DSN WORK: ITT Industries of White Plains, N.Y., has won a $274 million contract for the operation and maintenance of NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN) facilities in the United States and for support of DSN facilities overseas. The five-year contract has options for an additional five years of work worth $306 million. The DSN is a network of antennas that supports interplanetary spacecraft missions and radio and radar astronomy observations for the exploration of the solar system and the universe.
NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is to meet with President Bush on Sept. 24 in New York to discuss cooperation on missile defense. Vajpayee is to tell Bush that the transfer of missile defense technology to India could lead to greater stability in the region, according to senior defense ministry officials here. Since January 2002, India has been asking the U.S. to supply Patriot air defense systems and allow Israel to sell India the Arrow missile defense system.
Northrop Grumman Corp. has been chosen by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) to develop the Strategic Illuminator Laser (SILL), a next-generation illuminator laser that could have applications for air- and space-based systems. Although the SILL's exact role has not been defined, the solid-state laser is expected to be an improvement over existing illuminators and might someday play a supporting role in such systems as MDA's Airborne Laser (ABL). Illuminator lasers emit beams of energy to gather information about areas of activity.
The Department of Homeland Security this week is expected to release a formal solicitation for a $100 million program to develop systems to protect commercial airliners from shoulder-fired missiles. In announcing the effort on Sept. 18, DHS said it would issue the solicitation the week of Sept. 22-26. A DHS spokesman, Brian Roerhkasse, said Sept. 22 that he didn't know when the solicitation would be released. But, he said, the overall strategy will be discussed at an Oct. 6 briefing for industry to be held in the Washington, D.C., area.
NEW DELHI - In a major setback to the Indian air force, the only complete squadron of Russian-built Sukhoi Su-30 K aircraft has been grounded due to problems with their engine blades. An air force official told The DAILY that 18 Su-30s have been grounded for the past few weeks.
MOSCOW - Russia has grounded its Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack fleet after one of the heavy supersonic bombers crashed Sept. 18 near Engels air base in Russia's Saratov region, killing all four crewmembers. The air force blamed the crash on an on-board fire in a new engine. The aircraft, christened "Mikhail Gromov" after a prominent Soviet pilot of the 1930s, recently had taken part in exercises with Russia's Pacific fleet. After the exercises, one of its NK-32 engines was replaced because of operational problems, and this new engine apparently caught fire.
Loral Space & Communications on Sept. 22 declared the Telstar 4 communications satellite a "total loss" after repeated attempts to regain contact with the spacecraft failed. Telstar 4, a Series 7000 satellite built by Lockheed Martin, was launched on Sept. 23, 1995. Telstar 4 provided video and data services to customers throughout North America, the Caribbean, Alaska, and Hawaii through 24 C-band transponders and 16 Ku-band transponders. News networks in particular used the satellite for video relays.
European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) company and the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MOD) should have their contract for the next-generation Skynet 5 military satellite communications system completed by October, according to Francois Auque, head of EADS' Space Systems division.
A House-Senate panel has partially reversed a deep cut in missile procurement that the House and Senate versions of the fiscal 2004 defense appropriations bill had proposed for the Air Force's Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM).
Sept. 21 - 24 -- 40th Annual AOC International Symposium and Convention, Dayton, Ohio. Call (888) OLD-CROW or go to www.crows.org. Sept. 22 - 25 -- Fall 2003 Sensors Expo & Conference, Anaheim Convention Center. For more information contact Amy Riemer at 978-475-4441. Email [email protected], or go to http://shows.sensorsexpo.com/fall03/V40/index.cvn.
SpaceDev of Poway, Calif., has been chosen to supply the major operating components for the hybrid rocket motor that will power Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne manned spacecraft, SpaceDev announced Sept. 19.
NATO CHIEF: The North Atlantic Council said Sept. 22 that Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, the Dutch minister of foreign affairs, will succeed Lord George Robertson as secretary general of NATO. The date for de Hoop Scheffer to assume the post has not been determined.
The U.S. government has granted final approval for the sale of four Boeing 737 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft to Turkey, CFM International said Sept. 22. The company is providing its CFM56-7 engines for the aircraft under a contract worth $40 million. CFM International is a joint venture of General Electric Co. of the U.S. and Snecma Moteurs of France.
NEW DELHI - The Indian government has approved an $80 million lunar orbiter mission, named Chandrayan-1, scheduled to launch in 2008. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to spend $20 million of the budget on a deep-space network based in Bangalore to control the spacecraft, with assistance from a ground station in Goldstone, Calif.
BOEING NASA SYSTEMS, Kennedy Space Center, Fla. John Elbon has been named vice president and program manager for the International Space Station for Boeing, replacing Joe Mills, who will lead the company's Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter program. Jim Chilton, the Checkout, Assembly and Payload Processing Services (CAPPS) Contract director of mission management, will replace Elbon. DUCOMMUN, Los Angeles David H. Dittemore has joined the company as president and chief operating officer. EADS AEROFRAME SERVICES, Lake Charles, La.
APKWS TEST: General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products said Sept. 16 that the first system design and development phase flight test of the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) was successful. The 70mm rocket, fired Aug. 28 at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., made a direct hit on a laser-designated stationary target about three kilometers (1.9 miles) away, the company said.
The Deepwater modernization program received a major boost on Capitol Hill Sept. 17 as a House-Senate conference committee approved a fiscal 2004 homeland security appropriations bill that adds $168 million to the Bush Administration's $500 million request for the Coast Guard initiative.
A Northrop Grumman B-2A has dropped 80 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) bombs on a Utah test range, capping a six-month testing effort to introduce the 500-pound JDAM into the U.S. Air Force inventory. The Sept. 10 precision-strike demonstration, which targeted a simulated airstrip, also marks the first of several upgrades planned for the B-2 program over the next few years, including a 5,000-pound penetrator bomb, radar modernization, and stealth material upgrades, said Jeff Cliver, Northrop Grumman's director for B-2 programs.
Damage assessments following air attacks need to improve to allow air operations to become more effective, Air Force Secretary James Roche said Sept. 17. Roche, along with Gen. John Jumper, the Air Force chief of staff, and Gen. Michael Moseley, the vice chief of staff, spoke of the need to improve battle damage assessment (BDA) during the Air Force Association's convention in Washington.
