All aerospace news – Page 1851
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Kelly negotiates 'Express' sale
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES Kelly Space & Technology (KST) is in negotiation with an unidentified company which wants to purchase two "Express" low-cost reusable launchers. The Express is a member of a family of delta-winged vehicles which KST is developing using the "Eclipse" technique to save huge launch costs. ...
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Shuttle engine plant
NASA has opened a new $6.2 million Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. An extension of the Orbiter Processing Facility, the new unit replaces one that was located in the Vehicle Assembly Building and will be used to help to streamline fleet operations. The ...
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Spacehab buoys up expansion plans with Johnson acquisition
Spacehab, the private company that provides pressurised modules for the Space Shuttle, has almost doubled in size by acquiring a leading company supporting NASA's Shuttle programme. Houston-based Johnson Engineering manages spacewalking training operations at NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center, Texas, as well as supporting the ...
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NRO chooses TRW to test communications
The US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) has awarded TRW a $78 million contract to test high data rate laser communications between geosynchronous orbit and the ground. The Geosynchronous Lightweight Technology Experiment (GeoLite) spacecraft will include a laser communications experiment and a UHF communications mission. The GeoLite will be used ...
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Missile conversion
Tim Furniss/LONDON A former Minuteman II missile refurbished by Orbital Sciences (OSC) will be launched from California Spaceport at Vandenberg AFB in late 1999, carrying an experimental satellite. The Joint Air Force/Weber Satellite (Jawsat), developed by students from the US Air Force Academy and Utah's State University. California ...
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Gulfstream purchase
Gulfstream Aerospace has acquired K-C Aviation for $250 million. The Kimberly-Clark subsidiary's completion and maintenance centres in Texas, Wisconsin and Massachusetts will complement Gulfstream's facilities in Georgia and California. Source: Flight International
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Joint venture
Executive Aircraft Services (EAS) and Inflite have formed a joint venture in an attempt to expand aircraft handling at their respective London Heathrow and Stansted airport bases. EAS, owned by aviation security firm ADI, will provide new equipment and specialised staff for handling large business aircraft at Inflite's Stansted airport ...
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Sikorsky Acquisition
Sikorsky plans to acquire logistical support company Helicopter Support in an attempt to expand its after-market business. Helicopter Support will continue to operate as a separate entity, providing parts distribution, overhaul and repair from its Orange, Connecticut base. The firm is the only logistics provider authorised to serve operators of ...
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737 operators clamour for hushkits to meet noise rules
Boeing 737 hushkit specialists AvAero Aircraft Noise Reduction and the Nordam Group have between them amassed orders and options for more than 500 kits, with both reporting a new flurry of activity in the market. Florida-based AvAero says a new order from First Air of Canada means it has ...
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BA reviews low-cost, long-haul plans after Flying Colours sale
Kevin O'Toole/LONDON British Airways appears to have scaled back plans for its low-cost, long-haul franchise partner Airline Management (AML). The rethink follows a change of ownership for Flying Colours, the charter carrier which has been providing AML with cabin crew and management. AML was set up a year ...
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Backers board airship manufacturer Cargolifter
David Learmount/LONDON Cargolifter has been given the go-ahead by its shareholders to take the next step towards launching a new heavylift airship - billed by the German start-up company as the largest ever flown. Cargolifter was formed nearly two years ago with the aim of finding a solution ...
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Corrosion checks
Boeing is considering the need to increase the frequency of corrosion checks in the front spar area of older 747s since significant corrosion was discovered in a 27-year-old British Airways Boeing 747-100. The stress corrosion did not extend over a wide area, but was well advanced in small sections of ...
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Delta III waits on launch pad for maiden flight
Boeing's first Delta III is pictured on Pad 17B at Cape Canaveral, Florida, being prepared for its maiden flight scheduled for 3 August, carrying the Hughes HS-601 Galaxy 10 communications satellite. The Delta III, which can place 3,810kg into geostationary transfer orbit, comprises a stretched Delta II first stage ...
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Fresh malfunction of Hughes-built satellites hits PanAmSat
Tim Furniss/LONDON Three more Hughes HS-601-based communications satellites have experienced malfunctions in geostationary orbit, following the loss of the $165 million Galaxy 4 on 19 May, which put out of action 90% of the pagers used in the USA. Like the Galaxy 4, the latest victims, the Galaxy ...
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GPS takes over US non-precision flying
Operators at US provincial airports and airfields will soon be able to use satellite navigation equipment to carry out non-precision approaches for which distance measuring equipment (DME) and automatic direction finders (ADF) are now used. The Federal Aviation Administration has given notice that it will approve the new procedure ...
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JAA 'category A' approval nears for Explorer helicopter
The European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA) is expected to certify the Boeing MD Explorer helicopter to "category A" performance levels by the end of the month, according to the manufacturer. The long-awaited clearance rates the MD 902 version as capable of safely continuing flight during a landing or ...
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MMS wins Eutelsat Europesat contract
Eutelsat has awarded Matra Marconi Space (MMS) a contract to build the Europesat 1B communications satellite. The craft will be based on an MMS Eurostar bus and will be placed in a geostationary orbit at 29íE, the second of two orbital positions used by the European satellite communications organisation. ...
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Nuclear experts aid air safety
Ian Sheppard/LONDON Sandia National Laboratories is helping the US Federal Aviation Administration to devise a new approach to airline safety which the FAA hopes will assist its 3,500 inspectors in tracking safety trends and predicting airline operating deficiencies. Calling on its knowledge from decades of systems engineering work ...
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P&W begins to assemble PW7000 prototype
Pratt & Whitney is preparing to assemble the next Joint Technology Demonstrator Engine (JTDE), the XTE-66. The demonstrator, which will begin tests later this year, also forms an initial prototype of the next generation PW7000 fighter engine family. Like the XTE-66, the PW7000 family is planned around the XTC-66 core. ...
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PAL rescue plan goes into extra time
Philippine Airlines (PAL) has been given US and Philippine bankruptcy protection until the end of July, allowing the local Securities Exchange Commission (SEC)-appointed "rehabilitation committee" extra time to finalise and present a financial rescue plan. The troubled national carrier is temporarily shielded by the SEC from any claims made ...