NASA's vision of the future calls for private industry taking the reins in developing new launch technologies. But questions are mounting within the agency about whether U.S. companies are up to the task. The first test of NASA's new government/industry formula faltered earlier this month when Orbital Sciences Corp. and Rockwell International withdrew from development of the X-34 launch vehicle after determining it wouldn't be commercially viable.
DAIMLER-BENZ AEROSPACE declared a 4.3-billion mark ($2.93-billion) loss for 1995. The poor results were expected and included provisions for $1.5 billion to cover a possible bankruptcy by Fokker. Sales for 1995 dropped to only $10.2 billion, compared with nearly $12 billion in 1994. DASA Chairman Manfred Bischoff said the company has ``created the preconditions'' to regain profitability by 1998.
The European Space Agency's $1-billion Infrared Space Observatory is living up to its advance billing as Europe's Hubble by making discoveries that will alter astronomical theory and expand the understanding of objects never before viewed with such high-resolution infrared. Aloft only three months, the Aerospatiale spacecraft ``is proving itself to be a fantastic machine,'' Hans Steinz, the ESA project manager, said.
SWISS AIR FORCE NORTHROP F-5Es are being vectored to intercept some NATO Bosnian airlift military transports and tankers transiting Swiss airspace. Neutral Switzerland, for the first time in its history, has given formal, unlimited clearance for NATO overflights in connection with the Bosnian peacekeeping mission. But the Swiss air force is randomly intercepting some of the NATO aircraft to confirm their identity under internationally accepted procedures.
Jean Alain-Ress, general manager of cargo services for Aeroports de Paris, has been appointed chairman of the Industry Affairs Committee of the Miami-based International Air Cargo Assn.
Trans World Airlines within the next 12 months expects to complete up to six strategic alliances with non-U.S. carriers that can help TWA boost its market presence worldwide. ``We have been very late to the alliance game, because we felt it was essential first to complete our financial restructuring,'' Jeffrey H. Erickson, president and chief executive officer, said. ``We're now looking for such alliances.''
SOME U.S. AEROSPACE COMPANIES are taking advantage of a new U.S. Commerce Dept. computer marketing service available at six international air shows. The Interactive Market Access Program allows a company to load data and photos to fill up to 40 display screens on one disk. Trade show visitors can call up the data on computers on display and input messages for the companies. The service costs $2,700 per company for two trade shows.
Polar, the last U.S. element of an international armada designed to unlock the secrets of the Sun's myriad effects on Earth and its space environment, is set for launch this week. From an unusual highly elliptical, inclined orbit, Polar's 11 science instruments are to gather information on the physics of ``geospace'' in the cusps of Earth's magnetosphere. Specifically, it is to measure plasma flows in the ionosphere and determine the role of the ionosphere in geomagnetic substorm phenomena.
Jules G. McNeff (see photos) and Dwight L. Woolhouse have received Stellar Awards from the Houston-based Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation. McNeff, who is assistant to the deputy Defense undersecretary for space, was cited for contributions to the deployment and management of the Global Positioning System. Woolhouse, who is director of product assurance engineering for the Rockwell Space Systems Div., was honored for leadership in providing safe and reliable space systems for the restructured shuttle program.
Monte G. Widdoss (see photos) has been named senior vice president-business development, William R. Morgan vice president-sensor systems and displays, and Nicholas T. Nylec vice president-Navy systems of the Military Systems Div. of Diagnostic/Retrieval Systems Inc., Oakland, N.J. Widdoss was a sector vice president-business development of the Science Applications International Corp. Morgan was vice president-marketing and program development for Applied Display Technologies Inc., and Nylec was a consultant to NTN Services.
RAYTHEON'S BEECH MK. 2 win in the much debated Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) may have a bigger payoff than anticipated. A Navy JPATS official said the aircraft's operational requirements document is being modified to allow an increase in the number of aircraft the services intend to buy from 711 to 860. A defense official said, ``The trend [upward] is correct, but the number is likely to be smaller.'' Raytheon's win brought projected program costs down from $7 billion to $4 billion, according to the Air Force.
TRACOR FLIGHT SYSTEMS, AUSTIN, TEX., has added the Russian-built MiG-21 fighter to its fleet of full-scale aerial target drones. The MiG-21, NATO code name Fishbed, was one of the most widely used combat aircraft in the 1970s and has flown with more than 30 national air forces. Tracor's streamlined drone conversion package allows use of existing runways and ranges and easy interface with existing ground station control. Potential customers for the QMiG-21 include international air forces. Tracor also operates U.S.-built QF-86, QF-100, QF-106 and QF-4 drones.
Regulatory protection of safety data and improved pilot training are among a litany of U.S. safety proposals targeted for completion by 1999, according to the FAA/industry Aviation Safety Plan.
Gen. John R. Galvin (USA, Ret.) has been named a director of the Raytheon Co., Lexington, Mass. He is dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Medford, Mass.
THE U.S. ARMY PLANS to buy up to 35 Cessna Citation Ultra business jets to equip its C-XX medium-range transport program. The aircraft will be modified to Army requirements, including the capability to carry small cargo as well as passengers. The aircraft will be delivered over a five-year period, with the first Citation scheduled for delivery in November.
Competition is heating up on the lucrative triangle routes linking major hubs in Canada as Canadian Airlines International (CAI) adds services and increases the frequency of its flights in a face-off with Air Canada. A CAI official said the airline is adding 10 shuttle flights a day to two legs of the Toronto/Montreal/Ottawa triangle in Eastern Canada and four flights a day to each leg of the Vancouver/Edmonton/Calgary triangle in the West.
The French government has fired CNES' top management to reassert control over the French space agency in the wake of a dispute over French support for the international space station. The shakeup is seen as a warning to both CNES and French industry that the government, not the agency and industry, will set the country's space policy and spending priorities. CNES President Andre Lebeau and Director General Jean-Daniel Levi were removed from their posts effective Jan. 31.
ELECTRONIC SPACE SYSTEMS CORP. HAS DEVELOPED a high-performance radome for the FAA's ground-based, stand-alone Mode-S radars that creates less drag on the towers than the exposed antennas the tower was designed to support, according to the company. A low drag coefficient was necessary so the FAA would not have to reinforce existing towers. The interrogator antenna rotates inside the radome, which has a low-profile surface-of-revolution, or squashed spherical shape, instead of a traditional sphere.
BRITISH AIRWAYS RETURNED one Boeing 777 to service last week and planned to resume service with the other over the weekend after they were temporarily grounded due to tears in airflow seals on the engines' thrust reversers. The two aircraft had been grounded for nearly a week, while a third BA 777 was not affected. During flight testing, Boeing had identified that the kiss seals on the thrust reversers did not have the life span intended, and the manufacturer and the FAA initiated an inspection regime at 250 flight hr.
MALAYSIAN AIR SHOW MANAGEMENT is seeking a U.S. partner to help catapult the status of the show. The 1995 Langkawi International Marine and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) attracted 640 exhibitors and almost 100 aircraft. Planned exhibition dates for LIMA '97 are Dec. 9-14. Additional covered display area is planned as well as runway and apron expansion. A hotel construction program is aimed at alleviating room shortages.
TO ACQUIRE ADDITIONAL MILITARY BUSINESS, Snecma is developing an increased-thrust derivative of the M88 turbofan engine now used in Dassault's Rafale multirole combat aircraft. The ``Etape 5'' (Stage 5) M88-3's maximum thrust will be 9,000 kg. (19,800 lb.), up from 7,500 kg. (16,500 lb.) for the M88-2. The upgraded version is scheduled to run for the first time by year-end. The French manufacturer is seeking M88-3 export applications.
Arianespace is continuing to make gains in Asia with the successful launch Feb. 5 of a large Japanese spacecraft and the signing of a new order with India. The European company has also signed contracts to launch at least eight other Asian spacecraft over the next two years. The new Japanese N-Star b spacecraft, launched Feb. 5, is en route to its geosynchronous orbit station northwest of New Guinea. The 7,524-lb. spacecraft was built by Space Systems/Loral for two Japanese communications companies, NTT and NTT/DoCoMo.
Canadian charter carrier Air Transat helped its parent company become three times more profitable in 1995 by maintaining its flying schedule with nine transport aircraft instead of 12. Transat A.T. Inc., the holding company for the airline, just reported a record net income of $16.9 million for the year ending Oct. 31, 1995, or three times higher than the $5.6 million reported the previous year.
Many U.S. contractors, awash in cash, will be challenged to find useful outlets for their growing wealth The U.S. aerospace/defense industry, already flush with cash at the start of 1995, saw profits surge last year--and 1996's gains are unlikely to lag far behind. But the industry's good fortune is presenting companies with an increasingly vexing dilemma: What do they do with all of the money they are generating?
The Fixed Wing Vehicle element of the Defense Dept.'s new comprehensive Technology Development Approach closely paralleled its Rotary Wing Vehicle counterpart while blazing new trails in somewhat different areas.
