Aviation Week & Space Technology - January 15, 2015

6 Feedback
7 Who’s Where
10-11 First Take
12 Up Front
14 Going Concerns
15 Airline Intel
16 Leading Edge
18 Reality Check
20 Commander’s Intent
21 In Orbit
22 Washington Outlook
71 Classifi ed
72 Contact Us
73 Aerospace Calendar

AIR TRANSPORT

24 Airbus launches A321LR with a
third auxiliary center fuel tank
as a Boeing 757 replacement

25 ICAO will draft new performance-
based tracking and distress
alerting standards for all airliners

26 Transaero Airlines faces an uphill
battle to survive as it grapples
with an array of problems

27 GE’s Passport engine entering fi nal
phases of certifi cation for Global
7000/8000 long-range bizjets

58 Air Astana carves out niche as
Central Asia’s leading airline,
but its growth is expected to slow

60 Etihad must now prove it can
restore its new equity alliance
member Alitalia to profi tability

61 Rockwell Collins cautiously opti-

mistic its commercial aviation

weather radar can fi nd a runway

SPACE

28 Certifi cation needs slow, but do

not stem SpaceX’s quest for

government work

56 Arianespace expects to post record

revenues in 2014, thanks to 12

launches listing 23 spacecraft

56 Sierra Nevada to proceed with

Dream Chaser despite failure to

thwart NASA’s selection for CCVs

DEFENSE

29 Lockheed Martin dusts of Thaad-

ER design as counter to Chinese

hypersonic boost glide vehicle

31 Indications are that Belgium may

be drawing closer to selecting the

F-35 as its next fi ghter aircraft

32 Pentagon reverses plan to

terminate the U-2, reopening a

debate about high-altitude recce

platforms

50 MRO assignments signal a path

toward fi nancial return

for the F-35 partner nations

51 Germany may turn to U.S. Navy’s

Triton to resurrect Euro Hawk

program and claw back €600 million

TECHNOLOGY

33 Terrafugia wants FAA to waive

limits so its fl ying car can still

be called a light sport aircraft

34 Testing keeps truss-braced wing

confi guration in running for

energy-ef cient airliner designs

Testing of surplus Space Shuttle Main Engines for use in the heavy-

lift Space Launch System began Jan. 9, with NASA fi ring one of two

(^10) leftover ground-test powerplants.
36 No one had more impact on aerospace and aviation
in 2014—for better or worse—than Russian President
Vladimir Putin. Fallout from Russian behavior like
annexing Crimea and militarily supporting separatists
in Ukraine af ected defense, space and commercial
aviation sectors (see page 36). Getty Images photo.
Elsewhere in this issue is a report on defense exports
(page 42).
Airbus assumes a standard
cabin layout for 206 passengers in
its newly launched A321LR.
NASA is building a ladder
to air traf c management technolo-
gies post-2040.
ON THE COVER
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& SPACE TECHNOLOGY
4 AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/JANUARY 15-FEBRUARY 1, 2015 AviationWeek.com/awst
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January 15-February 1, 2015 Contents Volume 177 Number 1