All aerospace news – Page 1768
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NASA ready to detail transporter plans
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC NASA will brief the US Administration by the end of September on its proposal to spend $1.2 billion over five years to prepare for a "low risk" competition to select a next-generation space transporter by 2005. The agency is to present its plans to the US Office ...
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Safety team to probe Shuttle maintenance
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA has appointed an independent industry team to review the overall safety of the Space Shuttle and its maintenance and refurbishment practices. The team will be led by Dr Henry McDonald, director of NASA's Ames Research Center. The move follows the discovery of maintenance-related damage to ...
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Arianespace moves to reduce launch backlog
Arianespace plans to launch six boosters before the end of the year in an effort to reduce the backlog of launches caused by delays to deliveries of several communications satellites earlier this year. The next mission is due on 24 September, involving the launch of a Telstar 7 satellite ...
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Il Avia loses licence after using time-expired engines
Russia's Federal Service of Air Transport has withdrawn the operating licence of a leading air cargo operator for maintenance violations involving the alleged use of time-expired engines on an Ilyushin Il-76TD. Il Avia, 10%-owned by the Ilyushin Aviation Complex and 90% by Vozrozhdenniya, a foundation set up to support ...
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IATA calls for industry action to fight threat to radio spectrum
Emma Kelly/AMSTERDAM The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is urging the aviation industry to increase efforts to protect its radio frequency spectrum in preparation for next year's International Telecommunications Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC). The aviation industry's vital radio spectrum was threatened by mobile satellite communication operators at ...
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UPS wins Alaska FAA ADS-B contract
The US Federal Aviation Administration has awarded UPS Aviation Technologies a contract for at least 150 shipsets of avionics to be made available to small commercial operators in Alaska, finalising plans for an operational evaluation of free flight. The three-year Capstone programme will involve most of the aircraft operating ...
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Mars Climate Orbiter gets lost
A software navigation error or human error is thought to have caused the loss of NASA's $125 million Mars Climate Orbiter on 23 September. The craft was lost 5min after its orbital insertion engine was fired to send it into orbit around the planet. The orbiter is thought to have ...
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Anglo-Russian consortium brings Tu-204F to the West
A UK freight leasing company will introduce the first of at least three Tupolev Tu-204 freighters in November, spearheading Anglo-Russian efforts to boost the fortunes of the Russian twinjet. AirRep, headquartered at London Gatwick, will take delivery of the first Aviadvigatel PS-90-powered Tu-204-100C in mid-November, with two more following ...
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Carriers link to beat US safety restrictions
Aeropostal of Venezuela is negotiating with Aerolineas Argentinas to combine their Airbus A310-300 services in a move to improve operating efficiencies and circumvent safety assessment restrictions on flights to the USA. The South American carriers each operate two Pratt & Whitney PW4000-powered A310s on operating leases from Airbus Asset ...
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Spares sale
The TI Group has sold its two aircraft spares companies to the UK's RF Saywell, forming what is claimed to be one of the largest aircraft-spares supplier in Europe. The acquisition of UK Southend-based Flightspares, and London Gatwick Airport-based Aerocontracts, which have a combined annual turnover of more than £12 ...
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Eurocopter order
Eurocopter has signed a contract with the Hong Kong Government for the sale of eight helicopters to be operated by Hong Kong's Government Flying Service (GFS). The $93.4 million contract covers three Eurocopter AS 332 L2 Super Puma helicopters and five EC55Bs. The aircraft will be based at Hong Kong's ...
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Delta configuration
Boeing is developing a new Delta II configuration to launch NASA's Space Infrared Telescope Facility in late 2001. The modified two-stage Delta II will be equipped with nine larger-diameter solid rocket motors, from the Delta III, to increase payload capability to geosynchronous transfer orbit by 10%, to 4,550lb (2,060kg). Source: ...
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Cupola inspected for ISS
Astronauts from the USA and Europe were scheduled to visit the Lindholmen company in Gösteborg, Sweden, on 27 September to inspect the six-windowed cupola destined to give crewmembers a 360° view from the International Space Station (ISS). The 2m (6ft)-diameter domed, hexagonal-shaped cupola will allow crewmembers to control robotic arms ...
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Turbofan time
The entrée of the 30/40-seat jet offers the opportunity to focus on modernising the lower end of the regional aircraft fleet Paul Lewis/Washington DC The recent introduction of the new Embraer RJ-135 (above) and Fairchild Aerospace 328JET has heralded the entry into service of a completely new class of ...
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Step by step
A year after ICAO's global CVS/ATM gathering, progress towards the ultimate goal of global implementation is slowly being made Emma Kelly/LONDON In May last year, more than 800 International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) states and aviation decision makers met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to discuss communications, navigation and surveillance/air ...
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Wishful thinking
DVD, e-mail and Internet access are among the next big things for in-flight services Emma Kelly/LONDONThe in-flight entertainment (IFE) industry's wish list just keeps on growing. No sooner have airlines and IFE system and service suppliers implemented a new capability to entertain, than they are eyeing up the next service ...
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Shuttle schedule switched
NASA has switched the launches of the STS100 Endeavour Shuttle Radar Topography and the STS103 Discovery Hubble servicing missions while inspection and repair work continues on the orbiter's electrical wiring (Flight International, 8-14 September). The tentative launch date for STS103 is 28 October, while STS101 is targeted for a ...
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French air force takes first Cougar CSAR
Eurocopter has delivered the first Cougar Mk2 combat search and rescue helicopter to the French air force. Service entry is planned in around 18 months. The air force requires up to 14 machines, but the latest defence budget provides funding for only four. The remaining three have yet to ...
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Airbus' A3XX economics target 'unachievable', says Boeing
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Paul Lewis/WASHINGTON DC Boeing has dismissed Airbus Industrie's 15-20% cost saving target for the A3XX over the 747-400 as unachievable. The European consortium claims to be ahead of the targets, as its US rival focuses on cheaper 747-based growth derivatives rather than an all-new design to meet its ...
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DC-9 age leads to calls for checks
Old Age is catching up with the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 fleet as the US Federal Aviation Administration issues directives on two electrical modifications and a revision on the safe life of structural components. Reporting incidents in which short-circuiting has caused "severe smoke and burn damage which could result in ...