Extra flight to Charlotte will resume

GULFPORT, Miss. - Early-morning flights between Gulfport and Charlotte, N.C., on US Airways will resume Tuesday. Fuel prices and a slow economy led the airline to suspend the third daily flight in October. But over the past few weeks the flights are operating at near capacity so the extra flight is returning. (Source: The Sun Herald, 02/28/09)

Northrop, EADS eye hiring Haas

MOBILE, Ala. - Northrop Grumman and EADS North America have been asked by Mobile officials to hire Bay Haas, the retired airport authority executive director, to coordinate local support for the effort to win the contract to assemble aerial refueling tankers in Mobile. According to the Mobile Press-Register, the request was made in a Feb. 18 letter. A spokesman said Northrop Grumman is giving the suggestions "active consideration." (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 02/28/09) Northrop and EADS again this year will compete against Boeing for the $40 billion Air Force contract

NASA picks spacesuit developer

WASHINGTON, D.C. - NASA has awarded an interim letter contract to Oceaneering International Inc. of Houston to begin work on the design, development and production of a new spacesuit system for the Constellation Program. The system will protect astronauts during voyages to the International Space Station and exploration of the moon's surface. (Source: PRNewswire, 02/27/09) Gulf Coast note: The Gulf Coast has space-related operations at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Stennis Space Center, Miss.

Contract: Northrop, $5.8M

The Air Force is modifying a contract with Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Integrated Systems Air Combat Systems, San Diego, Calif., for $5,857,128. This action will provide engineering, manufacturing and development infrastructure activates in support of the Global Hawk Program. 303 AESG/SYK, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the contracting activity. (Source: DoD, 02/27/09) Gulf Coast note: Global Hawk fuselage work is done in part in Moss Point, Miss.

Boeing submits Altair proposal

HOUSTON, Texas - Boeing through its Space Exploration division submitted a proposal to NASA for Altair lunar lander design support. NASA is expected to award multiple contracts this spring. The lunar lander, part of NASA's Constellation Program, will launch aboard the Ares V heavy-lift rocket and provide astronauts with life support and a base for exploration missions. Altair will also return the crew to the Orion spacecraft that will transport the astronauts back to Earth. (Source: Boeing, 02/27/09) Gulf Coast note: Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi are both involved in the Constellation Program

Extra Ares I flight tests eyed

NASA managers are pulling together options for spending some $400 million in extra funds that have become available for human exploration under the economic stimulus package, and have not ruled out an extra flight-test to hasten development of the Ares I crew launch vehicle. Also on the table is advancing development work on Ares I and the Orion crew exploration vehicle. (Source: Aviation Week, 02/27/09) Gulf Coast note: Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi are both involved in the Constellation Program

Tanker still top priority

ORLANDO, Fla. - Aerial tankers remain the Air Force's top priority and the competition could be completed within a year, according to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. The tankers are needed to replace KC-135s. Donley, speaking at a military conference sponsored by the Air Force Association, said Defense Secretary Robert Gates expects to issue a new request for bids this spring. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 02/27/09) Gen. Duncan McNabb, commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, told a joint hearing of the seapower and air and land forces subcommittees of the House Armed Services Committee that the tanker is his No. 1 modernization priority, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. Boeing is competing against a Northrop Grumman/EADS, which wants to construct an assembly plant in Mobile, Ala., to build the planes.

County to buy more industrial land

MILTON, Fla. - The Santa Rosa County Commission voted to use $3.1 million in electric franchise fees to buy 90 acres in not far from Interstate 10 to use for industrial development. Pullum Park will join the nearby Santa Rosa County Industrial Park and the planned Whiting Aviation Park as county-owned property available for industrial development. (Source: Pensacola News Journal, 02/27/09)

Contract: Textron, $9.5M

The Air Force is modifying a contract with Textron Systems Corp., of Wilmington, Mass., for $9,527,490. This action will provide 30 additional Sensor Fuzed Weapons, Full Rate Production Lot 12. 683rd ARSS/SYKA, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity (Source: DoD, 02/26/09)

$533.7B defense budget proposed

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Defense Department would get a baseline budget of $533.7 billion in fiscal year 2010, up from $513.3 billion appropriated by Congress in 2009, under the president's budget. It's part of the $3.55 trillion budget the White House released Thursday. (Sources: Wall Street Journal, Aviation Week, Washington Post, 02/26/09) Gulf Coast note: The DoD budget is critical to this region, which is home to military bases as well as large and small defense contractors

Scolese: NASA funding responsible

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Acting NASA Administrator Christopher J. Scolese said the $18.7 billion for NASA in the 2010 fiscal year budget is "fiscally responsible and reflects the administration's desire for a robust and innovative agency." Scolese said the budget ensures NASA maintains global leadership in Earth and space research and "funds a robust program of human and robotic space exploration." When combined with the $1 billion provided for NASA in the Recovery Act, the funding is more than $2.4 billion above the 2008 level. (Source: NASA, 02/26/09) Gulf Coast note: The region is heavily involved in the space program through Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

Second F-35B marks first flight

FORT WORTH, Texas - Lockheed Martin's second short takeoff/vertical landing F-35B Lightning II accomplished its first flight on Wednesday. The aircraft, known as BF-2, joins a conventional takeoff and landing F-35A and another F-35B that already have logged a combined total of 84 flights. (Source: PRNewswire, 02/25/09) Gulf Coast note: Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will become home to the Joint Strike Fighter training center

Teledyne to buy back shares

Teledyne Technologies, of Thousand Oaks, Calif., said it will repurchase up to 1.5 million shares of stock, or 4.2 percent of the shares that were outstanding as of Dec. 28. The company said it would use cash on hand and money borrowed through an existing credit agreement. Teledyne operates Continental Motors division at Brookley Field Industrial Complex in Mobile, Ala. (Source: Mobile Press-Register, 02/26/09)

Keesler command change slated

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. - Brig. Gen. Greg Touhill turns over command of the 81st Training Wing to Col. Ian Dickinson in a ceremony April 6. Dickinson, who reports to Keesler by March 31, is Joint Staff deputy chief information officer at the Pentagon. Touhill’s new assignment is Chief, Office of Military Cooperation, U.S. Central Command, Kuwait. (Source: Keesler Air Force Base, 02/25/09)

Airbus placing bet on freighters

Airbus is preparing to birth a new generation of freighter aircraft just as the industry is seeing declines in demand. But the company is looking beyond the immediate crisis and making a long-term bet on creating freighters that could compete with rival Boeing, which has long dominated the freighter market. (Source: Aviation Week, 02/22/09) Gulf Coast note: EADS, parent of Airbus, said last year that it would produce a cargo version of its A330 airliner in Mobile if it won the Air Force tanker contract. A new competition will begin this year.

Shuttle fuel tank in Florida

NEW ORLEANS, La. - An external fuel tank made for NASA by Lockheed Martin at the Michoud Assembly Facility is expected to arrive at Kennedy Space Center Saturday. The tank, which is 15 stories tall and almost 28 feet in diameter, traveled by covered barge. (Source: New Orleans Times-Picayune, 02/20/09)

Contract awarded for engine testing

WASHINGTON - NASA signed a five-year, $45 million contract Thursday with American Tank and Vessel Inc. of Mobile, Ala., for installation of a test cell diffuser and associated systems in the A-3 test stand at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The stand will test the J-2X engine that will power the upper stage of the Ares I crew exploration vehicle and the Earth departure stage of the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. Construction began on the A-3 stand in summer 2007, with the first test scheduled for 2012. The structure is the first large test stand to be built since the south Mississippi site was established in the 1960s. (Source: NASA, 02/19/09)

Boeing bids on Ares V

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Boeing's Space Exploration division submitted proposals for the Ares V Phase 1 Design Support Contracts. The proposals are for design support of the Ares V cargo launch vehicle's payload shroud; the Earth-departure stage; the liquid-fueled central booster element core state; and avionics and software. The two-stage, vertically stacked Ares V will be NASA's primary rocket for delivery of large-scale hardware to space. The Ares V Phase 1 contracts will be managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. (Source: Boeing, 02/18/09) Gulf Coast note: Boeing has an operation in New Orleans at Michoud Assembly Facility

City to sue over F-35

VALPARAISO, Fla. - The City of Valparaiso voted to sue the Air Force over the F-35 Record of Decision. Two commissioners, both of whom had opposed a previous Freedom of Information Act suit against the Air Force, were absent. (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News, 02/18/09) The Air Force earlier this month signed a record of decision that allows construction to begin for the Joint Strike Fighter training center. To address noise concerns, the Air Force is limiting use of one runway.

Keesler commander gets new assignment

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. - Brig. Gen. Greg Touhill, 81st Training Wing commander, has been selected for a new assignment as Chief, Office of Military Cooperation, U.S. Central Command, Kuwait. Touhill came to Keesler in October 2007. Announcement of his replacement is expected soon. (Source: Keesler Air Force Base, 02/17/09)