April 5 News Items

Civilian Space Booms; How Much Should Military Use? (Source: Defense News)
The outlook remains strong for companies that provide space-based imagery and communications to U.S. defense and intelligence agencies, although federal officials have not yet struck a consensus on how often to depend on non-governmental assets. Federal use of commercial space soared after 1996, when President Bill Clinton signed a national space policy that said Washington would use "commercial imagery satellites to augment its capabilities, save money and help ensure the health of the domestic industry," according to the Center for Defense Information. (4/5)

Gov. Richardson Seeks Federal Help for New Mexico Spaceport (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
Gov. Bill Richardson and Steve Landeene, the director of New Mexico's spaceport, made the rounds in Washington last week, trying to secure federal help in the state's push toward space commercialization. The effort could produce long-term payoffs after Richardson secured expressions of support from NASA's top boss and a key congressional leader. The New Mexico site needs help from another agency before it can become fully operational — the Federal Aviation Administration, which must authorize use of airspace for suborbital space flights. Richardson and Landeene didn't meet with FAA officials.

NASA recently announced plans to contract with private firms on suborbital research and training missions. Landeene said the decision offers a tremendous opportunity for commercial space development, with companies poised to fill domains long dominated by NASA — satellite launches, for example. Landeene predicted other opportunities will arise through commercial suborbital flights, especially when improved launch vehicles allow scientists to accompany their experiments into space. Landeene said Griffin agreed that NASA will continue to need suborbital missions and the agency will become a major customer for companies operating from sites like New Mexico. "He said, "If you have the vehicles and the systems and the infrastructure, we will buy,"' Landeene said. "The problem right now is they are not available." (4/5)

Loral Misses Filing Deadline, Gets Warning from Nasdaq (Source: Space News)
Loral Space and Communications Inc. announced April 4 that it no longer satisfies the Nasdaq stock exchange's filing requirements because of an ongoing delay in filing the company's 10-K form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the year ended Dec. 31, 2007. As a result the company potentially faces delisting from the exchange. (4/5)