All aerospace news – Page 1737
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NEAR monitors asteroid rotation
The NASA Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft has entered a lower, 200km (125 miles), orbit around the asteroid Eros after two orbit correction manoeuvres.Next month NASA hopes to conduct a third short engine burn, moving the spacecraft into a 100km orbit. By May, the NEAR will be moved as ...
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Cargo conversion market grows with US-Israeli tie-up
Cargo Conversions, a San Francisco-based Boeing 747 conversion specialist, has teamed with Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI) to market 747-100/200 freighter conversions, using a TRW-built kit and a supplemental type certificate (STC) held by the Israeli company. "We will take kits from TRW, built in accordance with the IAI design, ...
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Asian industry positions for freighter conversion boom
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Aerospace companies in Singapore and Taiwan are manoeuvring to claim a greater share of an expected boom in narrow and widebody airliner freighter conversions over the next few years. In Taiwan, Boeing has signed a conversion agreement with Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation, Air Asia, China Airlines (CAL) and ...
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Boeing unwraps avionics upgrade technique
Boeing has demonstrated a low-cost avionics upgrade technique that allows existing software to run unmodified on new commercial processors. The technique involves a computer program which "wraps" around the legacy software and allows it to operate with new commercial software and hardware. Boeing's demonstrations involved the C-17 Globemaster ...
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Mars landings
NASA has cancelled the planned Mars landing mission set for launch in 2001. Instead, a replacement for the Mars Climate Orbiter, which was lost in September, will lift off. A replacement Mars Polar Lander (MPL) will be launched in 2002 instead, aiming for the same site as the MPL 1, ...
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Air-launched booster under study by USA
Boeing is studying the feasibility of developing an air-launched booster capable of launching military and commercial payloads on demand. The AirLaunch booster is being designed by Boeing and Thiokol Propulsion as a possible launch system for the USAir Force's planned Space Manoeuvre Vehicle (SMV), a reusable, unmanned spaceplane. ...
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Midland determined on long haul
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON British Midland (BM) is adamant that it will begin long-haul services next year, but is tight lipped about its contingency plans should it not receive clearance for transatlantic flights. The airline had expected to be in a position to detail its plans for transatlantic flights from London Heathrow ...
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Second Fregat test precedes commercial debut
Starsem plans to launch the second Soyuz Fregat booster from Baikonur on 19 March to place two dummy satellites into a simulated orbit, using the Fregat upper stage. The mission will pave the way for two commercial launches in June and July, designed to place two pairs of Cluster ...
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Power problem delays IMAGE
Concern about the condition of DC-to-DC power converters on the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite has delayed the 15 March launch of the spacecraft aboard a Boeing Delta II from Vandenberg AFB, California. Launch preparations for the $153 million Lockheed Martin-built satellite have been halted after an ...
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NASA details ISS price list
Tim Furniss/LONDON Users of the US share of International Space Station resources will be charged a standard price of $20.8 million a year, according to a preliminary price structure released by NASA. The charge is quoted for use of each of two typical "bundles" of equipment, excluding transportation ...
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SR Technics sets up joint ventures
SR Technics is to form separate maintenance joint ventures with South African Airways (SAA) and France's AOM, carriers to which it is linked via parent company SAirGroup, which has equity stakes in both. The Swiss overhaul specialist says it is in "very advanced" talks about the South African venture. ...
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Star seeks busier fleet
Julian Moxon/PARIS French charter carrier Star Airlines has isolated improved aircraft utilisation as the key to matching 1999's financial performance during the current year. Star posted an after-tax profit of Fr11.72 million ($1.75 million) last year, up 128% on 1998, with operating profit up even more sharply, increasing to ...
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BBA buys training school
David Learmount/LONDON Diversified industrial conglomerate BBA has bought Europe's largest professional pilot training organisation, Oxford Aviation of the UK, marking the first move in an expected trend towards the consolidation of the continent's fragmented nationally orientated training sector. London-based BBA, which has several aviation-related subsidiaries, says the £55.4 million ($88.5 ...
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New investment deal points Britten-Norman eastwards
Chris Jasper/LONDON Dubai-based investment group HSPD is to take a 15% stake in UK utility aircraft specialist Britten-Norman with the aim of marketing its products in the Middle East. One type that could be offered is a factory-built version of Europa's XS kit aircraft. UK-based Europa is understood to ...
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People
American Airlines has named David Cush as vice president (VP), international planning and alliances. Cush returns to American from Aerolineas Argentinas, where he has been chief operating officer (COO) since November 1998, after the termination of the US major's management contract there. Airbus Industrie of North America (AINA) says retiring ...
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Data overload
Current flightdecks can reduce pilot situational awareness David Learmount/LONDON Flightdeck avionics are supposed to give pilots "situational awareness", but there is evidence that modern systems can reduce it. Situational awareness is the pilot's mental picture of the aircraft relative to its three-dimensional operational environment, including navigation and terrain, the ...
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Jet power
The potential for Indian air transport has never been greater Julian Moxon/MUMBAIWith a population of close to 1 billion people, most of whom travel by train, India offers immense potential for air transport. That potential was unlocked with the Indian Government's liberalisation of the domestic civil aviation industry in 1990. ...
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On-time software keeps FAA datalink on track
Key software for the US Federal Aviation Administration's controller-pilot datalink communications (CPDLC) programme has been delivered to prime contractor Computer Sciences (CSC). The on-time delivery of router software for the aeronautical telecommunications network (ATN) keeps the CPDLC programme on track as the FAA struggles with budget and schedule problems ...
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India acts to attract more private sector investment
Julian Moxon/PARIS Mehar Singh/DELHI The Indian Government has released a draft civil aviation policy that promises to increase private sector involvement in the country's air transport industry, if the plan is approved. Among the more important recommendations of the report are the creation of an autonomous civil aviation ...
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More EchoStars on the way
DISH EchoStar communications has ordered three new satellites for its US DISH Network direct-broadcast system. Two craft will be built by Space Systems/Loral and one by Lockheed Martin. EchoStar operates five satellites, with a sixth to be launched in the second quarter. Of the new satellites, the Lockheed Martin-built ...