By Little Departing. Top Pentagon spokesman George Little says he will step down from his post after two years to return to the private sector and spend more time with his family. Prior to serving as the assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs and Pentagon press secretary, Little was a
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spokesman for the Central Intelligence Agency. In an email to reporters, Little writes that “I simply need to turn more of my focus to weekend soccer games, helping with school homework, and building Lego sets that demand a higher level of engineering expertise than I currently possess.” His last day will be Nov. 15, allowing him to have “a Blackberry-free Thanksgiving dinner for the first time in several years.” Little’s replacement has not yet been picked, he adds in the email.
Not Business As Usual. As Navy Secretary Ray Mabus welcomes back all of the service’s furloughed workforce on Thursday, he cautions that it’s “not business as usual” and warns the service could face the same predicament in a matter of months. Mabus notes the continuing resolution passed by Congress to end the shutdown keeps spending at fiscal 2013 levels and only lasts until Jan. 15, and adds that sequestration remains in place. “Unless another budget agreement is reached, we could be in the same situation as we approach the Jan. 15 deadline,” he says. “Everything is not back to normal. There is still much work to be done and we need to continue to be judicious in our spending,” Mabus says. “We need to take an even closer look at how we do business and ensure we are making the right choices with the limited fiscal resources we have available. All expenditures should continue to be scrutinized. Every requirement should continue to be prioritized.”
Containing LCS. Navy engineers have successfully demonstrated a new mission package automated inventory system for the at the support facility for the Littoral Combat Ship in Port Hueneme, Calif., Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) says. The Mission Package Automated Inventory Information System , or MPAIIS, is meant to provide asset tracking, inventory control and configuration management using radio frequency technology to conduct fast and accurate inventories of mission package equipment containers. The demonstration was done for the AQS-20 minehunting sonar the Remote Minehunting System (RMS). Using passive radio frequency identification tags, more than 500 unique items were successfully inventoried and entered into the MPAIIS database, NAVSEA says.
GPS IIF-5 Launch. The Air Force postpones the launch of the fifth satellite in the Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF constellation, originally scheduled for Oct. 23, according to an Air Force spokeswoman. No new date has been set. The launch was supposed to take place at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on one of United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Delta IV rockets. ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye says in a statement the Air Force/ULA team is continuing with Phase II of an investigation related to a successful GPS IIF/Delta IV launch that occurred in October 2012 in which the second stage RL10-B2 engine thrust was lower than expected. Rye says the launch is being delayed to allow the technical team time to further assess updated conclusions and determine whether additional changes are required before the next Delta IV launch. The original launch date was Oct. 17, but that was also previously delayed. The Air Force successfully launched GPS IIF-4 May 15. Boeing is the prime contractor for GPS IIF. GPS is a next-generation position, timing and navigation (PNT) satellite.
Boeing Inmarsat-5. Inmarsat exercises a contract option valued between $220 million and $250 million to have Boeing build its fourth Inmarsat-5 spacecraft for its Global Xpress satellite network, according to an Inmarsat statement. Global Xpress will provide Inmarsat’s government and commercial customers with mobile broadband connectivity on land, at sea and in the air. Scheduled to be delivered in 2016, the fourth satellite will be based on Boeing’s 702 High Power platform, Boeing says in a statement. Boeing and Inmarsat signed the original Inmarsat-5 agreement in 2010. Boeing spokeswoman Cassaundra Bantley says the launch of the first Inmarsat-5 satellite is scheduled for December.
Ayotte-James Hold. Influential Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) member Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) lifts her hold on the nomination of Deborah James to be the next Air Force secretary, an Ayotte staffer says. Ayotte placed her hold over concerns the Air Force would divest the A-10 fleet without a replacement lined up until the F-35 arrives. The staffer says Ayotte remains concerned that prematurely retiring the A-10 could put ground forces at risk and the senator will continue to engage with Air Force and Pentagon officials in order to ensure ground forces receive the close air support necessary. Ayotte supports James’ nomination, the staffer says, and looks forward to working with her once she is confirmed.
Ball’s Kaufman. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. selects Dave Kaufman to lead its national defense strategic business unit, the company says in a statement. As vice president and general manager, Kaufman’s responsibilities include acquisition and execution of space hardware programs for Ball’s defense and intelligence-related customers. Prior to the appointment, Kaufman was director for Ball’s national security space mission area within national defense and previously served as Ball’s program manager for the space test program standard interface vehicle under contract to the Air Force. Kaufman joined the company in 2000 as a spacecraft systems engineer and has more than 20 years of experience supporting the aerospace industry and government customers.
Orbital 3Q Earnings. Orbital Sciences reports that its third quarter 2013 revenues were $322 million, down from nearly $373 million for third quarter 2012, according to a statement. Third quarter 2013 operating income was $26 million or 8 percent operating margin, compared to $31 million, or 8.4 percent operating margin, in the third quarter 2012. David Thompson, Orbital’s chairman and chief executive officer, says in a statement “Orbital generated good profit margins and strong free cash flow in the third quarter, even though revenues were lower on reduced satellite production activity. The company also successfully completed several important operational events during the quarter, including the second successful launch of our Antares medium-class rocket and the first flight of the Cygnus cargo logistics spacecraft. In addition, Orbital received about $450 million in new orders and option exercises, boosting year-to-date new business volume to approximately $1.75 billion.”
