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UPDATE 
Week ending October 24, 1999
+++ Aerospatiale Matra, Dasa and Marconi Electronic Systems establish Astrium +++ Aerospatiale Matra, BAe and Finmeccanica merge missiles +++ CargoLifter Experimental Airship flies +++ Boeing signs agreement with Meteor team +++ Italy confirms Storm Shadow contract +++ Lufthansa and United Airlines step in to support Air Canada +++ News in brief +++

Aerospatiale Matra, Dasa and Marconi Electronic Systems establish Astrium
Raumfahrtfirma Astrium gegründet

Aerospatiale Matra, Dasa and Marconi Electronic Systems have signed the Formation Agreement for the first trinational European space company, which will be named Astrium. As the companies announced on October 18, the merger of the Franco-British joint venture Matra Marconi Space (MMS) with Dasa's space activities will create one of the world's leading space companies. Once the European Commission has given its approval, Astrium is expected to be formally created at the beginning of the year 2000.
With over 8,000 employees and annual revenues of 2.25 billion, Astrium will be by far the largest space company in Europe. Its main acitivities will be in the fields of earth observation, telecommunications, science, launchers and orbital infrastructure. Its business will be commercial and governmental, for civil and military applications. This company will welcome Alenia Spazio from Italy's Finmeccanica as a partner within a few months, further strengthening the Astrium Group.
The Board of Management of Astrium will consist of four members, each having equal rights: Armand Carlier, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO; Klaus Ensslin, Head of the Earth Observation and Science Business Division; Nick Franks, Head of the Telecommunication Business Division; Josef Kind, Head of the Launcher and Space Infrastructure Business Division.
Dasa's space activities comprise the Dasa Space Infrastructure business unit with sites in Bremen, Ottobrunn, Lampoldshausen, Trauen, Friedrichshafen and Rostock and the Satellites business unit (Dornier Satellitensysteme GmbH) with sites in Friedrichshafen and Ottobrunn. Matra Marconi Space has sites at Portsmouth and Stevenage (UK), Toulouse and Vélizy (F).

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Aerospatiale Matra, BAe and Finmeccanica merge missiles
Europäische Lenkwaffen-Fusion unterzeichnet

Aerospatiale Matra, British Aerospace (BAe) and Finmeccanica have signed a Heads of Agreement to establish a joint venture in missiles and missile systems bringing together their current activities in this field. These are - Matra BAe Dynamics (MBD), a 50/50 joint venture of BAe and AM; the missiles systems divisions of AMS, a 50/50 joint venture of Finmeccanica and Marconi Electronic Systems, which is now finalising its merger with BAe, and the fully owned missile subsidiary of Aerospatiale Matra. With a turnover of about Euro 2.5 billion (1,5 billion Pounds), the new European missile group will employ over 10,000 people in Italy, the United Kingdom and France and will also hold the 30 per cent shareholding in LFK, the main German guided weapons business, currently owned by MBD. The Group will be owned 50% by AMS and 50 % by a holding company owned by BAe, as to 25 %, and AM, as to 75 %, giving effective parent company interests as follows: AM 37,5 %, BAe 37,5 % and FNM 25 %. Fabrice Bregier, the current Chief Executive Officer of MBD, will head the Group.

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CargoLifter Experimental Airship flies
"Joey" absloviert erste Fahrt

The CargoLifter Experimental Airship "Joey" made its successful first flight Monday, October 18th at 5:45 p.m. local time marking the first time an airship manufactured by the company has ever flown. The flight took place at CargoLifter's Airship Center at Brand some 60 kilometres south of Berlin. "Joey" - which is one-eighth the size of the giant CL 160 airship to be assembled and operated by CargoLifter - flew for about 16 minutes with the test pilot Mats Backlin at the controls. The 100-foot long airship made several circuits of the field before returning safely to its mooring mast.
CargoLifter is also planning to move to the stock exchange next March or April. At the moment, there are 7400 shareholders, which have brought in 185 million DM so far. Largest shareholder at the moment is a UK investment group with four per cent.

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Boeing signs agreement with Meteor team
Meteor Lenkwaffe: Boeing wird Partner

Boeing has become the U.S. partner on the Matra-BAe Dynamics Meteor missile team that is pursuing the United Kingdom Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile (BVRAAM) program. Officials from Matra-BAe Dynamics and Boeing announced the signing of an agreement that will give the Meteor team access to Boeing expertise in areas such as systems and aircraft integration, and advanced manufacturing techniques. In addition, Boeing will serve as the marketing lead for potential future sales to the United States and other markets as agreed upon by the Meteor team. "Boeing involvement in Meteor provides a tremendous opportunity for high- tech transatlantic cooperation and will further strengthen the Meteor team, achieving better value for the money for our customers," said MBD chief executive Fabrice Bregier. The Meteor team consists of MBD, Alenia Marconi Systems, Dasa's LFK, CASA and Saab Dynamics.

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Italy confirms Storm Shadow contract
Storm Shadow schlägt Taurus in Italien

The Royal Air Force's new Storm Shadow missile is also to be supplied to the Italian Air Force under a joint procurement programme managed by the Ministry of Defence's Defence Procurement Agency. The new deal follows an earlier co-operation agreement with France, and will lead to a common stand-off weapon being used by all three countries' air forces. The contract for Italy's missiles has been placed with Matra BAe Dynamics (UK) Ltd, with industrial participation arrangements for Italian industry. The contract will be managed by the DPA's Storm Shadow Integrated Project Team at Abbey Wood, Bristol, with an officer from the Italian Air Force joining the team. The MOD ordered Storm Shadow to meet its Conventionally Armed Stand-Off Missile(CASOM) requirement in 1997. France has ordered a similar missile from Matra BAe Dynamics (France), known as SCALP EG. The two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding for exchange of information in 1997, to secure the maximum operational and cost benefits from the two parallel programmes. A new trilateral MOU has now been signed, extending these co-operative arrangements to include Italy.

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Lufthansa and United step in to support Air Canada
Air Canada wird von Star-Alliance-Partnern unterstützt

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is putting up C$ 290 million (1 CS$ = 1.25 DM) to support Air Canada and cooperating with United Airlines in order to help the Canadian carrier repel the hostile takeover bid submitted by the Onex Corporation on August 24 1999 and ensure its continued membership of the Star Alliance. Air Canada is Canada's biggest airline and a founding member of the Star Alliance. The total aid package is worth C$ 730 million. Of the total, Lufthansa is providing C$ 290 million - C$ 140 million for the acquisition of Air Canada's preferred convertible shares and C$ 150 million in the form of guarantees. Simultaneously, the existing cooperation accords between Lufthansa and Air Canada are to be uniformly prolonged, initially, up to the year 2009. Lufthansa's Supervisory Board has approved the arrangements. Comparable measures are being taken by United Airlines. "Today's decisions will enable the management and staff of Air Canada to shape the future of their airline as a strong and independent carrier in the Star Alliance network," commented Lufthansa Chairman and CEO Jürgen Weber in Frankfurt.

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NEWS IN BRIEF / KURZMELDUNGEN

Britain has launched its new tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in Wilton near Salisbury. It will include around 350 helicopters and 12,000 men and women from the Army, Navy and Air Force. The new Command has an annual budget of 300 million Pounds, and assets totalling 1.4 billion Pounds. Launching the new Joint Helicopter Command in Wiltshire today, Armed Forces Minister John Spellar said: "The 21st century will demand new ways of working from our Armed Forces. The Army, Navy and Air Force, while superbly capable in their individual disciplines, are even more effective when they work together."
+++
On October 19, NASA released a Request for Proposal (RFP) for multiple award Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) Launch Services contracts covering a broad range of expendable launch vehicles. Called the NASA Launch Services contracts, the RFP includes medium-light, medium, intermediate and heavy launch vehicles with a performance capability of launching payloads of 3,300 pounds and greater. Traditional examples of vehicles in this performance range are the Athena II, Delta and Atlas class family of expendable launch vehicles. The NASA Launch Services contracts will span a 10-year period and include an initial mission set of three firm launches with six additional launch options. The contracts also include an IDIQ portion under which up to 60 additional launches can be competed and awarded. If all firm, option and IDIQ launches are awarded, the total value of the NASA Launch Services contracts could exceed five billion dollars.
+++
On October 20, Dassault Aviation vice president of economic and financial affairs, Charles Edelstenne, stated that Dassault would proceed with the long-awaited split of its fighter and business-jet activities on an internal and informal basis while it waited for its major shareholders to formally endorse the plan. "There will be a de facto separation of civil and military activities from the start of next year," Edelstenne said.
+++
On October 18, Globalstar announced the successful launch of an additional four low-earth-orbiting (LEO) satellites, bringing the total number of Globalstar satellites now in space to 44. The latest four Globalstar satellites, manufactured by prime contractor Space Systems/Loral, were launched at 9:32 AM EDT, aboard a Soyuz-Ikar launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. All four Globalstar satellites from today's launch were separated from the upper stage of the rocket at an altitude of 920 kilometers (571 miles) above the Earth. Flight engineers at Globalstar's ground control center in San Jose, Calif., subsequently acquired the satellites using the six Globalstar telemetry command unit gateways located in Aussaguel, France; Yeoju, South Korea; Dubbo, Australia; Bosque Allegre, Argentina; Delareyville, South Africa; and Clifton, Texas. Globalstar engineering teams will raise these satellites to their operational altitude of 1,414 kilometers (877 miles) over the next several weeks.
+++
The F-22 contractor team has accomplished another major program goal for 1999 by successfully completing engine runs on Raptor 4003, the most recent addition to the U.S. Air Force's stable of next-generation air dominance fighter jets here at Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems (LMAS). The engine runs -- which consisted of engine depreservation starts, generator checks and environmental control system (ECS) flow checks for both engines -- occurred about two weeks ahead of schedule and lasted for 45 minutes during the afternoon of Wednesday, 6 October.
+++
Bombardier Aerospace has signed a contract with Dulles, Virginia-based Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings, Inc. (ACAI) for three additional CRJ200 regional jets valued at approximately US $65 million (Cdn $97 million). Atlantic Coast's latest CRJ aircraft bring the airline's commitments to 66 firm orders for the type including 26 orders placed during this calendar year. The company has taken delivery of 21 50-seat CRJ regional jets from Bombardier.
+++
America West Airlines has signed a commitment with Airbus Industrie for a package of single-aisle aircraft. The deal announced today with the Phoenix-based airline includes firm orders for 15 A318s and 12 A320s, with an additional 25 options and 25 purchase rights for A320 Family aircraft. Deliveries for the firm-ordered aircraft will begin in August 2000. "America West is already one of North America's top customers for Airbus Industrie, and we are honored that it will also be one of the first U.S. customers for the A318," said Noël Forgeard, Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Industrie.
+++
On October 19, Arianespace successfully launched the Orion 2 digital TV satellite for Loral Orion, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications, placing the payload into an accurate super-synchronous transfer orbit. The launch of Orion 2, which followed last month's mission with Loral's Telstar 7, has enabled Arianespace to provide timely deliveries of two satellites for a major American operator. An Ariane 44LP was used for the launch at 3:22 am Kourou time.
+++
At Telecom '99, Arianespace and AMSAT-DL, the German branch of the international amateur radio satellite community, announced the signing of a launch contract for the AMSAT Phase 3-D communications satellite, to be carried aloft on an Ariane 5 as auxiliary payload. The launch will take place in the year 2000 from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. AMSAT Phase 3D will be one of the first secondary payloads boosted by Ariane 5, which will use a special adapter for orbital injection. Weighing 650 kg (1,430 lb) at launch, AMSAT Phase 3-D will be injected into a geostationary transfer orbit. It will then use its own propulsion system to reach elliptical orbit (4,000 x 47,000 km, inclined at 60 degrees), where it will be used as a relay by the international community of amateur radio operators for nearly ten years.
+++
Boeing has completed contract negotiations with the U.S. Army for the purchase of seven new Boeing CH-47D Chinook heavy-lift helicopters that will be delivered to the Greek Army under a Foreign Military Sale program. The value of the FMS program is in excess of $200 million. The Chinooks, to be manufactured at Boeing in Philadelphia and delivered in 2001, will join nine CH-47Ds originally produced as C-models under license by Italy's Agusta Elicotteri Meridionali and modernized by Boeing.
+++
The German Air Force has received the first and most advanced training simulator with virtual reality for air-defense systems of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (Dasa/Munich). Since 1997 this new "Trainer in Cyberspace" for the training on the STINGER air-defense weapons system has been developed by Dasa's Defense and Civil Systems Business Unit located at Dornier GmbH on behalf of the Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement. The system will be operated for the first time by the ground combat support battalion in the East Frisian Wangeland-Hohenkirchen and guarantee an unprecedented training quality with a particularly high economic efficiency.
+++
At the Defense Department in Lisbon, General Rivera, Director General of Armament and Defense Equipment, and Dr. Siegfried Sobotta, Co-Chairman of the Eurocopter Group, signed (in the presence of the Portuguese Minister of Defense Jaime Gama) a contract worth 35 million Euros. The contract calls for nine EC 635 helicopters to be supplied to the Portuguese Army. This contract signals the first commercial success for the EC 635, which is the military version of the EC 135 twin-engine helicopter. This makes the Portuguese Army the EC 635 start-up customer. The nine helicopters will be used for fire support, medical evacuations, and to help civilian populations in emergency situations. This contract is part of a broader plan to create an Army Air Corps in Portugal. Eurocopter, along with the French and German armies, will provide specialized assistance in the Army Air Corps project. The first deliveries will be made in the year 2001, and will be completed within 9 months. The Eurocopter group will provide a 150 % offset as part of the contract. The Portuguese aeronautics and defense industries will be the biggest beneficiaries, and will play major roles in the program. Cooperation between the three countries' (Portugal, Germany, France) aeronautics and defense industries will thus be reinforced.
+++
Italian lessor Locat S.P.A. of Milan, Italy has ordered a Fairchild Aerospace 328JET valued at $11.9 million. The 32-passenger aircraft will be delivered in April 2000 to Air Vallée, Aosta, Italy, and will be used in regular airline service between Aosta and Rome.
+++
The SAirGroup has been selected by the Polish government as a strategic partner for the state-operated airline LOT. Plans call for Swissair's parent company to complete the deal for a 37.6-per-cent equity stake in LOT by the end of the year. As of January 2000 LOT should join the Qualiflyer Group alliance as a full member. Negotiations on the concrete form of the cooperation are ongoing. Philippe Bruggisser, SAirGroup CEO was very pleased with the development, stating "I look forward to our collaboration with LOT. Our new partner has substantial market potential and LOT's Warsaw hub ideally enhances the Qualiflyer Group's position in Eastern Europe." LOT generated operating revenue in 1998 of CHF 840 million. The company employs 4150 staff members and has a fleet of 28 aircraft. LOT transported 2.6 million passengers to more than 50 destinations in 33 countries last year. The airlines of the Qualiflyer Group alliance are Swissair, Sabena, Crossair, TAP Air Portugal, Turkish Airlines, AOM French Airlines, Air Littoral, Air Europe. LOT's participation is subject to the approval of the responsible authorities.
+++

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Previous updates are still available:
Die News der letzten Wochen sind weiter abrufbar:

*October 17, 1999 *October 10, 1999 *October 3, 1999

*September 26, 1999 *September 12, 1999 *September 5, 1999

*August 29, 1999 *August 15, 1999 *August 8, 1999 *August 1, 1999

*July 18, 1999 *July 11, 1999 *July 4, 1999

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

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Last updated October 23, 1999
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