June 19 News Items

NM Spaceport Authority to Hear Where Project Stands (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority will meet in Las Cruces for an update on the Spaceport America project. The meeting will also feature a presentation on the aerospace and tourism market and a resolution honoring former Lt. Gov. Casey Luna, now a member of the authority. The $198 million project cleared a major hurdle in early April when voters in Doña Ana County approved a tax increase to help fund construction of the facility. The facility is awaiting licensing from the FAA to begin construction. The authority is also working toward finalizing and signing a lease with anchor tenant Virgin Galactic.

NASA Exec Preaches to Colorado Choir (Source: Denver Post)
NASA Deputy Administrator Shana Dale on Monday outlined the Bush administration's proposed 2008 agency budget of $17.3 billion in a meeting at the Denver Chamber of Commerce. "I'm trying to get people energized, but this meeting was easy - Colorado's already there," Dale said after the meeting at the chamber with representatives from industry, government and education. More than 164,000 Coloradans work in the space business - building satellites for NASA, planning the agency's next trip to the moon and developing instruments to study Earth from space, according to the Colorado Space Coalition, a group composed of business, government and university interests.

Colorado is third, behind California and Florida, in space-related employment, said Elliot Pulham, president of the Colorado Springs-based Space Foundation, a nonprofit promoting space science exploration. Several people attending the chamber meeting told Dale they worried that fewer young people are excited about space exploration and its underpinnings - science, mathematics and engineering. Dale said NASA plans to continue its education programs, worth about $200 million annually, but will begin tracking those programs more carefully.

Eventful Voyage Nearing End - Failures, Repairs, Homemade Tools Made it Exciting (Source: Florida Today)
Wrapping up a mission that had more dramatic than mundane moments, Atlantis will separated from the International Space Station, bound for a Thursday landing at Kennedy Space Center. Passing the final hurdle, Russian computers controlled the space station's orientation for about an hour Monday morning, proving the computers are stable. ISS crews had improvised a repair and helped restore the Russian computer system after a critical failure that was corrected with bypasses of failed circuits. "We faced some adversity together," Atlantis Commander Rick Sturckow said. "But the problems were overcome and the mission was a success.

SpaceDev Dream Chaser Could Provide Crew Launch and Cargo Transport (Source: MarketWire)
SpaceDev has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to facilitate its development of reliable, safe and affordable transportation of passengers and cargo to and from Earth orbit. Under the Agreement, NASA will provide information about the agency's projected commercial demand for crew and cargo services to the International Space Station (ISS) as well as technical support regarding commercial vehicle requirements for rendezvous and docking with the ISS. NASA will also provide inputs to the development program through regularly scheduled technical exchange.

"This Agreement will allow us to work closely with NASA to share data, concepts and updates on our program's progress. Having a continuous interchange with NASA will help accelerate our ability to make strides to meet our country and industry's near and long term needs for space transport. We are committed to the use of the NASA Langley derived HL-20 as the foundation of our space transport program."

NASA Signs Agreement with CSI (Source: CSI)
Constellation Services International (CSI) has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to facilitate the development of CSI's low-risk LEO Express space cargo system. NASA will provide information about the agency's projected demand for cargo services to the Space Station, as well as requirements regarding rendezvous and docking with the ISS.

CSI has invested over six years and several million dollars developing a commercial space station cargo services that uses 100% proven off-the-shelf technology. LEO Express can use over a dozen existing launch vehicles, plus most of the new launch vehicles being developed by private industry.