News Summaries for February 24

Would You Pay to Go Into Space? (Source: Time)
"What's great about Virgin is it's not the classic astronaut in a space suit. The point is to make it simple so regular people can go into space," says Christine, 45. "I want to look at the stars. I don't want to study astrophysics." "It's gonna be simpler than I thought," agrees Ed Holliday, a 62-year-old hedge fund wholesaler from Laguna Niguel, California. "We're not required to be astronauts." Actually, it's a two-way street. Virgin Galactic must find out before blast-off how people in their 50s, 60s and 70s — those most able to afford it — can cope with the stress of space travel. "To be commercial viable and safe, we need data on the way people react to g forces and the psychological experience of going into space. We don't know that yet," says Alex Tai, Galactic's chief of operations — and the man who will pilot first Virgin's first spaceship. One possibility is a ride in a centrifuge to see how passengers will react to the g forces. For now, however, there aren't a lot of requirements other than deep pockets.

Former U.S. Export Official Says ITAR Rules Need Complete Overhaul (Source: Space News)
One of the architects of the U.S. regulations restricting the export of U.S. satellites and components now says the rules need a thorough overhaul because they are damaging U.S. industry with no corresponding benefit to U.S. national security. Retired U.S. Air Force Col. David Garner, former chief of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, said the people who rewrote the satellite-related portions of the International Traffic in Arms (ITAR) regulatory regime never imagined that the new rules would be applied the way they are. The ITAR rules were revamped following a 1999 U.S. congressional order shifting licensing jurisdiction for communications satellite exports from the U.S. Commerce Department to the State Department. The shift was made in response to allegations that China was improving its missile technology by launching U.S. commercial satellites.

DARPA Asks for Less Money for Space Projects in 2008 (Source: Space News)
With one of its major satellite projects approaching launch and another having recently been terminated, DARPA is seeking less money for space-related work next year than it has in its current budget. DARPA is asking Congress for $224.55 million for space programs in 2008, a decrease of $29.4 million from its 2007 budget. DARPA’s total funding request is $3.09 billion, compared to a $3.12 billion budget for this year.

Satellite Owners Rush to Find '08-'09 Launches (Source: Space News)
The Sea Launch failure Jan. 30 has caused a rush by satellite operators to secure the few 2008-2009 launch slots that remain among the commercially available vehicles. In the less than four weeks since the failure, no fewer than six commercial launch contracts have been signed — a sign of the growing anxiety among satellite owners whose regulatory deadlines or business cases make it imperative that they be in orbit as soon as possible. “I’ve never seen anything like this in 20 years in the business,” said one launch-industry veteran. “These guys are in full panic mode.”

SES Moves Satellite from LandLaunch to Ariane 5 (Source: Space News)
SES Global has switched the launch of its AMC-21 telecommunications satellite from Sea Launch’s new Land Launch variant to Europe’s Ariane 5 ECA launch vehicle because of concerns that the Jan. 30 Sea Launch failure and ongoing supply-chain interruptions at Land Launch would make it difficult for Sea Launch to assure a mid-2008 liftoff. Arianespace has committed to a launch in the first half of 2008. The satellite’s relatively low weight should make it relatively easy for Arianespace to find a co-passenger to fill the other spot that will be available aboard Ariane 5 ECA that launches AMC-21.

NASA Issues Solicitation for Ares Upper Stage (Source: Space News)
NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center issued a request for proposals (RFP) Feb. 23 for the Ares 1 launch vehicle’s upper stage. Proposals are due April 13 with a contract award expected in August. The winning contractor team will help NASA design the upper stage and be responsible for producing it through 2016. The competition is expected to pit the Boeing company against an Alliant Techsystems (ATK) team that includes Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. NASA intends to hold a separate competition this year to select a contractor to design and develop the avionics suite for the manned rocket. That competition is expected to attract a wider field of competitors.

NASA Issues Solicitation for Microgravity Flights (Source: Space News)
NASA’s Glenn Research Center issued a draft request for proposals Feb. 20 for reduced-gravity aircraft flight services for training and research purposes. According to the solicitation, NASA anticipates buying 15 to 20 weeks of flights per year but is not obligated to pay for more than a single week of flights under the envisioned five-year contract. NASA bought two trial flights from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based Zero Gravity Corp. in 2005 and last year agreed to hold a competition to decide whether to buy more flights from the company, keep operating its own DC-9 aircraft, or turn the operation of its aircraft over to a private contractor. A contract award is expected in August with the first flights to begin as early as September.

Japan Launches its 4th Spy Satellite (Source: AP)
Japan launched its fourth spy satellite Saturday, completing its capabilities to monitor activities worldwide and bolstering its ability to observe neighboring North Korea's nuclear program. The satellite, along with a smaller test prototype, was launched from the country's spaceport on a remote southern Japan island atop an H-2A rocket, the workhorse of Japan's space program. The launch of the radar satellite enhances a multibillion dollar, decade-old plan for Japan to have round-the-clock surveillance of the secretive North and other areas Japan wants to peer in on.