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Week ending November 9, 1997
+++ US Airways confirms order for 400 Airbus aircraft +++ ESA has delivered its first contribution to the ISS +++ Boeing announces fate of Douglas airliners +++ German CH-53 get update by Eurocopter +++ France, Germany, Britain to check An-70 +++ BAe delivers first Tornado GR4 +++ NASA winds down Pathfinder mission +++ Mir cosmonauts repair solar panel +++ Investigation finds new facts on Tu-154 loss +++ Science Team and Instruments Selected for Mars Surveyor 2001 +++ News in Brief +++
US Airways confirms order for 400 Airbus aircraft
400 Airbusse für US Airways
On November 3, US Airways finally confirmed its order for up to 400 Airbus Industrie aircraft. Deliveries are set to begin in the fourth quarter of 1998. US Airways said it has signed a firm contract for 124 aircraft in the Airbus single-aisle family, with six A319 airplanes to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 1998 and 15 more in 1999, along with five A320s. The company said deliveries will substantially increase in 2000. All US Airways options and orders to be confirmed total 400 aircraft. US Airways Chairman and CEO Stephen M. Wolf said, "With today's announcement, we have taken a major step toward becoming the carrier of choice and a global competitor. A new narrowbody fleet, coupled with new widebody aircraft yet to be ordered, will be the foundation for both improved quality and growth." The US Airways' firm order of 124 airplanes boosts the manufacturer's total aircraft orders to 2,630.
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ESA has delivered its first contribution to the ISS
ESA liefert erste Komponenten für ISS aus
The European Space Agency has officially delivered the first flight unit of the Data managementsystem (DMS-R) for the Russian built Service module including hard- and software. At RKK-Energya the unit will be integrated in the module that is due for launch with a Proton rocket from Baikonour in December 1998. DMS-R will be responsible for guidance and navigation as well as Mission management of the International Space Station in first phase of the assembly. Later the system will be the interface between the crew and the station and will allow the astronauts to operate the European Robotic Arm as well as the Progress, Soyuz and ATV spacecraft that will supply the station. The system has been developed by Daimler-Benz Aerospace (main contractor) and partners.
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Boeing announces fate of Douglas airliners
MD-80 und MD-90 werden eingestellt
On November 3, the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group announced the results of its review of the McDonnell Douglas civil airliner range. The decisions seem preliminary and half-hearted though. The plans now are as follows:- Boeing will continue to produce the MD-80 and MD-90 twinjets until approximately mid-1999, when current production commitments end, saying there is insufficient market demand to warrant extending production of the models. Currently, the MD-80 and MD-90 are being produced at a rate of four per month. There are 13 unfilled announced orders for the MD-80 and 91 for the MD-90.
- The future of the MD-95 remains unclear, but Boeing said it will fulfill orders. Also, it will work with customers to determine whether there is a market for derivative models.
- The MD-11 trijet will continue to be offered in both freighter and passenger versions, but market efforts will be focused on the MD-11 freighter. As of Sept. 30, Boeing said there were 19 unfilled announced orders for the MD-11, which is being produced at the rate of one per month.
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German CH-53s get update by Eurocopter
Eurocopter modernisiert deutsche CH-53
Eurocopter Deutschland has recently received two important contracts for the update and life-extension measures on the CH-53 heavy-lift helicopters of the German Army. They have a total value of 180 million DM. Work to be performed at the Donauwörth factory includes:- reinforcements and improvements of the airframe to allow the use of the machines up to 2030. All 110 CH-53 will be treated until 2003.
- 20 of the CH-53s will be improved for use during United Nations and reaction-forces use. This includes provisions for auxiliary fuel tanks for more range and installation of an extensive ECM system. Work should be completed by 2002.
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France, Germany, Britain to check An-70
An-70 als FLA-Alternative?
A communique circulated by the French ministry of defence on November 7 stated that representatives of France, the UK and Germany will consider possibilities for cooperation with the Russian military industry at a meeting, scheduled to be held at the end of November. According to the French Defence Minister the meeting will mainly focus on a possible interaction in building a European advanced military transport aircraft. The new aircraft may be created by the European Airbus consortium in cooperation with the Russo-Ukrainian Antonov company.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
BAe delivers first Tornado GR4
Erster Tornado GR4 an die Royal Air Force geliefert
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Johns, Chief of the Air Staff, officially accepted the first of the Royal Air Force's Tornado GR4 aircraft at Warton on October 31. In total, 142 aircraft will be modified by British Aerospace with new systems to serve until 2015 at least. Delivery to RAF front-line squadrons will begin in early 1998 and should be completed by 2002. This is a significant delay over earlier plans, and costs are also well over early estimates. The GR4 variant receives systems enhancements like a forward-looking infra-red system, an improved defensive aids system, improved cockpit displays and the ability to carry a wide range of new weapons. A new weapons bus is introduced as wll as an GPS receiver.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
NASA winds down Pathfinder mission
Marsmission der NASA beendet
On November 4, NASA has annouced the end of the intensive phase of its Pathfinder mission to Mars, after almost a month of silence from the lander on the Martian surface. Designed to work only for a month, the lander tripled its expected lifetime. The spacecraft's rover was to function for seven days, but it worked more than 80 days and may still be trying to call home. The team has now worked through all its tricks for regaining communications with the silent spacecraft, but will repeat some of the signals every two weeks at least until the end of the year. Mission manager Richard Cook says the best guess is that battery failure and extreme cold finally silenced the spacecraft. The lander's battery probably wore out around Sept. 27, the last time scientists received a full day's data. Cook says the spacecraft managed to send a few beeps on Oct. 7, but has not been heard from since.Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Mir cosmonauts repair solar panel
Sonnekollektor der Mir erfolgreich repariert
On November 6, Mir commander Anatoly Solovyov and engineer Pavel Vinogradov managed to unfold a new solar panel manually after it failed to automatically deploy. Thus, the latest spacewalk to repair the station, wich lasted 6 hours 17 minutes, was crowned by success. At one point ground control believed it would be impossible to deploy the panel during this spacewalk as the cosmonauts' oxygen supply was ending.Officials say the crew also examined a hatch that lost its hermetic seal during the last spacewalk on Monday and fixed the ventilation outlet which ejects carbon dioxide from Mir. The Russions now think that "the spacewalk has finally solved all major problems on Mir." U.S. astronaut David Wolf didn't take part in the spacewalk and remained on Mir in the Soyuz escape capsule.
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Investigation finds new facts on Tu-154 loss
Neue Erkenntnisse zum Tu-154-Absturz
According to German TV investigative magazine Monitor, the flight plan for the ill-fated Tu-154 flight from Cologne to South Africa was not compiled by the Luftwaffes Flugbereitschaft, but by private German company B.L.A.S. at Berlin-Schönefeld. This fact was not revealed by the German air force during hearings at the parliamentary defence committee. Also, it was not revealed that South Africa was interested in the Tu-154s reconnaissance equipment. Thus, the parliamentarians were deceived on very important facts, Monitor claims. The defence ministry has again tried to deny such charges. Back to the top of the page / Zurück zum Anfang der Seite
Science Team and Instruments Selected for Mars Surveyor 2001
Wissenschaftler und Instrumente für Mars Surveyor 2001 Mission ausgewählt
Two robotic spacecraft scheduled for launch in mid-2001 to orbit and land on Mars will carry a descent camera, a multispectral imager, and a robotic rover capable of traversing tens of miles across the red planet's rocky highlands. The Mars Surveyor 2001 missions will follow two other robotic Mars missions to be launched in late 1998 and early 1999. All are part of NASA's long-term, systematic exploration of Mars in which two missions are launched to the planet approximately every 26 months.
NASA's Office of Space Science has selected the following investigations for the Mars 2001 Orbiter, due for launch in March of that year, and the Mars 2001 Lander/Rover, due for launch in April:
- The Mars 2001 Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) will map the mineralogy and morphology of the Martian surface using a high resolution camera and a thermal infrared imaging spectrometer. Dr. Phil Christensen from Arizona State University in Tempe is the principal investigator for THEMIS.
- The Mars 2001 Lander will carry a small, advanced technology rover capable of traveling several tens of miles across the Martian highlands. The rover will be slightly larger than the Pathfinder Sojourner rover and will be designed to go farther (100 km vs. 100 m for Sojourner) and to last longer (1 year vs. 7 days for Sojourner). The rover will carry a payload called Athena, which is an integrated suite of instruments which will conduct in-situ scientific analyses of surface materials. It also will be able to collect and analyze core samples for later return to Earth by a future robotic mission. Dr. Steven Squyres from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, is the principal investigator for Athena.
- The 2001 Lander also will carry an imager to take pictures of the surrounding terrain during the lander's rocket-assisted descent to the surface. The descent imaging camera will provide images of the landing site for geologic analyses, and will aid planning for initial operations and traverses by the Athena rover. Dr. Michael Malin of Malin Space Science Systems Inc. in San Diego, California, is the team leader for the Descent Imager science team and Dr. Ken Herkenhoff of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California, is a team member.
NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN
The launch date for Lunar Prospector has been delayed by NASA, because additional checks are neccessary on the Lockheed Martin Athena 2 launcher (LMLV 2). The new date is January 5th, 1998. It will be the maiden flight for the new launcher in the 2 ton category (LEO).+++
On November 6, Boeing rolled out the first of 25 F-15Is for the Israel Air Force. The two-seat F-15I, known as the Thunder in Israel, incorporates new and unique weapons, avionics, electronic warfare and communications capabilities. Israel selected the F-15I in January 1994 after evaluating a variety of aircraft to meet its defense needs. The F-15I, like the U.S. Air Force's F-15E Strike Eagle, is a dual-role fighter that combines long-range interdiction with the Eagle's awe-inspiring air superiority capabilities.
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A NASA SR-71 with the a Linear Aerospike rocket engine successfully validated the engine concept during a one hour and fifty minutes flight from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, California, on November 3rd. The Linear Aerospike engine is to power the X-33 technology demonstrator that is to fly in 1999 and will eventually also power the Lockheed Martin VentureStar. The tested engine is downscaled version and only ten percent the size of the X-33-engine. It is integrated in canoe shaped pod that is carried piggyback on the SR-71. The engine was tested in altitudes between 20000 and 80000 ft at speeds between Mach.8 and 3.
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The launch of Brasil's first own satellite launcher has been cancelled without an new date for a second attempt. The VLS-1 launcher is very attractive pricewise. It only costs $6.5 million and can carry payloads up to 2 tons into LEOs.
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In exchange preferred stock, General Electric will acquire a Lockheed Martin subsidiary containing two operating businesses, an equity interest and an amount of cash necessary to equalize the value of the exchange. GE expects to record a gain on the transaction of more than $1 billion. Lockheed Martin anticipates a gain in excess of $300 million. The assets that will be transferred to GE are Access Graphics in Boulder, Colorado, a wholesale distributor of UNIX-based workstations and other computer hardware; Lockheed Martin Aerostructures in Middle River, Maryland, which primarily produces thrust reversers for GE and Pratt & Whitney engines used on large commercial aircraft; and Lockheed Martin's stake in Globalstar, a partnership of telecommunications service providers and equipment manufacturers formed to create a low-Earth-orbit voice and data satellite network.
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Matra Marconi Space supplies the high power buses Motorola's Celestri spacecraft. The company will deliver 70 buses for LEO satellites and one bus for a GEO satellite. The buses will include the satellite structure, power and propulsion systems. The contract is worth more than $1 billion.
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On October 31, Thai Airways International received the 100th 777 produced by Boeing - a 777-200 named "Pattani" in honor of its namesake, a southern province in Thailand. The 100th 777 produced by Boeing is the seventh of 14 777s - eight 777-200s and six 777-300s - ordered by the Bangkok-based airline.
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After a two-week hiatus, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) flight team planned to resume lowering the spacecraft's orbit around Mars beginning Nov. 7. The effort will proceed at a more gradual pace than before, which will extend the mission's aerobraking phase by several months, and will change Global Surveyor's final science mapping orbit. The decision to resume aerobraking came after intensive engineering analysis, computer simulations and tests with representative hardware to characterize the current condition of one of the spacecraft's two solar panels, which began to flex more than expected during the spacecraft's lowest dip into the Martian atmosphere on Oct. 6.
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On November 4, the government of Canada has approved, a 20-year, $2.85 billion contract with Bombardier Services, to deliver services in support of NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC). Of that amount, approximately $1.3 billion is allocated for the acquisition of military aircraft and simulators to be provided by various suppliers. Over the next few months Bombardier will be arranging the capital financing that will complete the deal.
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EUTELSAT ordered a forth satellite in the W series at Aérospatiale. It will be equipped with 24 transponders and will mainly serve Russia.
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A class action lawsuit against The Boeing Company and top company officials was launched on November 6 by Boeing stockholders, claiming the Seattle-based company withheld or issued false and misleading information about the company's production problems until the completion of the merger with McDonnell Douglas. "Shareholders find it hard to believe that the magnitude of production difficulties were not known by top company executives in advance of the merger," according to Steve Toll, managing partner of the Seattle and Washington, D.C. offices of Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll, P.L.L.C. Toll said the suit contends that Boeing CEO and Chairman Philip Condit and Chief Financial officer Boyd Givan profited from the stock's inflated price prior to the Oct. 22 announcement, selling over $2 million worth of their own stock.
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Hughes Space and Communications International has been awarded the first contract for a Russian satellite including launch and ground control station equipment. BONUM-1 will be operated by the BONUM company, a Russian media group. The HS 376 satellite will be launched by a Boeing Delta 2 in November 1998.
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According to reports in the financial times, Saudi Arabia is struggling to pay for the politically sensitive $7.5 billion deal for more than 60 aircraft from Boeing and McDonnell Douglas. The order consists of 23 Boeing 777-200s and five 747- 400s, and four McDonnell Douglas MD-11 freighters and 29 MD- 90s.
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On November 5, a replenishment satellite built by Boeing for the U.S. Air Force's Global Position System (GPS) was carried into orbit aboard the aerospace company's Delta II expendable launch vehicle. The Delta II lifted off the pad at 7:30 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral Air Station and placed the NAVSTAR IIA satellite into a transfer orbit with an apogee of 10,988 nautical miles and 100 miles at its perigee. The satellite then propels itself to its operational orbit of nearly 11, 000 nautical miles.
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NASA announced November 19th as the launch date for the eighth and final Shuttle mission of 1997 to deploy and retrieve a sun-studying science satellite, conduct microgravity experiments and test International Space Station assembly and maintenance techniques and tools. The launch window opens at 2:46 p.m. EST and closes two and a half hours later at about 5:30 p.m. Following a nominal flight duration of 15 days, 16 hours, 34 minutes, Columbia is scheduled to land at KSC at about 7:20 a.m. EST, Dec. 5. Columbia's crew is comprised of Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Steven Lindsey, Mission Specialists Takao Doi, Winston Scott and Kalpana Chawla, and Ukrainian Payload Specialist Leonid Kadenyuk.
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Matra BAe Dynamics has won an order worth approximately 1,5 billion Francs from the DGA (French procurement agency) for 100 Apache AP stand-off missiles. The stealthy missile can be carried by the Mirage 2000 and the Rafale. This order marks the start of the industrialisation phase by Matra Bae Dynamics, ist main subcontractor Aérospatiale and other partners. The global and multi-year character of the contract will facilitate the ptimisation of production processes to enable cost savings, the company said.
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British Airways boss Robert Ayling has for the first time confirmed that the company is considering to set up a low-cost operation. If it goes ahead, it will be a separate firm, Ayling said while presenting the first half results. These show a profit of 430 million Pounds (- 8,5 per cent). Exchange rate fluctuations alone shaved off 130 million Pounds, it was said.
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On Monday, November 3, Britannia Airways GmbH has startet its German operation with a Boeing 767-300ER flight to the Carribean. The company had got its LBA approval at the last minute and only after German investors had rised their stake to over 55 per cent. At the moment FTI Touristik holds 12 per cent while private bank Merck, Fink & Co has 45 per cent.
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Flughafen Wien has won a contract to double the capacity of Instanbul airport by building and operating a new international terminal to handle 14 million passengers a year. The termina will take 30 months to build and will cost 314 million US-Dollars.
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November 2, 1997
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October 5, 1997
September 28, 1997
September 21, 1997
September 14, 1997
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Last updated November 7, 1997
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