Some of NASA's earth science functions should be transferred to another part of the federal government to help the aeronautics and space agency focus on its core missions, according to a U.S. lawmaker.
Connexion by Boeing will lease satellite capacity on Eutelsat's SESAT satellite to provide a link between Europe and Asia for its airborne Internet service, Boeing said Aug. 26. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The satellite, which carries 18 Ku-band transponders, is located at 36 degrees East and covers an area that ranges from the eastern Atlantic Ocean across Europe to Central Asia.
The final report of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), released Aug. 26, places heavy emphasis on institutional problems as contributors to the Feb. 1 disaster and recommends a thorough overhaul of NASA's safety infrastructure. "In four simple words, the foam did it," CAIB member Scott Hubbard said during a press conference in Washington, referring to the insulating foam from the shuttle's external tank that broke loose and damaged the orbiter's left wing shortly after liftoff on Jan. 16.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Aug. 26 that the U.S. Air Force's (USAF) proposal to lease 100 Boeing KC-767A tanker aircraft would cost $1.3 billion to $2 billion more than a purchase. In a letter to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Don Nickles (R-Okla.), CBO disagreed with the Air Force's conclusion that a lease would cost only $150 million more than a purchase.
The Boeing Co. plans to resume work on the first of 10 satellites ordered by ICO Global Telecommunications to meet a scheduled launch date in early 2005. The delivery date corresponds to the terms of the original construction contract signed in 1995. Work on that contract stopped after ICO, based in London, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 1999. The struggling company emerged from bankruptcy in May 2000 after former Teledesic executive Craig McCaw and a team of international investors poured $1.2 billion into it.
NEW DELHI - India's Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) will build components for and help maintain 18 Sukhoi Su-30 MKM aircraft that Russia is building for Malaysia, the company said. The work is worth up to 10 percent of the $900 million deal and includes the supply of airframes. HAL already has set up the infrastructure to build up to 140 similar Su-30 MKIs under license for its own military. HAL also offered to provide maintenance for the Malaysian fighters, which a HAL official said helped Russia close the deal on the sale.
The release of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board's (CAIB) final report Aug. 26 prompted lawmakers to unveil a host of proposals of their own, including a multi-billion dollar budget increase for NASA and the creation of at least two panels to guide future space policy.
NEW DESIGNATION: The U.S. Navy has officially designated Raytheon's Advanced Vertical Launching System as the MK 57 Vertical Launching System, the company said. The launcher, which will be able to fire all Navy missiles, is being designed for the DD(X), the Navy's next-generation destroyer.
A $498 million plan to dramatically boost force protection and security capabilities at U.S. Air Force bases worldwide will be spearheaded by four companies, the Pentagon announced late Aug. 25. The Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., selected Northrop Grumman Corp., EER Systems Inc., ECSI International and Abacus Technology Corp. to fill orders under the Integrated Base Defense Security System (IBDSS).
CHANDRA SUPPORT: The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Mass., will provide science and operational support for NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory under a $373 million follow-on contract, the aerospace agency said Aug. 26. The contract will extend the observatory's original contract through July 31, 2010, NASA said. The work includes mission operations and data analysis.
The first delivery of an F/A-22 Raptor to a U.S. Air Force operational squadron next month also marks the debut of a Boeing-developed training system for pilots and maintainers. The F/A-22's sophisticated cockpit systems, driven by two million lines of software code, require unique training tools for pilots learning to fly the aircraft, Lt. Col. Jeff Harrigian, commander of the 43rd Fighter Squadron, said in an Aug. 26 interview.
The modernization of Northrop Grumman's Avondale Operations could provide the necessary capacity for the company to enter emerging shipbuilding markets, according to senior naval analyst Stuart Slade of Forecast International/DMS. "Any rational look at Avondale would suggest additional possibilities," Slade said, including for building diesel-electric submarines, high-speed transport ships and small submersibles.
In a surprise move, the Bush Administration says it plans to renominate Gordon England to be secretary of the Navy, just months after he left that post to join the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as deputy secretary. "He did a fine job as the secretary of the Navy prior to moving to the Department of Homeland Security, and I look forward to working with him again," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in an Aug. 23 Pentagon statement.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Satellites are providing continuous surveillance of Iraq but commanders there sometimes still must be reminded of the limitations of space assets, according to Lt. Gen. Joseph M. Cosumano Jr., chief of Army Space and Missile Defense Command. Space surveillance continues to play a role in Iraq and images and electronic intelligence gathered by satellites are "provided to collectors on the ground, and then they make decisions about where people are, and so forth," Cosumano told reporters last week at Peterson Air Force Base here.
The first of six volumes in the Columbia Accident Investigation Board's (CAIB) final report on the Feb. 1 shuttle disaster will be released Aug. 26. The CAIB already has issued five sets of recommendations to NASA to assist in the agency's return-to-flight effort. NASA has appointed a task force to ensure that all of the CAIB's recommendations are fully implemented (DAILY, May 23). Reinforced Carbon-Carbon (issued April 17):
Air Force Undersecretary Peter Teets on Aug. 25 endorsed for the first time a month-long Boeing campaign to emphasize corporate ethics and integrity in three space business units banned from new government work. In a written statement, Teets said he is "pleased with the actions that Boeing has taken thus far to improve how they conduct their launch business."
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - The revamped Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program is making steady progress as it gears up for its first flight test about a year from now, according to a program official. Speaking here at the recent Sixth Annual Space and Missile Defense Conference, Reba Seals, THAAD's deputy program manager, said all of the system's "critical path activities" are on schedule and the overall program is slightly ahead of schedule and under cost.
