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UPDATE 
Week ending October 12, 1997
+++ German cabinett approves Eurofighter +++ Eurocopter moves civil activities to Donauwörth +++ New airline to start in Alsace area +++ Boeing delays certification of 737-700 +++ British Aerospace 1997 first half wrecked by provisions for Jetstream 41 +++ Hubble identifies the most luminous star known +++ Alitalia back into profits +++ RadarSat begins first complete detailed map of Antarctica +++ Flight day 12 picture-perfect landing +++ NASA receives White House approval for Cassini/Huygens launch +++ News in Brief +++

German cabinett approves Eurofighter
Eurofighter: Kabinett gibt grünes Licht

After nearly half a decade of debate and prevarication, the German government on October 8 finally gave the approval for funding the Eurofighter EF2000 project. 23,16 billion DM are now earmarked for production investment and production of 180 aircraft for the Luftwaffe. This makes EF2000 the biggest and most expensive military project for Germany in the post-war era. Although okeyed by the government, Germany's eventual participation in the project still depends on the final approval next month by the Bundestag, where it could meet rejections mainly from the opposition parties, but also by some members of the FDP.
German Defence Mininster Volker Ruehe said that after nine years of planning and development, the Eurofighter had reached a technical stage at which preparations for series production could begin. Britain, Italy and Spain have already approve the project, with London planning to buy 232 Eurofighters, Rome 121 and Madrid 87. The total cost of the Eurofighter project is estimated at about 75 billion US-Dollars.
Industry hailed the decision as a "cornerstone for the future of the German aerospace industry and the future development of the sector inEurope. This is an important signal for the dependability and co-operation stability of Germany", it was said. On the other hand, the defence industry can expect cuts and stretchouts in other projects to scrape together the Eurofighter money. Already a Patriot upgrade has been delayed, and there will be no new aircraft for the VIP fleet at Cologne/Bonn.

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Eurocopter Deutschland moves to Donauwörth
Zivile Bereiche werden konzentriert

Until the end of next year, Eurocopter Deutschland will concentrate its civil activities at the Donauwörth series-production plant. About 200 employees will be affected, including top-management, administrative offices, controlling, personnell, quality management and information technologies, as well as development and prototype activities. Only the profit centers military helicopters and basic research functions will remain at Ottobrunn, which thus will have 453 people against 2397 at Donauwörth.
According to the Eurocopter management, this further streamlining of activities is necessary to cut costs and improve processes, thus safeguarding future profitability of the helicopter activities in Germany.

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New airline to start in Alsace area
Neue Fluggesellschaft für das Elsass

French start-up carrier Europe Continental Airways (ECA) is to begin operations in spring 1998. ECA which might be renamed in December will be based at the French part of EuroAirport Basle Mulhouse Freiburg. The aim of ECA is to link the Alsace region with the emerging European air transport market, the airline says in a statement. ECA is believed to offer domestic services in France first, followed by services to Italy. Flights to other European destinations will be offered "as soon as possible". Flight operations will start with two Saab 340 Cityliners. ECA which was founded in April 1997 is 35 percent owned by Swiss regional carrier Crossair.

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Boeing delays certification of 737-700
737-700-Zulassung verzögert sich

Boeing has admitted that certification of its new generation 737-700 will be delayed. "During the flight test program we learned that the horizontal stabilizer design was too flexible, causing some vibration. Of course, this is exactly what a flight-test program is intended to do - find anything that needs to be changed. So we've made the necessary design change by adding graphite stiffeners to the stabilizer beams. These changes and obtaining the new parts required to make them has delayed our expected certification date for the 737-700", it was stated. All new-generation 737 airplanes currently in production will continue to move through the factory and parts will be installed as they become available. However, no Next-Generation 737 airplanes will enter final assembly for the next 25 days, it was explained on October 6.
Boeing Commercial Airplane Group president Ron Woodard also said that the company "has been going through all the growth pains associated with ramping up from a production schedule of 18 airplanes per month just 18 months ago to 40 planes per month today." Parts shortages continue to be the most pressing issues for the company."We have determined that the most effective recovery measure for the 747 is to immediately stop the production line for 20 manufacturing days," said Bob Dryden, executive vice president - Airplane Production. "This will allow us to complete those jobs that have fallen behind schedule."

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British Aerospace 1997 first half wrecked by provisions for Jetstream 41
Abschreibungen belasten BAe-Halbjahresergebnis

British Aerospace has announced a 29 % increase in profit before tax and exceptional items to 278m pound for the period ended 30th June, 1997. Earnings per share excluding exceptional items increased 30% to 45.5p. Sales increased to 3,871m pounds and the Company's order book stood at 19.5bn pounds at the half year - an all time high. As announced earlier this year an exceptional provision of 250m pounds, after a deferred tax credit of 80m pounds, has been made in the first half accounts for the costs of ceasing production of the Jetstream 41 turboprop. Loss before tax including exceptional items was 70m pounds. The operating businesses again produced a good cash performance, with net cash of 770m pounds at the half year. The first half cash inflow was achieved with restrained increases in working capital despite rising activity across much of the Company.
Defence produced another strong performance with sales up 23% to 2,815m pounds and profit before interest up 14% to 291m pound. With order intake of 3,175m pound during the first six months the Defence order book stood at 12.1bn poundsat the half year. Commercial aerospace produced increased sales of1,246m pounds. A 20m pounds trading loss before interest and exceptional items was a combination of continuing growth in profitable performance from Airbus and an improved performance at Avro, offset by continued poor trading at Jetstream. The market for large commercial aircraft continues to be strong. Airbus Industrie, in which British Aerospace is a 20% partner, won net firm orders for 71 airliners in the first half of 1997. As at 30th June Airbus had an outstanding order book for 731 aircraft with an outturn value of some $56bn. In May, it was announced that the Company would end production of Jetstream aircraft. British Aerospace remains committed to supporting the in-service fleet of regional aircraft and whilst costs will continue to be incurred the cessation of Jetstream production will eliminate substantial losses.

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Hubble identifies the most luminous star known
Hubble entdeckt brilliantesten Stern in der Milchstraße

The spaced based Hubble telescope is always good for news. Now the telescope that received improved mission equipmanet only ten months ago, detected the most brilliant star ever. One of the intrinsically brightest stars in our galaxy appears as the bright white dot in the center of an image taken with the telescope. Hubble's Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) were needed to take the picture, because the star is hidden at the galactic center, behind obscuring dust. NICMOS' infrared vision penetrated the dust to reveal the star, which is glowing with the radianceof 10 million suns.

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Alitalia back into profits
Alitalia wieder in der Gewinnzone

After ten years of making losses, ailing Italian state carrier Alitalia is back into profits. Alitalia head Domenico Cempella reveled a net profit of 163 billion Lire (DM 163 million) for the first six months of 1997. Experts say this is a strong turnaround, especially compared to the heavy losses in 1996 mounting to DM 310 million. Alitalia will see black figures for the year 1997 as a whole, Cempella said. 1998 should be "even better", he added. The improved performance is regarded as the result of a restructuring plan implemented in 1996. That plan has brought in new working practices and more efficiency. Also in 1996, the European Commission approved plans for a DM 2 billion state aid injection that since then has been helping Alitalia to survive. The next stop for the Italian carrier is to move towards privatisation "as soon as possible", Cempella says.

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RadarSat begins first complete detailed map of Antarctica
Kanadischer Radarsatellit erfaßt die Antarktis

Initial images from the first complete radar survey of Antarctica, using the Canadian Space Agency's Radarsat mission, show better-than-expected details of its massive ice streams and crevices, as well as old, buried features of the international South Pole research station established in the late 1950s. "The quality of these first images is quite stunning," said Dr. Robert Thomas, program manager for polar research in NASA's Office of Mission to Planet Earth, Washington, DC. "Antarctica is the only continent on Earth that has not been properly mapped. Despite many years of research, we still do not know whether this massive ice sheet is growing larger or smaller. Radarsat's Antarctic Mapping Mission should help us answer this question, and many related questions about its potential for affecting global sea levels."
Nearly 70 percent of the Earth's fresh water is contained in the Antarctic region, and changes in this enormous reservoir directly influence world sea levels and climate.
The Antarctic Mapping Mission was made possible by rotating the satellite 180 degrees from its normal field of view, which was completed on September 11. Full mapping will require the collection of over 5,000 images. The high-resolution digital image mosaic of the ice sheet and exposed portions of the continent to be taken by the Antarctic Mapping Mission will serve as a benchmark for testing the predicted effects of global warming on the interior ice sheet and its bounding ice shelves. This unique data set also will support the development of policies to help preserve Antarctica in its relatively pristine state, through the goals subscribed under the international Antarctic Treaty System.
Further information on the Radarsat mission are available on the Internet at the following URL, under the link to the Antarctic Mapping Mission: http://radarsat.space.gc.ca.

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Flight day 12 picture-perfect landing
Shuttle Atlantis sicher gelandet

The Space Shuttle Atlantis glided to a smooth landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at 4:55 p.m. on October 6, bringing the STS-86 mission to a safe and successful conclusion and returning astronaut Mike Foale to Earth after 145 days in space. Foale, who spent 134 days as a crewmember aboard the Russian space station Mir, concluded a voyage that is estimated to have covered 58,000,000 miles. His is the second longest single space flight in U.S. spaceflight history behind Shannon Lucid's 188-day flight in 1996. Before leaving the Russian space station MIR, Atlantis was maneuvered around the station and detected the leaks in the Spektr module.
Monday's landing came one day after clouds prevented Atlantis' landing Sunday in Florida. Mission duration was 10 days, 19 hours, and 21 minutes, and covered 4,225,000 miles. NASA Chief Astronaut Ken Cockrell, flying the Shuttle Training Aircraft on mock entry profiles at the KSC landing facility, gave a "not go" for observed weather at 3:24 p.m. CDT. Moments later meteorologists gave a "go" for forecasted weather. Entry Flight Director Linda Ham quickly relayed approval to the Atlantis crew 13 minutes before the deorbit burn occurred to begin Atlantis' reentry.

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NASA receives White House approval for Cassini/Huygens launch
Das Weiße Haus genehmigt Cassini/Huygens-Start

NASA received formal approval from the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to proceed toward the launch of the robotic Cassini/Huygens mission to explore Saturn and its moon Titan. White House launch approval is required by presidential directive due to the type of power source used to provide electrical power for the Cassini spacecraft and its scientific instruments, and the heater units that it carries to keep the spacecraft's instruments and electronics warm in deep space.
The Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) and Radioisotope Heater Units used to power Cassini and keep its internal systems warm have been used in previous NASA missions ranging from Apollo to Galileo, and have been approved by five previous administrations ranging from Nixon to Bush. RTGs produce power by the heat generated through the natural radioactive decay of non-weapons grade plutonium dioxide, which is transformed into electricity by solid-state thermoelectric converters.
Launch was delayed on Monday, October 13 after concerns about the weather and a pair of unrelated technical glitches The launch of the Air Force Titan 4B rocket is being retargeted for 4:43 a.m. EDT (0843 GMT) Wednesday. High upper-level winds were the overriding concern, as computer models predicted unacceptable debris scattering in case of a launch accident.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

On October 1, the Dara (Deutsche Agentur für Raumfahrtangelegenheiten = German agency for space activities) has been officially integrated into the DLR (Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt). DLR-chief executive Prof. Walter Kröll will head the expanded organisation, while Dara-general director Jan-Baldem Mennicken will retire.
+++
Dortmund-based regional carrier Eurowings is to introduce jet services on some of its domestic flights. Beginning on October 26, Eurowings from Berlin-Tempelhof to Nürnberg and later from Dortmund to Munich will operate BAe 146 aircraft providing 92 or 98 seats. In the next months, Eurowings will add four more to its BAe-146-fleet currently comprising six aircraft.
+++
German defence minister Volker Rühe has announced that all 107 transport and passenger aircraft of the Luftwaffe will be fitted with collission-avoidance systems "as soon as possible". Costs for the modifications will be around 130 million DM. The decision comes after the mid-air collission of a Tu-154M with an USAF C-141 Starlifter off the coast of Namibia in mid-September.
+++
On October 9, Finnair signed a contract with Airbus Industrie for 12 firm aircraft from the A320 single-aisle family, plus 12 options. The firm order for five A319s, three A320s and four A321s by the Helsinki-based airline follows an earlier announcement by Finnair in June of this year to replace the carrier's Douglas fleet. This initial order for 12 aircraft allows Finnair to replace the DC-9s currently operated by Finnair. The additional optioned aircraft will then be used to replace the carrier's 25-strong MD80 fleet. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery from the first quarter of 1999.
+++
On October 8, Brazilian airline TAM (Transportes Aeros Meridionais) signed a contract with Airbus Industrie for the purchase of ten A330-200s, including five firm and five options, thus becoming the first customer for the type in Latin America. TAM's A330-200s will be powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4068A engines, and will offer an unprecedented comfort to 235 passengers in a luxurious two-class layout. Deliveries will start in the last quarter of 1998.
+++
"Team Lufthansa" carrier Augsburg Airways adds Brussels and Stuttgart to its route network. On October 26, Augsburg Airways will start services from Dresden and Leipzig-Halle to Belgian capital Brussels. New flights from these two East German cities to Stuttgart will be operated on weekends.
+++
Daimler-Benz Aerospace is interested in a broad cooperation with South Africa, the company has declared during a recent "technology motor aerospace" event in Johannesburg. Together with Thyssen and other German companies, Dasa has offered a complete package of ships, helicopters aircraft and submarines to the South African defence forces. This includes joint development of the new AT2000 trainer.
+++
On October 7, Turkish Airlines announced it is expanding the nation's role in bridging continents by selecting Next-Generation Boeing 737-800s to power its fleet in the next millennium. The airline selected the 737-800 to service its expanding route network, with 26 announced orders and 23 options. Total value of the deal if all options are exercised is approximately $2.5 billion. The 737-800 was launched on Sept. 5, 1994, at the Farnborough Air Show, with first delivery of this model going to the German carrier Hapag-Lloyd in early 1998.
+++
The shares of the last privatisation sale of Lufthansa were placed at 33,30 DM on Monday, October 13. This is 0,5 DM below the last prize at the Frankfurt stock exchange on Friday. Private investors get another one DM off. Though some investment specialists did remain cautious, the offer was oversubscribed about two times. Whether there will be further gains needs to be seen, as Lufthansa share prices are down at the moment around ten per cent on recent peaks.
+++
The US Justice Department has cleared the purchase of Hughes Electronics by Raytheon for 9,5 billion US-Dollars. Some minor conditions were attached to the decision, like the sale of parts of the sensor division to keep competition. Also, some current bidding activities must remain separate. Raytheon is now the third-largest aerospace and defence group in the US.
+++
Eurocopter Deutschland will ramp-up productin of its new EC 135 to 50 helicopters a year. This move follows very good sales of the twin-engined machine, which already has garnered 83 orders from customers around the world (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Great Britain, USA, Brazil, Argentina, Japan, the Phillippines, Malaysia, Australia and Singapore).
+++
For the first time since 1984, Dasa's military aviation unit has won a US Air Force maintenance contract. In the next six years, the Manching factory will repaint up to 60 A-10 Thunderbolt ground-attack aircraft - a deal worth 100000 man-hours, says the company.
+++
Germany's arms-procurement agency BWB (Bundesamt für Wehrtechnik und Beschaffung) has ordered development of a fully autonomous navigation system for the MiG-29 from Sextant Avionique. The system comprises a navigation computer and a control/display/data downloading unit. Using GPS radio-navigation data supplied by onboard units, it will allow the MiG-29s to be used in a NATO operational environment.
+++
Xian Aero-Engine, Pratt & Whitney and Blades Technology International (a joint venture between the Wertheimer Group of Israel and Pratt & Whitney) announced the launching of a three-nation joint-venture in Xian, China, to manufacture compressor airfoils and precision components for commercial aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines. The new venture, Xian Airfoil Technology Co. Ltd., will have investment of approximately $30 million. It will be located near Xian Aero Engine's facilities.
+++
French Aerospatiale and China Southern (Group) Import ans Export Trading Corporation have signed a contract for the supply of one universal Automatic Test Equipment ATEC Series 6 - 67A, associated to 36 test program sets (17 for Airbus A320 and 19 for Boeing 777), due to be delivered in April 1998. China Southern Airlines Co. Ltd. becomes the 7th airline among the 8 Triple-Seven operators having selected the ATEC for the avionics maintenance of that aircraft.
+++
Aviation Services Inc of New York, acting as manager for S-C Aircraft Holdings LLC and associated companies, is awarding British Aerospace Aviation Services a third contract for its major modification programme to convert Airbus A300B4 passenger aircraft to freighters. The new deal encompasses firm orders for 11 aircraft conversions with options for ten more. This brings the total number of orders and options for C-S Aviation Services to 31 aircraft. The additional contract will be valued at over $150 million - which includes heavy maintenance (D Checks) and servicing checks on the aircraft.
+++
On October 8, a Lockheed Martin Astronautics Atlas IIAS rocket successfully launched the EchoStar III commercial communications satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit this afternoon from Complex 36, Pad B, at Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS), Fla. Liftoff occurred right on time at 5:01 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. It was the sixth successful Atlas launch of 1997 from CCAS and the thirty-third consecutive successful flight for Atlas.
+++
Bombardier has announced that demand for the Canadair Regional Jet has driven up the production rate for the aircraft. That rate increases from a current average of five aircraft to six aircraft per month to reach a production total of 68 units in 1998 and 72 units the following year.
+++

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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen ist nach wie vor abrufbar:

PunktOctober 5, 1997

PunktSeptember 28, 1997 PunktSeptember 21, 1997 PunktSeptember 14, 1997 PunktSeptember 7, 1997

PunktAugust 24, 1997 PunktAugust 10, 1997 PunktAugust 3, 1997

PunktJuly 27, 1997 PunktJuly 13, 1997 PunktJuly 6, 1997

PunktJanuary to June 1997 PunktSeptember to December 1996

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Last updated October 13, 1997
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