Spectrolab to Provide Renewable Energy to Australia

Monday, April 14, 2008

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today announced a third multimillion-dollar contract award with Solar Systems Pty. Ltd. for concentrator photovoltaic cell assemblies used to produce renewable energy. The cells will be used in the new 154-megawatt solar power station to be built in the state of Victoria, Australia, in addition to other power stations located throughout Australia and the United States. Contract details were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the new contract, Spectrolab Inc. of Sylmar, Calif., a wholly owned Boeing subsidiary, will provide solar cell assemblies capable of generating more than 350 megawatts of electricity. When combined with previous contracts awarded in April and August 2006, the Hawthorn, Victoria-based Solar Systems has ordered approximately 360 megawatts of renewable power from Spectrolab.

"Solar energy is in high demand, and our record-breaking conversion efficiency of over 40 percent is an industry best," said David Lillington, president of Spectrolab. "Our partnership with Solar Systems has resulted in the demonstration of affordable and reliable concentrating solar power systems. Renewable energy is a worldwide priority, and Spectrolab is well positioned to expand its global role in this rapidly expanding industry."

Spectrolab is one of the world's leading suppliers of photovoltaic solar cells, solar panels, searchlight and solar simulators and is currently celebrating 50 years of supplying solar array panels to the space industry.

Source: The Boeing Company

Permalink: http://www.sflorg.com/comm_center/boeing/p383_28.html

Time Stamp: 4/14/2008 at 1:15:17 PM CST

Boeing KC-767 Tanker Determined More Survivable in U.S. Air Force Evaluation

Friday, April 11, 2008

Boeing [NYSE: BA] today said the U.S. Air Force's decision to award a contract for the next aerial refueling airplane to the team of Northrop Grumman and the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) is at odds with the fact that the Northrop/EADS team's KC-30 is less survivable and more vulnerable to attack than the Boeing KC-767 Advanced Tanker.

The Air Force evaluation cited the Boeing offering to be more advantageous in the critical area of survivability. The evaluators found the KC-767 tanker had almost five times as many survivability discriminators as its competitor.

Speaking this week at the Aerial Refueling Systems Advisory Group (ARSAG) Conference in Orlando, Fla., former U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff and retired Gen. Ronald Fogleman stressed that survivability greatly enhances the operational utility of a tanker.

"When I saw the Air Force's assessment of both candidate aircraft in the survivability area, I was struck by the fact that they clearly saw the KC-767 as a more survivable tanker," Fogleman told the ARSAG audience in his role as a consultant to Boeing's tanker effort. "To be survivable, tanker aircraft must contain systems to identify and defeat threats, provide improved situational awareness to the aircrew to avoid threat areas, and protect the crew in the event of attack. The KC-767 has a superior survivability rating and will have greater operational utility to the joint commander and provide better protection to aircrews that must face real-world threats."

On Feb. 29, the Air Force selected Northrop/EADS' Airbus A330 derivative over Boeing's 767 derivative. Boeing subsequently asked the Government Accountability Office to review the decision, citing numerous irregularities and a flawed process that included deviations from the evaluation and award criteria established by the service for the competition.

During the Air Force debrief, the Boeing team discovered the KC-767 outranked the KC-30 in the critical survivability category. The KC-767 achieved a total score of 24 positive discriminators -- including 11 described as major -- while the KC-30 scored five, none of which were major.

Major survivability discriminators for the Boeing KC-767 included:

• More robust surface-to-air missile defense systems

• Cockpit displays that improve situational awareness to enable flight crews to better see and assess the threat environment

• Better Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) hardening -- the KC-767 is better able to operate in an EMP environment compared with the KC-30

• Automatic route planning/rerouting and steering cues to the flight crew to avoid threats once they are detected

• Better armor-protection features for the flight crew and critical aircraft systems

• Better fuel-tank-explosion protection features.

Boeing's KC-767 Advanced Tanker will be equipped with the latest and most reliable integrated defensive equipment to protect the aircraft and crew by avoiding, defeating or surviving threats, resulting in unprecedented tanker survivability -- far superior to all current Air Force tankers as well as the Northrop/EADS KC-30. The Boeing KC-767 also includes a comprehensive set of capabilities that enables unrestricted operations while providing maximum protection for the tanker crew.

Image Caption: KC-767 Tanker Night Refueling

Image Credit: Robert "Buzz" Shaddy

Source: The Boeing Company

Permalink: http://www.sflorg.com/comm_center/boeing/p379_27.html

Time Stamp: 4/11/2008 at 11:39:20 AM CST

Boeing and TEAM TSAT Confirm Readiness of Advanced Satellite Electronics

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and its TEAM TSAT industry partners have successfully demonstrated the readiness of the advanced electronics that will be used in the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT).

Tests of the TSAT Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) demonstrated the microchip's functionality, speed and suitability for spaceflight. The tests, completed in late 2007 at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, simulated the most challenging radiation environment TSAT will experience during operation.

"The success of these tests emphasizes TEAM TSAT's strategy of transitioning proven operational terrestrial technology to space," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "This accomplishment demonstrates TEAM TSAT's world-class engineering and our commitment to designing and delivering solutions that fully meet the U.S. Air Force's requirements."

These successful risk-reduction tests are the result of more than 10 years of partnership between Boeing and IBM. The TSAT ASIC chip is the fourth generation of IBM terrestrial ASIC technology qualified for space use. The first appeared in 2001 in a Boeing-built satellite-based mobile communications system.

"IBM has a strong history of positive investments in the field of microelectronics," said Anthony Yu, vice president, IBM Systems & Technology Group. "This renowned expertise and commitment to research and development has been a cornerstone in our collaboration with Boeing over the past decade and complements our drive for innovative products and services."

TEAM TSAT used ASIC chip designs that represent the most challenging functions required of TSAT. The tests simulated the harsh environment of space with a cyclotron, a type of particle accelerator that accelerates electrons using a high-frequency alternating charge.

Boeing's TEAM TSAT consists of Cisco Systems, Hughes, IBM, Harris Corp., Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., LGS Innovations, Raytheon, General Dynamics C4 Systems, L-3 Communications, BBN Technologies, EMS Technologies, SAIC and Innovative Communications Engineering. The team submitted its TSAT Space Segment proposal to the Air Force on July 30, 2007. The Air Force is expected to announce the winner of the multibillion-dollar contract later this year.

Image Caption: Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT)

Image Credit: The Boeing Company

Source: The Boeing Company

Permalink: http://www.sflorg.com/comm_center/boeing/p372_26.html

Time Stamp: 4/8/2008 at 1:02:30 PM CST

Boeing Submits GOES R Proposal to NASA

Monday, March 31, 2008

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today said it has submitted a proposal to NASA for the production of two next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, known as the GOES R series, for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

"Boeing's proposal for GOES R is backed by 40 years of experience in building and delivering weather satellites for NASA and NOAA, coupled with a commitment to program execution and providing a low-risk solution," said Craig Cooning, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems vice president and general manager. "Boeing is uniquely qualified to build GOES R on schedule and on budget."

Boeing received a GOES R risk-reduction contract from NASA in 2005 and remains committed to helping NOAA achieve its vision of a society that uses a comprehensive understanding of the role of oceans, coasts and atmosphere in the global ecosystem in order to make the best social and economic decisions.

Boeing builds on its experience as the prime contractor for the current series of geosynchronous environmental satellites, GOES N, O and P. The GOES N program series consists of three state-of-the-art imaging spacecraft and the supporting ground command and control elements. The GOES N satellite, known today as "GOES-13," was launched on a Boeing Delta IV rocket on May 24, 2006. GOES-13 was handed over to the customer following six months of rigorous testing administered by NOAA's Satellite Operations Control Center in Suitland, Md. GOES O is scheduled to launch later this year.

Boeing has built more than 260 commercial and civil satellites that have achieved a total of 2,500 years of service. These spacecraft are built at Boeing's satellite manufacturing facility in El Segundo, Calif. Encompassing 1 million square feet, the center is the largest dedicated satellite factory in the world.

Image Caption: GOES R illustration

Image Credit: The Boeing Company

Source: The Boeing Company

Permalink: http://www.sflorg.com/comm_center/boeing/p353_25.html

Time Stamp: 3/31/2008 at 10:31:58 AM CST

Boeing Supports Contributions by Canada and Japan to the International Space Station

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

A Boeing [NYSE: BA] International Space Station (ISS) team performed the complex task of integrating Canada's Dextre robotic device and a segment of Japan's Kibo laboratory ahead of their launch today aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. These components will be added to the ISS during shuttle mission STS-123.

"The transport of these latest two major additions brings NASA and its partners even closer to the goal of completing the International Space Station by 2010," said former astronaut Brewster Shaw, vice president and general manager of Space Exploration for Boeing. "The mission was also supported by the Boeing Space Shuttle team, whose extra inspections of shuttle tiles from STS-122 helped make STS-123 possible."

Kibo, a contribution to the ISS from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, will increase the station's research capability in a variety of disciplines. Dextre will work with the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to perform delicate tasks.

The segment of Kibo being delivered on this mission is the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module Pressurized Section, the smaller of Kibo's two pressurized modules. The Dextre robotic device -- the final element of the ISS Mobile Servicing System -- will work with the station's robotic arm to install the pressurized module and other Kibo components.

The space shuttle's 50-foot Orbital Boom Sensor System (OBSS) will be stowed on the ISS during the 16-day mission to make room in Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay for more Kibo components to be delivered during STS-124 in May. Boeing built and designed the On-Orbit Support equipment that will allow the stowage of the OBSS.

Boeing is responsible for ensuring the successful integration of new hardware on the ISS. The company worked together with the Japanese and Canadian teams to test the components.

"Our job is to verify that software from various organizations can talk to one another, and if they can't, to suggest and implement corrective actions," said John Royal, Space Exploration Software integration manager for Boeing.

"In regard to Dextre, we designed and built a test platform that represented a segment of the space station and provided commands to the robot to see if it would respond correctly," Royal said. "We also conducted simulations at Boeing's Software Integration Laboratory in Houston.

"During the testing, we did find that some corrective actions were necessary for driving the software on the space station," Royal added. "Sometimes organizations can interpret requirements differently, and we are here to make sure everyone is on the same page."

The ISS is scheduled to be completely assembled in 2010. At that time, the space shuttle will retire to make way for a new spacecraft that will return humans to the moon by 2020. Technological advancements and lessons learned from the space shuttle and ISS will aid future lunar missions and other space exploration pursuits.

Source: The Boeing Company

Permalink: http://www.sflorg.com/comm_center/boeing/p320_24.html

Time Stamp: 3/11/2008 at 9:47:55 AM CST