April 13 News Items

Second NM County Preps for Spaceport Tax Vote (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
A date for a Sierra County spaceport tax election will be set by the County Commission at its next meeting, commissioners decided Thursday. County Commissioner Gary Whitehead said approving a date for an election is important to show voters in neighboring Doña Ana County that Sierra County is serious about the measure. County Commissioner Walter C. Armijo said he wanted to hold off on an election until after construction work begins on the spaceport. He said that might prompt residents to view a new tax more favorably. "Once we know that they're actually building something over there ... I think it would be a little bit more attractive to us," he said.

Chilton Outlines USAF Space Command’s Path to the Future (Source: Defense News)
It is time for the Air Force’s Space Command to take a long, hard look to the future and commit to improving materiel and personnel, the command’s top general told industry leaders. "I’ve asked our team to take a clean-sheet look at the future, not at the past,” Gen. Kevin Chilton, commander of U.S. Air Force Space Command, said. Chilton outlined the top four priorities in preparing his command for future fights: 1) Preserve and expand the ability to deliver effects for the joint fight; 2) Provide a safe and secure nuclear deterrence program; Develop, field and sustain dominant space capabilities on time and on cost; and 4) Attract, develop and retain talent to ensure future dominance.

Enterprise Florida Says Florida 3rd in Aerospace Employment (Source: Enterprise Florida)
Florida ranks 3rd in the nation in Space, Aeronautics and Aviation employment, according to a 2006 state-chartered commission. Nearly 80,000 Aerospace and Aviation workers are employed in Florida in fields ranging from aircraft manufacturing to space research and technology. Visit http://myeflorida.com/mk/get/aa1 for information.

Naming Rights Sold for Huntsville Saturn V Exhibit (Source: Huntsville Times)
A Huntsville couple have committed $2 million to buy the right to name the Saturn V exhibition hall and visitors center under construction at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Space Center CEO Larry Capps said he can't identify the couple yet but said it would be their name on the building, which is expected to open in November. He expects to be able to release their name and details about their plans in a few weeks. "The couple has been very significant in the missile and space industry and in a multitude of philanthropic projects in this town," Capps said.

NASA Sees Role for Business in Return to Moon (Source: Reuters)
The U.S. space agency will seek to create niches for private business as it prepares to return to the moon by 2020, the agency's chief said. NASA will "help to drive the creation of a new space industry in low Earth orbit and beyond in such a way that NASA becomes a reliable and supportive customer for that industry," Administrator Michael Griffin said. Nearly 35 years since humans last set foot on the moon, a cash-strapped NASA will rely on industry to meet space exploration goals set by President Bush in 2004. Potential beneficiaries of new opportunities in space include contractors Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics.

SpaceX to Ship Completed Falcon 9 First Stage Propellant Tank for Testing (Source: Flight International)
SpaceX has completed the primary structure for its Falcon 9 rocket's first stage propellant tank. This tank will be shipped to the company's test facility in Texas for proof testing, integration of the propulsion system, and a full stage firing to occur later this year. Production of the second tank unit will begin early next month. SpaceX has contracts for six Falcon 9 flights. The first is a demonstration flight for a US government customer and is scheduled to lift off in the third quarter of 2008. The sixth flight, scheduled for the third quarter of 2009, carries the company's Dragon capsule and it will attempt to demonstrate delivery of cargo to the International Space Station as part of the NASA COTS program.

Chinese ASAT Strike Was Third Try; Had Mobile Element (Source: Aviation Week)
U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright says the Chinese made two unsuccessful attempts at an anti-satellite intercept before the successful test in January. During those earlier tests, at least one of which took place last year, the Chinese interceptor boosted into space but missed the target. The re-entry vehicles later fell back to Earth. "This is not in my mind the defining moment for our relationship [with China]," Cartwright says. "This is a good wake up call." Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley says the launch system used by the Chinese incorporated a mobile platform, displaying a worrisome level of flexibility on the part of this potential adversary. The two earlier attempts also used a mobile launch system, the intelligence official added.

Japan Eyes Expansive Space Exploration Agenda (Source: Space.com)
Japan is building upon its past successes in space to forge a range of initiatives, from disaster warning systems, probes to Mercury, Venus and Jupiter, as well as conduct an aggressive lunar exploration campaign. JAXA Vice President Kaoru Mamiya detailed recent major accomplishments, such as last year’s launch of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite called Daichi – meaning Terra. “It is operating smoothly and producing significant amounts of observing data,” he said. Other recent satellite launches spotlighted by Mamiya included a satellite for weather forecasting and air traffic control; Japan’s first infrared imaging satellite, Akari, that has already completed its first scan of the entire sky, as well as Hinode – a solar physics spacecraft undertaken cooperatively with the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom.

NASA's Historical Art Exhibit Returns to Brevard Planetarium (Source: Florida Today)
Local residents can see bits of NASA history through new eyes by viewing the "Milestones in NASA's History" art exhibit on display at the Brevard Community College Planetarium and Observatory on the Cocoa campus. The 11 prints of original artwork were originally housed at NASA and have been on a traveling tour, which began at the planetarium, then went to the Melbourne Airport, the Government Center in Viera, and finally are back at the planetarium where they will be displayed through July.

Bigelow Sets Inflatable Space Module Prices (Sources: Aerospace Daily, ERAU)
Bigelow Aerospace will charge "sovereign customers" - nations that want to send their astronauts into space - $14.95 million to spend four weeks in one of the company's proposed inflatable orbiting modules. That time can be doubled for another $2.95 million. Private companies that want to lease a module for industrial research would be charged $88 million per year for a full 350-cubic meter module, and as little as $4.5 million per month for a half-module. Bigelow-employed astronauts would provide a range of services for customers at no additional cost. Refundable reservations can be made for a 10 percent deposit.

Private Space of The Future (Source: Washington Post)
Private space exploration took a potentially significant step forward this week as Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace announced plans to send a series of inflatable space stations into orbit over the next decade. The spacecraft would be available to train astronauts from nations not currently active in space, as well as companies that could manufacture unique products in weightlessness. "We think the time will come when orbiting space complexes won't be considered a novelty, but a necessity," said Bigelow's president, Robert Bigelow, who made a fortune as founder of Budget Suites hotel chain.

Putting the inflatable space stations into orbit is an enormously expensive and risky endeavor, but Bigelow said that his private company has the resources to develop, test and launch the vessels. He plans to greatly expand the company's plant in North Las Vegas so he can eventually assemble two 300-cubic-foot model space stations a year. The main purpose of the space stations -- earlier called space hotels -- will be to provide "hang time," or time in weightlessness, for astronauts from nations that have no rights to use the International Space Station. Bigelow said he believes there are 50 to 60 nations that might be interested in sending astronauts into space to train and conduct experiments.

"There are something like 225 active astronauts in the world now, but we don't see why there shouldn't be 2,250," Bigelow said. "The technology is there and the interest is there; we want to bring them together." Bigelow Aerospace purchased the rights to the inflatable station design from NASA. Bigelow tentatively plans to charge $14.9 million a seat for a trip to the station and a four-week stay, substantially less than the cost of the space shuttle or what space tourists now pay Russia for trips to the space station. Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/11/AR2007041102168.htmlto view the article.

Rocket venture ULA to locate in Colorado (Source: Rocky Mountain News)
Lockheed Martin and Boeing's $2 billion joint rocket venture will call Centennial, Colorado, its home, as the new United Launch Alliance gets off the ground. ULA has leased a building in Centennial, north of Park Meadows mall, and expects to begin moving staff there as soon as next month. That comes as ULA has succeeded in wooing roughly 390 California-based Boeing employees, mainly engineers, to Colorado. The figure amounts to 43 percent of the approximately 900 Boeing workers offered the chance to relocate to Colorado from Huntington Beach, said ULA spokeswoman Julie Andrews.

China to Develop Five More Oceanic Satellites (Source: Xinhua)
China will develop five more oceanic satellites in the near future. Sun Zhihui, director of the State Oceanic Administration, made the remarks after the successful launching of self-developed "Haiyang-1B" oceanic satellite from the Taiyuan Satellite Launching Center on Wednesday. China plans to have a system consisting of ocean color remote sensing satellites, ocean dynamic environment satellites and ocean surveillance satellites.

Moscow Court Remands Space Company Chief Accused of China Tech Transfer (Source: RIA Novosti)
A Moscow court Wednesday remanded in custody the general director of a Russian aerospace engineering company charged with transferring sensitive technology to China. Igor Reshetin, head of Tsniimash-Export, is charged with transferring precision engineering technology to a Chinese corporation in violation of state export controls, and of diverting $1.16 million through schemes involving front companies.

NASA Chief Asks Lawmakers for More Workforce Flexibilities (Source: Government Executive)
The head of NASA is calling on lawmakers to give the agency the flexibility to offer workers financial incentives to move from permanent to temporary civil service positions. In a March 28 letter, Michael Griffin asked Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee, to consider legislation that would provide the agency with "additional workforce flexibilities" to help transition to the new period of exploration. "NASA's proposed legislation provides . . . flexibilities essential to the successful implementation of our programs in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research," Griffin wrote.

The measure would enable NASA administrators to offer certain permanent employees an incentive, calculated as a percentage of their basic rate of pay, for moving to a temporary appointment. Employees would only be eligible if the agency administrator determined that their positions face future elimination or are no longer required on a permanent basis.

SpaceDev and ULA to Explore Launching the Dream Chaser on Atlas V (Source: MarketWire)
SpaceDev Inc. has finalized an MOU with United Launch Alliance to pursue the potential of launching its SpaceDev Dream Chaser space vehicle carrying passengers and cargo on an Atlas V launch vehicle. Destinations could include the International Space Station (ISS) and other commercial orbital destinations as well as for commercial orbital space tourism flights.

Proton Successfully Lofts Canadian Satellite(Source: Space News)
Telesat Canada's Anik F3 telecommunications satellite was successfully placed into orbit April 10 by an International Launch Services (ILS) Proton-M rocket launched from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, ILS and Telesat Canada announced.

China's Test Seen as Threat to Taiwan (Source: Space News)
China's anti-satellite test in January increased the country's military threat to Taiwan by demonstrating a limited ability to blind the U.S. satellites that would be deployed in defense of the island, according to a report released Tuesday.

NASA, Roskosmos Ink Space Station Logistics Contract (Source: Space News)
The Russian Federal Space Agency, Roskosmos, will provide crew and cargo logistics services to the international space station through 2011 under a $719 million contract modification with NASA, the U.S. space agency announced April 9.

Lockheed-Martin CEO: Crisis In Aerospace Engineering (Source: Information Week)
Lockheed Martin CEO Robert Stevens warned that "space is broken, badly broken" and the U.S. space effort needs an infusion of both federal funds and a revitalized engineering infrastructure to rescue both civilian and military efforts. Stevens said the current national level of 78,000 engineering graduates a year is woefully inadequate. "One in four engineers at Lockheed-Martin is now over 50," he said. "Today's engineer has choices of where to apply talent, and we need to rekindle the excitement for space." Stevens said the U.S. is in danger of "ceding our spaceflight leadership to Russia, China and even India," and that leadership could not be preserved without a sustained investment. He called for doubling NASA's budget at a cost of only 32 cents a day for every American.

Congressional Staffers Highlight Questions on Operationally Responsive Space (Source: Information Week)
Josh Hartman and Adam Harris, staff members of the House Appropriations Committee, said there will be continuing policy debate in Congress over the Air Force's Operationally Responsive Space program, which calls for multitasking electronic communications, fast-response launches and upgrades of several missile programs. Both staffers said there is no congressional consensus on what ORS means, or what level is should be funded. Hartman cited recent difficulties during the Dec. 2006 launch of TacSat-2, considered a poster child for ORS. The satellite carried imaging and signals intelligence payloads, but in recent weeks the National Security Agency has sought to set technical standards for the satellite. Both staffers predicted bureaucratic struggles over the ORS program.

FAA Issues New Rules For Spacecraft Permits (Source: Aerospace Daily)
FAA on April 6 released new guidelines for obtaining one-year experimental launch permits for reusable spacecraft that will give developers the opportunity to fly and test their vehicles before applying for an FAA launch license. Each permit will cover multiple vehicles of a particular design and will allow an unlimited number of launches. The vehicles must operate in an area large enough to contain its trajectory that is not close to any densely populated areas. Applicants must provide a program description; a flight test plan; operational safety documentation, including a hazard analysis; and a plan for responding to any mishap, according to FAA. The permits will be renewable following FAA review. None of the flights covered by an experimental permit can be flown for profit. FAA will determine what kind of design changes can be made to a vehicle before its permit is invalidated.

"The whole point is that the more you test, the more you learn and the greater the likelihood that your vehicle becomes better and safer," said Patricia Grace Smith, associate administrator in charge of FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, at a recent speech in Washington.

A Billionaire's Dream Coming True at the Expense of Taxpayers (Source: Morning Journal)
Here's a tale of two taxes and one shrewd billionaire. When faced with a .25 percent sales tax increase to plug an expected multimillion-dollar hole in the Lorain County government budget, local voters balked. They rightly demanded a vote of the people and a better accounting of the proposed use of the money by the county officials who imposed the tax hike. When voting on a request for a .25 percent sales tax increase to indulge a foreign billionaire's dream to send rich people on rocket rides to the edge of space for $200,000 a ticket, the not-so-wealthy taxpayers of Dona Ana County, New Mexico, said OK, though just barely.

Imagine trying to get a tax increase for a spaceport approved in Lorain County. Let's just say that the voters of Lorain County have a more skeptical view of what makes for a reasonable tax increase request. That's a good thing, too. This isn't to cast a judgment on the need for the tax increase in Lorain County, or to snicker at the apparent credulity of voters in Dona Ana County, New Mexico. This is mostly about the chutzpah of Sir Richard Branson. Backers of the spaceport are starry-eyed over the highly dubious chances for spinoff economic development in the region. Why should hard-working ordinary Americans hand over their tax money so that a British multibillionaire can make a private dream come true? Why are working stiffs paying to build this fantasy camp for well-heeled space cadets?

Irvin Aerospace Selected for SpaceX Parachute Systems (Source: Flight International)
Irvin Aerospace has been selected by SpaceX for parachute systems for its Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 launcher’s first and second stages. Irvin, an Airborne Systems brand, has provided parachute systems for NASA’s Space Shuttle program and developed the recovery system for SpaceX’s Falcon 1 rocket’s first stage. SpaceX’s seven crew carrying Dragon capsule, with its gross lift off weight of around 7,000kg (15,000lb), will have redundant deployment motors and drogues, with two of each. As well as the two drogues it will use three main parachutes. “We designed Dragon to land at less than 1200ft/min (6.09m/s), which is 30% slower than Apollo,” says SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk.

United Space Alliance Brings New Innovations to Future Space Operations (Source: USA)
Transitioning essential knowledge and experience from the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station to the Constellation Program will be one of the keys to the efficiency, reliability, safety and overall success of the new program. Last year, United Space Alliance introduced its Questus software to capture and transition that knowledge and experience in space operations. This year, USA adds three new applications and a partnership with NASA to establish a lunar surface science operations toolset based on the software suite developed by USA. For more information on Questus visit http://questus.unitedspacealliance.com.