All aerospace news – Page 1828
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UK's Beagle 2 Mars lander gets initial approval
The European Space Agency has approved the go-ahead for the Mars Express orbiter mission. The launch, scheduled for 2003, will include a UK-built lander if funds can be raised to develop the spacecraft. The lander, called the Beagle 2, would be the most high profile UK space project since ...
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Carriers unite for airframe standard
Several leading international airlines have agreed to study the possibility of standardising aircraft configurations to cut the costs associated with customisation. Introducing the initiative in Washington DC on 5 November, United Airlines chairman Gerald Greenwald said: "Standardisation can save airlines a lot of money." Customisation adds 3-4% to aircraft ...
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Ariane breaks launch record as rival Sea Launch falters
Tim Furniss/LONDON Three Ariane boosters were launched in a record 23 days when, on 28 October, an Ariane 44L carried the first European-manufactured satellite built for a US customer. At the same time the rival Boeing-led Sea Launch has lost two more satellites from its launch manifest. The ...
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NASA contract boosts Shavit
NASA has awarded Small Expendable Launch Vehicle Services (SELVS) contracts to Orbital Sciences (OSC) and Coleman Research for up to 16 flights from Cape Canaveral, Vandenberg and Wallops Island from 2000 to 2003 with a maximum potential value of each contract being $400 million. OSC's SELVS launches will ...
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Goresat goes ahead
US Vice President Al Gore's proposed satellite to send back - via the Internet - continuous views of the full sunlit disc of the earth, has been given the go-ahead by US space agency NASA. The Triana satellite, nicknamed the "GoreSat", will be deployed from the Space Shuttle in December ...
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Russia wants to transfer Mir research equipment
Yuri Semenov, the director of Russia's Energia corporation, says that up to 11t of unique research equipment should be transferred to the International Space Station from the Mir space station before it is de-orbited. The Space Shuttle would be best suited to the task, he says, although Progress tankers ...
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Orbital contract
Orbital Sciences has been awarded a five-year, $400 million, NASA contract to provide up to 16 Pegasus and Taurus launches of small scientific satellites under the Small Expendable Launch Vehicle Services programme. Source: Flight International
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Crisis aids Air New Zealand as it swoops for Garuda 737s
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDONAir New Zealand (ANZ) has taken advantage of the Asian crisis to conclude a deal with Boeing for the rapid delivery of six new 737-300s, which will allow it to accelerate the phase-out of its existing 737-200 ßeet. It is also believed to be in negotiations for additional 737s, ...
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ATP tracks TFEs
Aircraft Technical Publishers (ATP) and AlliedSignal have introduced the Maintenance Director electronic record- keeping software, which tracks the maintenance status of the engine manufacturer's TFE-series turbofans. Source: Flight International
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Quiet cabin
Ultra Electronics has received certification for its UltraQuiet active noise and vibration control system for the Bombardier Challenger 604. The company claims the system reduce average cabin noise levels by 2dB. Source: Flight International
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VisionAire revises Spirit design
VisionAire has made major alterations to its ambitious Spirit VA-12B "personal jet" sports aircraft and has begun construction of a prototype at its Chesterfield site in Missouri. "It should be flying within 18 months," says Tom Stark, senior vice-president of the company's Future Works advanced development division. The ...
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Bombardier refines 90-seater
Guy Norris/PALM SPRINGS Bombardier has refined its plans for the proposed BRJ-X regional jet family and says a launch decision is likely to be taken around October 1999, pending the conclusion of a solid business case. Bombardier is now outlining plans for two main family members, a 90-seater ...
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FlightSafety adds new Miami hub
FlightSafety Boeing Training International is to establish a $100 million Latin American training hub in Miami, Florida. This follows the August announcement by the Boeing/ FlightSafety joint venture of plans to build an $85 million European training hub in London. The new Miami centre is scheduled to open in ...
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MD-11 probe leads to entertainment disconnection
Swissair has voluntarily disconnected the in-flight entertainment systems on its Boeing 747 and MD-11 fleets as a precaution because some heat-damaged wiring associated with it has been found in the MD-11 which crashed off Nova Scotia, Canada, on 2 September. Both the airline and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada ...
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ATR targets January launch for regional twinjet
An ATR Jet study team has submitted its final proposals to Aerospatiale and Aeritalia, parent companies in the ATR consortium, which could pave the way for the launch of its planned regional twinjet in January 1999. ATR marketing president Antoine Bouissou, speaking at the Speednews regional and corporate aviation ...
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Boeing bullish on cargo expansion
Max Kingsley-Jones/LONDON Boeing continues to predict a near-doubling of the world's jet freighter fleet by 2017 despite a short term slowdown in growth in the Asian market because of the spread of the current economic crises. The company's biennial world air cargo forecast says 75% of the growth ...
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Winners and losers
Brent Hannon/MANILA New carriers launched since aviation was deregulated in the Philippines in late 1994 have enjoyed rapid growth as a result of the prolonged crisis at Philippine Airlines (PAL). The crisis, which came to a head with a pilots' strike in June this year and a two-week cessation ...
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Uncertain demand
Tim Furniss/PARIS About 80% of the commercial launches between now and 2008 could be to place payloads weighing between 100kg and 1,000kg into low earth orbit (LEO) at altitudes of 300-1,000km, says a recent market study from the Teal Group. This forecasts launches of over 800 LEO satellites, ...
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Correcting the deviants
David Learmount/LONDDONPilots and maintenance engineers not only make mistakes, some often break the rules, a fact confirmed by studies on human performance presented at a seminar held by the UK Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS) on 24 September, in London. The aim of the seminar, entitled Professionals performing poorly, was ...