Archive for the 'Astrium EADS' Category
Nov 23, 2009, post by Satellite News
Monday, aerospace and defense company EADS NV reported a loss for the third quarter of fiscal 2009, reflecting lower results at its Airbus and Defence & Security businesses and negative foreign exchange impact on asset revaluation. The company backed its fiscal 2009 new gross orders outlook and informed that A400M’s first flight is expected to take place around the end of the year.
The company reported third-quarter net loss attributable to the equity owners of the parent of EUR 87 million or EUR 0.11 per share, compared with a profit of EUR 679 million or EUR 0.84 per share in the year-ago period. Net loss for the quarter was EUR 85 million compared with a profit of EUR 687 million in the prior-year period.
The company attributed the quarterly loss to lower earning before interest and taxes, or EBIT, at the Airbus and Defence & Security divisions and unfavorable foreign exchange rates on asset revaluation.
Revenues declined 2% in the third quarter to EUR 9.53 billion from EUR 9.70 billion last year. EBIT for the quarter was EUR 201 million, down from EUR 860 million in the previous year.
By division, the company’s Airbus segment posted revenues of EUR 6.24 billion, down 3% from EUR 6.43 billion a year ago. In the segment, Airbus Military revenues dropped 26% to EUR 782 million from EUR 1.05 billion in the previous year. At Airbus, EBIT dropped 99% to EUR 4 million from last year’s EUR 754 million, which was supported by a EUR 965 million effect from the revaluation of loss-making contract provisions at the closing spot rate.
The Eurocopter segment revenues totaled EUR 1.13 billion, up 15% from last year’s EUR 986 million. EBIT rose 10% to EUR 66 million due to higher volume and lower R&D partly offset by margin pressure in the NH90 program.
Astrium generated revenues of EUR 1.03 billion, down 1% from EUR 1.05 billion in the prior-year quarter. EBIT was EUR 56 million, an increase of 8% from the prior-year quarter due to better operational performance.
Defence & Security revenues slid 14% to EUR 1.14 billion from EUR 1.32 billion last year. EBIT totaled EUR 77 million, 9% lower than last year, hurt by higher R&D expenses, lower volume on core programmes and the transfer of aerostructures activities to Airbus.
Other Businesses revenues were EUR 243 million in the quarter, compared with EUR 361 million in the third quarter of 2008.
For the nine-month period, the company’s net income was EUR 291 million or EUR 0.36 per share, compared with EUR 1.08 billion or EUR 1.34 per share a year ago. Revenues totaled EUR 29.72 billion, up 1% from EUR 29.44 billion last year, supported by stronger commercial aircraft deliveries at Airbus, offset by lower revenue recognition in the A400M programme and price deterioration on commercial aircraft deliveries. Growth at Astrium and Eurocopter contributed to the positive revenue development, EADS noted.
Nov 18, 2009, post by Satellite News
Flight-model units for the LISA Pathfinder spacecraft are undergoing a series of tests to determine their magnetic characteristics. The purpose of the tests is to ensure that the stringent magnetic cleanliness requirements of the LISA Pathfinder mission will be met.
The LISA Pathfinder mission objective is to verify that a test mass onboard the spacecraft can be kept ‘free-floating’, subject to unwanted accelerations of less than 3×10-14 m/s². Practically, free-floating means that the 2 test masses inside the spacecraft must not be subject to forces originating from mechanical contact and must only be subject to electrical, magnetic, thermal and internal gravitational forces leading to accelerations of less than 3×10-14m/s². This in turn leads to stringent requirements on the magnetic characteristics of the spacecraft to prevent spurious magnetic fields affecting the two test masses that form the heart of the mission.
To minimize the magnetic disturbance arising from individual elements careful attention is paid to the selection of materials and tools that are used during the construction process. However, even under the best conditions some residual magnetic field is associated with each unit on the spacecraft.
The purpose of the magnetic moment test program, which began in June this year and will continue until the end of 2009, is to characterize the magnetic field arising from each unit and to determine that the magnetic cleanliness requirements of the mission will be met.
The tests are being performed using ‘Magnetic Coil Facilities’ at ESA’s European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, at EADS Astrium Stevenage, in the UK, and at EADS Astrium Friedrichshafen, in Germany.
Upon successful completion of the complete environmental test program – these magnetic moment tests are amongst the final tests in the program – the individual units will be provided to the payload architect, EADS Astrium Friedrichshafen, in order to begin the electrical integration and flat-bed testing campaign.
Nov 18, 2009, post by Satellite News
The Rosetta comet chaser is making one last visit home to Earth: On 13 November, the probe, which was built for the European Space Agency (ESA) by Astrium, Europe’s leading space technology company, will perform its fourth and last planetary swingby manoeuvre, utilising the Earth’s gravitational force to boost its speed for the long journey out to comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Earth swingby to “catapult” space vehicle into outer Solar System. Credit: ESA
At 08:45 CET, Rosetta will streak past Earth just south of the Indonesian island of Java, passing within 2,500 kilometres of the planet and in the process being accelerated by almost 13,000 km/h to a speed of approximately 61,000 km/h. By then, the scientific spacecraft will have travelled 4.5 billion kilometres since its launch on 2 March 2004. Its next scientific target is asteroid 21-Lutetia, which it will reach on 10 July next year. After that, the comet chaser will be put into hibernation for a lengthy period of time (from July 2011 to January 2014). Once reawakened, it will travel on to its final target, comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko, with which it will rendezvous in May 2014. From start to finish, its journey will have taken 10 years and covered more than six billion kilometres.
Once the probe has reached its destination, it will release the tiny, very complex Philae lander onto the comet’s surface from a distance of around 1 kilometre. Equipped with a miniature chemical laboratory and a plethora of highly-developed measuring devices, Philae’s instruments will examine the surface of the comet and deliver information about its core. After that, Rosetta will spend a year examining the comet closely while escorting it on its 135,000 km/h trajectory towards the Sun.
For planetary scientists, the Rosetta mission is like a journey back in time to the very origins of the Solar System. In contrast to planets, where tectonics and erosion have constantly altered the rocks, the material inside comets has remained unchanged since their birth around 4.6 billion years ago. With this mission, the scientists hope to unlock a comet’s deep-frozen archive for the very first time.
Rosetta was developed for ESA by a European industrial consortium comprised of more than 70 firms and led by Astrium (Friedrichshafen). Astrium (UK) provided the platform and Astrium (F) provided the avionics suite.
Astrium, a wholly owned subsidiary of EADS, is dedicated to delivering civil and defence space systems and services. In 2008, Astrium had a turnover of €4.3 billion and more than 15,000 employees in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Netherlands. Its three main areas of activity are Astrium Space Transportation for launchers and orbital infrastructure, Astrium Satellites for spacecraft and ground segment and Astrium Services for the development and delivery of satellite services.
EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2008, EADS generated revenues of €43.3 billion and employed a workforce of more than 118, 000.
