Bloomberg reports that the US Fish and Wildlife Service “initiated a formal review of the upgrades SpaceX has made to its Starship launch system, one of the final regulatory steps before flights can resume following its explosive April debut.” The agency “said in an emailed statement Thursday that it initiated the review – a consultation under the Endangered Species Act – with the Federal Aviation Administration on Oct. 19.” The FWS now “has as long as 135 days to create an updated biological opinion about how Starship and its launches impact the local environment, however the agency does not ‘expect to take the full amount of time,’ a representative said in the statement.”
Full Story (Bloomberg)
Tag: Upgrades
USSF Prioritizing Modernization of Spaceports
Space News reports that the need to “modernize US spaceports has been discussed for years, but major upgrades have yet to materialize.” With $1.3 billion in projected “funding for spaceport improvements, the Space Force is now trying to move these plans forward, identifying the most critical areas needing attention in the near-term.” Space Systems Command Program Executive Director Brigadier General Kristin Panzenhagen said, “There’s a significant effort to define what we need to be able to support the capacity and the pace of launch that our nation needs.” Based at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, Panzenhagen in June “assumed command of Space Launch Delta 45, and oversees the nation’s busiest spaceport on the Florida coast.” Speaking last week at the AFCEA Space Industry Days conference in Los Angeles, Panzenhagen “expressed optimism that initiatives to bring East Coast and West Coast spaceports into the future could soon become reality.” The Space Force has “conducted a detailed analysis of spaceport requirements given the increased pace of commercial space launch, she said.”
Full Story (Space News)
USAF F-35As Will See Engine Upgrades Instead of New Adaptive Engines
Aviation Week reports that the US Air Force “has decided not to reengine its Lockheed Martin F-35s, ending a potential competition between GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney to equip the fleet with a new powerplant.” Its fiscal 2024 budget request “ends funding for the Adaptive Engine Transition Program,” which was a competition between GE Aerospace and Pratt & Whitney to build a new adaptive engine for the F-35 fighter platform.
More Info (Aviation Week)
GE Aerospace Continues to Urge USAF to Procure New Powerplant for F-35
FlightGlobal reports, “GE Aerospace is continuing to press the US Air Force (USAF) to procure a new powerplant for Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fifth-generation fighter, rather than opting to perform core upgrades on the existing F-35 powerplant.” GE Aerospace claims that its XA100 adaptive-cycle engine, built for the F-35 under the USAF’s Adaptive Engine Transition Program, provides “transformational benefits” in range, thrust, acceleration and fuel consumption. GE Edison Works General Manager David Tweedie said on February 16, “We really think AETP clearly is the solution. And we are ready to meet that challenge and continue to move forward.” According to FlightGlobal, this “push comes ahead of the expected release in March of President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal – a document that could reveal the Pentagon’s plans for addressing shortfalls with the F-35’s existing, P&W-made F135 powerplant.”
More Info (FlightGlobal)
Honeywell Debuts Avionics Upgrades for Gulfstream
Aviation International News reports that an upgrade to Honeywell’s Primus Epic avionics “is now available for the Gulfstream G650/650ER.” Gulfstream says the Block 3 avionics update “enhances pilot situational awareness.” As standard features, the Block 3 update “comes with new graphics modules that provide higher terrain resolution.” It also “has additional synthetic vision display options with better graphics, improvements to the communications and alerting systems, and new software for the next-generation flight management system.”
Full Story (Aviation International News)
Astronauts Complete Upgrades, Maintenance on ISS Exterior
Spaceflight Now reports that NASA astronaut Raja Chari and German astronaut Matthias Maurer “floated outside the International Space Station Wednesday and installed refurbished ammonia jumpers in the lab’s cooling system to bring it back up to full efficiency, replaced a high-definition camera and made power and data connections on a European experiment platform.” Astronaut Kayla Barron reported water inside Maurer’s helmet at the end of the excursion. Once Maurer’s helmet was off, “the crew estimated up to 50 percent of the visor was coated with a thin film of water and that an absorption pad added to NASA helmets in the wake of the Parmitano incident was damp.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)
US Air Force Seeks Third-Party Upgrades to F-22 Sensors, Capabilities
Aviation Week reports that a “long-range infrared search and track (IRST) sensor, manned-unmanned teaming capability and a Thales Scorpion helmet-mounted display are on a list of new upgrades by third-party vendors sought by the U.S. Air Force for the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Commercial Space Companies to Perform Launch Range Upgrades
Space News reports, “The U.S. Space Force awarded Jacobs Technology a contract worth up to $4 billion over 10 years to provide engineering and technical services at the nation’s primary space launch ranges, as the military seeks to modernize aging infrastructure and boost capacity amid a surge in commercial space activity. The Space Systems Command selected the Tullahoma, Tennessee-based contractor on May 31 for the so-called ‘Space Force Range Contract,’ which covers maintenance, sustainment, systems engineering and integration services for the Eastern and Western ranges until 2035.”
Full Story (Space News)