Saturday, August 31, 2019

Week in review (8/25 to 8/31)

Completion of the engine section of the Space Launch System, funding for an airport runway improvement project and the election of an airport executive to a statewide council highlighted the aerospace news for the Gulf Coast during the week.

Here is your week in review:

Space
NASA and Boeing formally signed off on the first assembly of the most complicated element of the space agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. After a review of data from two months of functional testing at the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans, the engine section element of the first SLS Core Stage is complete and is now cleared to be mated to the rest of the vehicle.

The next step is to move the engine section and boattail to another building, rotate them from vertical to horizontal, and then come back for bolting to the aft end of the stage in the last “major join” in its assembly.

Boeing continues to aim to complete the full stage in December and barge it to the Stennis Space Center, Miss., for a full, integrated checkout and acceptance firing as part of the Green Run test. (Post)

Airports
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality was awarded a grant of $6.7 million for the Trent Lott International Runway Improvements project. MDEQ will subaward the project to the Jackson County Airport Authority to support engineering and design, surveying, permitting, and construction.

The improvements will allow the airport in Moss Point, Miss., to accommodate medium and large cargo planes used by local industries.

"Trent Lott International Airport already is home to world class manufacturing at Northrop Grumman’s manned and unmanned systems facility," said George Freeland, executive director of the Jackson County Economic Development Foundation, "but Jackson County remains focused on strategic improvements that position this community for continued growth in the aviation sector.” (Post)

-- In Panama City, Fla., Parker McClellan Jr., Executive Director of Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (ECP), has been elected Chairman of the Florida Airports Council (FAC) – the official association of the publicly-owned and operated airports in Florida – effective October 1, 2019.

McClellan will be transitioning from his previous position on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors as Vice Chairman and will serve as Chairman for one year.

The Council is composed of members representing all 20 Florida commercial service airports and 79 of the state’s general aviation airports, one Spaceport (Cecil Airport) and more than 250 corporate, educational, affiliate, student chapters and student members. McClellan will continue in his role at ECP. (Post)

Contracts
Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, was awarded a $25.3 million modification to a previously awarded contract. This modification is for an F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter regional maintenance repair and upgrade facility for the Government of Japan under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. Work will be performed in Nagoya, Japan (65%); Ft Worth, Texas (26%); Greenville, S.C. (7%); Orlando, Fla. (2%); and El Segundo, Calif. (1%), and is expected to be completed no later than September 2022. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. … PAE Aviation and Technical Services LLC, Marlton, N.J., was awarded a $19.2 million modification to previously awarded contract for the Aerial Targets Program. The contract modification provides for the exercise of an option for an additional year of service under the multiple year contract, which directly supports live-fire weapons system testing and enables the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group to perform developmental and operational weapons testing for all air-to-air missiles for the F-15, F-16, F-22, and F-35 aircraft. Work will be performed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.; and Holloman AFB, N.M., and is expected to be completed by Sept. 30, 2020. The Air Combat Command, Acquisition Management and Integration Center, Langley Air Force Base, Va., is the contracting activity. … PRIDE Industries, Roseville, Calif., was awarded a $17.4 million contract modification for base operation support. Work will be performed in Fort Rucker, Ala., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 31, 2023. U.S. Army Mission and Installation Contracting Command, Fort Rucker, is the contracting activity.

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