Government/Military

Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] gave Alliant Techsystems Inc. [ATK] a $90 million contract to provide solid rocket propulsion systems for the three stages of the Navy Trident II D-5 fleet ballistic missile, ATK announced. Under terms of the annual contract, ATK will continue to supply Trident solid rocket propulsion systems to Lockheed through 2011. Deployed...

Report Appeared In Russian Paper President Obama offered to kill plans to build the European Missile Defense (EMD) system if Russia would help the United States force Iran to abandon its nuclear program, according to a report in the Russian Kommersant newspaper, Fox News stated. Russian leaders including President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimr...

[Satellite Today 03-02-09] The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) has called President Obama’s 2010 proposed fiscal budget, “solid for defense, space and civil aviation” in a Feb. 27 statement from AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey.     Blakey said that the $3.55 trillion budget includes responsible top line totals for both the [U.S. Department of Defense]...

Northrop Grumman delivered the final flight module cooler assemblies for the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) sensor to ITT Corp., Northrop Grumman announced Feb. 27.     The delivery, which consists of hardware for two sensors, completes a multi-year contract between the two companies started in 2005.     Built by ITT, ABI is one of the primary...

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) would receive more than $1.3 billion for weather satellites and climate sensors, under a budget plan that President Obama handed Congress. That budget outline provides a rough sketch of total amounts for federal programs in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2010. Details listing just which satellite programs...

An Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missile launched successfully in a recent stockpile verification test at Fort Bliss, Texas, Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] announced. The missile was fired from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launcher. An ATACMS Unitary variant missile was fired to destroy a target approximately 175 kilometers (108.7 miles) away. The...

Experts To Meet Wednesday To Reassess Safety Concerns March 12 Liftoff At 8:54 P.M. ET Would Mean On-Schedule Launches For Hubble, Station Missions The much-delayed Space Shuttle Discovery now may launch at 8:54 p.m. ET March 12, but that liftoff next week is contingent on further detective work, attempting to figure out what dangers might...

The Boeing Co. [BA] gave NASA a proposal for Altair lunar lander design support. NASA is expected to award multiple contracts this spring. The lunar lander, part of the Constellation Program developing the next-generation U.S. spacecraft system, will launch aboard the Ares V heavy-lift rocket and provide astronauts with life support and a base for...

Delay Allows Time To Ensure Kepler Doesn’t Meet Fate Of Satellite Last Week The Kepler space telescope launch has been shifted to Friday night, a day later than planned, so that experts have time to ensure Kepler won’t meet the unfortunate fate of a NASA satellite that failed to reach orbit last week, NASA announced....

NASA gave Oceaneering International Inc. an interim letter contract for the next-generation American spacesuit. Oceaneering, of Houston, will begin work on designing, developing and producing a new spacesuit system for the Constellation Program that is creating the next-generation Orion space capsule, Altair lunar lander and Ares rocket family for missions to space. That spacesuit will...