Delicate satellite to measure gravity - 30-07-2007 - 17:41

Rolls Royce buoyant despite dollar drop - 30-07-2007 - 11:04

Rolls Royce, one of the top employers in England's North West, announced that despite the impact on profits made by a dipping dollar, underlying profits were still up.

Although the fall in the value of the dollar cost the company £40 million in the first six months of the year, a record order book and growing sales helped mitigate the impact of the currency's slide and the growing cost of raw materials.

The company said underlying profits were still up by 17 per cent to £380 million, driven by sales rising to £3.6 billion while the order book increased by more than a third to £35.1 billion.

Sir John Rose, the chief executive, said: "Continued investment in our product portfolio and value added services for our customers has made us a market leader and gives us the ability to grow organically."

Company growth in the UK will see the modernisation programme of UK factories reach completion when facilities in Derby and Bristol become operational by the end of the year.

UK engineers in hunt for Martian life - 27-07-2007 - 11:06

UK engineers are contributing to Nasa's search for life in Martian ice.

A team at Imperial College London is providing substrates - surfaces which hold samples for imaging - to the Mars Phoenix mission in the first British involvement in exploring the planet since the failed Beagle 2 attempts.

The team from Imperial's Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering has been working with a replica of the optical and atomic force microscope station that will be onboard the Phoenix to develop the most suitable substrates.

Martian dust will be delivered to the equipment via a mechanical arm whereupon the powerful microscope array will examine them in the highest resolution ever used on another planet.

Dr Tom Pike, who is leading the team at Imperial, said: "Nobody has looked at Mars at this type of resolution. It is very difficult to predict what we might find, but if you wanted to look for the earliest forms of past or present life we will be the first to look closely enough."

Dr David Catling from the University of Bristol will also be involved in the Nasa project, analysing the relationship between the atmosphere and the surface of the planet's polar regions.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council is supporting involvement from the UK in the project which will see the lander launched in August.

BAE gets Missile Defence Agency contract - 25-07-2007 - 15:36

BAE systems has announced that it will be involved in the development of the US Missile Defence Agency's Multiple Kill Vehicle payload system.

Under a $6.3 million (£3.06) contract, the defence and aerospace company will test and integrate a key component in the system designed to counter missile attacks on the US.

It will produce the systems carrier vehicle seeker for the captive carry testbed which Lockheed Martin in working on.

In response to an enemy missile launch, the system will send off an interceptor which will track down the missile using data uplinked to the BAE Systems seeker aboard the carrier vehicle.

Once the carrier vehicle breaks out of the earth's atmosphere, the seeker will track threatening objects including the missile and any countermeasures.

The seeker will then guide a number of small "kill vehicles" to destroy targets it has acquired.

Kevin Ezzo, BAE Systems Ballistic Missile Defence programme director, said: "This is a new midcourse interceptor capability for the Missile Defence Agency that lowers the cost per kill and increases the probability of engagement success."

Rolls Royce partnership wins BA contract - 24-07-2007 - 16:49

A partnership which Rolls Royce is a part of has won a contract to provide British Airways with engines for new Airbus A320 jets.

International Aero Engines (IAE) a partnership comprised of Rolls Royce, Pratt and Whitney, Japanese Aero Engines and MTU Aero Engines, has agreed on a deal to provide the airline with eight IAE V2500 engines worth $136 million (£66 million).

The engines, which will be delivered between 2008 and 2010 will also be maintained by IAE.

Meanwhile, Rolls Royce has been awarded a contract for four Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines to power Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners which Royal Brunei Airlines is acquiring.

Rozman Junaidi of Royal Brunei Airlines said: "We have considered all elements of our fleet replacement plan to ensure that we operate the most advanced equipment.

"There is no doubt that the Trent 1000 is the best engine for the 787 in terms of performance and environmental impact."

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