Arianespace to Launch Spanish Satellite (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Ariane 5 prior to Flight 165 launch (Arianespace) Arianespace announced Thursday that it has won a contract to launch a Spanish communications satellite. Arianespace will launch the Amazonas-2 spacecraft for Spanish satellite operator Hispasat in mid-2009 on an Ariane 5. The satellite, an Astrium Eurostar E3000 model, weighs 5,400 kilograms and carries Ku- and C-band transponders to serve North and South America from a slot in GEO at 61 degrees west. Terms of the launch contract, the 13th awarded to Arianespace this year, were not disclosed.
Boeing Wins Ares Avionics Contract (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Ares 1 instrument unit illustration (Boeing) NASA has selected Boeing as the prime contractor for the avionics system on the Ares 1 launch vehicle, the last major contract to be awarded for the rocket that will launch the Orion manned spacecraft. The contract for the Ares 1 instrument unit has a base value of $265 million; additional tasks and production of flight units could raise the total contract value to just under $800 million. Boeing beat out a competing proposal led by Ball Aerospace. The contract is the last major one to be awarded for the development and production of the Ares 1, a two-stage vehicle designed primarily to launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle into Earth orbit. Earlier this year Boeing, which had lost out on a number of previous exploration-related contracts, won the contract to produce the Ares 1 upper stage.
Spaceport Tax Will Not be Collected Starting in 2008, State Official Says (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
A spaceport sales tax will not be collected in Doña Ana County starting Jan. 1, an official from the state Taxation and Revenue Department said Wednesday. "I believe our plan is to defer collection, as the attorney general said we could do," said Carolyn Wolf, chief counsel for the Taxation and Revenue Department. Attorney General Gary King issued a legal opinion Tuesday, concluding that a one-quarter of 1 percent tax to fund Spaceport America shouldn't be collected. It was unclear at the time whether the taxation department would reverse an earlier stance, which called for collected to begin on Jan. 1. Gross receipts tax in New Mexico is assessed to businesses, which usually pass the charge on to customers.
Former Microsoft Executive Joins Space Race (Source: Business Day)
SpacePort Edutainment, a company with strong South African ties, has raised eyebrows in the business community with the scale and ambition of several offshore projects it is planning, including a €500 million theme park, hotel and casino complex in Spain. Local businessman Danny Naidoo, the former Microsoft SA developer and platform group director who is president and CEO of SpacePort, said the company’s plans for a similar $330 million theme park in the north-eastern Chinese city of Shenyang were at an advanced stage and that it was “fully funded”. Naidoo also said he was in talks to find backers for the Spanish project in which the company had been awarded two of the 32 casino licenses.
JPL Privacy Case is Not Yet Resolved (Source: La Canada Valley Sun)
The 28 Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech employees who in August brought a lawsuit against NASA/JPL for newly required background checks were in U.S. Court of Appeals last week in Pasadena but did not see the case resolved. “We had oral argument with the Ninth Circuit Court,” said Virginia Keeny, attorney for the JPL employees. “They did not offer an opinion.” Keeny added she was not certain when the panel of three judges would hand down an opinion but that it might be in the new year. Earlier this year, NASA/JPL implemented new background checks that employees were required to complete, even those who do not work in high security areas.
Dan Stromer, another member of the plaintiffs’ legal team, described the background checks as extreme. Investigators may look into the employee’s medical records and even sexual history. The employees bringing the lawsuit are scientists and engineers; they contend that this practice is unconstitutional. NASA/JPL has stated that employees who refuse to complete the background checks will lose their jobs. On Oct. 3, a federal judge denied the employees’ request to block the checks. Two days later, the Ninth Circuit Court granted a temporary injunction, which was extended to Dec. 5. The judges are now reviewing the arguments by both sides, however no date has been given regarding when that opinion will be issued.
Andrews Space Reveals Cargo Vehicle Design Work (Source: Andrews Space)
Andrews Space has disclosed details of its Andrews Cargo Module, a cargo logistics system capable of addressing NASA’s International Space Station (ISS) cargo logistics requirements, as well as the needs of emerging customers like Bigelow Aerospace and the Department of Defense. The Andrews Cargo Module is a reusable spacecraft capable of delivering 3.7 metric tons of cargo to and from the ISS. It is comprised of a common Service Module, a Pressurized (PCM) or Unpressurized Cargo Module (UCM), and a Recovery Module. This modular approach allows the system to cost-effectively address a wide range of mission requirements and customers.
The Cargo Module will be launched by Andrews’ Hercules family of launch vehicles. Hercules is a medium- to intermediate-lift system, built around a LOX/RP core stage, capable of launching payloads between 5,000 and 25,000 lb to LEO. The Hercules launch vehicle provides commercial and US Government customers with a responsive, cost effective replacement for the Delta II, and will reduce the life cycle cost of cargo logistics services when compared to using EELVs.
Sirius Issues Raised in Satellite Radio Merger (Source: New York Post)
Just as senior antitrust officials appear closer to approving the $4.7 billion Sirius-XM satellite radio merger, worries by a key congressional committee are threatening to delay the deal. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) said in a Dec. 11 letter to newly installed Attorney General Michael Mukasey that he was "concerned about the transparency of the Department's merger review processes." Conyers added that his committee is worried that the DOJ "may be trying to rush through the merger" before Mukasey has an opportunity to review the deal and that the new attorney general should "preserve [his] ability to personally participate" in deliberations.
The letter, which surfaced yesterday, appeared to be in response to a Nov. 30 report by Bear Stearns analyst Robert Peck, which suggested that senior members of the DOJ, including antitrust division chief Thomas Barnett, were set to approve the deal despite the misgivings of lower level Justice officials. Because the deal must be approved by both the DOJ and the Federal Communications Commission, Conyers' letter could further complicate the approval process. What's more, with the 180-day timeline on the FCC's review already expired, industry observers said the DOJ's decision on the merger could be delayed until early next year.
PlanetSpace Offers Crew Transport Vehicle for up to Six Passengers (Source: Flight International)
PlanetSpace's crew transportation proposal for its NASA COTS demonstration program bid is a capsule that is being designed to carry three to six passengers. The Chicago-based company, which has acquired Canadian Arrow, has teamed up with Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Alliant Techsystems (ATK) and the Bank of Montreal to bid for COTS. PlanetSpace will offer its Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) cargo transportation system. The launch vehicle for the OTV is to be designed by ATK using its knowledge of booster stages. The crew version may be called the Crew Transfer Vehicle and would be compatible with commercially available rockets, such as California-based Space Exploration Technologies' Falcon 9.
Spacehab Aims for August 2010 ARCTUS Demo Flight (Source: Flight International)
Spacehab hopes an August 2010 flight will demonstrate its ability to meet NASA's requirements for its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) phase two International Space Station resupply contract. The flight could occur if Spacehab wins the COTS phase one competition now underway. If selected and if successful in its 2010 flight, an ISS resupply contract could follow. If it secures that, Spacehab envisages a first commercial cargo flight in June 2011. NASA requires a demonstration flight prior to a resupply mission under its phase two ISS contract that would be for space station cargo, and even crew transportation, from 2011. The August 2010 launch could be considered as that demo flight.
Editorial: Signs of Trouble (Source: Florida Today)
Don't look now, but there's serious trouble brewing on NASA's new Ares 1 rocket program, which it's banking on to return astronauts to the moon. And unless the agency gets the situation squared away, the problems will mount and cause major political repercussions in Congress where budget-cutting skeptics about the costly lunar project abound. The alarms are sounded in the latest report from the Government Accountability Office -- the watchdog arm of Congress -- which said NASA has "not yet developed the knowledge" to successfully press the program forward. The indictment cited "gaps in knowledge about requirements, costs, schedule, technology, design and production feasibility."
On one front, NASA still doesn't know such fundamentals as how the Ares will link-up with the new manned Orion moonships it will carry into orbit or the size and weight of both vehicles, the GAO says. On another, NASA is estimating its current budget from Congress won't be enough to pay for the Ares-Orion program during the next several years. That could delay the Ares' first planned test flight in 2009 from Kennedy Space Center and, in turn, Orion's maiden flight in 2015, casting more clouds over KSC's job picture. Visit http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071213/OPINION/712130317/1004 to view the article.
Space Plane Systems Plans Florida Operations (Source: USSPS)
US Space Plane Systems LLC (USSPS), a Louisiana company developing technologies for the manufacture of orbital access vehicles and large suborbital transport aircraft, plans to locate a research and development operation on Florida’s Space Coast beginning in the spring of 2008, and corporate headquarters near Cocoa Beach soon thereafter. USSPS is a spinoff of Aviation Dynamics Corporation (ADC), an unmanned air vehicle development company that began R&D in the field of "lifting body" wingless aircraft eight years ago. With the success of this R&D effort, ADC was awarded a US Patent and is currently working on the next series of vehicles they call “Advanced Lifting Bodies”. USSPS was established to exclusively develop and market the aerospace applications of this technology.
USSPS plans to develop a Global Suborbital Aircraft Transportation System with an Orbital Vehicle for extended space access. This two vehicle system will consist of a Sub-Orbital Intercontinental Lifting Body Aircraft (Global Flyer) and Orbital Vehicle (Eagle Flyer) with a Second Stage Booster Segment. These vehicles will be derived from the same technology. The Global Flyer will provide rapid intercontinental flight times of 90 minutes and a cargo capacity comparable to current military aircraft like the C130. This sub-orbital aircraft will have the capability of air launching the Eagle Flyer on orbital missions. USSPS intends to partner with E'Prime Aerospace. This Florida-based launch services provider would be a potential supplier of solid rocket motors for the Eagle Flyer's second stage flight configuration. Visit http://www.us-spaceplanesystems.com for information.
By Edward Ellegood
LinkedIn Group
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