April 27 News Items

Eutelsat Secures Huge $2.5 Billion Insurance Package (Source: Space News)
Satellite-fleet operator Eutelsat Communications has signed an insurance package valued at around $2.5 billion covering the launch of seven telecommunications satellites, plus two options, between 2008 and 2011. The policy gives Eutelsat the option of using China's Long March rocket for one of the satellites, according to industry officials. In what may be the biggest single space-insurance package ever signed -- based on the dollar value -- Eutelsat, of Paris, has retained the flexibility in the months leading up to a launch to mix different satellites with different launchers depending on the track record of each rocket. (4/27)

Boeing Hesitates Before Fully Insuring Launch of Satellite (Source: Space News)
Boeing is seeking insurance for an unnamed satellite launch this year and may not be able to secure full coverage at acceptable rates. In an April 23 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Chicago-based Boeing said it may face a gap of $350 million between what it ultimately insures and what it is seeking in coverage. (4/27)

U.S. Battles Misconceptions About Management of GPS (Source: Space News)
U.S. officials traveling in Europe continue to stress, against widely held public opinion, that the U.S. GPS navigation satellite system is a dual-use infrastructure under U.S. policy and is managed by a civil-military management structure. But 12 years after the joint civil-military management team was installed to oversee GPS, the network still is viewed as fully controlled by the U.S. Defense Department, which finances GPS maintenance and modernization. GPS's military heritage and DoD funding was used to help rally support for Europe's future Galileo navigation satellite system, which is financed by European transport ministers with little European military contribution. (4/27)

NASA: Cosmic Ray Detector Won't Make Shuttle Manifest (Source: Space News)
There is no room on any upcoming space shuttle flights for the cosmic ray detector Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), and the addition of two shuttle flights will not help, a top NASA official said. NASA scrubbed the AMS mission after the shuttle fleet was grounded for two and half years following the loss of Columbia. NASA's efforts to win approval for two "contingency flights" after the eight remaining on the schedule do not open the door for AMS, said William Gerstenmaier. The contingency flights are needed to fly spare parts to the space station that will be too large for cargo launchers after the space shuttle is retired in 2010. (4/27)

Galileo Test Satellite Launched by Russia (Source: EUbusiness.com)
A second experimental Giove-B satellite for the EU's Galileo satellite navigation project was launched from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan early Sunday. The Soyuz rocket carrying the satellite into its projected orbit and Giove-B correctly deployed its solar panels. The satellite, a 500-kilogram cube constructed by Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, is to take over from the first test satellite Giove-A, launched in December 2005. (4/27)

Arianespace Plans Bid to Launch Galileo Satellites (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
The European commercial space-launch consortium Arianespace will make a bid to launch 26 satellites from French Guyana to kickstart the European Union's Galileo satellite navigation program. The European Parliament signalled its green light for the deployment of Galileo, seen by space experts as a challenge to the US-administered GPS global positioning system. To meet ESA requirements for two different launch systems, Arianespace will offer both Ariane 5 and Soyuz rockets capable of carrying four and two satellites at a time respectively. Arianespace seeks to enable the long-delayed Galileo system to be up and running by 2013. (4/27)

Caterpillar Shoots for the Moon (Source: Peoria Journal-Star)
Caterpillar Inc. doesn't plan to stop at being the No. 1 construction equipment maker in the world. It's aiming for the universe, with NASA as its partner. Caterpillar and NASA are getting closer to having the right earthmoving - er, moonmoving - equipment available to put on the moon in less than a decade to build habitats, roads and other infrastructure that could sustain life on the lunar surface. NASA and Cat have been working on the "Chariot" project since 2006. Chariot is a "lunar truck" that uses Caterpillar's robotics technology and NASA's knowledge of the lunar surface. (4/27)

Navy Limits Applications for Space Program (Source: New York Times)
For what may be the first time since the inception of the American space program, the Navy is restricting nominations to the astronaut corps. The move comes nearly 50 years after Alan B. Shepard, a naval aviator, became the first American in space. The cutback, Navy officials say, comes as the service tries to retain the expertise it needs to fulfill its wartime obligations while experiencing an overall decline in its numbers. A message from Vice Admiral J. C. Harvey Jr. last month stated that applications for Navy nominations to the space program from 10 specialties would not be accepted “due to critical inventory shortfalls and/or priority global war on terrorism skill set requirements.” (4/27)