July 2, 2001

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WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Pentagon Gets Billions More, But Funding Noose Tightens

WASHINGTON Despite requesting the largest increase in defense spending in more than a decade, the Bush Administration has been unable to present a path for fundamental change at the Pentagon in its Fiscal 2002 budget. Now signs are emerging that fiscal realities may stymie radical change again next year, unless the Pentagon can free-up money internally.

By ROBERT WALL7 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

ILS, Boeing Chip Away At Arianespace Lead

LE BOURGET Arianespace registered a record number of orders at this year’s Paris air show, confirming its position at the top of the commercial launch market. However, it could not dispel claims from U.S.-Russian rivals that new heavy-lift booster models are closing the gap.

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA5 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Rumsfeld Goes Full-Bore For Ballistic Missile Defense

WASHINGTON The Pentagon aims to drastically expand its missile defense research and development program after the Bush Administration decided to stop limiting its spending to programs that could be compliant with the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty.

By ROBERT WALL5 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

V-22 Slowdown Augurs Layoffs

WASHINGTON and PARIS V-22 woes are about to claim more victims, with layoffs looming as production of the tiltrotor is slowed to allow prime contractors Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing to fix design problems that have plagued the aircraft.

By ROBERT WALL4 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Italy Pushes Project As European RLV

LE BOURGET Italian space officials think a planned initiative by the aerospace research center CIRA could be the joker in the deck in discussions to mold an array of reusable launch vehicle projects into a single European program. The European Space Agency (ESA) is asking for 270 million euros ($232 million) over five years for the Future Launch Technology Program (FLTP), the core of Europe’s reusable launch vehicle (RLV) effort (AW&ST June 25, p. 51).

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA4 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

25% of Snecma Shares Set for Privatization

PARIS In a complete policy reversal, the French government plans to float about one-fourth of Snecma's shares. An initial public offering (IPO) is tentatively scheduled for the third quarter. State-owned Snecma's partial privatization is expected to significantly advance slow-moving discussions about the longoverdue need to streamline and consolidate Europe’s engine industry.

By PIERRE SPARACO4 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Team Clears ISS Arm Faults

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER U.S. and Canadian robotics engineers believe they have solved problems with the complex software and computer components on the new Canadian manipulator arm that have delayed International Space Station assembly operations.

By CRAIG COVAULT4 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Joint Large Satellite Bus Project Planned by Alcatel and Astrium

LE BOURGET Alcatel Space and Astrium are planning a project to jointly develop a large new satellite bus for telecom applications, and proposing that it be funded largely with public money. The project, dubbed Alphabus, is aimed at designing and producing a platform suitable for future direct broadcast TV and multimedia requirements and sized for the big 5-meter (16.4-ft.) diameter fairings that can be launched by the coming generation of heavy-lift boosters.

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA4 min

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Flight Tests Geared To Defense Dominance

WASHINGTON The Pentagon’s lead agency for radical innovation has an array of near-term flight and field tests planned for air and space technologies that are intended to meet the Bush Administration’s avowed goal of superiority across the complete range of military operations, officially dubbed “full spectrum dominance.”

By PAUL MANN4 min

June 252001

July 92001

July 2, 2001

July 2, 2001

JSF Vertical Flights Leading to Downselect

By MICHAEL A. DORNHEIM8 min