News Summaries for December 2

Space Florida Board Plans Meetings (Source: ERAU)
The Space Florida board of directors will hold three committee teleconference meetings in December and a full board meeting in February. All meetings are open for public participation. The Spaceport Operations Committee will meet on Dec. 11. The Business Development Committee will meet on Dec. 13. And the Education, Research & Development, and Workforce Committee will meet on Dec. 15. The full board will meet in Tallahassee on Feb. 12. Visit http://www.spaceflorida.gov for information.

Florida Aviation Aerospace Alliance Meets at Embry-Riddle (Source: ERAU)
The board of the Florida Aviation Aerospace Alliance (FAAA) met last week at the Daytona Beach campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to discuss its agenda and event plans for the coming year. There are various space and aviation industry issues that will require state and federal attention, and the FAAA hopes to make progress on them in 2007.

NASA Says Wallops Ready for Commercial Suborbital Flights (Source: Spaceports Blog)
NASA has indicated that "the current commercial spaceflight regulatory environment is not impeding the use of the [Wallops Flight Facility (WFF)] as a commercial spaceport for suborbital flights." NASA's Brian Chase, Assistant Administrator for Legislative Affairs, wrote to U.S. Virginia Senator George Allen, "Business considerations, and not regulatory restrictions, may be keeping businesses from using the [Wallops Flight Facility]. Chase noted that "WFF believes that they are competitive with other commercial spaceports available in the states of Texas, Oklahoma, California, and New Mexico." The 2007 Virginia legislature convenes in January with recommendations being made to state legislators to pursue a study of the "business considerations" that "may" be impeding the nascent commercial suborbital launch providers from use of the Wallops Flight Facility/Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.

Ohio Considering Spaceport Deal (Source: MSNBC)
State and local officials in Ohio are considering an incentive package that would lead the Canadian-American rocket venture PlanetSpace to put the manufacturing and landing facilities for its suborbital spacecraft at a former military air base near Columbus. The discussions are in a "very preliminary" stage, said a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Development. However, economic development officials at the Columbus Regional Airport Authority and the Columbus Chamber said a decision on the incentive package could be reached within the next few weeks.

Such a package could include tax credits, financing programs and training grants amounting to millions of dollars, said Matt McCollister, the seven-county chamber's vice president for economic development. PlanetSpace's chairman, Indian-American entrepreneur Chirinjeev Kathuria said he expected the incentives to amount to "somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million." Visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15993507/ to view the article.

Launch Venture Lands 100 Alabama Jobs (Source: Huntsville Times)
The marriage of Boeing and Lockheed Martin's rocket operations was made official Friday as the two longtime rivals announced the completion of the new United Launch Alliance. The partnership will mean about 100 additional jobs at Boeing's rocket plant in Decatur, company officials said, as the alliance plans to consolidate rocket manufacturing operations at that site. The plant currently employs about 660 people.

Rocket Deal Payload: 700 Colorado Jobs (Source: Rocky Mountain News)
Lockheed Martin and Boeing's $2 billion rocket-launch venture is expected to bring up to 700 high-paying jobs to the Denver area, executives said Friday. When combined with new jobs from Lockheed's recent $8.2 billion NASA contract to build a next-generation spacecraft, the new United Launch Alliance joint venture could vault Colorado's private-sector aerospace work force into the No. 2 spot, behind California and ahead of Texas.

Once Maligned Vega Wins Praise Following Successful Test Firing (Source: Space News)
Europe’s Vega small-satellite launcher, long ridiculed as an expensive Italian folly, is beginning to win converts as its Italian-led contracting team passes successive program milestones and the global launch market offers increasing opportunities. Vega has even won praise from what was once its sharpest critic: the French government. “Providing Europe with the capability of launching all ranges of satellites — small, medium and large — gives us a real advantage,” said Yannick d’Escatha, president of the French space agency, CNES. “I don’t know what the thinking was a few years ago, but today I can tell you that this vehicle has a market that is real and growing.”

Pending Deals to Clear Way for Soyuz Operations from Kourou (Source: Space News)
Plans to operate Russia’s Soyuz rocket commercially from Europe’s Guiana Space Center here starting in late 2008 face two key milestones in the coming weeks: the signing of a technology-security agreement with the Russian government, and a contract with Russian Soyuz manufacturers for the production of the first four Soyuz launch vehicles, European government and industry officials said.

XM-Sirius Rivalry Heats Up in Canada (Source: Space News)
In the U.S., Sirius Satellite Radio is still playing catch-up in its subscriber race with XM Satellite Radio, but for the companies’ Canadian affiliates, the story is different. Both launched Canadian operations in late 2005. But Sirius Canada began pulling ahead in May and has continued pulling ahead, with 200,000 Sirius subscribers in Nov. versus 91,200 XM subscribers at the end of Aug.

Station Assembly Mission Called Highly Challenging (Source: Space News)
NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery is closing in on its next scheduled mission to the international space station (ISS) where astronauts plan to deliver a new piece of the outpost and rewire its power grid. The launch will mark NASA’s first night launch in four years. After three consecutive daytime launches in which they were able to monitor the shedding of foam from shuttle external tanks, NASA officials have decided it is acceptable to again launch at night, a capability they consider critical to their ability to complete the ISS by the time the orbiter fleet is retired in 2010.

Contract Gives Zero-G Full-Time Access to Aircraft (Source: Space News)
Zero Gravity Corp. (ZERO-G), the Florida-based parabolic flight operator, will have full-time use of a Boeing 727-200F cargo plane starting in early 2007 under a four-year deal the company concluded with cargo carrier Amerijet International. Amerijet has been Zero-G’s operations partner since 2002, providing access to two 727-200s on a part-time charter basis on weekends, mostly in Florida. ZERO-G's Peter Diamandis said the new deal for the dedicated aircraft will allow ZERO-G to use the aircraft throughout the week, offer flights from airports throughout the country, and position the company to sell commercial services to NASA should the agency go that route.

ZERO-G will still have part-time access to a second 727-200 to accommodate heavy demand. He said Zero-G is paying Amerijet $7.5 million under the lease-purchase and maintenance contract. ZERO-G plans to spend an additional $2.5 million on improvements intended to entice NASA to use the aircraft for microgravity research and training flights. ZERO-G began carrying paying passengers in late 2004 and since then has conducted 100 flights, Diamandis said, including 40 in 2006. He said the company expects to conduct 100 flights in 2007.