Month: October 2006
Compact Kinetic Energy Missile Passes Test
Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] successfully conducted a guided test flight of its Compact Kinetic Energy Missile (CKEM) against a reinforced urban structure (RUS). The test was conducted at Eglin Air...
Soyuz Lands Safely After Mission To Space Station With Tourist
The Soyuz spacecraft that launched Sept. 18 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome landed safely in the steppes of Kazakhstan, according to NASA. That brought to an end a mission carrying a...
Experts See Export Controls Harming U.S. Sales
Export controls cause U.S.-based satellite companies to lose business to non-U.S. firms, according to experts at a recent symposium. “There was a clear consensus among speakers and participants that these...
Boeing Completes Last Round Of Critical Wideband Gapfiller Satellite Tests
The Boeing Co. [BA] completed Spacecraft Thermal Vacuum (SCTV) testing for the first of its Wideband Gapfiller Satellites (WGS), the company announced. The tests, conducted at the Boeing Satellite Development...
Mars Rover Opportunity Scans Huge Crater On Red Planet
The Mars rover Opportunity has moved to the edge of a giant crater, NASA announced. Rovers Opportunity and Spirit, which only were supposed to work briefly after landing on the...
ABL System Making Advances; No Formal Decision On 747-800
Progress has been achieved in several areas in developing the Airborne Laser (ABL) ballistic missile defense (BMD) system, according to a briefing held by The Boeing Co. [BA]. The company...
Cruise Missile Defense Effort Only Beginning; Vast Gains Required
While questions may hang over the multi-layered U.S. ballistic missile defense program, it nonetheless is leagues ahead of any U.S. cruise missile defense effort, experts said at a symposium on...
As U.S. Manufacturing Moves Overseas, Military Loses Crisis Production Source
U.S. military forces have lost much of their emergency production reserve for weapons platforms that might be required if a major conflict erupted, because a significant chunk of the commercial...
Costs Having Almost Doubled, Satellite Program May See More Overruns
The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites-R series (GOES-R), which already has seen its price tag soar to $11.4 billion from $6.2 billion, stands in danger of seeing further cost increases, missed...