September 10, 2001

September 10, 2001

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COVER STORY

ATC Modernization: How Much, How Fast?

By DAVID BOND

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Mobile Digital Radio To Target Europe, Asia

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA

WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Bull's-Eye Concludes Moving Target Test

By DAVID A. FULGHUM

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6667
COVER STORY

ATC Modernization: How Much, How Fast?

Aviation stakeholders, FAA differ on whether pressing technology or financing upgrades will turn out to be the long pole in the tent

By DAVID BOND

2829
WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Mobile Digital Radio To Target Europe, Asia

Upcoming U.S. service start reassures market of radio's potential to reinvigorate satellite industry

By MICHAEL A. TAVERNA

3233
WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Bull's-Eye Concludes Moving Target Test

WASHINGTON Northrop Grumman has been selected to continue development of an airborne system—involving 2-4 aircraft—that can hit moving targets with low-cost bombs from beyond the range of many of today’s anti-aircraft missiles, according to government officials.

By DAVID A. FULGHUM

6667
COVER STORY

FAA Sees Drawbacks In ‘System Leader’ Approach

By DAVID BOND

3637
WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Russia Settles ISS Docking Dispute

WASHINGTON Top Russian space managers have settled a lingering dispute over who gets to use a valuable Earth-facing docking port on the International Space Station, redesigning Russia’s half of the ISS to accommodate the two contenders. Both RSC Energias Enterprise Module and the FGB-2 module under construction at the M.V. Khrunichev plant would be accommodated on Russian-side nadir ports, under a reconfiguration approved by the Russian Space Agency and its principal station contractors.

By FRANK MORRING

3637
WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

USAF Rejects X-33, X-37 Funding; NASA Studying Boeing Agreement

WASHINGTON Top leaders of the U.S. Air Force have decided against funding Lockheed Martin’s X-33 reusable launch vehicle prototype and Boeing’s X-37 orbital maneuvering vehicle demonstrator, effectively killing the X-33 and putting the X-37 in intensive care.

By FRANK MORRING

3233
WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Hill Revamps O&M Cost Assumptions

WASHINGTON The Pentagon is struggling to persuade Congress that replacement of old equipment cannot wait any longer, but a new congressional analysis says that modernization decisions should not be based on the common assumption that aging systems are the root cause of higher operations and maintenance spending.

By PAUL MANN

3839
WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Anti-Missile Concepts Jockey for Position

By BRUCE A. SMITH

4243
WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Launch Surge Begins For Secret NRO Missions

Cape Canaveral The National Reconnaissance Office is beginning a launch surge to orbit three secret missions worth nearly $2 billion over the next month. Two involve NRO spacecraft flying on Lockheed Martin Atlas IIAS vehicles, indicating the launch of new, or relatively new, NRO spacecraft designs.

By Craig Covault

3435
WORLD NEWS & ANALYSIS

Arrow Demonstrates Improved Capability

Washington Israel has tested “advanced weapons capabilities” in the latest trial of its Arrow anti-ballistic missile system, said a senior aerospace industry official. In addition to ensuring the system’s reliability, the procedure was used to gauge software changes made in the last year.

By David A. Fulghum

September 32001 September 172001