillwood Development Corp. of Dallas, has been named chairman of the Arlington, Va.-based Air Force Memorial Foundation. Perot, an Air Force veteran, completed the first flight around the world in a helicopter. He has been chairman of the foundation's Site and Design Committee and is expected to focus on gaining final design approval and construction of a memorial near Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery. James Ingo Freed, of the New York firm of Pei Cobb Freed Architects, is the principal architect.
JFK-based JetBlue is expected to more than double its operations under a five-year, $60-million lease recently signed with the airport's landlord, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The carrier will expand from six to 10 gates at Terminal 6, which is undergoing a $12-million refurbishing. JetBlue, which launched service in February 2000 with a fleet of new Airbus A320s, plans to expand daily services from JFK from 80 to 100 by the end of the year, and to 200 by the end of 2003. JetBlue began service to Washington Dulles in early July. Starting Oct.
Thales has completed the acquisition and restructuring of the Magellan Corp. and Navigation Solutions. The two U.S. companies have been combined to form Santa Clara-headquartered Thales Navigation.
The SkyTeam alliance has added Alitalia to its ranks and plans to sign up at least two more international airlines, further solidifying its position against rivals Oneworld and Star Alliance.
AMONG THE SUBJECTS AT THE THIRD annual aeronautical data link conference will be the results of Maastricht's ATN tests with American 767 aircraft (above). ATN 2001 will be held in London, Sept. 18-19. United Airlines, the FANS 1/A participant, will project the future of that technology, and the FAA will describe how the Petal trials will lead into the FAA's CPDLC Build 1 software operations in Miami, in 2002 (www.atnconference.com).
While no growth is foreseen in French military procurement spending through 2008, cost savings from cross-border programs and Europe's emerging defense integration--including the planned rapid reaction force--should boost funding efficiency.
Transportation Dept. Inspector General Kenneth M. Mead warns that problems with the FAA's automated airport weather reporting stations could cause pilots to receive inaccurate visibility readings at airports. Mead says the remote stations can take 9-12 min. to report the correct visibility when the weather changes rapidly. Initiated by the FAA in 1993, the Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) is now commissioned at 561 airports across the U.S.
John L. Ryan has been appointed vice president-line maintenance for America West Airlines. He was vice president-maintenance and engineering for Hawaiian Airlines.
Air Liberte and AOM, the ailing French carriers formerly controlled by the Swissair Group, expect to restore profitability in the next three years under the umbrella of Holco, their new owners. After evaluating the merits of as many as 15 offerings submitted by multiple investors, a French court selected an entrepreneurial group led by Capt. Jean-Charles Corbet, a former president of SNPL airline pilots' union. The restructured company's employees could own up to one-third of the shares. Investors include the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.
Kathleen A. Soled has become associate general counsel of American Airlines. She will also continue as senior vice president/general counsel for the Trans World Airlines subsidiary of American. Stan Henderson, who has been TWA's chief operating officer, is now senior vice president-customer services of American Eagle.
Managers of the $1-billion Thuraya mobile satellite communications system, which just launched commercial service, are looking at possible expansion of the Middle East-based regional network to cover all of Asia, including Japan and most of Australia.
GOODRICH CORP. AND AVRO TEC INC. of Aurora, Ore., are participating with NASA Langley to develop an affordable synthetic vision system for general aviation aircraft. The effort is part of a NASA Langley cooperative research agreement, which aims to develop production hardware and software to be certified, and to draft minimum operational performance standards and the technical standard order. Avro Tec will develop the system hardware and serve as team lead, with Goodrich developing the synthetic vision software and database formats.
Air taxi operators might get something for nothing next summer--access to hundreds more U.S. airports. The ``bonus'' is part of an FAA plan to update operating rules for general aviation aircraft and air taxis, triggered by discontent with the growing popularity of fractional jet ownership programs.
United Airlines claims to be the first carrier to offer PDA (personal digital assistant) booking and ticketing service on a global scale. United.com-registered passengers may purchase an e-ticket for any UAL or United Express U.S.-originating flight. Current features include checking seat assignments.
