All aerospace news – Page 1743
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NASA promises more Shuttle support
NASA will hire 1,850 more engineers in the next five years to concentrate on improvements to the Space Shuttle main engines, auxiliary power units and cockpit avionics. The move follows an independent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel assessment which concluded that NASA's manned spaceflight team is too small and too ...
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Proton on course for Zvezda launch
Tim Furniss/LONDON The prospects for a launch of the Russian Zvezda service module to the International Space Station (ISS) in July were raised on 12 February by the successful lift-off of a four-stage Proton DM booster from Baikonur. The rocket carried the Asia Cellular System (ACeS) Garuda 1 mobile ...
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MIR hopes
MirCorp, established last year to fund the continuation of operations of the Russian Mir space station, says it has paid Russian company Khrunichev about $30 million to keep the orbiting base in space until the summer. The company needs to raise $40 million more from investors. Meanwhile, Russian scientists propose ...
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Reusable Fregat proves concept with return flight
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW Tim Furniss/LONDON The Fregat upper stage was tested successfully for the first time on 9 February attached to a Soyuz booster. The Soyuz-Fregat placed into orbit and returned to Earth a dummy payload weighing about 110kg. The Fregat is a reusable module which has a unique ...
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NASA consents to Contour after Eros lift
NASA has approved the start of development of the Comet Nucleus Tour (Contour) spacecraft, which will be launched in 2002 to fly past up to three comets between 2003 and 2008. Contour, which is managed by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Baltimore, Maryland, which also built the ...
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Ilyushin gauges interest in turboprop to replace An-2
Paul Duffy/MOSCOW The Ilyushin design bureau is completing detailed design of its proposed new regional turboprop, the Il-100, which is to be built by MAPO. The twin-engined 12-seater was announced this month at a convention of polar airlines in Archangelsk in north-west Russia (Flight International, 8-14 February). During the gathering, ...
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IAI takes on more work on 428JET
Israel aircraft Industries (IAI) is increasing its participation in the Fairchild 428JET programme, which will see it taking on the design and manufacture of additional components. IAI has an agreement to design and manufacture the fuselage, as well as undertake final assembly of the 44-seat, Pratt & Whitney Canada ...
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Tarnished image
Three Japanese satellite launches in the last two years have failed: the country's space programme is in crisis Andrzej Jeziorski/TOKYO Japan's space programme has been tarnished by a series of launch failures that culminated this month in the unsuccessful mission to deliver a government observation satellite into orbit aboard ...
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Workshop
Polar Air Cargo has signed an agreement with Singapore Airlines (SIA) Engineering covering heavy maintenance work for its Boeing 747-100/200 freighters. Sabena Technics and Triumph Air Repair have signed a memorandum of understanding covering partnership on maintenance of auxiliary power units, integrated drive generators and constant speed drives, ATEC 6000 ...
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Swissair to rewire MD-11 cockpit areas
Swissair is to carry out an extensive programme of cockpit-area rewiring on its 19 Boeing MD-11s, starting in August. The airline's decision is based on analysis, since the September 1998 crash of one of its MD-11s near Halifax, Canada, of wiring routing in the forward fuselage, according to Swissair engineering ...
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CargoLifter: Zeppelin's rival in airships
David Learmount/BRAND, GERMANY While Zeppelin is injecting new life into the traditional airship market sector from Friedrichshafen, CargoLifter is developing a massive lighter- than-air machine to perform work which has never been done by any aircraft - let alone an airship. The early CargoLifter CL160 airships will be ...
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Beyond the blimp
The revived Zeppelin 'is using the tradition to shape the future' Ed Reavis/FRIEDRICHSHAFEN Sixty-two years after the giant Zeppelin airship was engulfed in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey, the legendary manufacturer has been reborn. The modern version of this great silver whale is as big as a Boeing 747, ...
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Protecting the spectrum
The aviation industry is battling to preserve its radio frequency spectrum Emma Kelly/LONDON In May, the aviation industry will face one of its toughest battles, when it fights to protect its radio-frequency spectrum. Aviation met the first serious sortie on its spectrum at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) ...
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Euro satnav
Europe faces demanding satellite navigation tasks this year Emma Kelly/LONDON The European space and navigation industry has a hard job to complete this year. By the end of it, it must have a clear idea of the shape of the continent's second-generation satellite navigation system - Galileo. Little ...
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Reality check
Problems with the FAA's cornerstone satnav programme have users worried Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC B beset with funding and other issues surrounding its transition to satellite navigation, the last thing the US Federal Aviation Administration needs is a problem with its keystone Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) programme. But a problem ...
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Testing times
Airbus is performing an unprecedented amount of pre-entry-into-service systems testing for its A340-500 and -600 models Andrew Doyle/TOULOUSE The start of final assembly of the first Airbus Industrie A340-600 is four months away, but the consortium is ensuring that its latest widebody derivatives have an unprecedented level of service readiness. ...
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Boeing begins 70-seat 717 study
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Boeing has begun concept studies of a 70-seat regional-jet variant of its 717 as part of wider family options based on the -200, -100X and -300X derivatives. It has also commissioned a broad-ranging study of the regional airline market to help guide its 717 development plan. The ...
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MD takes power
MD Helicopters has begun delivery of the MD Explorer powered by uprated Pratt & Whitney Canada PW207E turboshafts. The engine produces 530kW (710shp) for take off, with a single-engine rating of 595kW - representing increases of 11% and 8.5% respectively. Meanwhile, the Mesa, Arizona-based company has clinched an order from ...
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X-33 engine passes test milestones
The X-33 Technology Demonstrator's linear aerospike engine has been test fired for 125s at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. It was the longest test to date at 100% power for the Boeing Rocketdyne engine, exceeding a previous run by 30s. The test also featured the first demonstration of ...
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ANZ snaps up Ansett Australia
Paul Phelan/MELBOURNEAir New Zealand (ANZ) has taken over Ansett Australia after agreeing to buy the 50% of Ansett Holdings it did not already own from News Corporation for A$580 million ($365 million). The combined entity will be 85% the size of Australian flag carrier Qantas, with annual revenues of over ...