Government/Military

Iran is attempting to build a nuclear weapon that could ignite an atomic arms race raging across the Middle East, President-elect Obama warned. He also said Iran sponsors terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Hamas has been launching hundreds of rockets and missiles into southern Israel, damaging or demolishing buildings, causing civilian casualties. In...

NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said last week he has thus far received no word, either way, on whether President-elect Obama will ask him to remain at the helm of the space agency. As a matter of routine, all political appointees are expected to submit their resignations when one president leaves the White House and a...

NASA issued a request for proposal for the huge Ares V rocket that will hoist payloads to space needed for astronauts to return to the moon and establish a permanent outpost there, the space agency announced. The request is for Phase I concept definition and requirements development for the Ares V rocket. Proposals are due...

The planned Tactical Satellite-3 launch set for later this month will be postponed because an avionics component malfunctioned, the Air Force announced. Earlier, the launch had been set for last summer. That latest delay will provide experts time to work with the manufacturer to solve the problem. When a new launch date is set, TacSat-3...

Recommendation Comes As Some Urge Dumping Ares I NASA Rocket For EELV Military Lifter AIA Says Studying Shift To EELV Worthwhile, But AIA Doesn’t Recommend That Change It would be worthwhile to study abandoning the ongoing Ares I NASA spaceship rocket in favor of adapting a military rocket for the mission, Aerospace Industry Association (AIA)...

The Kinetic Energy Interceptor (KEI) began cold-launch system testing essential for mobile, global and flexible missile defense, Northrop Grumman Corp. [NOC] announced. A key part of this system — the solid propellant gas generator — was successfully tested Dec. 18 at the Alliant Techsystems [ATK] facility in Elkton, Md. ATK supplies the gas generator, and...

NASA selected Analytical Services & Materials Inc., and Analytical Mechanics Associates Inc., of Hampton, Va., to provide analysis, systems engineering and research support for the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton. The fixed price, multiple award blanket purchase agreements have an aggregate maximum value of $100 million over five years. The Hampton firms will provide...

The Boeing Co. [BA] reconfigured an on-orbit Navy satellite, adding 30 percent more communications capability. The satellite, the 11th in the Ultra-High Frequency Follow-On (UFO) series built by Boeing, was launched in 2003 and supports the Navy global communications network, serving ships at sea and a variety of other military fixed and mobile terminals. UFO...

The Global Positioning System (GPS) control segment (GPS OCX) completed both its segment design review and its capability engineering model demonstration, Raytheon Co. [RTN] announced. The segment design review was a comprehensive review of progress in systems engineering, systems architecture and program management. Successful completion shows the design is sufficiently mature and the level of...

NASA Inspector General Robert "Moose" Cobb was one of the worst-performing inspectors general among federal agencies reviewed, in terms of cutting waste and saving funds, a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report found. Rep. Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.), chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, and Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), chairman of its investigations and oversight...