News Summaries for Oct. 30 - Nov. 6

U.S. Elections Portend No Big Shift for NASA, Aides Say (Source: Space News)
Republican and Democratic congressional aides told attendees of a space exploration seminar that they do not expect NASA’s support in the U.S Congress to change dramatically regardless of the results of this year’s elections.

Democratic Majority May Improve Boeing's Defense Fortunes (Source: AIA)
The chances of Boeing winning a contract to build Air Force tankers may improve if the Democrats win control of Congress, some analysts say. If Democrats gain a Senate majority, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who has criticized some Boeing contracts, would not become chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Florida Delegation Facing Loss of Clout (Source: Florida Today)
Florida's Republican-dominated congressional delegation will lose clout in Washington if Democrats win control of the House on Tuesday. Florida has just one real power player on the House side of Capitol Hill -- Bill Young of St. Petersburg. Florida lawmakers who bring money home for pet projects often do so with help from Young, a 36-year House veteran. Young is expected to easily win re-election to a 19th term, but a Democratic majority in the House would cost the Florida kingpin chairmanship of the powerful Appropriations subcommittee on Defense.

NASA Approves Hubble Repair Mission (Source: AP)
NASA will send a space shuttle to repair the 16-year-old Hubble Space Telescope, agency Administrator Michael Griffin announced Tuesday, reversing his predecessor's decision to nix the mission. Griffin's announcement was greeted eagerly by astronomers who feared Hubble would deteriorate before the end of the decade without new sensors and replacements for its aging batteries. The rehab mission, likely launching in May 2008 using space shuttle Discovery, would keep Hubble working until about 2013.

Hubble Mission Impacts on Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Sources: ERAU)
The Hubble repair mission tentatively scheduled for launch aboard Discovery in May 2008 will have a variety of impacts on operations at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Unlike missions to the Space Station, this mission will require NASA to have a second Shuttle prepared to conduct a rescue mission. Because of this, NASA may have to delay the deactivation and conversion of one of its Shuttle launch pads and delay the first Ares rocket launch.

Because of these schedule shifts, companies like United Space Alliance will retain workers to operate and maintain the pad and to process both Discovery and whichever craft would be on standby for a rescue mission. NASA estimates the total cost of the mission to be $900 million. Of course, in addition to employing thousands of spaceport workers and ratcheting up NASA spending at the Cape, each Shuttle launch also attracts millions of dollars in tourism business to Central Florida.

NASA Reschedules First Three 2007 Shuttle Flights (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
NASA on Friday postponed the first three shuttle missions of 2007 to allow engineers extra weeks to fix or modify the launchers' troublesome external tanks. Atlantis is scheduled for a March 16 blastoff, delayed from February 22. Endeavour is scheduled to lift off June 28, delayed from June 11. And Atlantis is scheduled again for a launch on September 7, delayed from August 9. All three missions are tasked with further construction on the International Space Station (ISS).

Rocket Fuel Leak Clears 2 KSC Hangars (Source: Florida Today)
A leak of toxic rocket fuel prompted the evacuation of two shuttle processing hangars at Kennedy Space Center today but no workers were exposed to fumes or injured, NASA officials said today.

Discovery's Payload Packed for Dec. 7 Shuttle Launch (Source: Florida Today)
The next section of the Space Station's central truss now is packed up in a shipping canister at Kennedy Space Center, readying for a Dec. 7 launch from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The so-called P5 truss is relatively small. But the prime payload for shuttle Discovery's upcoming station assembly mission is crucial to NASA's plans to complete construction of the outpost before a September 2010 deadline set by President Bush.

NASA Schedules Feb. 15 Delta Launch on 2007 Cape Manifest (Source: Florida Today)
NASA has set Feb. 15 as the target date for the launch a Boeing Delta 2 rocket and a quintet of agency science satellites from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The five-spacecraft THEMIS mission will be a two-year study of the onset of solar storms and how they trigger auroral eruptions known as the Northern Lights.

Boeing Launches Weather Satellite from California Spaceport (Source: AP)
A military weather satellite was launched into orbit early Saturday aboard a Boeing Delta 4 rocket. The 207-foot-tall rocket carried the Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program payload called DMSP-17, which will be used for global weather forecasting. The Delta 4 is the tallest rocket launched from Vandenberg. Its inaugural West Coast launch was in June.

Atlas V May be Bigelow Tourism Launcher from Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Flight International)
Lockheed Martin is studying an Atlas V launch system for Bigelow Aerospace's planned commercial human spaceflight service, but does not plan to change the engines to man-rate the expendable booster. The only significant change it expects is to add an emergency detection system (EDS) to monitor for malfunctions that would require an emergency escape by the manned capsule. Bigelow plans to operate an orbital complex comprising inflatable spacecraft during the next decade, and has chosen the Atlas V 401 for launching a manned capsule. The 401 has no solid rocket boosters and, with its Centaur upper stage, can place about 9,900kg (20,000lb) into low-Earth orbit.

Two Companies Protest ULA (Source: Decatur Daily)
The public comment period is over, and the Federal Trade Commission received only two protests on the proposed joint (Atlas V & Delta 4) venture that would create the United Launch Alliance, according to a commission spokesman. The venture would combine the launch businesses of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. It would be a boon to Decatur, which would become the sole producer of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles. The two companies filing public comments were Northrop Grumman and SpaceX. In the FTC's preliminary approval of the merger Oct. 3, it specifically mentioned both companies and tried to accommodate them. The only surprise is that consumer groups, several of which have complained about the merger, filed no public comments.

VSE Launchers - Why Create Something You Can Already Buy? (Source: NASA Watch)
Many have observed that NASA is trying to recreate the capabilities already present - or easily obtainable - from private sector launch vehicles so as to implement the VSE. Specifically, capabilities exist in EELVs (Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle) for which taxpayers have already spent billions of dollars to develop. COTS is a step in the right direction, but some feel that NASA could do much, much more in utilizing existing private sector launch capabilities.

MDA Enters Strategic Alliance With Rocketplane Kistler (Source: CNW Group)
Canada's MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates has signed a strategic long term Agreement with Rocketplane Kistler to participate in the initial and future phases of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. MDA's scope includes the "Last Mile Solution", which supports rendezvous and docking of Rocketplane Kistler's orbital vehicle K1 with the International Space Station, as well as the development and sustenance of the un-pressurized cargo subsystems.

South Africa: Has Musk the Right Stuff to Profit From Space? (Source: Business Day)
The race for space has been big business. Among the huge names, like Lockheed Martin and Boeing, there have been some very rich little guys trying to make a go of launching satellites and people into space. Sometimes referred to as "thrillionaires", the little guys have mostly failed. But there is one who might have the right stuff, and his name is Elon Musk. Musk, a South African by birth, has had the right stuff before. His biggest coup was the sale of PayPal, an internet payment security company, to eBay for $1,5bn. He was a multimillionaire before he was 30.

Now, at just 35 years old, his personal fortune is estimated at over $300m, but he has staked over $100m on the viability of his latest big business, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). He believes life can be extended to other planets. And if you look at the world from a time scale hundreds of millions of years long, the expansion of the human race to another planet could be the most important thing for life itself, not just humans, Musk says. Visit http://allafrica.com/stories/200611010240.html to view the article.

Singapore Spaceport Advances (Source: Spaceports.blogspot.com)
"The suborbital space transportation two stage system named Explorer is now being built in Russia and will have the capacity to transport up to five people to space at a time," Michael Lyon said. Billion dollar deals are underway between Singapore and the United Arab Emirates regarding a proposal to send humans to space from the Spaceport Singapore in the next 36-months aboard the Explorer from the Changi Airport. Virginia-based Space Adventures and Texas-based Prodea Systems owned by the Ansari family are investment partners along with UAE the Crown Prince of Ras Khaimah in the $115-million Singapore spaceport.

Ukrainian-Brazilian Joint Alcantara Spaceport Venture for Cyclone Slated for End of 2006 (Source: NRCU)
According to Ukraine's space agency director, Ukraine and Brazil are adjusting documents to regulate protection of technology transfer between the two countries and Russia in the initiative to establish Brazil's Alcantara spaceport as a location for Cyclone-4 rocket launches. Delays in equipment supply are connected with the fact that under bilateral agreements Ukraine has no right to transfer technologies to third party without Russia's authorization. Ukraine Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov has promised to step up the process.

Woomera May Get Virgin Spaceport (Source: AdelaideNow)
Virgin Galactic is considering using Woomera as its second global launch site for space tourism rocket flights. The company has confirmed that its next spaceport will be in Australia and has invited its Australian airline pilots to train as astronaut-pilots. Virgin would be the second company operating tourist space flights from the Outback town. U.S. firm Rocketplane Kistler, which is undertaking a $100 million upgrade of the Woomera site, says space tourism could be operating from Woomera as early as 2008.

He said Woomera was a suitable site for a tourism spaceport, adding: "It has the infrastructure. And we have plans to see if there is a market for such flights in Australia." Rocketplane Kistler recently secured a $272 million NASA contract to launch rockets from Woomera, carrying cargo to the International Space Station. It has scheduled the first launch of its K-1 cargo rocket from Woomera in late 2008.

FAA Put On Guard for Space Tourism (Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Space tourism — as well as the spacecraft and spaceports that are needed to support it — could soon pose a new regulatory burden for the FAA, which currently oversees the safety of 20,000 airports and 50,000 commercial flights a day. The U.S. Government Accountability Office warned last week that the FAA will soon need more money and manpower to assure that "an uncertain but potentially escalating" number of space tourists have safe flights to the final frontier and back.

"The industry appears to be expanding," says GAO analyst Gerald Dillingham. "More firms are applying to FAA for launch licenses and several commercial spaceports are planned." The New Mexico Legislature this year approved $100 million for the construction of a commercial spaceport with three launch pads near Upham, N.M. Oklahoma and California are building spaceports, and others are planned in Florida, Alabama, Texas, Virginia and Alaska. Visit http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared/news/stories/2006/10/SPACE_TOURISM_1030_COX.html to view the article.

Sea Launch Successfully Delivers the XM-4 Satellite to Orbit (Source: SeaLaunch)
Sea Launch Company has delivered the XM-4 broadcast satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit for XM Satellite Radio. A Zenit-3SL vehicle lifted off Monday from the Odyssey Launch Platform in the equatorial Pacific. All systems performed nominally throughout the flight. XM-4 will support XM Radio’s direct broadcast of digital radio programming to cars, homes and portable radios throughout the continental United States and Canada.

Embry-Riddle Students Plan Icarus Launch from NASA Facility (Source: ERAU)
A group of engineering students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will travel to NASA's Wallops Island launch site in Virginia in December to prepare for the launch of their Icarus rocket. Their first launch window will be from January 4-5 and a second opportunity is available on Jan. 8-9. Visit http://www.icarusrocket.com to follow their progress.

NASA Will Build Rollercoaster for Ares I Pad Escape (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
NASA has approved the Rollercoaster Escape System to be used as the Emergency Egress Systems (EES) for astronauts and pad crew to race away from the Ares I pad, should an emergency be called. The Rollercoaster system led the September trade study as the preferred option, and will now be offered as a contract to potential vendors.

UF Researchers Explore Medicine in the Final Frontier (Source: UF)
Before astronauts can glimpse Earth from the red planet, doctors must better understand how to handle medical problems and surgeries in space, University of Florida researchers say. Now preliminary findings from a UF study show there is little difference in the dose of general anesthesia needed to anesthetize patients in weightless or normal gravity environments. It’s a major step forward, but just one of many hurdles researchers face in trying to establish proper medical protocols in space, UF researchers write in the October issue of the Journal of Gravitational Physiology.

On shorter missions to orbit the Earth or to travel to the International Space Station, astronauts could get back to ground within a day if a medical emergency arose, but from Mars or even a lunar base, that’s not possible. The space station is usually 200 to 600 miles from the Earth’s surface. The moon is about 238,000 miles from Earth. Mars, meanwhile, varies in distance from 35 million miles to more than 200 million miles away from the Earth. A trip to the red planet would likely be a three-year endeavor for astronauts. Visit http://news.ufl.edu/2006/10/31/anesthesia/ to view the article.

Ice on the Moon (Source: Space Review)
One of the key issues regarding any future exploration and settlement of the Moon is the availability of deposits of water ice in permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles. Paul Spudis investigates the evidence for and against lunar water ice and what research is needed to confirm its existence. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/740/1 to view the article.

Exploration - The Other Alternatives (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
From Lockheed Martin to the Congressional Budget Office, it seems like everyone has a proposal for how to change the VSE (Vision for Space Exploration). Visit http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=4890 to view the various industry, international, and Congressional ideas for improving and/or reducing the cost of planned lunar missions.

How Much International Cooperation is Really Needed in Space Exploration? (Source: Space Review)
A commonly-held belief in the space community is that some degree of international cooperation is needed for NASA to successfully implement the Vision for Space Exploration. Taylor Dinerman examines just how much international help is needed, and from which nations. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/738/1 to view the article.

Plan to Put Indian on Moon in 2020 (Source: Hindustan Times)
An Indian will walk on the moon in 2020. Or so the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) maintains. At a forthcoming meeting of the country's top scientists on Nov. 7, ISRO will unveil two of its ambitious plans - to send an Indian into space around 2014 and then to have one walk on the moon about six years later. Both missions will be accomplished without any foreign assistance. ISRO will even find a Sanskrit word equivalent for the US's 'astronaut' and Russia's 'cosmonaut' to describe the Indian in space.

ISRO said the proposed missions would be a national endeavour, with the best of the country's laboratories and research-and-development organisations chipping in with technical know-how. ISRO will conduct a space-capsule-recovery experiment. A 600-kg module, which will be hoisted by a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket, will orbit the earth for a week and splash down in the Bay of Bengal from where it will be retrieved. The experiment will be repeated in 2008.

Putin Signs Laws on Space Cooperation with Chile, India (Source: RIA Novosti)
President Vladimir Putin has signed the federal laws on ratifying inter-governmental treaties with Chile and India on cooperation in space exploration. Both laws were adopted by the State Duma (the lower house of Russia's parliament), and the Federation Council (the upper house of Russia's parliament).

China to Launch More Than 50 Small Satellites in Next 5-10 Years (Source: Xinhua)
China will launch more than 50 small satellites, each weighing less than 1,000 kilograms, in next five to ten years, a Chinese space company announced. "The 50 small satellites and their systems will be widely applied in observation, scientific experiments and environment and disaster monitoring," said the source, adding 200 to 300 small satellites would be launched globally in next five to ten years.

China Starts To Build Own Satellite Navigation System (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
China announced Thursday plans to build a satellite navigation system that will include up to 35 satellites and be working in the Asian region by 2008. The system, called "Beidou", will include five geostationary earth orbit satellites and 30 medium earth orbit satellites. It would compete with the U.S. GPS system, Russia's Glonass system, and Europe's Galileo system. The U.S. has been increasingly concerned about the implications of such foreign systems on U.S. military capabilities.

Lockheed Gets $49.9 Million for GPS Work (Source: Space News)
The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $49.9 million contract for continued design work on the next generation of GPS satellites. The contract reflects additional work the Air Force requested after changing its strategy from launching a constellation of identical GPS 3 satellites to buying a series of block upgrades. Lockheed Martin is competing against Boeing for the prime contract to build the GPS 3 satellites, which is expected to be awarded in May or June.

Pentagon Weighs Global Strike Options (Source: Space News)
As the Pentagon formulates its 2008 budget request, it is weighing several different options for meeting its goal of developing the ability to strike targets around the world within an hour. One option is to press forward with the concept of placing non-nuclear warheads on its submarine-launched Trident missiles. However, that idea encountered resistance in Congress during the 2007 budget cycle. While other options under consideration could have an easier time winning congressional approval, some might require more development work, which would prevent them from being available as early as a conventional Trident missile.

NASA Venture Capital Firm Seeks Promising Companies (Source: AIA)
NASA is setting up a nonprofit venture capital firm called Red Planet Capital to invest government money in promising but underfinanced small companies. The fund will also join private venture capital firms to form investment syndicates. "NASA could see that a lot of technical innovation is coming out of companies that don't traditionally do business with the government, and we wanted better and faster access to that creativity," says Lisa Lockyer, NASA program manager for the project. Visit http://www.redplanetcapital.com/ for information.

Alabama Space Attraction Builds Momentum (Source: Huntsville Times)
This has been another good year for the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, according to CEO Larry Capps and Irma Tuder, elected chairman of the Space Center board on Friday during the group's annual meeting. The center's recovery from the big debt and much-publicized management problems of the late 1990s continues, with fiscal 2006 showing $608,553 in net income, another modest increase in Space Camp attendance and growth in teacher education and other programs. FY-2007 holds even more promise, center officials say, with the 25th anniversary of Space Camp driving attendance and construction of the new visitors center and Saturn V rocket display complex under way.

ORBCOMM IPO Raises $101.5 Million, Below Range (Source: Reuters)
ORBCOMM, which operates a satellite-based global wireless messaging system, raised $101.5 million with an initial public offering that was priced below its estimated range. The 9.2 million share offering from the company, which represents about a 25 percent stake, sold for $11 per share compared with a $12 to $14 forecast. The stock price fell during the day, closing at $7.75. The 30-percent drop marks the worst first-day performance by any company that conducted an IPO this year. The pricing gives the company an initial market capitalization of almost $400 million.

Globalstar IPO Raises $128 Million, Within Range (Source: MarketWatch)
Globalstar gained 3% after adding a million shares and pricing in the middle of its range as the satellite service provider completed its orbit back to a public company after its 2002 bankruptcy. The IPO fattened from 6.5 million shares and priced between its $16-$18 range. Globalstar comes a day after Israeli satellite firm RRSat rose 20% in its stock market debut.

ATK Reports Quarterly Results (Source: SpaceRef.com)
Alliant Techsystems reported that quarterly earnings per share rose to $1.15. Sales for the quarter climbed eight percent to $833 million from $772 million in the prior year quarter. Sales were driven entirely by organic growth. Orders in the quarter were up 44 percent to $944 million from $656 million in the prior year period.

Rockwell Collins Profit Up (Source: AIA)
Rockwell Collins says strong sales pushed fourth-quarter profits up 25%. The company, which makes communication and aviation electronics for commercial and military planes, earned $138 million.