All aerospace news – Page 1731
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X-38 prototype makes longest glide flight
The X-38 small-scale prototype of the Crew Rescue Vehicle (CRV) for the International Space Station made its longest glide-flight from the highest altitude to date on 30 March. The craft was dropped from a NASA B-52 at 39,000ft (11,895m) and landed the craft by parachuting to the desert floor near ...
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SESAT to give Eutelsat a gateway to India
The first of Eutelsat's three new Siberia Europe Satellites (SESAT) has been shipped to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The satellite is set to be launched on a Proton DM booster on 17 April. The satellite was built by Russia's NPO-PM company with an 18 Ku-band transponder communications payload ...
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Cosmonauts board Mir as USA raises money concerns
Tim Furniss/LONDON Russian cosmonauts Sergei Zaletin and Alexander Kaleri docked with the Mir space station on 6 April after their launch on a Soyuz TM spacecraft from Baikonur on 4 April. It is the first manned mission to the ageing station since it was abandoned in August 1999. ...
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Airod offering
Malaysian maintenance, repair and overhaul company Airod plans an initial public offering (IPO) on the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange by the end of September. Some Airod companies may be excluded to make the IPO more attractive, with others floated later. Airod was the first government organisation to be "corporatised", in ...
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Workshop
The Bedek division of Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) is negotiating the conversion of four more Boeing 767-200s from passenger to freight configuration for Airborne Express. The first of 11 ex-All Nippon Airways 767-200s included in the initial contract was delivered to the carrier on 3 April and two additional aircraft ...
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US-UK reach transatlantic deal
Chris Jasper/LONDON Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC The USA and UK have agreed a "mini-deal" allowing US Airways to begin London-Pittsburgh services and Virgin Atlantic Airways to retain flights to Chicago. Under the accord, the UK may also select a new US gateway to serve from London Gatwick, or a ...
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Eurocontrol presents Link plan
Emma Kelly/LONDON Eurocontrol will present its council with the master plan and business case for Europe's Link 2000+ programme next month. This is the first stage of an approval process which could pave the way for deployment of operational mobile datalink services for air traffic control (ATC) and airline ...
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Two begin battle to direct Latin American navigation
Guy Norris/SANTIAGO Raytheon and Lockheed Martin's new Synchronetics company have begun what promises to be a fiercely competitive battle to provide Latin America with satellite-based en route navigation and precision approach capabilities (Flight International, 28 March-3 April). Both companies stress the low-cost appeal of the solution to the airlines, ...
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NFTC expansion boosts Hawks
Bombardier's NATO Flight Training in Canada (NFTC) programme will add up to three BAE Systems Hawk 115 advanced and lead-in-fighter trainers (LIFT) to its fleet. The move is designed to keep pace with the increase in student pilot numbers as a result of Singapore joining the scheme and the expected ...
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NASA shake test error damages HESSI satellite
The launch of NASA's High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (HESSI) set for July has been delayed until at least January next year by a pre-flight test error at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The $65 million HESSI spacecraft was undergoing launch vibration testing on a shake table, but was shaken ...
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Glass cockpit ready for take-off
STS 101 Atlantis will be the first Space Shuttle orbiter to fly with the new Multifunction Display Subsystem (MEDS) developed by Honeywell Space Systems when its next mission is launched on 24 April. The new Boeing 777-style glass cockpit will also be added to the Columbia, Discovery and Endeavour orbiters. ...
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Feared engine fault delays Clusters
A possible generic problem with the thrusters on the four European Space Agency (ESA) Cluster satellites due to be launched by Starsem's Soyuz Fregat boosters in June and July has delayed the spacecraft's shipment to the Baikonur launch site in Khazakhstan. The flight acceptance review discovered a problem apparently ...
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M-309 launch marks composite first
Guy Norris/MOJAVE An all-composite, six- seat twin developed in secret by Colorado-based Adam Aircraft Industries and Scaled Composites, was unveiled on 5 April at the Californian manufacturer's Mojave site. The aircraft represents a breakthrough in manufacturing techniques, according to Scaled Composites president Bert Rutan. Incorporating several design and manufacturing ...
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Honeywell software tackles knock-on effects of delays
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Honeywell is showing airlines a software suite that promises to reduce substantially the knock-on effects of delays caused by air traffic control (ATC) or weather. The company is conducting simulations with major North American carriers and hopes to launch formally the "airline resynchronisation system" later ...
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European helicopter teams link concepts
Julian Moxon/PARIS The European Commission (EC) has succeeded in bringing together the European helicopter industry to combine proposals for tiltwing/tiltrotor aircraft projects in a single programme. A decision on EC research is expected in mid-year. Eurocopter proposed its tilt-rotor solution independently of an Agusta-GKN Westland submission for a tiltwing ...
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Commander raises production
Commander Aircraft has revamped its line of high-performance piston singles and is stepping up production to meet increased demand. The new Commander 115 incorporates airframe, engine, avionics and systems refinements. It has replaced the Commander 114 on the production line at the company, which is based at Bethany, Oklahoma. Commander ...
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Sibir takes over Siberian carriers
Paul Duffy/MOSCOWSibir, Russia's fastest-growing airline, is expanding again through the effective takeover of more Siberian carriers. It aims to formalise an alliance with a major European airline by the middle of this year. Vladislav Filiov, Sibir's general director, is continuing his strategy of linking airlines into a partnership under the ...
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528JET schedule may rule Fairchild out of Eurowings order battle
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH The Fairchild 728JET family has emerged as Eurowings' favourite for its planned order for up to 30 regional jets. But the carrier says it may have to switch to another manufacturer because the 50-seat 528JET model will not be available until at least 2005. The Dortmund-based ...
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Qantas joins the chase for stake in Air New Zealand
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS Qantas has entered the bidding for Air New Zealand (ANZ) in a move that has thrown the make-up of the Australasian air transport system into doubt, but which could result in Singapore Airlines (SIA) reversing the failure of its bid for Ansett Australia. Meanwhile, Ansett New Zealand ...