May 5 News Items

NASA Science Chief Puts Principle Investigators on Notice (Source: Space News)
NASA's new science chief, Alan Stern, used his first appearance before Congress to put principal investigators on notice: keep your missions on budget or prepare to step aside. Stern, an experienced principal investigator (PI) with his own NASA-funded spacecraft hurtling toward Pluto, said scientists lucky enough to have their mission proposals selected by NASA have an obligation to put their research duties on hold and focus on getting their spacecraft and instruments built.

Oklahoma Gets Spaceport License (Source: KSWO)
It's a project that's been in the works for the better part of the decade and finally, on Friday, a part of Oklahoma became a licensed gateway to space. The Oklahoma Spaceport in Burns Flat is now one of just six places in the United States licensed by the FAA for private space travel. "In a world more eager than ever to find out what space flight is like, Oklahoma has officially decided to find out for itself," said Patti Grace Smith, the FAA's Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Travel. Oklahoma is competing with California, Texas, and New Mexico to become the future hub of space tourism. Officials said the state has a leg up, thanks to the Oklahoma Spaceport with nearly three miles of runway, 2700 total acres, and six hangars, all formerly part of Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base.

ZERO-G Eyes NASA Weightless Flights (Source: Space News)
Less than 24 hours after Zero Gravity Corp. (ZERO-G) flew wheelchair-bound cosmologist Stephen Hawking on a high-profile flight that gave him the opportunity to experience brief periods of weightlessness, executives at the Ft. Lauderdale-based company were poring over a NASA solicitation that would open the door to companies that want to provide similar airplane services to the U.S. government. Whether NASA entrusts ZERO-G to fly its astronauts and scientists or continues to operate its own dedicated airplane is up in the air. A NASA RFP issued April 27 says the agency is interested in buying between one and 20 weeks of flights per year from a qualified bidder offering safe and reliable services.

SES Scraps Deal with Boeing to Replace Satellite (Source: Space News)
SES Global has terminated a contract with Boeing to build an identical replacement for the NSS-8 satellite lost in the Jan. 30 failure of a Sea Launch rocket. That decision followed Boeing's refusal to abide by the contract's terms, SES Global officials said. SES Global's Chief Executive said the company is seeking bids from other manufacturers for a similar satellite for its SES New Skies division and is keeping its legal options open with respect to possible recourse against Boeing.

Firms to Develop Backup Orion Heat Shield Materials (Source: Space News)
NASA awarded two contracts totaling $34 million to develop three alternative heat-shield materials the agency could fall back on if it runs into problems with the primary material chosen for its Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle. Boeing, which is developing the primary material, stands to receive $10 million to do early work on a proprietary alternative. The other two alternatives are being developed by Textron under a $24 million contract.

Lockheed Martin Awarded SBIRS Work Worth $35.8 Million (Source: Space News)
The Air Force awarded a contract modification to Lockheed Martin worth $35.8 million to address issues with the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) High missile warning satellite program. The contract announcement stated that the money is intended to pay for "upgrades of the Geosynchronous Earth Orbit test anomaly resolution and operation support." The first SBIRS High satellite is expected to launch in 2008.

U.S. Plans $750 Million in Satellite Service Buys (Source: Space News)
About two-dozen providers of fixed and mobile satellite services will be able to bid on an estimated $750 million in U.S. government civil and military business in the next five years following awards announced May 2 by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). GSA's Satcom-2 program succeeds Satcom-1, which was valued at about $500 million over five years.

Ariane Launches Two Satellites (Source: SpaceToday.net)
An Ariane 5 launched two commercial communications satellites Friday after a one-day delay. The Ariane 5 ECA lifted off from Kourou, French Guiana, and placed the Astra 1L and Galaxy 17 spacecraft into geosynchronous transfer orbit about a half-hour later. Astra 1L, a Lockheed Martin A2100AX spacecraft owned by SES Astra, weighed 4,500 kg at launch and carries a mix of Ku- and Ka-band transponders. Galaxy 17 is a Thales Alenia Space Spacebus 3000B3 spacecraft that weighed 4,100 kg at launch. It will be used by Intelsat to provide services for North America. The launch is the second of a planned six Ariane missions in 2007.