All aerospace news – Page 1752
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Matra Marconi wins climate monitor deal
Matra Marconi Space (MMS) has received a €791 million ($798 million) contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat) to build three polar-orbiting Metop satellites. Metop is the first European polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology and climate monitoring. ...
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Quality regulations push back Eaglet certification schedule
Euro-ENAER has pushed back certification of its Eaglet single-engined utility aircraft until the first quarter of 2000 because of the unforeseen demands of new European quality assurance regulations for general aviation aircraft. The fully composite two-seat Eaglet, originally set for approval in March, may become the first aircraft to ...
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Sweden wins contract to develop Smart for ESA
The Swedish Space Corporation and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a €33 million ($32.9 million) contract to develop the Small Advanced Research and Technology 1 (Smart 1) science and technology demonstration spacecraft. Smart 1 will be launched to the moon in about 2003. The Smart series of small ...
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Ibis plans Ae270 sales offensive
Ibis Aerospace, the joint venture between Czech company Aero Vodochody and Taiwan's Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC), plans to launch a sales and marketing campaign for the single-turboprop Ae270 utility aircraft following its first flight in February. "We want to establish a certification and delivery timetable before we start ...
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Canada wants to fly MD-11 in crash investigation
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) wants to conduct test flights with a Swissair Boeing MD-11 with its inflight entertainment system activated as part of the continuing probe into the 2 September, 1998, crash of the same craft, off Nova Scotia, the TSB confirms. Tests are intended to ...
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Virgin fires starting gun for Australian no-frills market
Paul Phelan/CAIRNS Virgin Group owner Richard Branson unveiled plans in Sydney at the end of November for a low-cost Australian domestic airline in the style of Europe's Virgin Express. Branson says he hopes to have his new no-frills airline, provisionally titled Virgin Australia, fully operational well before the ...
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EC approval puts new Honeywell in business
The new Honeywell began trading on 2 December following European Commission (EC) approval for the merger of avionics giants Honeywell and AlliedSignal. EC clearance, which follows US Department of Justice (DoJ) approval, came after the partners agreed to certain undertakings to allay EC concerns over the merger. The EC's ...
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Eagle Aircraft picks Kansas distributor
Eagle Aircraft has delivered six Eagle 150B trainers to its recently appointed US partner, GLH Aviation of Augusta, Kansas. GLH is responsible for final assembly, quality-assurance flights, and sales and marketing for the US market. GLH is negotiating with Eagle to expand the deal to include installing key components ...
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JAA subcommittee starts work on OPS requirements
A European Joint Aviation Authorities subcommittee is drawing up recommendations for Joint Aviation Requirements Operations (JAR OPS 2) - the regulatory code that will cover corporate and aerial work. Requirements for these operations are being developed by the aerial work and general aviation sub-committee (AWGAS), which is part of ...
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Ariane 5 faces critical lift-off
The Ariane 5 launcher will conduct its first operational and commercial flight from Kourou, French Guiana, on 10 December. It will carry the $1 billion X-Ray Multi Mirror (XMM) telescope - Europe's largest-ever science satellite. The first full commercial Arianespace-operated mission - Ariane 504 - will place the 10m ...
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NASA plans the first of Mars mission series
NASA will launch a navigation and communication microsatellite into orbit around Mars in 2003 as the first of a series of micromissions there. NASA plans to launch the 485kg (1,100lb), $50 million, microsatellites, built by Ball Aerospace, with an Aerojet propulsion unit, to form the Mars Network. The network ...
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Clinton and Sukhoi in RNZAF F-16 debate
US President Bill Clinton has moved to shore up a lease deal for 28 Lockheed Martin F-16s by New Zealand, following the announcement of a review of the deal by New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. Clark says Clinton raised the lease's future during a telephone conference on 3 ...
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$100m Virgin deal launches System 3000
Emma Kelly/LONDON Virgin Atlantic has signed a $100 million letter of intent with Matsushita for the interactive in-flight entertainment (IFE) system supplier's new System 3000 hardware. The airline, expected to announce the deal later this month, is the first carrier to confirm a commitment to the fully interactive IFE ...
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A320 wet lease boosts Libyan
Andrew Chuter/TRIPOLI Libyan Arab Airlines is taking a significant step towards rebuilding its route structure with the scheduled arrival on 10 December of two Airbus A320s at its base in Tripoli. The wet-leased aircraft being provided by Irish airline TransAer are due to be pressed into service almost immediately. Libyan ...
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Midway starts to boost its Eastern US network
Midway Airlines plans to bolster frequencies, capacity and reduce seat kilometre costs on its eastern US network with the delivery this month of the first of 17 Boeing 737-700s. It will also receive further smaller, 50-seat, Bombardier Canadair Regional Jets (CRJs) next year. The carrier, based in Raleigh/ Durham, ...
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That's entertainment
The in-flight entertainment (IFE) industry is experiencing a mini order bonanza this month if the deals by Virgin, United Airlines and an unnamed carrier are anything to go by. But a closer look at the deals and the airlines' reason for them say more about the recent troubled history ...
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The inside story
Improved software has added a new dimension to Dassault's Falcon Jet Completion Center Paul Seidenman/SAN FRANCISCODassault has completed the installation of the latest version of a state-of-the-art digital design system at its Falcon Jet Completion Center at the Little Rock National Airport in Arkansas. The system, CATIA R, was originally ...
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Fan finale
Turbofan engines for the Millennium are bigger and better than ever Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Flight International's final turbofan directory of the 20th century reveals the broadest power range and most capable set of engines in the industry's history. Topping the list are the mighty Boeing ...
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Close shave
Just 4min before the Galileo's 300km fly-by of one of Jupiter's moons, Io, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers restored power to its cameras. They had been decommissioned by the craft going into "safe mode" as it flew through the intense radiation of the gaseous planet on 25 November. Source: Flight ...
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NASA prepares to launch Earth-observing Terra
The first International Launch Services Atlas booster to fly from Vandenberg AFB, California, is due to lift off on 16 December. The Atlas IIAS will carry NASA's flagship Earth Observing System (EOS) satellite, Terra, into a 705km circular Sun-synchronous polar orbit. Terra, originally called EOS AM, is the first ...