aerospace america april 2010

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HUBBLE at
Reflections on the universe...
and ourselves
A PUBLICATION OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICS AND ASTRONAUTICS
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April2010
Page8
DEPARTMENTS
EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY 3
Workingtowardcompromise.
INTERNATIONALBEAT 4
Europetacklesrunwaycapacityissue.
Page11 Page20
ASIAUPDATE 8
Indiajoinstherace.
WASHINGTONWATCH 11
Seasonforendings?
Page22
CONVERSATIONS 14
WithDietmarSchrick.
Page26
SPACEUPDATE 20
Aboostforcommercialhumanspaceflight.
ELECTRONICSUPDATE 22
GeographydrivesISRtechnology.
ENGINEERINGNOTEBOOK 26
SOFIA’ssmoothrideshakesupastronomy.
OUTOFTHEPAST 44
CAREEROPPORTUNITIES 46
FEATURES
HUBBLEAT20:REFLECTIONSONTHEUNIVERSE…ANDOURSELVES 30
Transformedaftertheearlydiscoveryofanear-fatalflaw,Hubblecontinues
toprovidedazzlingimagesandsciencebreakthroughs.
byLeonardDavid
WINDTUNNELS:DON’TCOUNTTHEMOUT 38
Thenation’swindtunnels,eveninaperiodofgrowingdecline,stilloffervital
insightsthatcomputerscannotmatch.
byEdwardGoldstein
BULLETIN
AIAAMeetingSchedule B2
AIAACoursesandTrainingProgram B4
AIAANews B5
Page38
MeetingProgram B13
CallsforPapers B27
COVER
AtlantisastronautsJohnGrunsfeldandAndrewFeustelreplaceafineguidancesensorontheHST.For20years
ofHubblehistory,turntopage30.FootagecapturedwiththeIMAX3DcameraaboardSTS-125.
AerospaceAmerica(ISSN0740-722X)ispublishedmonthlybytheAmericanInstituteofAeronauticsandAstronautics,Inc.at1801AlexanderBellDrive,Reston,Va.20191-4344[703/264-7577].
Subscriptionrateis50%ofduesforAIAAmembers(andisnotdeductibletherefrom).Nonmembersubscriptionprice:U.S.andCanada,$163,foreign,$200.Singlecopies$20each.
Postmaster:Sendaddresschangesandsubscriptionorderstoaddressabove,attentionAIAACustomerService,703/264-7500.PeriodicalpostagepaidatHerndon,VA,andatadditional
mailingoffices.Copyright©2010bytheAmericanInstituteofAeronauticsandAstronautics,Inc.,allrightsreserved.ThenameAerospaceAmericaisregisteredbytheAIAAintheU.S.Patent
andTrademarkOffice.40,000copiesofthisissueprinted.ThisisVolume48,No.4.
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®
isapublicationoftheAmericanInstitute
ofAeronauticsandAstronautics
ElaineJ.Camhi
Editor-in-Chief
PatriciaJefferson
AssociateEditor Workingtowardcompromise
GregWilson
ProductionEditor
JerryGrey,Editor-at-Large
Whenwewereyoung,nothingthrilledusasmuchasshinynewtoys.The
ChristineWilliams,EditorAIAABulletin
newestbicycleinthestorewindowmadeourtrustyoldoneseemshabbyand
Correspondents
boring.Nevermindthatsometimes,whenwegotithome,wefoundthatitwas
RobertF.Dorr,Washington
toodifficulttopedal,orwewouldfalldownallthetime,orthatourparents
PhilipButterworth-Hayes,Europe
couldn’treallyaffordit.Itwasnewandwewantedit.
MichaelWestlake,HongKong
Thespaceshuttleisgettingold,andafterhavingserveduswellforsolong,
ContributingWriters
manybelieveitisjustaboutreadyforawell-deservedretirement.Constellation,
RichardAboulafia,JamesW.Canan,
ontheotherhand,wasbig,andshiny,andnew…butourgovernmentreally
MarcoCáceres,EdwardFlinn,Tom
doesn’tseemtobeabletoaffordit,and,evenifitsomedaylivesuptoits
Jones,ThéoPirard,DavidRockwell,
FrankSietzen,J.R.Wilson billing,likemostothergovernmentprograms,itwouldprobablytakefarlonger
andcostfarmorethanpredictedtogetthere.
FitzgeraldArt&Design
TheObamaadministrationhasorderedthecancellationoftheentire
ArtDirectionandDesign
Constellationprogram,turninginsteadtoprivateindustrytoleadusbackinto
CraigByl,ManufacturingandDistribution space.Asthesecompaniesworktowarddevelopmentofrocketsandcrew
DavidW.Thompson,President
carriers,thegovernmentwouldpurchaseridestothespacestationon
RobertS.Dickman,Publisher
RussianSoyuzlaunchvehicles.
Manylegislatorsopposethisapproach,asitrepresentslostjobs,awaste
STEERINGCOMMITTEE
MichaelB.Bragg,UniversityofIllinois; ofthebillionsofdollarsalreadyspentonConstellation,andamassiveflowof
PhilipHattis,DraperLaboratory;MarkS. newdollarsoutofthecountry.TheyarguethatworkshouldcontinueonCon-
Maurice,AFOSR;LauraMcGill,Raytheon; stellation,toprotectjobsandmaintainU.S.accesstospace.However,the
GeorgeMuellner,Boeing;MerriSanchez, AugustineCommissionhasalreadyestablishedthatthisprogramwillcostfar
NationalAeronauticsandSpaceAdministra-
more—andtakefarlongertocomplete—thanfirstanticipated.
tion;MarySnitch,LockheedMartin
Butinthesearchforareplacementsystemforthespaceshuttle,didwe
EDITORIALBOARD overlookmaybenotthenewest,butcertainlyoneofthemostreliableoptions?
TheevolvedexpendablelaunchvehiclesbuiltfortheAirForce,LockheedMar-
NedAllen,LockheedMartinAeronautics;
Jean-MichelContant,EADS;Eugene tin’sAtlasVandBoeing’sDeltaIV,haveoutstandingsafetyrecords.Isthere
Covert,MassachusettsInstituteofTechnol- notsomepossibilityoftakingsomeofthefundingthathadbeenallocatedto
ogy;L.S.“Skip”Fletcher,TexasA&MUni- Constellation’sAresIrocketandusingittohuman-ratetheselaunchvehicles?
versity;MichaelFrancis,UnitedTechnologies; RatherthanshuttingdowntheOrioncrewexplorationvehicle,couldwork
ChristianMari,Teuchos;CamMartin,
notcontinue,whilereconfiguringittobeaccommodatedbyoneoftheEELVs?
NASADryden;DonRichardson,Donrich
Couldworkalsocontinueonthelaunchabortsystem,tomakesurethatwe
Research;DouglasYazell,Honeywell
addanotherlayerofsafetyforitspreciouscargo?
ADVERTISING Andwhilethesedevelopmentsproceed,couldwenotaskthevenerable
NationalDisplayandClassified: shuttlestotakejustafewmoretripsintospacebeforefindinghomesinmuse-
RobertSilverstein,240.498.9674 umsandspaceparks?Restartingassemblyoftheexternaltankswouldalso
[email protected] restartsomelostjobs.
WestCoastDisplay:GregCruse, Intheinterim,privateindustrycancontinuetobuild,test,fly—crash—and
949.361.1870/[email protected]
flyagain,untiltheygetitright.
ItmightnotsaveallthejobsthatwouldbelostbyterminationofConstella-
SendmaterialstoCraigByl,AIAA,1801
AlexanderBellDrive,Suite500,Reston,VA tion,butitshouldsavemany.Andwemightstillhavetohitcharidenowand
20191-4344.Changesofaddressshouldbe againfromRussia,butnoteverytime.
senttoCustomerServiceatthesameaddress, Aswegetalittleolder,westarttorealizethatshinyandnewreallyisn’t
[email protected],orbyfaxat whatmatters.Solidanddependabletrumpsiteverytime.
703/264-7606.
ElaineCamhi
SendLetterstotheEditortoElaineCamhi
Editor-in-Chief
[email protected]
April2010,Vol.48,No.4
BEATlayout410.qxd:AA Template 3/15/10 1:09 PM Page 2
Europetacklesrunwaycapacityissue
ONE OF THE TOUGHEST CHALLENGES OF usingtheairport.Thenumberofaircraft program, which has helped increase ca-
theSingleEuropeanSkyATMResearch movementsatHeathrowiscloselycom- pacity at Lisbon and Prague airports by
(SESAR)programisthedoublingortre- parabletothoseatDetroitMetropolitan factorsof20%and40%respectively,ac-
bling of airspace capacity by 2025 over Wayne County Airport, but Detroit has cording to Eric Miart, program manager
2005. In the three dimensions of Euro- six runways, and the aircraft that use it oftheairportoperationsprogramatEu-
peanairspacethisistough,butfeasible. are much smaller, on average, than rocontrol.ACEreliesontakingaccurate
Inthetwodimensionsoftherunwaysat thoseatHeathrow. measurementsoftheperformanceofthe
Europe’smajorairporthubs,thegoalof Buteveryairportisdifferent;theen- airportoperation,assessingcapacityand
trebling capacity looks virtually impossi- vironmental and curfew constraints and introducing best practice techniques to
ble;forenvironmentalreasonsitwillsim- the airport runway and taxiway layout controllers,pilotsandairportoperators.
plynotbepracticaltobuildnewrunways make accurate comparisons nearly im-
tocopewithfuturedemand. possible. Heathrow’s runway perfor- Improvingtrafficflowandsafety
But if this issue is not addressed, mancelevelshavebeenrealizedthrough Thetoolsforincreasingrunwaycapacity
then the entire $30-billion SESAR pro- a mixture of applying new technology, levelshavebeeninplaceforsometime.
gramisthreatened—withoutenoughrun- refining procedures and, increasingly, Apart from building rapid exit taxiways
waycapacity,allSESARwilldoismove collaborative decision-making (CDM) and other taxiways running parallel to
increasing amounts of air traffic more toolsdesignedtoinvolveallstakeholders the main runway, some new technolo-
swiftly between the bottlenecks on the inmaximizingrunwayefficiencies. giescomingintooperationoffersubstan-
ground. “We had the target at Heathrow of tialimprovementsonlegacysystems.
So Europe’s air traffic management achievinganaverageoflessthan50sec- For example, A-SMGCS (advanced
(ATM) experts are contemplating some onds’ occupancy time across a wide surface movement guidance and control
radical technologies and procedures to rangeofaircraft,”saysPeterTomlinson, systems)—which provide routing, guid-
ensure that airports do not become the airport technical expert at the U.K.’s anceandsurveillancetoaircraftunderall
bottleneckstofuturegrowth. NATS (National Air Traffic Services), weatherconditions—havebeeninopera-
which oversees the ATM system at the tion since the early years of the decade.
Surprisingdifferences airport. “One of the ways we looked to PrecisionRunwayMonitoring-Alternative
There are some startling differences be- reachthistargetwastoidentifywhowas (PRM-A) is an accurate multilateration
tween the current runway throughput the‘best-in-class’amongtheaircraftop- surveillancesystemthatgivestheprecise
rates of Europe’s largest airports. It erators using a particular aircraft type aircraftpositioninformationneededtosi-
would be tempting, looking at these fig- and then try to replicate that airline’s multaneously separate planes on ap-
ures, to say the simple answer to the procedures across the board. It is sur- proach into closely spaced parallel run-
runwaycongestionproblemistoanalyze prisinghowdifferenttheproceduresare ways. And light detection and ranging
how London/Heathrow traffic is man- for the same aircraft—when the check- (LiDAR) systems measure the Doppler
aged and then replicate this elsewhere. lists are completed, for example—and shift of light scattered from atmospheric
Heathrow’sabilitytomanage89aircraft thiscanhaveamajordifferenceonrun- particles to identify wake vortex occur-
movements an hour off two runways is wayandtaxiwayoccupancytimes.” rencesandseparateaircraftonapproach
even more remarkable considering the Using the best-practice model has based on actual, rather than theoretical,
highpercentageoflarger(andtherefore beenacoreelementofEurocontrol’sair- wakevortexoccurrences.
slower and more widely spaced) planes portairsidecapacityenhancement(ACE) Butifa300%increaseinairportca-
Averagedaily
Airport Runways Aircraftmovements Reportingperiod movementsperrunway
ParisCharlesdeGaulle 4 518,018 January–December2009 354.8
LondonHeathrow 2 462,835 October2008-September2009 634.0
Frankfurt 3 463,111 January-December2009 422.9
Madrid 4 435,179 January-December2009 298.0
Amsterdam/Schiphol 5 391,000 January-December2009 214.2
4 AEROSPACEAMERICA/APRIL2010
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pacity is to be achieved without trebling piece of information here is the Target controltowerandtheairportwillprovide
thenumberofrunwaysandtaxiways,an Start Up Approval Time (TSAT), which theessentialframeworktoanewrunway
entirely new way of managing airport lets ATC, airport and airline colleagues and operations management system.
operationswillbeneeded.Alreadyunder knowexactlywhentheaircraftisreadyto The network needs to evolve from a
wayinEuropeisresearchondeveloping move from the terminal. By feeding this planning tool to an operational system;
a network-enabled information system informationintoacentralplanningtoolit butoncethisisdone,increasinglevelsof
that will link new ground-based and air- will be possible to calculate accurately automationcanbeintroduced.
borne technologies along with best-in- whethertheaircraftwillmeetthetakeoff Forexample,A-SMGCSsystemsare
class procedures for radically enhancing slot-time it has been given—and, if not, nowusedmainlytoimprovesurveillance
airport capacity levels. Ultimately the how traffic can best be managed to ac- ofaircraftandgroundvehiclesatairports
goal will be to automate the entire run- commodatechangestoslottimes. inbadweather.However,ultimately(de-
way/taxiway operation, ensuring that NATS has been testing a version of finedas“levelfour”operations)theycan
both are being used to their optimal ca- what it calls a TSAT-generator. “Once evolve to provide automatic conflict res-
pacity, whatever the weather, and with- weknowwhentheaircraftwillbeready olutionandautomaticplanningandguid-
outdegradingtherequiredsafetylevels. tomove,wecanprojectthetaxiingtime, anceforpilotsandcontrollers.TheFAA,
“Whatevertheimprovements,safety look at how this would work in an un- Eurocontrol and ICAO are working on
has to be improved, and especially the constraineddemandsituation,thenfeed developingstandardsandproceduresfor
prevention of runway incursions,” says in the various variables,” according to theselevelsofoperation.
EricMiart.“Riskincreasesasasquareof Tomlinson. “We can calculate the opti-
theincreaseintraffic;iftrafficdoublesor mum sequence and then work out ex- Airborneadditions
triples,thenriskincreasesbyafactorof actly what time the aircraft needs to New airborne technologies will need to
fourorninerespectively.” leavethegate.Wethinkthiswillgiveus be added to the information network.
an extra two departures an hour while For example, the FAA is funding re-
Networkenhancement reducingtheamountoftimetheaircraft search into how electronic flight bags
In Europe the catalyst to the develop- waits at the gate by 50% and taxi times can be evolved to show airport moving
mentofacommoninformationnetwork by6minutes.” mapdisplaysandown-shippositions,so
encompassingpilots,controllersandair- Itseemslikeamodestimprovement, pilotscanseetheexactlocationoftheir
port operations managers is the Euro- butthedevelopmentofaCDMinforma- aircraftontheairfield.Butinthefuture,
pean Airport CDM (www.euro-cdm.org) tion network linking the cockpit, the the networks will have to be developed
program promoted by Eurocontrol, Air-
ports Council International Europe and
the International Air Transport Associa-
tion.Thelargestweaknessinthecurrent
European ATM capacity management
systemisalackofcoordinationbetween
airportsandATMnetworkmanagers.
TheCentralFlowManagementUnit,
based in Eurocontrol’s Brussels head-
quarters, operates a continental flow
managementsystembymatchingaircraft
operator flight plans with the available
capacity of airspace sectors and airport
runways.Itforecastswherepotentialsec-
tors may become overloaded and calcu-
lates alternative operations—such as de-
laying takeoff times or rerouting aircraft
in flight—to keep supply and demand in
balance.
Oneofthemajorcurrentweaknesses
in the system is a lack of accurate infor-
mationonactualairportoperations—the
time the aircraft pushes back from the Aircraftqueuefor
terminal,itsprogressthroughtheairport takeoffatHeathrow.
taxiwaysystemandthetimewhenitrolls
onto the runway for takeoff. The key
AEROSPACEAMERICA/APRIL2010 5
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to incorporate new automated airborne Events Calendar
systems.
For example, the Airbus A380 fea- APRIL12-15
turesanautomated“brake-to-vacate”fa- Fifty-firstAIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASCStructures,StructuralDynamics
cility that combines satellite positioning andMaterialsConference;18thAIAA/ASME/AHSAdaptiveStructures
with the on-board airport database and Conference;12thAIAANondeterministicApproachesConference;
flight-control management system. The 11thAIAAGossamerSystemsForum;SixthAIAAMultidisciplinary
pilotselectsarunwayexitpointandthe DesignOptimizationSpecialistConference,Orlando,Fla.
system manages the braking process to Contact:703.264.7500
ensure the aircraft reaches the chosen
APRIL12-15
exit point at the optimal speed, having
Twenty-sixthNationalSpaceSymposium,ColoradoSprings,Colo.
factored in runway and weather condi-
Contact:719.660.6380
tions. According to Airbus, the system
minimizes runway occupancy time and APRIL20-22
allowsupto15%moredeparturestobe AIAAInfotech@Aerospace2010,Atlanta,Ga.
scheduled. Contact:703.264.7500
The European Commission is also
APRIL25-30
helpingtofundaresearchprogramcalled
SpaceOps2010Conference:DeliveringontheDream(hostedby
“Green-wake,”whereanairborneLiDAR
NASAMarshallandorganizedbyAIAA),Huntsville,Ala.
alerts pilots to wake vortex and wind
Contact:703.264.7500
shear occurrences on final approach.
ThisispartofthewiderWakeNet3(www. MAY4-6
wakenet3-europe.eu)commission-funded ASTRO2010—15thCASIAstronauticsConference,Toronto,Ontario,
researchprogram(2008-11)thatexam- Canada.
ines how crosswinds, wind shear and Contact:G.Languedoc,613.591.8787;www.casi.ca
wake vortex conditions can be meas-
MAY11-12
ured,reportedandacteduponpromptly.
InsideAerospace—AnInternationalForumforAviationandSpaceLeaders,
Arlington,Va.
Lookingahead
Contact:703/264-7500
Other,moreesotericplanningandoper-
ational tools are waiting in the wings. MAY11-13
“NATS is working with the McLaren IntegratedCommunications,NavigationandSurveillanceConference,
Formula One racing team, using race Herndon,Va.
team prediction software and putting Contact:JamesDieudonne,703/983-6578,[email protected]
this into an airport environment,” ac- MAY13-15
cording to Tomlinson. “It allows us to FifthArgentineCongressonSpaceTechnology,MardelPlata,Argentina.
predict the future of airport operations Contact:PablodeLeon,701/777-2369;[email protected]
withahighdegreeofaccuracyoverhalf-
MAY31-JUNE2
hour, 1-hr and 2-hr time slots. We can
SeventeenthSt.PetersburgInternationalConferenceonIntegrated
then color-code the areas of the airport
NavigationSystems,St.Petersburg,Russia.
where we see potential capacity prob-
Contact:Prof.V.Peshekhonov,www.elektropribor.spb.ru
lemsarising.”
At the moment, at least, the airport JUNE1-4
andrunwaycapacityproblemhasabated FourthInternationalConferenceonResearchinAirTransportation,
becauseoftherecentdownturnintheair Budapest,Hungary.
travel market. But growth will return, Contact:AndresZellweger,[email protected]
probably later this year, and with it the
JUNE7-9
pressure on Europe’s hub runways will
SixteenthAIAA/CEASAeroacousticsConference,Stockholm,Sweden.
reemerge.
Contact:HansBodén,[email protected]
If the future anticipated traffic levels
are to be met then without the appear- JUNE8-10
ance of five new runways at Europe’s ThirdInternationalSymposiumonSystemandControlinAeronautics
majorhubs,thedevelopmentofnetwork- andAstronautics,Harbin,People’sRepublicofChina.
enabledairportCDMoperationsismore Contact:ZhenshenQu,[email protected]
than just a helpful aid to improving ca-
JUNE14-18
pacity.Itisanempiricalnecessity.
ASMETurboExpo2010,Glasgow,Scotland,U.K.
PhilipButterworth-Hayes
Contact:www.turboexpo.org
[email protected]
6 AEROSPACEAMERICA/APRIL2010
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Indiajoinstherace
THERE IS NO WAY THE AEROSPACE AND themselves involve the integration of in Harbin. It is also renewing attempts,
defense manufacturers of India (or any complex components and systems, and firstmadeinthe1970s,atdevelopingits
othernation)canhopetoleapintodirect then to sell and support those products ownregionalandlargerjetairliners,this
competition with industry titans such as in the world marketplace, needs some- timebuyingmodernforeignsystemsasit
Boeing or EADS. Even joining the sec- thingelse—callittheX-factorifyouwill. deems necessary and learning to inte-
ondtierwithcompaniessuchasBrazil’s It is something that has been learned grate them into its own state-of-the-art
Embraer and Canada’s Bombardier is over many years by the U.S. and Eu- overalldesign.
difficultenough,withChina’sAVIC(Avi- rope,andlaterbyCanadaandBrazil. Bothnationshavemadeprogressto-
ation Industries of China) and Japan’s Japanwithitsregionaljetprojectwill ward high-grade production via manu-
Mitsubishinowjustreachingthatlevelaf- have to show that it has learned it, hav- facturing automobiles, partnering with
termanyyearsofeffortandfrustration. ing tried with other aviation projects foreign makers. While India is now the
Nevertheless, India’s developments that,nomatterhowtechnicallyexcellent world’sfourth-largestexporterofcarsaf-
in spaceflight—including its January an- theywere,failedtoimpressmarketsbe- ter the U.S., Japan and South Korea,
nouncementofplansforamannedmis- yonditsshores.Russia,too,isnowseek- Chinahasgonefurtherandfasterdown
sion in 2016—are the harbinger of re- ing to win the world’s confidence—its thisroadintermsofnewtechnology.In-
newedeffortstomatchitsgiantneighbor military products are well known for dia now needs something similar as a
China’s surge into the international their capabilities, but its civil airliners way of driving its technology base for-
arena in aerospace technology. The havenotwonadmirationbeyondavery wardandbroadeningitfromitsacknowl-
questionnowiswhetheritcanstepupto limitedgroupofcustomers,andsoRus- edged information technology and soft-
the plate in attracting foreign invest- sian aerospace makers are also seeking ware-based excellence, building on its
ment, partners, and new technology to toupgradetheirproducts’reputations. strengths: a pool of skilled engineering
propelitintothetopranks. talent,andlowcosts.
Avenuestoprogress
TheX-factor This leaves China and India at the back Anewapproach
In theory, there seems no good reason of the queue, still partnering or seeking NewDelhi’slatestapproachtoattracting
why India should not have been able to to partner with foreign manufacturers, foreign interest into its aerospace and
parallelChina’sstepsupthetechnology but trying to gain work shares that in- defense industries is to encourage its
ladder over the years. Both took on li- volvemorethanjustbeing“screwdriver” ownprivatecompaniestotakepart.Un-
censeproductionofmilitaryandcivilair- operations,simplyassemblingaircraftor til 2001, aerospace and defense were
craft types at various times, and both componentsfromkitsorsupplieddraw- the preserve of public sector units con-
have—atleastinprinciple—hugedomes- ings. In this regard, China is further trolledbythegovernment,thelargestof
tic markets to develop that could under- ahead than India; both have assembled which was the government-controlled
pin the production of passenger aircraft foreign-designed military aircraft (MiGs Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL)—the
locally. and Sukhoi designs in both countries, 600-lb gorilla in the room, with the fi-
In practice, their separate paths of British Aerospace Hawks and Sepecat nance, the expertise and the industrial
economic development and their re- Jaguars in India). Both have assembled “magnetism”toattractthebesttalent.
lianceonWesternorformerSovietallies foreign-designed airliners in the past— Since then, private investment has
for access to training and technology various Antonov fixed-wing models and been allowed, combined with a defense
have led to very different mindsets, and MD80 twinjets (though a very limited offsetpolicyintroducedin2006andfol-
hencetoverydifferentapproachestoac- numberofthelatter)inChina,andsmall lowed up by significant liberalization in
quiringandapplyingexpertise. British HS748 turboprop airliners in In- 2008.
Itisnotmerelyamatteroftechnical dia.Bothhavealsoputtogethervarious Theresultshouldbeawin-winsitua-
or scientific knowledge and ability; both Russian and Western helicopters in se- tion for all concerned—the government
approachesembodythesefactors.Noris riesproduction. ishappytogivetaxbreakstoattractfor-
it a matter of industrial capacity; again, ButChinatooktheleadinthe1980s eign investors with new technology and
bothChinaandIndiaareperfectlycapa- with manufacturing major components expandthecountry’shigh-techmanufac-
ble of churning out different kinds of forU.S.andEuropeanaircraftmakers.It turingbase,whileforeigncompaniesare
high-tech“widgets”orothergadgets. isnowreapingtherewardbypartnering happy to be able to seek alternatives to
But being able to produce reliably, with Europe’s Airbus to produce A320 HAL, thus enlarging their pool of part-
evenmonotonously,complexitemsthat airlinersonanewproductionlinesetup nershipoptions.
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The government has also been en- thisyear. buildlightaircraftinaspecialaerospace
couragingtheestablishmentofaerospace The government had also tasked sectionincentralMadhyaPradesh.Also,
parks and special economic zones with HAL with designing and building more Indian car maker Mahindra & Mahindra
tax advantages (so far seven have been than 180 light utility helicopters for its hashadseveralagreementswithforeign
formallyproposed),allinIndia’ssouthern military forces. But this project has now high-techcompanies,includingBritain’s
or midcountry sectors. This approach morphed into somewhat smaller and BAE Systems, but it has a partnership
should come as no great surprise, given morecomplexchunks,withEurope’sEu- with India’s state aerospace research
that India’s high-tech industries were rocopter saying it is bidding to supply company,NationalAerospaceLaborato-
originally clustered around Bangalore, (whether complete or license-built in In- ries,toproducealightaircraftwith2-18
wheretheoldairportisownedbyHAL. dia was not stated) about 90 aircraft, seats. NAL is to develop and certify the
Thereisnoshortageofpotentialtak- with U.S. maker Sikorsky also a con- aircraftfordomesticuse,whileMahindra
ers, although HAL is going to continue tender for this deal. Meanwhile, Anglo- Aerospace (a subsidiary of Mahindra &
to be a big winner. The current contest ItalianhelicoptermakerAgustaWestland Mahindra)istoseekcertificationabroad
topickIndia’snextmajorfighteraircraft isseekingajointventurewithIndia’sgi- andtakechargeofserialproduction.
illustrates the point: The so-called med- antconglomerateTataGrouptoproduce
ium multirole combat aircraft contest lighthelicoptersfortheIndianmilitaryas Surprisinggains
features six types from four continents wellasforexport.Tatahasbeenseeking WhiletomanypeopleinIndiaallofthis
for a projected buy of 126 units, of permissiontobuildanaerospacemanu- probably seems—and indeed is—very
whichonly18willbebuiltoverseas,with facturingplantnearHyderabadinsouth- muchstateoftheart,tomostobservers
the remaining 108 manufactured under ernIndia’sAndhraPradeshstate. outsidethecountryitseemsprettysmall
licensebyHAL. Otherlinkagesincludeadefenseelec- beer.Itssignificanceisnotsomuchwhat
IncontentionaretheLockheedMar- tronics joint venture between EADS and has been achieved so far, but that it is
tin F-16 and Boeing F/A-18 from the MumbaiengineeringgiantLarsen&Tou- happeningatall.Forexample,HALhas
U.S.,Saab’sGripenfromSweden,Rus- bro,aswellasbetweenL&TandBoeing been discussing plans to build a 70-90-
sia’s MiG-35, France’s Dassault Rafale andL&TwithRaytheon.Intermsofair- seatregionaljetforseveralyears,butso
and European consortium Eurofighter’s craft production, major Indian motorcy- far nothing has resulted. India’s govern-
Typhoon. A decision is expected later cle maker Hero Motors is seeking to mentbureaucracyhasawell-earnedrep-
MikoyanMiG-35
EurofighterTyphoon
DassaultRafale
Theseaircraftareincontention
tobecomeIndia’snextmajor
fighter,withmostunitstobe
builtbyHAL.
BoeingF/A-18
SaabGripen
LockheedMartinF-16
AEROSPACEAMERICA/APRIL2010 9
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utationforstiflinginitiative,sotherecent companieshaveechoedtheopinionthat
and current wave of liberalization is sur- the26%limitneedstobeovertakenwith
prisingforthegainsithasmadetodate. somethingmorelike49%,basedonthe
Even government-controlled entities premise that technology transfers need
havebenefitted,withHAL,forinstance, tobewellrewardediftheyaretobereal
being among a relative handful of such and not just disguised attempts at ex-
companies to be granted so-called Nav- ploitingcheaplaborinIndia.
aratna status, allowing it considerable TataisprobablytheonlyIndiancom-
commercial freedom in such matters as pany other than HAL that could make
setting up joint ventures with private serious inroads into manufacturing air-
companies.AsHALofficialsnote,HAL craft, not just because of its size but be-
has actually been responsible to a con- cause of its background in aviation—the
siderableextentforbuildinguphigh-tech national carrier, Air India, was originally
expertiseintheprivatesectorbysubcon- a division of the Tata Group. But going
tracting work that it did not have suffi- via the civil rather than military route is
cientcapacitytocompleteonitsown. made more difficult by taxation; a for-
eignsaletotheMinistryofDefenseisex-
Constraintsandbarriers emptfromtax,whilesparepartsforair-
Last year, accounting and corporate re- liners are subject to import duty. This is
searchgiantPricewaterhouseCoopersis- currentlyabarriertoIndiapromotingit-
suedastudyonIndiandefenseandaero- self as a major center for maintenance,
space industry and investment repair and overhaul—another avenue
opportunities; it pointed out that the that can lead to significant technology
limitof26%onforeignownershipmight transfersandtraining. BAEHawksfortheIndianairforcearebuilt
restrict investors’ enthusiasm for joint The PricewaterhouseCoopers study atHALproductionlineinBangalore.Photo
ventures, though it added that this limit also looks at whether India can emulate byAjaiShukla.
might give Indian companies more lev- China’s sprint toward aerospace emi-
erageinnegotiations.Inpractice,Indian nence,butcomestonorealconclusion, except to say: “The fragmented nature
oftheIndianaerospacesectorhasbeen
a hindrance in India achieving self-
reliance in its aerospace capabilities.” It
points out that China has made a con-
certedefforttoacquiretechnologyfrom
outside via joint ventures as well as de-
veloping its own resources, and has de-
liberatelyfocusedonbuildingcapabilities
ofallkinds.
“Chinaalsocentralizeditsaerospace
activities under one ministry at the gov-
ernment level; the majority of orders
fromitsgovernmentdroveeconomiesof
scaleandencouragedexports,”thestudy
says. But in India, “With so many au-
thorities as stakeholders in the develop-
mentofthissector,thereisnosinglena-
tional aeronautical policy or plan that
has emerged to focus on industry’s
growthandself-reliance.”
India’s recent liberalizations of de-
fense and aerospace investment are
therefore a hugely welcome breath of
fresh air. But win-win or not, it is going
toneedtimetogenerateanIndianequiv-
alent of Embraer or Bombardier. The
learningprocesstakesliterallyyears.
MichaelWestlake
HongKong
[email protected]
10 AEROSPACEAMERICA/APRIL2010
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Season for endings?
THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SAYS IT IS mission to do so. Among those legisla- recommendingfornearlyadecade.”
killing the Constellation human space- tors are Rep. Pete Olson (R-Texas), 19 Even though NASA will receive
flighteffort.Theprogramwasmeantto other Republicans and four Democrats, moremoneyinFY11thaninFY10,the
provide a next-generation replacement who wrote to Bolden citing a provision agencywillcutsomejobsandassessthe
forthefamiliarshuttle,whichisbeingre- included in a 2010 omnibus spending “role and size” of its astronaut corps—
tired this year. Now the administration bill that bars NASA from terminating suggesting that some of the most re-
wants to partner with the private sector any part of the space shuttle replace- cently named astronauts may never get
to develop what NASA Administrator menteffortwithoutformalcongressional to fly in space. One Washington ob-
Charles Bolden calls “quicker, cheaper, approval. Bolden sent a letter in re- server estimated that termination of
homegrown capacity to put astronauts sponsetothisclaimthatNASAisbreak- Constellation’sAresIboosterandOrion
intoorbit.” ingthelaw,sayingthatheandtheWhite crewcapsulewill“put20,000engineers
HousewillfightanyCapitolHillopposi- out on the streets.” The end of shuttle
MajorshiftforNASA tion to the administration’s proposed flights will cost about 7,000 jobs in the
President Barack Obama has not made budget. region around the Kennedy Spaceflight
apublicstatementabouthisspacepolicy Some point out that the aerospace Center.
eventhoughtheshiftfromConstellation industryhasnotyettestedorflownapri- Just four shuttle missions remain on
to commercialization is the biggest vate sector, crewed vehicle that can as- NASA’s agenda following the February
change for NASA since the agency was suresustainedflightsinLEOandservice 21 landing of Endeavour and its six as-
created52yearsago.Bolden,however, theISS,whichistheessentialshort-term tronauts, commanded by Marine Corps
has made repeated trips to Capitol Hill goalforU.S.humanspaceflight. Col. George D. Zamka, finishing the
todefendthepolicy. One bidder for a private sector role STS-130 mission that effectively com-
The administration’s FY11 budget in space is Elon Musk’s company, pletedconstructionoftheISS.
proposal calls for the space agency to SpaceX, which wants to launch astro- Themissionbodedwellforrelations
outsourcerocketdevelopmentforhuman nautsonitsFalcon9rocket.“SpaceXis between NASA and its European part-
spaceflight to commercial companies. out to prove that a commercial ap- ners. STS-130 delivered the European-
This shift ends any immediate prospect proachwillwork,”saysJeffreyJohnson, designed Tranquility life-support module
oftraveltotheMoonorMarsandtermi- an analyst on space issues at Bingham- along with a seven-window cupola in-
nates the Ares I booster and the Orion ton University in New York. But al- tended for use by robot arm operators.
crewexplorationvehicle. thoughthefirstFalcon9wasbeingpre- One astronaut compared it to complet-
It is unclear whether the new policy pared for a test launch at press time, ingthefinalroomofahouseundercon-
can survive the scrutiny by Capitol Hill critics were asking whether any private struction.Thespacestationisnow98%
space proponents like Sen. Bill Nelson companycancompleteacrewedvehicle complete, with a pressurized volume of
(D-Fla.) and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D- that meets reliability, safety and cost 28,947 ft3, nearly the same as the inte-
Md.).InhearingsattheendofFebruary, specifications by 2013, the date prom- riorofaBoeing747widebodyjetliner.
senators and outside experts including isedbySpaceX.Saidonespaceflightvet-
NASA Advisory Council member Miles eran, “If this gambit fails, we have no
O’Brien criticized NASA for no longer PlanBandnoaccesstotheInternational
having a destination. Bolden said the Space Station except by renting space
space agency still hopes to go to Mars onRussianSoyuzvehicles.”
but acknowledged that the current plan Support for the White House plan
does not take U.S. astronauts to any came from an unexpected quarter: For-
specific place. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) mer Speaker of the House Newt Gin-
said the outsourcing plan is a “waste of grich and former Science and Technol-
money” without a goal. One congres- ogyCommitteeChairmanRobertWalker
sional staffer said NASA has a “nebu- opinedinTheWashingtonPostthatthe
lous”senseofdirection. administration’s plan “deserves strong
BoldentoldCongressthathisagency approval from Republicans” because “it
is making preparations to dismantle the does what is obvious to anyone who
Constellation program, even though cares about man’s future in space and
somelawmakerssayheneedstheirper- whatpresidentialcommissionshavebeen NASAAdministratorCharlesBolden
AEROSPACEAMERICA/APRIL2010 11