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Aviation History
1996
1996 - 1693.PDF
HEADLINES Lockheed Martin wins X-33 contract with VentureStar TIM FURNISS/LONDON NASA HAS selected Lockheed Martin to design, build and test the X-3 3, a half-scale model of a proposed Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) to replace the Space Shuttle fleet. A full-scale vehicle could be operational by 2005. The fully re-useable Lockheed Martin VentureStar will have its first automatic, sub-orbital, test flightinMarch 1999, taking off ver tically and landing horizontally, fol lowed by 15 more flights before the endofthatyear. The 38.1m-long, 12,383kg, VentureStar is based on a lifting- body design with a new aerospike engine—to be developed by indus try partner Rocketdyne — and a rugged metallic thermal-protec tion system. The other partner is AlliedSignal Aerospace. Rockwell and McDonnell Douglas were the losing bidders. Three flight models will be built of the VentureStar, which will reach altitudes of 80km and speeds of Mach 15, flying from and returning to Edwards AFB, California. NASA has budgeted S941 mil lion for the project and Lockheed is investing $200 million of its own funds. "Our role is to develop the The VentureStar has taken Lockheed Martin to Shuttle replacement success high-risk technologies that indus try can't afford," says NASA Administrator, Daniel Goldin, "but we won't build the vehicle. NASA will be a user, not an operator." The Space Shuttle was given the go-ahead in 1972, was first flown in 1981 and has completed just 78 missions at a cost of about $3 billion a year. "We want to fly the X-3 3 in 32 months. We'renotgoingtowait a decade," said Goldin. "It's time to do something bold and risky." If the X-33 tests receive NASA approval, Lockheed Martin and its partners will decide whether it is economically feasible to develop die estimated $5 billion RLV with joint space-agency funding. It is proposed to fly the RLV 50 times a year, cutting the cost of fly ing into orbit from $20,000 per kilogramme of payload to $2,000 per kilogramme, with a turnaround of days. The RLV is also seen as potential commercial launcher and military vehicle. The development will be complemented by contin ued testing of die McDonnell Douglas DC-XAand by the new X- 34 Mach 8 launcher demonstrator being built by Orbital Sciences. • Robinson makes surprise move to Dornier Robinson: unexpected move TIM ROBINSON, the former J president of AlliedSignal En gines, who recently took over at Learjet, has surprised the aero space world by becoming president ofDornier. Robinson will be based at Dornier's Oberpfaffenhofen head quarters, near Munich, to oversee the integration of the company with Fairchild Aircraft, which bought the majority share in Dor nier from Daimler-Benz Aero space on 5 June. Robinson had led a major modernisation effort at Learjet before promotion to presi dent and was not expected to leave so suddenly. Replacing him at Learjet's Wichita site in Kansas is Lachlan (Mac) Beatson, who has been poached by Bombardier from AlliedSignal Aerospace, where he was most recently general manager of the Tucson site in Arizona. In other moves, Carl Albert, chairman and chief executive of Fairchild has been appointed chairman of the management board and managing director of Fairchild Dornier Luftfahrt Be- teiligungs, Dornier's parent, which produces the 328 and 228 regional airliners. Harold (Mac) Wlliams, president of Fairchild Aircraft, has also been appointed as a managing director of Fairchild Dornier. • EC studies US/ European competition implications THE EUROPEAN Com mission (EC) has launched an investigation into six alliances between US and European airlines, to determine whether they will limit competition. According to EC competition commissioner Karel Van Miert and transport commissioner Neil Kinnock, the aim is to give the EC similar powers to those of the US Justice Department, which has the authority to rule on deals involving alliances with non-US airlines. The move comes after the pro posed alliance between British Airways and American Airlines, but five other major tie-ups will also be studied — those of Lufthansa/- United Airlines; Scandinavian Airlines System/United; British Airways/USAir; Swissair/Sabena/- Delta; and KLM/Northwest. There is uncertainty over the action which the EC could take if it found any of the deals to be anti competitive. While it has well- established rights to rule on anti competitive alliances between air lines belonging to European Union member states, the EC has no such mandate covering agreements for ged with outside carriers. Kinnock has been given permis sion to open preliminary talks on an air agreement with the USA, but a full external-relations policy has yet to be drawn up. David Balfour, of European law firm Frere Chumley Bixchoff, says that it would not be "easy" to apply current intra-Euro- pean competition rules to non-EC carriers. He says that one option could be to operate a little-used provision within the Treaty of Rome giving the EC the power to ensure the application of competi tion rules "in co-operation with the authorities of member states". Another area over which the EC might have power is in slot allocation. Airlines could be obliged -to give up slots at their home airports, limiting the potential for expansion on con tested routes. • FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 10 - 16 July 1996 5
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