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UPDATE
Week ending January 13, 2002
+++ Arianespace losses in 2001 +++ Boeing leads in deliveries +++ ISRO and ESA cooperation in outer space +++ Bell UH-1Y flies +++ Netherlands industry interested in JSF +++ European Parliament backs Galileo +++ News in brief +++

Arianespace losses in 2001
Weitere Verluste für Arianespace

Arianespace is positioned to continue its commercial launch services leadership in 2002 as the company introduces the increased-lift Ariane 5 and plans a busy year of missions for international customers. In 2001, Arianespace won 13 launch contracts out of the total 25 signed during the year, Luton told reporters in Paris. "In other words, we replenished our backlog of orders and consolidated the workload for the Ariane launch system." Arianespace ended 2001 on a strong note, signing contracts to launch satellites for Orbital Sciences Corp. of the U.S. and the European operator Eutelsat. Orbital Sciences Corp.'s order is for the launch of BSAT-2c on behalf of the Japanese operator B-SAT. B-SAT2c is a follow-on to B-SAT2a successfully lofted by Arianespace in March 2001, and the new 1,300-kg. spacecraft will feature 4 Ku-band transponders. The Eutelsat launch order is for Hot Bird 7, an Astrium-built satellite that will weigh 3,400 kg. and carry 40 Ku-band transponders. This pair of year-end 2001 orders brings Arianespace's backlog to 51 payloads to be launched, including nine ATV missions for the International Space Station.
The delayed delivery of customer satellites to French Guiana last year -- which in turn reduced the number of launches -- weighed against Arianespace's financial results, Luton told reporters, which explains why the company's sales for 2001 decreased by about 30 percent compared to the previous year. "However, very strict management enabled us to effectively oversee the work needed to prepare the resumption of Ariane 5 launches, as well as limiting the impact from delays in Ariane 5 missions," he explained. "Because of these efforts, I am pleased to announce that our [financial] results for 2001 show a spectacular recovery compared with the previous year. We have managed to limit our income loss to about 50 million Euro, versus the more than 240 million Euro in 2000. All signs indicate that we will return to break-even in 2002."

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Boeing leads in deliveries
527 Verkehrsflugzeuge ausgeliefert

The 527 commercial jetliner deliveries announced by Boeing translate into 62 percent of the commercial aviation industry's deliveries in 2001, claims Boeing. In addition, Boeing Commercial Airplanes announced that it logged definitive agreements for 335 orders during 2001, noting that approximately 80 percent of the airplanes comprising those orders will deliver within the next three years. This continues to firm up Boeing's near-term backlog and reflects favorable order-to-delivery timing. "Our business plan is to support our customers with their needed airplanes and services through this economic cycle," said Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Mulally said the company is taking steps to deal with industry realities, including working with customers to deliver the airplanes they need, adjust production rates accordingly and improve Boeing's operational efficiency. Boeing also is looking at promising opportunities in the worldwide fleet. Currently, Boeing airplanes make up roughly 80 percent of all the commercial airliners over 100 seats operating in the world. More than 3,000 airplanes still in service are 20 to 30 years old and are candidates for replacement.

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ISRO and ESA cooperation in outer space
Indien und Europa arbeiten zusammen

India signed the International Charter on Space and major disasters envisaging cooperation in the use of space facilities for natural or technological disasters. The Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Dr. K. Kasturirangan signing the convention said that data from Indian remote sensing satellites will be provided for the purposes of disaster relief. The Charter was mooted by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the French National space agency, as an initiative by space organizations to provide earth observation data to disaster relief agencies for emergency operations. The Canadian space agency is another Organisation that has already joined the charter.
ISRO also signed a cooperative agreement with the European Space Agency for renewing arrangements to further cooperation between the two agencies in the peaceful uses of outer space. Dr. Kasturirangan said that this umbrella agreement will enable both ISRO and ESA to carry out programs of common concern in space science and applications including communication, remote sensing, meteorology and navigation, besides life and material sciences under micro-gravity conditions. A number of Indian satellites have been launched on board ESA's launch vehicle Ariane since 1981.

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Bell UH-1Y flies
Erstflug der Bell UH-1Y

The US Marine Corps' newest utility helicopter, the UH-1Y achieved a successful first flight of 0.6 hour, In Ground Effect (IGE) flight on Thursday, December 20, 2001. The aircraft lifted off at 1640 CST at the Bell Flight Research Center (Plant 6), Arlington, TX. Bell will produce 100 UH-1Y aircraft as part of the $4.5 Billion H-1 Program which also includes 180 AH-1Z attack helicopters. The flight profile consisted of low and high IGE hovers, Pedal turns, acceleration to an estimated 27 kts. (12 knots wind + 15 kts ground speed). The Flight crew consisted of Monte Nelson, Bell Helicopter and Maj William Randall, USMC. Both pilots flew the aircraft and commented; "everything went well." Over the past two weeks the UH-1Y went through nearly 15 hours of ground runs. The H-1 Program is a major upgrade to remanufacture the US Marine Corps fleet of AH-1W SuperCobra and UH-1N utility helicopters to an advanced configuration featuring common engines and flight dynamics. The H-1 upgrades include an enormous amount of commonality between the two aircraft including engines (GE-T700 engines), four blade all composite, hingeless, bearingless main rotor system and tail rotor, identical drive trains, hydraulics and electrical distribution systems. By utilizing common systems the cost of the logistics support process for the two helicopters reduces dramatically allowing for vastly improved shipboard operability. Far less critical shipboard space will be needed to store spare parts and support equipment to support the two helicopters comprising the H-1 Program.

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Netherlands industry interested in JSF
Niederländische Industrie tendiert zu US-Kooperation

Talks have been held between representatives of the Dutch cabinet and the Dutch Aerospace Cluster about the position of the Netherlands in relation to further participation in the US jet fighter, the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), which is one of the possible choices as the successor to the current generation of jet fighters, the F16. On behalf of the Dutch Aerospace Cluster, dr. ir. A.W. Veenman, chairman of the Board of Management of Stork N.V., made the following statement: "The aerospace industry in the Netherlands has today given an undertaking to the cabinet that it is prepared to make a substantial contribution to the Dutch government in the total development, production and maintenance process. This concrete undertaking is necessary to enable the government to make the required assessments in order to reach a decision in principle. The Netherlands now has the opportunity to participate in the development phase of the JSF, for which the US government requires a contribution of USD 800 million. At this time I cannot express a view on the size of this contribution. However the industry believes that the substantial contribution which it has undertaken to make demonstrates the importance of participation in the development, production and maintenance of the JSF. This participation is of great importance for the Dutch aerospace industry, because of the opportunity to be involved in a new aircraft project using new technologies, the large numbers of aircraft to be built (more than 4,500), and as a result the long-term co-operation that the JSF project will represent."

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European Parliament backs Galileo
Galileo GPS wird vom Europaparlament unterstützt

The European Parliament's Committee on Industry is strongly backing the Galileo satellite radionavigation system, which is designed to give Europe an independent technology applicable to a wide range of activities. This type of technology is already used on a daily basis in the transport industry, telecommunications, customs and agriculture. At present, however, the only systems in existence are the GPS in the USA and GLONASS in Russia, both which are funded and controlled by the military authorities, with the result that their signals can be blocked or jammed at any time to safeguard the national interest.
To remedy this situation the Commission, following a request by Council in 1998, proposed an independent European satellite radionavigation programme - Galileo - to be developed in four phases: definition in 2000, development by 2005, deployment by 2007 and operation and exploitation after that. Last October the full Parliament adopted a resolution in which it expressed concern regarding the financial viability of Galileo if there were no commitment from the private sector. The resolution emphasised that the financial consequences of any failure by the private sector to invest should not be passed on to the Community or national budgets. Parliament therefore urged the Commission to ensure sufficient private sector involvement at each stage of the project. However, in a report by Norbert GLANTE (PES, D) adopted on Tuesday, the Committee on Industry voiced dissatisfaction with the Commission's proposal that private companies could become actual members of the Galileo Joint Undertaking. MEPs believe a conflict of interest would arise if private companies were directly involved in the Joint Undertaking. They therefore want to restrict membership to the founding members, the European Communities and the European Space Agency (ESA), and possibly in future the European Investment Bank.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

MTU Aero Engines looks back on a long history of profitable cooperation with Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC). Adding another chapter to the story of their joint success, MTU in early-December delivered to its Canadian customer the 2,000th production module of the low-pressure turbines it makes for the PW300 and PW500 engine families. Wolfgang Gärtner, P&WC programs manager at MTU's Munich facility, is enthused with the progress: "This year alone we've already built over 500 turbine modules." No. 500 is a low-pressure turbine and exit casing for a PW305. P&WC is a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation. Cooperation between the two companies began in 1985 when the pair inked a deal on MTU's share in the PW300 engine family, and was expanded six years later through a strategic alliance agreement. Today, the German-Canadian cooperative effort includes four engines in all: the PW305, PW306, PW530 and PW545.
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Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) and the Norwegian Space Centre are merging their satellite activities on Svalbard and in Tromsø to establish Kongsberg Satellite Services AS, a new company jointly and equally owned by the two enterprises. The goal is to improve the satellite services, including Earth observation services, provided by Svalbard and Tromsø. The company will have some 50 employees in Tromsø and on Svalbard and have a turnover of roughly MNOK 70. Tom Gerhardsen, president of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, will chair the company's Board of Directors, and Rolf Skatteboe has been appointed president. The company will serve and download data from satellites, and process data from the most important Earth observation satellites operated by NASA of the US and ESA and Eumetsat of Europe.
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Ryanair, Europe's largest low fares airline confirmed that it had submitted a second complaint to the EU Competition Commissioner, Mario Monti and the EU Transport Commissioner, Loyola De Palacio about the 'dirty tricks' being engaged in by Lufthansa in an attempt to prevent Ryanair not just advertising in Germany, but now exercising its right to freedom of speech in Germany.
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Air Foyle HeavyLift's (AFH) worldwide general sales and marketing activities on behalf of its Ukrainian partner Antonov Airlines has got off to a flying start for the New Year. All Antonov's fleet of eight available AN124s have been contracted to operate a busy series of airlifts during January, in addition to, back-to-back charter flights for the 250-tonne capacity AN225 freighter – including the first commercial flight for this giant of the skies. This strong sales activity including the run-up to the New Year and over the pre- Christmas period, is a major boost to the newly formed joint venture and bucks the current trend of the general slowdown within the air cargo market. The charters arranged by AFH have been a strong mix of military support related flights, relief aid operations and a diverse range of 'outsize' cargo airlifts. The flights scheduled to operate during January to date span communications satellites, a massive ships crankshaft, power generation equipment, aerospace engines and a large programme of airlifts to support military operations on behalf of the US and allied forces in Afghanistan.
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Air Logistics LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Offshore Logistics Inc., has purchased ten Eurocopter EC120Bs as part of a fleet renewal plan. Six of the EC120Bs have been delivered and are currently being equipped in an offshore configuration. Four additional EC120Bs will be delivered by end of the first quarter 2002. According to Gene Graves, Vice President Marketing and Sales, ”The mission capabilities of the aircraft will allow us to support our customers more efficiently in the Gulf of Mexico. We are looking forward to the aircraft entering into service beginning January 2002.”
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The United States Air Force has declared Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for the new ground control station that operates the nation's network of satellites used to detect and track missile launches around the world. The Mission Control Station (MCS) is the first major phase to be fielded of the three increments in the Air Force's Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS). SBIRS is an important element of the country's missile defense system. Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Northrop Grumman developed the MCS. It consolidates three legacy ground stations into one SBIRS ground station and provides additional capabilities to improve support to the operators. The MCS establishes the foundation for both the SBIRS High and Low satellite constellations, which when deployed, will notify the National Command Authority of missile launches twice as fast as the current Defense Support Program (DSP) system.
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Air Europa became the first airline in Spain to operate a Boeing 737-800 equipped with winglets, the upward-swept extensions on the tips of the wings. The carrier leased the airplane from Tombo Aviation in November. Air Europa, an all-Boeing airline based in Palma de Mallorca, also plans to install the visually distinctive winglets on all 737-800s in its fleet.
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MyBoeingFleet.com, one of the most successful business-to-business Web portals on the Internet, now offers airlines the ability to store and retrieve their own content in addition to accessing Boeing technical information and services.The "Hosted Customer Content" feature provides a convenient, fast and economical way for airlines to manage the huge volume of documents and data generated by their own maintenance, engineering and operations departments.By taking advantage of this Web-based feature, the carriers can avoid setting up costly internal digital systems or relying on cumbersome paper or microfilm-based reference systems. Most of Boeing's airline customers already have access to MyBoeingFleet, and now can begin using the portal's familiar search, display and control capabilities to manage their own content.The hosted-content feature is available for a one-time startup charge plus a monthly fee. The fee is based on the amount of data storage used by the customer. Typical airline usage could vary from a few gigabytes up to as many as 20, with one gigabyte roughly equivalent to 50,000 printed pages.MyBoeingFleet was launched last year as a single online source of maintenance, engineering and flight operations information and services for operators of Boeing and Douglas jetliners.
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AgustaWestland, the 50:50 joint venture between GKN and Finmeccanica, announced the consolidation of its UK operations on its site at Yeovil, Somerset and a reduction in the workforce. This reduction will take effect from mid April 2002 and was anticipated as AgustaWestland progressively completed its two major UK military orders for 66 EH101 and 67 Apache helicopters. AgustaWestland has achieved considerable success in Europe and is now preparing the way for the entry of the EH101 into the US market in conjunction with Lockheed Martin. Against this background, UK deliveries of the EH101 are now substantially complete and Apache production is well advanced. AgustaWestland needs therefore to reduce UK employee numbers by 950 from the current total UK workforce of 5,250. The majority of the reduction will be at the Yeovil site but will also involve the closure of the site at Weston Super Mare and the transfer of its operations to Yeovil. It is hoped that much of the reduction can be achieved on a voluntary basis.
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Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Alan Mulally has announced Seddik Belyamani's intention to retire as executive vice president of Sales. "Seddik's career of service to our global industry has positioned all of us well for the future," Mulally said. "Seddik's unwavering focus on our customers and their needs helped us all further develop our preferred family of commercial airplanes, services and customer solutions."
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BAE Systems Aviation Services, Air Contractors (Ireland) Ltd and Safair have agreed to jointly market two Airbus A300B4 freighters due to be converted during 2002. Through this agreement BAE Systems Aviation Services, Air Contractors and Safair will jointly provide a sales and marketing team to offer the aircraft for sale, dry lease or wet lease. Aviation Services is currently the world leader in Airbus A300B4 freighter conversions and has developed a totally integrated on-ramp freighter package - including aircraft, freighter conversion, maintenance and training to be performed at its facilities in Filton, Bristol, UK.
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In a new study and market forecast, ”The World Rotorcraft Market Through 2010,” Forecast International/DMS has projected the production of 9,261 commercial helicopters worth just under $18 billion, plus 4,970 military machines valued at $66 billion through 2010. The military production forecasts include such major modifications programs as the Bell AH-1Z and UH-1Y, Boeing CH-47D/F and AH-64D, Kaman SH-2G, and Sikorsky UH-60M. The rotary-wing industry has stabilized during the past 18 months and, while the commercial segment will remain relatively flat through the next ten years, the military sector has begun to heat up, according to the report. Several major military helicopter competitions were decided toward the end of 2001 and a number of new military rotorcraft have either recently entered production or are moving closer to a launch decision. ”The jury is still out on the troubled V-22 Tiltrotor,” said Forecast International aircraft analyst Bill Dane, ”but the Eurocopter Tiger, NH Industries NH-90, and the Boeing/Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche are shaping up as highly lucrative programs.”
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On 1 May 2002, the Austrian Airlines Group will re-start its programme of regular scheduled flights to Canada. Flights to Toronto had been temporarily suspended from the end of October 2001 in the wake of the tragic events of 11 September. In future, Austrian Airlines will serve both Toronto and Montreal with non-stop flights from Vienna, providing a connection to Canada on every day of the week except Sunday. A Vienna-Toronto-Vienna service will operate three times a week. Departure will be every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 11.20 a.m., arriving in the Canadian metropolis at 2.55 p.m. local time. Return flights will leave Toronto at 6.55 p.m. the same day, with arrival in Vienna at 9.20 the next morning.
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Scientists at the European Space Agency have developed a new camera that is poised to revolutionize the way astronomers observe the Universe. Called S-Cam, the new device's capabilities read like an astronomer's wish list. From now on, astronomers will know almost everything about starlight from one simple observation. S-Cam, which stands for superconducting camera, is the latest result of a decade-old project by ESA to develop the next generation of detectors for space missions. At the heart of S-Cam is a superconductor, a material that loses its natural resistance to electricity at low temperatures. "By 1992/93 we understood theoretically that superconductors would be sensitive in the optical and near infrared region of the spectrum," says Tone Peacock, Head of Science Payloads Technology Division, about the genesis of the new camera. "In the case of a superconducting camera, each individual piece of light (known as a photon) is detected. Not only that, its time of arrival and its color is measured." During 1992, working with ESA astronomer Michael Perryman, they predicted this unique capability of superconductors and the impact such a revolutionary light sensor would have on the field of astrophysics.
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NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has made a stunning, high-energy panorama of the central regions of our Milky Way galaxy. The findings are an important step toward understanding the most active area of the Milky Way as well as other galaxies throughout the universe. Like a sprawling megalopolis, the new Chandra images show hundreds of white dwarf stars, neutron stars and black holes bathed in an incandescent fog of multimillion-degree gas around a supermassive black hole. "The center of the galaxy is where the action is," said Q. Daniel Wang of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. "With these images, we get a new perspective of the interplay between stars, gas and dust, as well as the magnetic fields and gravity in the region. We can see how such forces affect the immediate vicinity and may influence other aspects of the galaxy."
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A Marine Corps KC-130R crashed into a mountain near Shamsi, Pakistan, at 6:45 p.m. Pakistan time, U.S. Central Command officials said. Seven Marines were aboard the aircraft. Centcom officials had no immediate status report on the Marines. The flight originated in Jacobabad, Pakistan, and was on a multistop mission. Officials did not know whether the aircraft had gone into Afghanistan. Centcom officials said it was "unlikely" the crash was the result of any enemy action, but said the cause of the crash is already under investigation. The destination of the flight was the Forward Operating Base at Shamsi in southwestern Pakistan.
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BAE Systems has won a 10-year contract worth just over £35 million for an innovative approach to the repair of Tornado airframe parts for the Royal Air Force.The contract, won by BAE Systems Customer Solutions & Support business, will improve availability to the RAF's front line Squadrons for four major Tornado airframe items (rudder, intake, windscreen and wing nib assemblies) through a performance-based support service. It has been secured as a result of a more co-operative partnering approach developed between the Tornado Integrated Project Team (IPT) within the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO), RAF Strike Command, BAE Systems and other industry organisations.
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Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI)'s Bedek Aviation Group was chosen by GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), world's largest company in the field of aircraft rental, based in the U.S, to convert 10 Boeing 767-200 and 767-300 passenger aircraft to freighter configuration. The contract is estimated $100 Million and options for additional conversions are included. The first conversion is expected to complete by mid-2004. "Expanding our conversion program to include larger 767 aircraft enables GECAS to offer more options to freight customers", said Henry Hubschman, president of GECAS. "With nearly two-thirds of air freighters in use today expected to be replaced over the next 20 years, we are positioned to help air cargo operators meet their needs for modern, efficient aircraft". GECAS provides a variety of aircraft financing to airfreight operators around the world and has a fleet of approximately 50 owned and managed freighters.
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EADS European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company welcomes the choice made by Hispasat, first operator of satellite communications in the Hispanic and Portuguese-speaking world, to entrust its subsidiary Astrium with the building of the Amazonas satellite. "In a difficult space market, it is a very good news. It is also the acknowledgment of the performances of our technologies for the new generation satellites and the proof of our competitiveness on the field of space activities ", declared Philippe Camus and Rainer Hertrich, EADS'S CEOS. Intended to cover Brazil, South America and the South of the United States, Amazonas is a big satellite of the category of 7 tons. It is also the seventh Eurostar 3000 platform of Astrium. The launch of the first satellite of this generation, Intelsat 10, is foreseen towards the end of year 2002.
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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen sind weiter abrufbar:

*January 6, 2002

*December 23, 2001 *December 16, 2001 *December 9, 2001 *December 2, 2001

*November 25, 2001 *November 18, 2001 *November 11, 2001 *November 4, 2001

*October 28, 2001 *October 21, 2001 *October 14, 2001 *October 7, 2001

*January - September 2001

*January to December 2000 *January to December 1999 *January to December 1998 *January to December 1997 *September to December 1996

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