All news – Page 6638
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Andean satellite
The Andesat consortium, comprising Venezuela, Columbia, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Alcatel Spacecom, will launch the first of a series of Alcatel Espace-built Simon Bolivar communications satellites in 2001. The project will cost $500 million. Source: Flight International
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New plant
Mitsubishi Electric has entered the world league in full-scale satellite manufacturing and testing with the completion of a new six-floor 23m (75ft)-high, 2,483m² (26,700ft²) plant at Kamakura. Incorporating full scale design, manufacturing and testing facilities under one roof, it includes a space vacuum chamber. Source: Flight International
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Connecting East Africa
Kenya Airways has shown how to succeed, but its East African regional rivals are struggling Michael Wakabi/KAMPALA A shareholders' meeting on 26 November could pose ominous implications for the East African air industry. The stockholders control African Joint Air Services Agreement (AJAS), the holding company behind SA Alliance, the ...
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Star target
NATO is well on the way to having its own version of the USA's Joint STARS Paul Lewis/MELBOURNE, FLORIDA After years of deliberation, NATO has embarked on a programme that could see the alliance field its own version of the US Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) by ...
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FlightSafety Boeing picks Luton for first European training unit
Max Kingsley-Jones/LUTON FlightSafety Boeing Training International (FSBTI) has rethought its European strategy, deciding to set up small training centres across Europe rather than one major hub near London Heathrow. The change of plan comes as the company initiates the development of a £44 million ($73.5 million) training centre, which ...
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Lufthansa boosts Berlin centre
Lufthansa is expanding its Berlin flight training centre by buying two full-flight simulators with visual systems from Canada's CAE Electronics. CityLine Simulator and Training Berlin will take delivery of Europe's first Bombardier CRJ-700 regional jet simulator by the end of next year, while Lufthansa Simulator Centre is acquiring a ...
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Pan Am starts career training
Pan Am International Flight Academy (PAIFA) has entered the ab initio pilot training market by buying Westwind Aviation Academy. Following its acquisition of Phoenix, Arizona-based Westwind, PAIFA has launched a career pilot training programme, under which it will work with airlines to select and train students all the way ...
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ESA tests weightlessness in A300 flights
The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the latest in a series of microgravity parabolic flights using an adapted Airbus A300 in late October. The flights, which involve experiments in weightlessness, test instruments and equipment before they undergo a real spaceflight. The latest series of flights involve nine human respiration system ...
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Rupture caused Delta III failure
A rupture of the combustion chamber in the second-stage RL-10B-2 engine caused the failure of the second Delta III launcher in May, according to an interim report by Boeing. The engine, which was being used for the first time, suffered "a 67in² [43,225mm²] diamond-shaped breach of its combustion chamber" ...
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ESA issues warning on space debris
The European Space Agency (ESA) is calling for the introduction of measures to prevent further space debris accumulating in orbit. ESA warns that there is a 1 in 25 chance of the Hubble Space Telescope being seriously damaged by space debris during its 17-year life. There are 8,000 pieces ...
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Leo One chooses satellite partners
Leo One Worldwide has selected Dasa's Dornier Satellitensysteme, Eurokot and Lockheed Martin Space Electronics to construct and launch its proposed 48 low-earth-orbiting satellites that will provide near real-time store and forward data services. The agreements, valued at more than $400 million each, will involve Dornier Satellitensysteme, Eurokot and Lockheed ...
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FAME and Swift head search for planets
The search for extra-solar planetary systems has begun with the selection by NASA of the Full Sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer (FAME) and the Swift Gamma Ray Burst Explorer as new missions in the space agency's Medium-class Explorer (MIDEX) programme. FAME, to be launched in 2004, will obtain precise position ...
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NASA releases new services request
NASA has released a complicated request for proposals (RFP) for multiple award indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) expendable launch vehicle launch services contracts. The RFP involves heavy, intermediate, medium and medium-light vehicles. Proposals are requested by 7 January. The RFP is open to emerging launchers not available at the ...
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Australia opts for new Optus satellite series
Tim Furniss/LONDON Australia has signed a contract with Cable & Wireless Optus (CWO) to provide the satellite and ground infrastructure for a new $327 million hybrid civil-military communications satellite, Optus C-1. The Optus C-1 is to be launched on an Ariane 5 in 2002, although the contract is ...
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Thai closes on privatisation
Jens Flottau/TOKYOThai Airways International chief executive Thamnoon Wanglee says a decision on the privatisation of the carrier will be taken next March or April, with the choice of investor determining whether the carrier remains within the Star Alliance. Wanglee confirms that British Airways and Qantas have made approaches on behalf ...
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SAirGroup earmarks cash for stakes in THY and TAP
Andrew Doyle/MUNICH SAirGroup is setting aside SFr500 million ($335 million) for its planned acquisition of equity stakes in THY Turkish Airlines and TAP Air Portugal next year. It is also close to finalising its new US airline alliance strategy. The Swiss company plans to bid for a 20% equity ...
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US DoD stalls on establishing its new transatlantic mergers policy
Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DC Chris Jasper/LONDON The US Department of Defense (DoD) says it needs more time to establish a new policy on transatlantic defence mergers. Deputy defence secretary John Hamre warns that it is "probably premature" to expect any major deals, despite merger pressures coming from Europe. Europe's ...
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Fessler loses partner Ryan but goes ahead with Walter purchase
US investor Robert Fessler has signed a framework agreement to buy 94% of Czech aero-engine manufacturer Walter, despite a decision by his would-be joint venture partner Tony Ryan, the founder of Irish low-cost airline Ryanair, to withdraw from the takeover deal at the last minute. The pair had planned ...
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Hard to digest
Whether it is clever politics, a knee-jerk reaction or just well-meant advice, the "closed" sign has gone up in the window of the transatlantic merger diner at which Europe has been trying to book a table since merger-mania gripped the industry earlier this year. Clever politics, perhaps, because Washington ...
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A400M nations to use new Euro procurement agency
Andrew Doyle/TOULOUSE The seven countries evaluating the Airbus Military (AMC) A400M for their airlifter requirements have agreed to buy the aircraft through the OCCAR (Organisme Conjointe de Co-operation en matiere d'Armament) international armaments agency. The procurement agency is being set up by potential buyers France, Germany, Italy and the ...