All aerospace news – Page 1775
-
News
USA limits chemical tank numbers
The US Department of Transportation has put into force new restrictions on the transport of chemical oxidisers and compressed oxygen aboard commercial air transports. The regulations bar carriage of chemical oxidisers in an inaccessible aircraft cargo compartment that does not have a fire or smoke detection and fire suppression ...
-
News
Dasa tests fly-by-wire system
A VFW 614 twinjet equipped with a newly developed fly-by-wire-system, the electronic flight control system (EFCS), has flown for the first time, from Bremen Airport in Germany. The system has been in development at DaimlerChrysler Aerospace Airbus' (Dasa Airbus) Bremen division since 1995. Flight tests will take place for the ...
-
News
Boeing focuses on cargo with conversion programme
Guy Norris/SEATTLE Boeing Airplane Services (BAS) plans to launch 757-200SF (special freighter) and 767-200SF passenger to freighter conversion programmes by the end of the year as part of plans to mount a broad attack on the cargo conversion market. It estimates the market could be worth up to $15 ...
-
News
ISS leaves a headache
Astronauts are trying to play down the bouts of sickness they experienced during their visit to the International Space Station in May Tim Furniss/LONDON Several crew members of the Space Shuttle STS96 Discovery became ill during a logistics supply mission and docking with the International Space Shuttle (ISS) in May ...
-
News
Airbus flies towards FANS approval
Airbus is expecting certification of its FANS-A (future air navigation system) avionics next spring following extensive in-flight trials of the system and the first tests in an operational environment. The system, developed for the A330/A340, supports satellite communications (satcoms), datalink communications and automatic dependent surveillance (ADS). The first operational trial ...
-
News
Mergers
Thomson-CSF subsidiary Sextant has become the sole owner of in-flight entertainment provider Sextant In-Flight Systems after acquiring the 49% of shares held by B/E Aerospace. Sextant took an initial 51% stake when the joint venture was created in January. The European Commission's review of the proposed AlliedSignal-Honeywell merger has entered ...
-
News
Police label SilkAir investigation as 'suicide cum murder'
The Singapore Police Force has classified its investigation into the crash of the SilkAir Boeing 737-300 in Sumatra on 19 December 1997 as "suicide cum murder". The police stress that the label has been adopted "solely to assist us in our investigation. It is not an indication of our ...
-
News
R-R grapples with European Trent overhaul strategy
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH Rolls-Royce (R-R) has failed to reach agreement with SAirGroup maintenance unit SR Technics over the structure of their proposed Trent engine overhaul joint venture, despite a year of talks on the scheme. Lufthansa Technik, having pondered participation in the venture, is no longer involved in the discussions. ...
-
News
France and UK invite JOANNA proposals
The French and UK ministries of defence have issued an invitation to tender for a fourth generation electro-optical targeting pod technical demonstrator programme (TDP)that could lead to an operational system entering service late in the next decade. The Joint Airborne Navigation and Attack (JOANNA) TDP will be split equally ...
-
News
The training drain
The Kosovo conflict pushed the USAF's European forces to the limit - and created a training backlog DeeDee Doke/RAMSTEIN AB An air power victory in the Kosovo conflict did not come without cost to the US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), which commands 26,000 active-duty airmen at 14 ...
-
News
Safety first
Korean Air is making a concentrated effort to improve safety and save itself from isolation - and possible collapse Andrzej Jeziorski/SEOUL Korean Air (KAL) executives speaking to the press these days face an unusual dilemma: how can an airline confirm, and simultaneously deny, that it has a problem with its ...
-
News
First Chandra X-ray images released
NASA has released the first two test images from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory, deployed into orbit by the STS93 in July. One of the images (left) shows a dramatic view of the leftovers of the Cassiopeia A supernova explosion, revealing debris, shock waves and the bright centre of the ...
-
News
Life comes to an end for Mir space station
The Mir space station has been abandoned after a career which began with the launch of the core module in February 1986. The final habitation crew landed safely in Kazakhstan on 28 August. Although another crew may be launched to prepare the space station for its de-orbiting early next ...
-
News
Orbital Sciences wins licence to swap information with Canada
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Orbital Sciences (OSC) has received a US export licence to exchange technical information with Canadian subsidiary McDonald, Detwiler & Associates (MDA), raising hopes that the US company will be allowed to supply the spacecraft for Canada's Radarsat-2 earth observation satellite. Delays in granting the licence ...
-
News
SeaStar captures Hurricane Dennis development
The development of Hurricane Dennis late last month was tracked by the Orbital Sciences-built SeaStar satellite. The satellite, launched in 1997, uses a Hughes-built instrument - the Sea-Viewing Wide Field Sensor (SeaWiFS) - which is providing multi-spectral ocean colour data to NASA under a five-year contract for the space agency's ...
-
News
Wiring problems force Space Shuttle delays
Checks on wiring inside the payload bays of all Space Shuttle orbiters following the short circuits during the STS93 Columbia launch have revealed similar damage to all the spacecraft. The orbiter Endeavour has the most serious problems, with over 20 damaged areas of wiring, including some sections down to bare ...
-
News
Boeing bases future designs on X-37
Boeing is looking at future launch vehicle designs which use a derivative of the X-37 experimental spaceplane as a reusable upper stage. "We are looking at expendable launch vehicle options under our contract [with NASA] and we are also looking at air-launched versions," says Boeing X-37 programme manager David ...
-
News
NASA discusses X-33 upgrade
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA and Lockheed Martin are discussing follow-on flight testing of the X-33 to further reduce the risk attached to commercial development of the planned VentureStar reusable launch vehicle. The X-33 technology demonstrator has yet to fly, but talks are under way on an ...
-
News
JAL/JAS link launches 'Big Three' entente
Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE Andrew Mollett/TOKYO Japan Airlines (JAL) and Japan Air System (JAS) are planning to launch joint international services from late October in what is seen as a significant move towards closer co-operation among the country's three major airlines. The carriers were expected to make a formal application to ...
-
News
FAA satellite programme investigated
The US General Accounting Office (GAO) has launched a Congressionally requested investigation into the US Federal Aviation Administration's satellite navigation programme following concerns about the agency's plans to move from a ground-based to a satellite-based navigation system. The GAO expects to report next spring. The study follows an investigation ...