SpaceX recently conducted a three-day long demonstration of cargo loading and unloading procedures for its Dragon spacecraft, which NASA has contracted to provide delivery services to the International Space Station (ISS) starting in 2010.

SpaceX hosted a group of NASA personnel at its corporate headquarters in Hawthorne, CA, including astronauts Marsha Ivins and Megan McArthur, and other key personnel from NASA‘s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The tests covered a range of procedures using actual NASA cargo modules, in a variety of standard sizes, including powered cargo modules that provide temperature control for sensitive items such as medical and biological samples during their journey to the ISS, and return to Earth. Dragon is currently one of the only spacecraft in the world capable of transmitting status on environment-sensitive cargo back to Earth during transit to the ISS.

SpaceX performed the tests in an actual flight Dragon spacecraft outfitted with cargo racks, stowage lockers, as well as interior lighting, telemetry and environmental systems, as will be employed while Dragon is berthed at the ISS.

“SpaceX was honored to host the NASA crew, and pleased by their positive feedback and remarks,” said John Couluris, SpaceX Director of Mission Operations. “We look forward to the day when the first of many Dragons arrive at the ISS delivering actual cargo in support of continued ISS operations.”

Under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, SpaceX will perform three flights of the Dragon spacecraft to demonstrate delivery of cargo to the ISS as well as returning cargo to Earth. Following those flights, SpaceX will begin the NASA Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract, conducting a minimum of 12 cargo flights between 2010 and 2015 with a guaranteed minimum of 20,000 kg to be carried to the ISS.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is a medium-to-heavy lift, two-stage launch vehicle capable of lifting approximately 11 tons to low Earth orbit (LEO) and in excess of 4.5 tons to Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO). Designed to the highest levels of reliability and performance, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft were selected by NASA to resupply the ISS when the Space Shuttle retires.

Aerospace firms have a unique opportunity to help in the Haiti relief efforts, and it’s great to see a number of these businesses rushing to help. One company that is going above and beyond the call of duty is Spacenet. Spacenet has collaborated with its partners to leverage its coverage and capabilities in Haiti to assist with the relief efforts following the devastating earthquake. The company has ramped up its operations and support organizations to expedite delivery of fixed and transportable satellite equipment and services, and is working with partners to donate satellite equipment and space segment to various relief organizations. These services include high speed commercial grade broadband data and digital voice capability. Spacenet has developed a Rapid Response Team to support recovery efforts in the area and is offering special service terms to those units deployed in Haiti.

“Spacenet is committed to helping with relief efforts in Haiti during this difficult time,” said Spacenet President and COO Glenn Katz. “We are working with a number of our partners in the area so we can collectively leverage our resources to provide assistance and expedite emergency communications solutions where and when they are most needed. At the same time, we are implementing permanent communications to replace or supplement components damaged by the earthquake.”

Spacenet has created a special toll-free hotline and website for representatives of organizations taking part in the disaster recovery effort to inquire about Spacenet assistance. For more information call 800-296-5818 or visit www.spacenet.com/relief-efforts.

In a sizable announcement, CACI announced that it has been awarded an $81 million task order by the U.S. Army to support the transition of Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) resources to the Aberdeen Proving Ground. The move is mandated by the Defense Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission. The contract, assuming the option period is exercised, is for a period of 27 months and was awarded under the General Services Administration’s Logistics Worldwide (LOGWORLD) contract vehicle. The new work realigns organizations currently located at Ft. Monmouth, NJ, Ft Belvoir, VA, Eatontown, NJ, Huntsville, AL, and Fort Knox, KY.

The transition includes the planning/preparation, disassembly, transport, and synchronized reconstitution of an array of components involving information technology, systems engineering, and network automation. These actions will cover more than 120 highly technical and complex communications, electronics research, and development laboratories; 100,000 pieces of communications-electronics test equipment, IT equipment, and other components; design, fabrication, and integration facilities; and a broad array of classified equipment and technology.

The CACI team will provide overall project management, client interface and relationship management, and coordinated technical execution of all work elements. The company has been supporting technical work inside a majority of the relocating laboratory facilities for over 20 years and offers significant institutional knowledge of lab operations and supported programs. It is already performing the key BRAC work for the Army’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC) Intelligence and Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD) under another contract from the Army. The new program supports the relocation of all elements of the CERDEC; the Communications-Electronics Command Life Cycle Management Command (CECOM LCMC) headquarters and key organizations (Software Engineering Center (SEC), the Logistics Readiness Center (LRC), and the CECOM Contracting Center (CECC); the Program Executive Office Command, Control and Communications-Tactical (PEO C3T), and related Project Managers; and the Program Executive Office, Intelligence Electronic Warfare and Sensors (PEO IEW&S) and related Project Managers, Program Executive Office – Integration (PEO-I) and related Project Managers, and U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL).

Bill Fairl, CACI’s President of U.S. Operations, said “This award from the Army to provide BRAC support, following so closely on our win to move classified labs to Aberdeen, is a gratifying vote of confidence in CACI’s ability to provide continuity for the critical C4ISR mission. The consistency, the methodology, the tools, and people are all in place for success.”

According to CACI President and CEO Paul Cofoni, “With this new work, we’re very pleased to help assure the smooth transition to Aberdeen of these vital components to support our warfighters as they keep our country safe. It’s important to note that a majority of the support in the areas of communications, electronics, and intelligence operations for our nation’s in-theater efforts emanates from the commands and organizations that will be moving to Aberdeen.”

Raydiance announced it has partnered with the Small Spacecraft Division in the Engineering Directorate at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, to develop advanced microfluidics devices for space-based biological experiments.

Under the terms of a cooperative agreement funded by the Advanced Capabilities Division in NASA’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate to support a Seed Fund project within NASA’s Innovative Partnerships Program, NASA Ames’ experts in fluidic design will employ Raydiance’s Smart Light ultrafast laser platform to fabricate next-generation microfluidics devices and components. These will be deployed on free-flying nanosatellites, the International Space Station, and future lunar and planetary research laboratories. Results from this work will advance capabilities for molecular and cellular diagnostics, enable rapid drug discovery and screening, and expand the understanding of the effects of the space environment on biological systems.

“This partnership brings together the powerful and versatile Smart Light ultrafast technology with the world-class microfluidics expertise of the NASA Ames’ small spacecraft group,” said Barry Schuler, Chairman and CEO of Raydiance. “The capability to athermally ablate very precise features in transparent polymers and glasses, in addition to ceramics, will enable NASA Ames to rapidly fabricate complex and integrated components on a single microfluidics card. This collaborative work will have large implications for both the research and commercial worlds.”

The work at NASA Ames is led by Dr. Antonio J. Ricco, chief technologist at the Small Satellite Division and John Hines, chief technologist in the Engineering Directorate. Tim Booth, Vice President of Project Management, is coordinating the Raydiance efforts for the project.

“We’re very excited about the additional capabilities the Raydiance system gives us to fabricate complex, multilevel microfluidic devices,” Dr. Ricco said. “We anticipate these devices will be more reliable, let us add new functionality, and be more biocompatible than some other approaches we’ve examined. We should be able to quickly execute design changes as needed to accommodate a wide range of biological and chemical space studies with this new platform.”

In the aerospace industry there a number of consumer trends that are causing a paradigm shift away from the status quo. One of the key factors for change is the growing accessibility of flight data.

Whether business and leisure travel numbers are up in the coming year or not, flight data provider FlightView anticipates that the market for real-time flight status and airport information will grow in 2010, as mobile travel services gain traction and become more sophisticated. As a leading innovator in the emerging space for travel information, FlightView cites two trends driving this opportunity: First, travelers will continue to demand better, more useful information to make more informed decisions about their plans. Second, they’ll use a mobile device to retrieve, view and act on that information.

A recent report from PhoCusWright found that 62 percent of leisure and 71 percent of business travelers use a mobile device with internet access while they are traveling. In 2009, hundreds of mobile travel applications and web sites were launched, including FlightView’s own award-winning applications for the three largest smartphone vendors and highest-ranked flight tracking mobile web site. These numbers are likely to increase as smartphone vendors, travel management companies, airlines, airports and others seek to improve service and gain competitive advantage.

“The one thing that all travelers share is an overwhelming need for information that makes their travel experience better,” said Mike Benjamin, president of Boston-based FlightView. “Nothing does that like knowing where their flights are and how that information affects their plans –it’s an incredible value-add that a wide variety of players in the travel market can use to their advantage.”

Based on its success in building partnerships that capitalize on the potential for real-time flight information on mobile devices, FlightView expects growth in several key areas:

• Travel management companies and online travel agencies such as Travizon will move quickly to provide a more holistic range of services. Enhancing mobile offerings by integrating real-time flight tracking tools is an easy and fast way to give travelers what they want – after they’ve booked their trip: the ability to take matters into their own hands and make the changes they need and get to where they’re going.
• More airports will follow the lead of FlightView customers BWI and The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey with Web site upgrades. Birmingham and Little Rock airports bring information to customers’ mobile devices, tapping the industry’s most trusted resource for real-time flight tracking as the technology provider.
• Advertisers will move aggressively to seize the opportunities with the captive – and lucrative – travel demographic that relies heavily on mobile travel services. Targeted ads tied to flight information, ranging from local restaurants and attractions to recommended destinations for the next trip, will help travelers make the most of their trips – or delays.

Aconex, a provider of project collaboration solutions to the construction industry, has been selected to service Pacific West Builders’ portfolio of government projects. Pacific West Builders will use the Aconex system to streamline collaboration with its project partners and to manage large volumes of information more efficiently.

Pacific West Builders, a general construction contracting firm based in San Diego, is primarily engaged on the design-build of federal facilities. The company has delivered more than 50 defense-related projects and its clients include the US Navy, and the US Air Force.

Aconex will provide Pacific West Builders and its business partners with a web-based system for managing project information such as drawings, documents and correspondence. The system replaces hard copies and email by allowing all the parties involved in a project to access, distribute, track and store their data using a single, common platform.

Patricia Romero, CEO of Pacific West Builders, said, “When we undertake design-build projects for the Navy and Air Force, a tremendous amount of documentation is generated and exchanged. Because of this, we wanted a centralized, standardized system for managing information.

“We previously used in-house tools – MS Word, spreadsheets and Outlook – to communicate and manage information; however we found that, with so many external parties involved, this could be cumbersome and lacked the tracking capabilities we required.

“Particularly since our work is government-related, our main reason for selecting Aconex is to ensure that our documentation is in order and that robust data security measures are in place.” Romero added, “The system is user-friendly and easy to navigate.”

Pacific West Builders often needs to coordinate a project team of more than 50 people, including consultants based across several locations.

“As well as pulling together the local participants, we may be working with a mechanical engineering firm from Missouri or electrical engineers from Chicago. Because of this, the fact that Aconex is web-based is important, as it will provide a more collaborative environment.”

All items stored on Aconex are securely archived and can be instantly retrieved using a search engine or drop-down filters. The system maintains an audit trail of every transaction so that, at any time, Pacific West Builders will be able to track the status of document reviews and correspondence.

“On each project, we collaborate with government personnel, the design team and subcontractors, and are charged with keeping everyone on task,” said Romero. “In the past, projects have sometimes experienced delays because we haven’t been able to track items – such as which documents have been reviewed and whether RFIs have been responded to – as well as we’d have liked. Being able to track all this through Aconex will mitigate these risks and help keep our projects on track.”

The military has always been a breeding ground for new and exciting technologies, and it continues to be so for a number of new devices. Xplore Technologies has announced the launch of its new iX104C4M Military Tablet PC. “It was a significant undertaking engineering a COTS product to meet the stringent requirements of battlefield conditions. This milestone achievement is one that we are very proud of and further complements our product portfolio,” said Mark Holleran, President and Chief Operating Officer of Xplore.

“The need for rugged battlefield computing devices continues to grow. Based on customer input and that of our key partners, we developed the iX104C4M to be a computing tool addressing the difficult extremes of most military situations – whether for command and control or situational awareness, in a vehicle, on the flight line or in a tank,” said Holleran. “We recently debuted the product at the AUSA Conference in Washington, D.C. It was demonstrated in a network of partner booths including VT Miltope, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems and was very well received by the end users who took part in the demos.”

The iX104C4M design implements best in class indoor/outdoor AllVue Xtreme display technology with Night Vision Imaging System (NVIS) compatibility, a flexible user interface with Dual Mode functionality, Intel Core Duo technology, Windows 7 and Military Standard 461F (MIL-STD-461F) compliance for battlefield computing. The iX104C4M’s key features include:

• 1.2 GHz Intel® Core™ Duo processor
• AllVue Xtreme LCD technology for viewing in all lighting conditions
• NVIS Compatibility
• MIL-STD-461F compliance
• Extended Thermal Operating ranges
• Customizable mounting solutions for Military vehicles such as MRAP/M-ATV, Buffalo, and Stryker

In more government contact news this past week, URS announced that the Company is one of seven firms that has been awarded an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract by the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center to provide worldwide environmental remediation services. The contract, which has a two-year base period, followed by three one-year options, has a maximum aggregate value to all seven awardees of approximately $945 million over the full five-year term.

Under the terms of the contract, URS can compete for, or be assigned, task orders to provide a variety of services for projects at Department of Defense installations worldwide. Potential services include the elimination of conventional munitions and chemical warfare material; environmental compliance and remediation services; and other munitions-related services.

Commenting on the contract award, Gary V. Jandegian, President of Infrastructure & Environment for URS, said: “We are pleased by this award, which demonstrates URS’ expertise in providing a variety of munitions-related services. We look forward to expanding our work with the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center and helping them meet their important objectives.”

With the additional military being sent to the Middle East, it should be not a surprise that body armor orders continue to grow. Ceradyne announced that it has received a $12.4 million order for SAPI (Small Arms Protective Inserts) lightweight ceramic body armor. The order was issued by the U.S. Army RDECOM, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. The Company expects shipments to be completed in the first quarter 2010. The order is a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) requirement.

So who is Ceradyne? Ceradyne develops, manufactures, and markets advanced technical ceramic products and components for defense, industrial, automotive/diesel, and commercial applications.

David Reed, President of North American Operations had this to say about the news: “We are very pleased to receive this additional FMS body armor order. We believe that the government placed this order with Ceradyne, at least in part, due to its reliable delivery, quality performance on previous SAPI procurements and competitive pricing. This is a new order from the U.S. Army and should not be confused with the XSAPI/ESAPI 5-year procurement previously announced.”

In the government contract industry news, CPI Aerostructures announced that 2009 new contract awards approximated $23.4 million. Of this amount, approximately $10.6 million, $6.9 million and $5.8 million were government prime contract awards, government subcontract awards and commercial subcontract awards, respectively.

As reported last month, CPI Aero received two contracts from Lockheed Martin Corporation to produce aircraft structural assemblies for the U.S. Navy’s P-3 “Orion” aircraft. With other orders and Spirit AeroSystems contract adjustments for the Gulfstream G650 business jet, fourth quarter awards added $8.4 million to the $15.0 million of new orders as of September 30, 2009.

Edward J. Fred, CPI Aero’s CEO & President, noted, “It is important to note that although the total new orders for 2009 as a whole, were down considerably from 2008’s record level of $55.4 million, orders in the fourth quarter were significantly higher compared to the previous quarters of the year, a trend which we hope continues in 2010. These orders include work on multi-year programs with significant option and follow-on potential.”

He went on to say, “We expect 2010 to be another year of growth and we plan to issue our guidance when we announce results for the 2009 fourth quarter and year.”