April 9, 2001

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WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Strategic Reconnaissance At Issue in Sino-U.S. Tiff

WASHINGTON The Sino-American row over the aircraft collision above Hainan Island prefigures the controversy that U.S. reconnaissance flights might cause in any future deployment of Pentagon missile defenses in Asia. Intensely opposed to the prospect of U.S. theater-range ballistic missile defenses (BMD) for either Taiwan or Japan, Chinese officials had implied before the Apr. 1 aerial incident that BMD deployment might call into question the very legality of space overflights by American military or intelligence satellites, according to Jack Mendelsohn, a former U.S. arms negotiator, now vice president of Lawyers Alliance for World Security, an arms control group here.

By PAUL MANN7 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

New Intelligence Gear On China-Held EP-3

Standoff over aircraft, crew inflames latent Sino-American tensions surrounding intelligence and missile defense in strategic power struggle

By ROBERT WALL6 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Europe Strives To Put RLV Effort on Track

ARCACHON, FRANCE Space leaders are attempting to refocus Europe’s sputtering and fragmented reusable launch vehicle initiative as they grapple with some of the issues that forced the recent reevaluation of the U.S. RLV effort. “The time is right for reappraisal of Europe’s RLV program,” said European Space Agency launcher director Jean-Jacques Dordain.

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA5 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Kresa Pushes for Quick Litton Integration

WASHINGTON Northrop Grumman CEO Kent Kresa hopes to move quickly on decisions to fully integrate Litton, as Wall Street tries to gauge what divestitures or other fallout will materialize in the coming months. Litton formally became part of Northrop Grumman last week, in a $5.1-billion deal that included the assumption of $1.3 billion in debt.

By ROBERT WALL5 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Boeing Evaluating Joint Marketing With Its Sea Launch Partners

WASHINGTON Boeing and the Sea Launch Co. are studying whether a joint marketing arrangement for the Delta and Zenit launches they now sell separately will help both companies compete with the Atlas and Proton rockets marketed by International Launch Services (ILS), and with Europe’s two Arianes, as the overstocked launch industry prepares to absorb commercial versions of the U.S. Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV).

By FRANK MORRING4 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

ISS Cost Growth May Continue

WASHINGTON NASA’s estimated cost to complete the International Space Station could continue to grow as managers struggle to replace crew support capability they eliminated to cover the $4-billion shortfall already identified. Administrator Daniel S. Goldin told a skeptical House Science Committee on Apr. 4 that the final cost of station development will depend on how much of the growth NASA’s international partners on the project are willing to absorb in exchange for more access to its facilities.

By FRANK MORRING4 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Hope-X Redesign Presages Japanese RLV Reassessment

ARCACHON, FRANCE Japanese agencies are reappraising the Hope-X project in the light of new technology challenges and budget shortfalls. Officials from the National Space Development Agency (NASDA), Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences (ISAS) and the National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) said here that the three agencies planned to work together to define a single approach to reusable launch vehicles and to determine the amount of government investment that should be made in RLV projects.

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA2 min

U.S. NAVAL AVIATION AT 90

Richard Knott wrote this article on the history of Naval Aviation for Aviation Week & Space Technology. Knott served in the U.S. Navy as an aviation machinist's mate, prior to attending college.

U.S. Naval Aviation at 90

Navy Exploiting Smarter Weapons, Aircraft To Boost Combat Power

WASHINGTON NAVAL Aviation’s roles and missions are not likely to change by the time the military component celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2011, but the types of aircraft being flown and the weapons carried will be much different, providing the battle group with increased strike capability.

By DAVID M. NORTH8 min

AIR TRANSPORT

Major Overhaul Awaits SAirGroup

ZURICH Faced with daunting losses, and the prospect of more to come, SAirGroup may be forced to reduce its holdings in several major operating units, threatening their chances of survival. The Swiss aviation group posted a massive SFr 2.9 billion ($1.71 billion) net loss for 2000, its worst financial result to date.

By JENS FLOTTAU6 min

April 22001

April 162001

April 9, 2001

April 9, 2001