SpaceX announced that the launch window for ATSB’s RazakSAT on Falcon 1 Flight 5 is currently scheduled to open Monday, April 20^th at 4:00 p.m. (PDT) / 7:00 p.m. (EDT).

SpaceX’s Falcon 1 launch site is located approximately 2500 miles southwest of Hawaii on Omelek Island, part of the Reagan Test Site (RTS) at United States Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) in the Central Pacific. Due to the location of the launch site, the Kwajalein local date at the opening of the launch window will be April 21^st.

RazakSAT was designed and built by Astronautic Technology (M) Sdn Bhd (ATSB), a pioneer and leader in the design and manufacture of satellites in Malaysia. The satellite will be launched aboard the Falcon 1, a two-stage, liquid oxygen/rocket-grade kerosene vehicle, designed from the ground up by SpaceX.

Falcon 1 will place RazakSAT, equipped with a high resolution Medium-Sized Aperture Camera (MAC), into a near equatorial orbit. The payload is expected to provide high resolution images of Malaysia that can be applied to land management, resource development and conservation, forestry and fish migration.

Agility announced today that it won a U.S. Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) contract to handle storage and distribution of more than 1.2 million barrels of jet fuel for the Pacific and Far East.  The DESC contract is worth an estimated $32 million over five years. Tristar Terminals LLC, a joint venture between Agility Defense & Government Services (DGS) and Tristar Transport, will be responsible for the work.

The joint venture recently purchased the Guam Agat Fuel Terminal and will manage and operate the bulk fuel storage facilities there. The Agat terminal stores and ships aviation fuel for the U.S. government and provides bulk fuel services to commercial customers on Guam.

DESC, a unit of the Defense Logistics Agency, purchases and manages energy supplies for the U.S. Department of Defense.

“Tristar Terminals has built a team that the DESC can rely on to provide the efficient and dependable fuel storage and shipping services required to support the U.S. military’s needs in Guam and throughout the Pacific Rim,” said Dan Mongeon, president and CEO of Agility DGS.

Eugene Mayne, CEO of Tristar Transport, said: “This contract award further demonstrates DESC’s confidence in our global capabilities and our ability to offer innovative energy solutions.”

The contract expands Agility DGS’s work on behalf of DESC. Another Agility-led joint venture, AFH Fuel Services, won recent contracts to operate bulk fuel facilities at U.S. Air Force installations in Portugal, Germany, Turkey, Japan, Korea and Guam.

PPG Industries’ aerospace business has developed a chromate-free sealant for aircraft cockpit windows and canopies that cures in less than half the time of its predecessor with better performance, according to company officials.

PR-1425CF polysulfide sealant is being launched for commercial sale and will be used on PPG Aerospace cockpit windows and canopies manufactured in Huntsville, Ala., and Sylmar, Calif., as well as those made by PPG’s Ampaspace subsidiary in Casaletto Vaprio, Italy, according to John Sands, global business platform manager for aerospace sealants.

“For about 30 years, PR-1425 polysulfide has been the benchmark of performance for aircraft cockpit window sealants,” Sands said. “We have raised the bar with our new PR-1425CF sealant to combine an environmentally-responsible formulation with rapid curing, improved rain erosion resistance and lower moisture vapor transmission.”

Using PR-1425CF sealant enables PPG to supply cockpit windows and canopies with a chromate-free moisture seal having better performance than its predecessor, according to Anthony Stone, global director, new business development, transparencies.

“We consistently tell operators the best way to keep their cockpit windows in top operating condition is by maintaining moisture seals,” Stone said. “Now they have a better product that makes that task easier. Because PR-1425CF cures faster, operators will be able to get their aircraft back in the air sooner.”

The new-generation sealant underwent flight testing on PPG windshields for more than a year in controlled side-by-side studies on aircraft flying in North America.

PR-1425CF sealant is formulated not to craze substances and is designed for use on glass, polycarbonate and acrylic transparencies.

“What better endorsement for the product is there than to be used on PPG’s own cockpit windows and canopies?” Sands said.