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UPDATE 
Week ending May 16, 1999
+++ ESA Ministers approve new programmes +++ Lockheed not interested in A3XX role +++ Lufthansa may sell Lauda stake +++ Luftwaffe generals fly Eurofighter +++ Aerospatiale Matra privatisation plan revealed +++ Poland may seek new fighter this year +++ DLR and ISTAR sell mapping data +++ News in brief +++

ESA Ministers approve new programmes
Ministerratstagung beschließt neue Programme

Meeting in Brussels on 11 and 12 May, the 14 member countries of ESA, together with Canada, which has a co-operation agreement with the Agency, approved investments in new space-related development programmes. Newly elected ESA Ministerial Council Chairman Lord Sainsbury, the UK space minister, told waiting international journalists :"The ESA Member States have given a great boost to the whole European space community. The new investments agreed will underpin the development of new jobs in multi-billion euro knowledge-based industries in the next decade"
Highlighting the adoption of the first phase in a long-term programme of environmental science, he continued : "The agreement to embark on the Living Planet Programme is the first step towards providing an assured long-term programme of research which looks at the Earth and its environment from space. We are putting Earth sciences on a more equal footing with ESA's traditional strengths in scientific research".
Other programmes to receive approval from the Ministers included further enhancements of Europe's highly successful launcher industry, new developments in satellite navigation, satellite communications, particularly multimedia systems, and further preparations for providing Europe's contribution to the International Space Station in its early years of operation. The Ministers also agreed the budgets for the ESA Science Programme allocating EUR 1460.8 m for the period 1999-2002 .
The new programmes were endorsed against a background of agreement among the Ministers on four broad objectives for the Agency : achieving and maintaining the highest quality science, developing technologies for world-competitive space industries throughout the Member States, developing an integrated network of specialised technical centres belonging to ESA and national organisations, and achieving and maintaining world-class standards in the management of the Agency and its programmes.
The Ministers emphasised the need to adopt new ways of managing programmes, transferring greater responsibility to industry and engaging in a range of partnerships. This approach was demonstrated most clearly in the decision to proceed with a full programme definition for the Galileo global navigation satellite system. This will be undertaken initially in partnership with the European Union, which is expected to decide on the programme in June, but the Ministers have instructed the Director General to bring in user and other commercial interests early in the development phase.

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Lockheed not interested in A3XX role
Keine Lockheed-Investitionen beim Airbus A3XX

In a statement rebutting "sources cited in a Seattle Times article published May 9" Lockheed Martin has denied that it is considering an equity investment in the Airbus A3XX commercial airliner program. "Lockheed Martin has consistently stated that it does not intend to invest shareholder equity in the Airbus A-3XX program", it said, adding that "Lockheed Martin's senior management continues, however, to talk periodically with their counterparts from European aerospace companies about the possibilities of working together on programs of mutual interest, such as new military airlifters or as a subcontractor for components of Airbus commercial airliners".

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Lufthansa may sell Lauda stake
Lauda-Anteil der Lufthansa steht zum Verkauf

Lufthansa has confirmed a magazine report that said it would sell its 20 percent stake in Austria's Lauda Air Luftfahrt if the price was right. In the Austrian Format magazine chairman Jürgen Weber was cited as saying: "Yes (we will sell). If they pay a good price. But there are certain contractual obligations to Lauda and Austrian Airlines." After the interview, Lufthansa declined to say who the airline might be speaking to regarding the sale of its Lauda stake. Austrian Airlines in 1997 acquired a 35.9 percent stake in Lauda Air, along with an option to buy founder Niki Lauda's remaining 30 percent holding. At the same time Lufthansa cut its Lauda stake to 20 percent from 39.7 percent.

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Luftwaffe generals fly Eurofighter
Eurofighter-Mitflüge für Luftwaffen-Generale

To please its customer, Dasa has arranged for top Geman Luftwaffe officers to get a hands-on in-flight demonstration of the Eurofighter at the Manching test center in Bavaria. First off the ground was General Rolf Portz, Chief of Staff, who did take the rear seat in prototype DA 4, loaned from BAe. Together with Dasa chief test pilot Wolfgang Schirdewahn he was airborne for over an hour, and did take controls for most of the time. Portz not surprisingly lauded the Eurofighter as an aircraft "tailor-made" for the Luftwaffe, with "convincing" performance, namley "excellent" climb, high agility and good cockpit ergonomics.
Also flying in DA 4 were General Jürgen Höhce of the Luftwaffenführungskommando, who testified that the EF2000 is much better than the MiG-29, both in systems and aerodynamics. Experience in the Eurofighter was also gained by General Dirk Böker of Luftwaffenkommando Süd and Dr. Jörg Kaempf, weapons procurement manager in the defence ministry.

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Aerospatiale Matra privatisation plan revealed
Privatisierungspläne von Aerospatiale Matra

Yves Michot, Chairman and CEO of Aerospatiale, and Philippe Camus, Chairman and CEO of Matra Hautes Technologies (MHT) and co-Chairman of the Lagardère group, have presented the privatization program of the planned Aerospatiale Matra group, following the announcement of the initial public offering made on May 6 by the French Minister of the Economy, Finance, and Industry. Aerospatiale Matra will be listed on the Paris Bourse within the next weeks according to market conditions. " The privatization of Aerospatiale Matra is an important opportunity for French and international investors to participate in the growth of the major European programs in the industry, " added Philippe Camus.

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Poland may seek new fighter this year
Kampfflugzeug-Ausschreibung dieses Jahr?

Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek has stated that the country wants to issue tenders for helicopters and fighters this year. The PAP news agency quoted Buzek as saying that the government had decided that the helicopter tender would be launched by the end of June, and for the jet fighter in late July or early August and concluded in 2000. Poland plans to spend about $3 billion on buying several dozen fighters by 2010 to replace its fleet of ageing Soviet-designed MiG jets, PAP quoted Economy Minister Janusz Steinhoff as saying. Purchases are likely to be spread over many years because of budget restraints. Deputy Defence Minister Romuald Szeremietiew said the armed forces were likely to get about 100 combat helicopters. The prime minister confirmed that Poland would initially lease and borrow some fighters to train pilots and later begin buying the aircraft.

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DLR and ISTAR sell mapping data
Kooperation beim Verkauf von Kartendaten

ISTAR, the world's premier cartography company, and DLR have announced a partnership program to generate high resolution, exceptionally precise digital earth mapping data for wireless network planners, using camera technology originally developed for the 1996 space mission to Mars. Using ISTAR's technology, they can automatically provide large volumes of precise, high resolution data to wireless network planners, and construct digital elevation models with an absolute accuracy of 30cm in all three dimensions. By contrast with established stereo - photogrammetry technology, this data is automatically processed, and is not subject to any human photo-interpretation procedures. ISTAR expects its data to be widely used for planning micro-cellular networks and line of sight in urban areas.
ISTAR and DLR have successfully employed a prototype camera to map several European cities since January 1999. They plan on processing over 100 cities per year to the same very high resolution, covering an average of 200 square kilometers per city. Using this data, ISTAR will produce a series of aerial photo products, 3D CityView, which provide a three- dimensional building information database. Known as "NOARS", (New Opportunities in Airborne Remote Sensing) this program represents a major technological and industrial breakthrough in the remote sensing and aerial photogrammetry industries, as it combines both DLR's HRSC (High Resolution Stereo Camera) technology developed for the Mars 96 space mission and ISTAR's leading edge technology 3D digital image processing software tools. This collaboration will allow ISTAR and DLR to acquire and process an unprecedented amount of very high resolution digital imagery including 15 centimeter resolution color digital aerial photogrammetric data.

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News in brief / Kurzmeldungen

The Luftrettungsstaffel Bayern has confirmed Dipl-Ing Reiner Vorholz as President for another three years. At the annual general assembly, the private organisation also revealed the statistics for 1998, when 26 wildfires were spottet from the air during patrol flights by the Luftrettungsstaffel volunteers. 300 pilots are attached to the organisation and made 7815 sorties last year, totally free of charge to the Government.The Luftrettungsstaffel operates form 34 locations and has recourse to 8 helicopters and 164 fixed-wing aircraft.
+++
Veritas Software, the leading provider of end-to-end storage management solutions (SRM), has secured a contract with jetliner manufacturer Airbus Industrie to supply data storage management solutions. Airbus Industrie selected VERITAS Software France to provide the Veritas NetBackup solution for backup and recovery of data generated by the different applications used by the European consortium (SPOC, AIDA, Intranet Publishing, etc.) These applications will represent several terabytes of data within three years.
+++
Lockheed Martin continued the assembly process for its X-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) demonstrator aircraft by removing the combined forward and center fuselage from its tooling fixture and preparing it for mate and integration with the wing carry- through and aft fuselage components. The operations were completed ahead of schedule on May 8 and represent key milestones toward having the first aircraft ready for flight testing next year. The crew building the two X-35s at the Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale, Calif., has also begun installation of major aircraft subsystems and crew station equipment. The next major steps in production of the first demonstrator aircraft are fuel tank sealing and the installation and checkout of additional subsystems.
+++
The next Shuttle launch has to be delayed for at least a week to repair damage to the spaceship's external fuel tank caused by hail. The foam insulation on the shuttle's fuel tank has about 150 gouges in it from hail. The damage, though considered minor, cannot be fully repaired at the launch pad. Managers decided to return the shuttle to its assembly building for repairs, a move that will postpone Discovery's liftoff until May 27 at the earliest, NASA officials said.
+++
Bombardier Aerospace announced that the Global Express business jet has obtained type approval from the European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA). The key certification was awarded last Friday, May 7, 1999. The Global Express is the first ultra long-range business jet to receive this JAA approval. I"This is the last major milestone in the Global Express development program before aircraft are delivered to customers this means the aircraft is now truly an international business jet," said John Holding, executive vice-president, engineering and product development, Bombardier Aerospace.
+++
Jon L. Bryan has been named Sales Director of the Airbus Corporate Jetliner program at Airbus Industrie of North America. Bryan recently retired from a 30-year career with US Airways where he was a B767 International Captain and Chairman of the Air Line Pilots Association. While at US Airways, he also served as a member of the Global Alliance and MetroJet task forces.
+++
Zeppelin Technologies has completed the spin-forming of a one-piece, near-net shape aluminium-lithium cryogenic propellant tank dome. The dome has a diameter of 4,3 metres. The new process is attractive for fabricating tank domes as it uses less material, eleminates welds and minimizes machining and chemical milling. The work was done under contract from NASA.
+++
Flughafen Frankfurt has reported a thre per cent rise in turnover for 1998 to 2,46 billion DM. Passenger traffic was up 6 per cent to 42,7 million, but freight declined three per cent to 1,36 million tonnes. Profits before taxes were up significantly to 293 million DM.
+++
Boeing officials have announced plans for work force reductions and facilities consolidations affecting the company's operations in St.Louis. Between now and mid-2001, 6,500 to 7,000 local jobs will be eliminated. "Once we completed an assessment of our business environment based on the April 30 decision by the government of Greece, we decided to let our team and the community know as soon as possible what to expect for the foreseeable future," said Jerry Daniels, Boeing vice president and general manager and St. Louis site director. "We've worked tirelessly over the past three years to secure additional sales of both the F-15 and the F/A-18C/D," Daniels said. "The Greek order would have extended production for 18 to 24 months beyond current plans." Current orders for the F-15 will be completed by early 2000. F/A-18C/D deliveries continue to mid-2000. Israel is considering a purchase of new F-15s, with deliveries expected to begin in 2001.
+++
Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation (AWAC) is the lead customer for a number of upgrades to the BAe 146 which are designed to keep the aircraft technically compliant with the latest airworthiness regulations. These upgrades have been designed and engineered by British Aerospace Regional Aircraft, working closely with British Aerospace Asset Management which is responsible for a fleet of 78 BAe 146s operating in North America, Europe and Australia. The airline has placed orders worth US$ 4 million for a new Flight Data Recorder modification package and also the provision of underfloor hold Fire Protection Systems for its 18-strong BAe 146 fleet.
+++
The Saarbrücken-base Cirrus group (Cirrus Airlines, Cirrus Executive, Cirrus Flight Training) has taken over the Cosmos Air regional airline. Full integration will come with the winter schedules from 31. October. Gerd Brandecker, managing director of Cirrus Airlines, did hold a 50 per cent stake in Cosmos Air already. He said that the deal will strengthen both sides by using synergies in marketing and technical matters. All 50 employees will be taken over, as well as the 328 of the airline. Cosmaos currently flies from Mannheim to Berlin-Tempelhof and offers charters throughout Europe. In 1998, there were 26000 passengers.
+++
NATO air attacks in Yugoslavia continued unabated in the last days, with sometimes more than 600 sorties over any 24 hour period. According to the alliance, 432 pieces of heavy equipment have now been hit in Kosovo, as the efforts contentrate on Yugoslav ground forces in the province.
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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen sind weiter abrufbar:

*May 9, 1999 *May 2, 1999

*April 25, 1999 *April 18, 1999 *April 11, 1999 *April 4, 1999

*March 28, 1999 *March 21, 1999 *March 14, 1999 *March 7, 1999

*February 21, 1999 *February 14, 1999 *February 7, 1999

*January 31, 1999 *January 24, 1999 *January 17, 1999 *January 10, 1999

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

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Last updated May 16, 1999
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