All aerospace news – Page 1758
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Tu-134 re-engining offered
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW A Tupolev-led consortium is proposing a cost-effective re-engining and refurbishment programme for the Tupolev Tu-134 twinjet, dubbed the "Tu-134M", to improve performance, efficiency and environmental compliance. Interavia, formed by a group of Russian, Belarussian and Ukrainian companies, hopes to secure contracts to refurbish around half the ...
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Seating giant B/E faces bumpy ride
Chris Jasper/LONDON Aircraft interiors specialist B/E Aerospace has issued a profits warning for its current fiscal year and the next after experiencing major difficulties in its seating products group, the largest single element of B/E's business. Florida-based B/E, the world's largest manufacturer of aircraft seats, blames production problems ...
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China conducts further tests in preparation for manned flight
Tim Furniss/LONDON China conducted the first unmanned test of its Shenzhou spacecraft on 20 November. The launch from Jiuquan was also the first to use the Long March 2F (LM2F) booster. China is planning further unmanned test flights of the Shenzhou before launching with a two-man crew on board. The ...
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Cluster II enters testing
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Dornier Satellitensysteme (DSS)has completed the fourth and final satellite for the European Space Agency's (ESA)c300 million ($309 million) Cluster II mission and handed the spacecraft over to Munich-based Industrieanlagen Betriebsgesellschaftfor testing. The satellites are to be orbited in pairs by Russian Soyuz boosters next June and ...
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Hubble service trip delayed for repairs
NASA has delayed the launch of STS103 Discovery on the Hubble Servicing Mission 3A to 9 December. The delay is to allow time for repairs to be made to minor damage on cables between the orbiter and the external tank. During preparations for orbiter Endeavour's mission in January, NASA ...
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NASA awaits Mars attempt
NASA's Mars Polar Lander (MPL) is due to touch down on the Red Planet's south pole on 3 December. NASA is anxious for a successful landing after the failure of the sister ship - the Mars Climate Orbiter - on 23 September. The 1.06m (3ft 6in) tall, 580kg (1,270lb) ...
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Battery lost
The International Space Station's (ISS) Russian Zarya control module is operating on two-thirds of normal battery power after battery number two, one of five, failed to discharge. Battery number one, which failed earlier, is due to be replaced by the STS101 Atlantis crew in March. A second battery change could ...
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Starsem completes sixth Globalstar satellite launch
Starsem launched another four Globalstar mobile communications satellites on a Soyuz Ikar booster from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 22 November. There are 48 Globalstar satellites in space and a final launch of four by a Delta II in January will complete the constellation, with four in-orbit spares available. Replacements will ...
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Mergers
SAirGroup ground-handling company Swissport International has acquired Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus' London Heathrow passenger and ramp handling business, offered for sale in April. The move follows Swissport's acquisition of DynAir of the USA and equity investment in Serlipsa of Peru and Miascor of the Philippines. Delta Air Lines and ...
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Police aviation sold
Bombardier has sold UK helicopter operator and distributor, Police Aviation Services (PAS) to RDM, the Dutch industrial group which acquired Boeing's civil helicopter activities earlier this year. The sale, which comes less than two years after PAS' acquisition by the Canadian company, is set for completion on 3 December. The ...
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British Airways launches corporate rescue plan
Chris Jasper/LONDON British Airways has launched a corporate plan with the aim of tackling problem areas, including low yields at London Gatwick Airport, loss-making airline subsidiaries and domestic operation and poor aircraft usage. The plan is part of a bid to secure the massive profit improvements BA financial controller ...
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Proton grounding adds to ISS delay
The International Space Station (ISS) is facing more delays following Russia's decision to keep its Proton booster grounded until at least March, while improvements are made to the second stage powerplant after two failures in four months. The grounding means that the Russian Zvezda service module for the ISS will ...
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Gulfstream mods
Jet Aviation has modified the first Gulfstream III with a Rockwell Collins flat screen FDS-2000 flight display, with new 127mm (5in) screens, control unit, cooling fans and glareshields. The aircraft is also the first to be retrofitted with a new all-composite GIV interior. Source: Flight International
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SBIRS team
Aerojet has signed a teaming deal to become a member of the TRW-Raytheon project for the Space Based Infrared System Low (SBIRS Low) project. Aerojet will play a key role in the ground segment, systems engineering and space segment. SBIRS Low is the low-Earth orbiting component of the US Air ...
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JFK Reconstructs
CAROLE SHIFRIN NEW YORK Billions of dollars are being pumped into New York's once run-down Kennedy airport to make the USA's east coast gateway fit for the 21st century A largely faded symbol of the new world of international aviation, New York's John F Kennedy International Airport is undergoing a ...
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Alaska offers Internet check-in
JANE LEVERE NEW YORK Alaska Airlines, a pioneer in the use of electronic tickets, is using the Internet to revolutionise its check-in process. The carrier has developed a new on-line check-in system for travellers who purchase electronic tickets for domestic travel from its web site; it now sells only paperless ...
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VASP merger proposal rejected
BRIAN HOMEWOOD RIO DE JANEIRO Brazilian aviation is again in confusion over mergers, with VASP proposing a single holding company for the four main companies and the government's development bank repeating an offer to finance fusion. For the second time this year, Andrea Calabia, president of The Brazilian National Development ...
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Up to the Minute
KEVIN O'TOOLE CHICAGO A new Internet company is pitching into the battle to sell late available space and hoping to establish a new on-line business model in the process. "We're travel evangelists," says David Miranda, with all the visionary brio that the world has come to expect of a would-be ...
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Getting the e-price right
KEVIN O'TOOLE CHICAGO The advent of the Internet has begun to change the way that the world does business, but for the airline industry many of the issues that it brings are already familiar. While businesses anxiously puzzle out what implications the Internet will have for their sales, it seems ...
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Reclaiming ATC
Taking air traffic control services away from government is starting to look like a necessity as Europe and the USA continue to battle with near-gridlock. But airlines too will have to be realistic about the cost of renewing the neglected infrastructure. For years, airlines on both sides of the ...