April 1 News Items

Embry-Riddle Research Park Receives Zoning Approval (Source: ERAU)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has received unanimous zoning approval for the development of an aerospace-focused research park adjacent to the university's main campus in Daytona Beach. The park will be less than an hour north of the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, and will be situated alongside the Daytona Beach International Airport. (4/1)

Embry-Riddle Proposals Considered for State Center of Excellence Program (Source: ERAU)
An external review of 41 university Center of Excellence proposals has been completed and a state board will make final decisions on funding awards within the next several weeks. Embry-Riddle is a partner on two aerospace-focused proposals that have received favorable rankings during the external review. These include an Embry-Riddle-led $10 million "Integrated Airport" Center focused on next-generation airport technologies, and a $14.5 million Center, led by FSU, focused on advanced propulsion technologies. (4/1)

Air Force Awards United Launch Alliance MUOS Satellite Launch Contract (Source: ULA)
The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center awarded United Launch Alliance a contract modification to perform the launch services for the U.S. Navy's first Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite aboard an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. The anticipated launch date is the first quarter of 2010 from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (4/1)

Governor Crist Announces Florida Space Efforts (Source: EOG)
Governor Charlie Crist and Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp announced Space Florida’s efforts to attract commercial space companies to Florida, including Bigelow Aerospace, XCOR, Rocketplane Corporation, as well as competing teams for the Google Lunar X Prize. In addition, Space Florida is also negotiating with Orbital Sciences Corp. to win their business for Florida. In total, Space Florida is aggressively pursuing more than 50 different space-related firms for the commercial Florida’s space market.

“The involvement of entrepreneurs and private corporations in the United States’ launches is creating new economic opportunities for our state’s aerospace industry,” Governor Crist said. “This rapid shift is opening doors for new companies and technologies that are blurring the previous separations between aviation and spaceflight – and between civil, military and commercial industries.” (4/1)

Italy Successfully Tests Vega's Second-Stage Zefiro 23 (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Paris, France (ESA) Apr 01, 2008 - On 27 March 2008, the second stage motor for Vega - Europe's new small launcher - successfully completed a static firing test at the Salto Di Quirra Inter-force Test Range in Sardinia, Italy. (4/1)

Minister Jim Prentice Announces New Astronaut Search For Canada (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Longueuil, Canada (SPX) Apr 01, 2008 - The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry Canada and the Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency, announced at Agency headquarters that the CSA will begin a national astronaut recruitment campaign at the end of May 2008, to select astronauts to join its Canadian Astronaut Corps. (4/1)

LandLaunch Mission Will Fly Israeli Satellite (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
The launch of a modified Zenit rocket to put an Israeli communications satellite into orbit has been scheduled for April 24 from Russia's Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. Russia started preparations for the launch of a Zenit-3SLB rocket with a DM-SLB booster and Israeli AMOS-3 satellite on board in October last year. The Zenit-3SLB is a modernized version of the Zenit-3SL carrier rocket whose launches have been conducted from the Sea Launch consortium's floating launch platform in the Pacific Ocean. (4/1)

80% of KSC Contractors Could Lose Jobs After Shuttle Program Ends (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
In the bleakest employment forecast yet for Kennedy Space Center, a NASA report due out today estimates that as many as 6,400 contractors could lose their jobs after the space shuttle is retired in 2010. By 2011, only 1,600 to 2,300 jobs are likely to remain for workers assigned to the shuttle or its successor, called Constellation, according to NASA estimates. And that assumes the program is supported by the president who will take office in January, an assumption that's by no means certain. The drastic job cuts are a consequence of NASA retiring the shuttle to make room for Constellation, which isn't scheduled to begin flights until 2015. And that's only if NASA can overcome budget and technical problems dogging the program's Ares 1 rocket and Orion capsule. (4/1)

Canada May Have New Astronauts, But No Industry to Go With Them (Source: Ottawa Sun)
The Canadian Space Agency announced yesterday that it is launching a year-long mission to find a few good recruits with the right stuff to be astronauts. The two or three successful candidates among thousands of expected applicants will train mostly at NASA, and probably for years, for what may be a single out-of-this-world chance to fly in space. Across Canada, this next generation of homegrown space pioneers will come to represent some of the best and brightest this country has to offer. Unfortunately, by the end of this month, our astronauts may find themselves aboard the final mission of the Canadian space program -- destination U.S.A. Even as the Conservative government is recruiting new astronauts, it is deciding whether to allow the Americans to buy much of the rest of this country's space program. (4/1)