June 9 News Items

Daughter of Stephen Hawking to Fly with ZERO-G on Father's Day (Source: ZERO-G)
Lucy Hawking, daughter of Professor Stephen Hawking -- the world-renowned physicist and expert on gravity -- will fly aboard ZERO-G's June 9 Father's Day flight from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. This will be her opportunity to share the same weightless experience enjoyed by her father on April 26. This flight will also will serve as research for a children's book she is co-writing with her father on space. Professor Hawking proclaimed his zero-gravity flight to be "amazing" and that he hoped many would follow him in this incredible opportunity, now available to the general public. His daughter is one of many who've been inspired to fly with ZERO-G following his historic flight.

NASA: No Urgent Problems With Atlantis (Source: AP)
With a 4-inch gap in the space shuttle's heat-protecting blanket not appearing to be an urgent problem on Saturday, the crew readied themselves for for a weeklong embrace with the space station. The crew used a robot arm to look at a gap in a thermal blanket on the left side of the shuttle. The gap appears to be the result of an unusual fold in the blanket and is still being analyzed by the agency. It was not expected to change the astronauts' plans in the next several days. "We've landed safely with damage (in the same area) that's similar or worse," said a NASA official. "I don't think concern is the right word; there's no urgency with the situation."

ATK Completes Swales Purchase (Source: AP)
Techsystems has completed the purchase of satellite parts maker Swales Aerospace. Financial details of the acquisition were not released. ATK said the buyout was subject to normal federal regulatory review, as well as the approval of the majority of Swales' shareholders, since the company is employee-owned. Swales' Beltsville, Md., facility is now the headquarters for the space unit of ATK's mission systems group. ATK said Mike Cerneck, the previous chief executive of Swales Aerospace, will head the division.

Enterprise Florida Wins Award for Orion Recruitment Project (Source: EFI)
Enterprise Florida, the state's quasi-public economic development agency, was recently honored with an Economic Development Leadership Award for its work to support Lockheed Martin's bid for the $4 billion Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) program.

Enterprise Florida arranged for economic development incentives designed to be a contract discriminator in the competiton for Orion. The result was Florida's awarding of $35 million for infrastructure needs related to Orion's final assembly at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Enterprise Florida's participation in the project helped reduce Lockheed Martin's contract bid cost by approximately $50 million.

Pentagon Shakeup Reshapes Military, Acquisition Leadership (Source: Space News)
In a sudden shakeup that will affect the leadership of Air Force space operations Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced June 8 that he was recommending replacing the top military leadership.

Israel's Launch of Newest Imaging Satellite Imminent (Source: Space News)
Israel is embarking on a major expansion of its military space capabilities beginning with the upcoming launch of the Ofeq-7 imaging satellite and at least three additional spacecraft by 2011. In parallel, the government plans to supplement its burgeoning defense and security needs through priority use of three new Israeli commercial satellites planned for launch in the same four-year period. Those include the Amos-3 and Amos-4 communications satellites and the Aros-C remote sensing spacecraft. Ofeq-7 will be launched westward over the Mediterrranean by Israel's indigenous Shavit three-stage, solid-fueled launch vehicle.

Six European Nations Eye Space-Based Reconnaisance Systems (Source: Space News)
Six European nations (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium and Greece) have begun initial work on coordinating their future space-based reconnaissance systems in ways that could run the gamut from today's bilateral sharing of each government's own capacity, to a much deeper collaboration that includes co-owned satellite assets, according to French defense officials. Proposals on a future pan-European system are expected starting in September.

Italian Group Plans to Leverage Small Sats to Spur Growth (Source: Space News)
Italian small-satellite builder Carlo Gavazzi Space SpA expects to leverage the success of its Agile science satellite into a regular business to build, on average, one scientific or Earth observation satellite every two years, company Managing Director Lanfranco Zucconi said. The main customers the company plans to serve are the Italian and European space agencies, he said. Milan-based Carlo Gavazzi is forecasting that the renewed interest in relatively inexpensive small satellites at the Italian Space Agency (ASI) will help increase the company's revenue more than 50 percent by 2010.

Raytheon Beats Harris for Navy Satellite Terminal Contract (Source: Space News)
The Navy selected Raytheon Network Centric Systems to develop a new generation of satellite communications terminals in a deal that could be worth more than $1 billion. Raytheon beat out Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Fla., in the competition for the Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) contract. The two companies were each developing designs for the NMT program under contracts worth about $100 million.

Atlantis Sails to Space with Station Power Module (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Running three months late, the space shuttle Atlantis, carrying seven astronauts and a $367 million set of solar panels, roared to life and raced into orbit on Friday, hot on the trail of the international space station. The shuttle's patched-up external fuel tank, its foam insulation heavily damaged by hail in February, appeared to withstand the rigors of launch without shedding any dangerous foam debris.