November 15 News Items

Astrium Space Revenue Increases 25.5 Percent (Source: Space News)
The Astrium space division of Europe's EADS aerospace conglomerate reported double-digit revenue and pretax profit increases for the nine months ending Sept. 30, with both being propelled by the Astrium Services division, EADS announced Nov. 14. (11/15)

Intelsat Is Not Feeling Impact of Economic Downturn (Source: Space News)
Satellite-fleet operator Intelsat said demand for its satellite capacity has increased in every part of the world so far in 2008, even in the long-oversupplied Asia-Pacific region, and shows no sign of softening as a result of the global economic slowdown. (11/15)

FCC Grants TerreStar's Launch Delay Request (Source: Space News)
TerreStar Corp., a start-up mobile satellite services operator, has been given U.S. regulatory approval to delay the launch of its first satellite to June 30, with the deadline for operational service extended to Aug. 30, TerreStar announced Nov. 13. (11/15)

Czech Republic Joins European Space Agency (Source: Space News)
The Czech Republic has become the 18th full member of the European Space Agency (ESA), the organization announced Nov. 14. Membership is effective immediately, although ESA and Czech authorities will begin a six-year transition period during which an ESA task force will evaluate how best to adapt Czech industry and technology capacity to ESA's requirements. (11/15)

Telesat Says it Has Buyer for at Least One of its Satellites (Source: Space News)
Satellite-fleet operator Telesat, after a months-long search, has found a prospective buyer for one or possibly two of its Skynet satellites that already are in orbit, but with coverage that is outside Telesat's home North and South American markets. If accepted, the $200 million bid would enable Telesat, the world's fourth-largest satellite-fleet operator in revenue terms, to accelerate the reduction of its large debt load, Telesat and industry officials said. (11/15)

Most Globalstar Satellites Expected to Lose 2-Way Capability in Early 2009 (Source: Space News)
Mobile satellite services provider Globalstar Inc. expects that 42 of the 50 satellites in its current constellation will be unable to provide two-way communications starting in early 2009, threatening the company's ability to maintain sufficient customer backing to pay for a second-generation constellation that will not be ready for launch until late 2009. (11/15)

NASA to Study Science Potential of Piloted Suborbital Flights (Source: Space News)
NASA intends to spend up to $400,000 in 2009 studying whether piloted suborbital spacecraft under development by Virgin Galactic and others have the potential to be useful for scientific research. Whether the U.S. space agency ultimately funds scientists to develop and fly actual experiments, however, remains to be seen. The nascent commercial suborbital community — a tight-knit group of mostly U.S. companies vying to field piloted vehicles capable of carrying passengers and payloads to the edge of space for several minutes of weightlessness and stunning views — applauded NASA this summer when it announced its intention to fund up to eight one-year studies of the scientific potential of Virgin's SpaceShipTwo and other commercial piloted suborbital vehicles.

But that enthusiasm has given way to doubts about NASA's commitment to being among the first to take advantage of the scientific potential of human suborbital flight. When NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) first unveiled its human suborbital research plans early this year, officials spoke at the time about immediately instituting a bona fide flight program backed by a substantial budget. But SMD was under different management then. Under the leadership of Ed Weiler, an old NASA hand recalled from Goddard Space Flight Center in March following the abrupt resignation of Alan Stern, SMD now wants to see if scientists truly are interested in putting payloads aboard human suborbital craft before committing the resources to develop experiments and book passage for them. (11/15)

Interorbital Systems' Sea Star: Providing the Ride with BOOST-UP (Source: CSA)
CubeSats represent an evolutionary next-step in the industry: 'plug-and-play' (PnP) satellites. The small sats, made largely of commercial-off-the-shelf components, deploy as rapid-response, low-cost, simplified modular systems that can stand alone or function as part of a distributed orbiting array. How will these small satellites reach their full cost-cutting potential if no affordable, frequent launch opportunities are open to them? Interorbital Systems (IOS) views their Sea Star vehicle as a driver for the entire CubeSat/NanoSat community. The rocket, with its revolutionary design, and its at-the-ready, rapid-response launch capability, will serve as an enabling technology for lofting these innovative small sats.

Sea Star will speed the evolution of this new space science movement through low-cost, high frequency launches. Sea Star is truly a plug-and-play launch vehicle created specifically for these plug-and-play satellites. IOS has created the BOOST-UP program: Broad Operational Opportunity for Space Transport of University Payloads. Randa Milliron, IOS Co-Founder and CEO explains, "An individual or company can purchase a multi-satellite Sea Star launch for $500,000, then give away as many as 15 or more individual launch opportunities (approximate value $35,000 each) to academic space science projects. Visit http://www.interorbital.com/ for information. (11/15)

India Plants Flag on the Moon (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A flag-painted probe ejected from India's first lunar orbit hit the Moon's surface as planned on Friday. The Moon Impact Probe (MIP) was ejected from the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter at 9:36 am EST (1436 GMT, 8:06 pm Indian time) Friday towards the Moon, hitting the surface 25 minutes later. The probe impacted near the Moon's south pole. The probe carried a video camera, radar altimeter, and mass spectromter that returned data during the descent; the probe did not survive the landing, as expected. (11/15)

Russia Launches Military Satellite (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A Soyuz rocket launched a Russian military satellite late Friday. The Soyuz-U rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk spaceport in northern Russia and placed the Kosmos 2445 spacecraft into orbit. The spacecraft's mission was not identified by Russian officials other than being a defense spacecraft; Western analysts believe it is a reconnaissance satellite. (11/15)

Canadian Space Agency Contracts with MDA for Radarsat Constellation (Source: CSA)
The Canadian Space Agency announced today that MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) has been awarded a 16-month contract valued at $40 million to begin the design of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM). The RADARSAT Constellation is the evolution of the RADARSAT Program and will ensure the continued use by government scientific and commercial clients of data produced by Canada's advanced C-band radar instrument. (11/15)

NASA Pressured to Keep Shuttles Flying Beyond 2010 (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
There are only nine more scheduled flights before NASA mothballs the shuttle fleet to make way for a new generation of moon rockets. But there is growing pressure on the agency and its chief, Michael Griffin, to keep the shuttles flying beyond their scheduled retirement in 2010. Shuttle supporters on Capitol Hill, and now a group advising President-elect Barack Obama, are saying it should continue flying until a replacement rocket is capable of taking astronauts into space -- which won't happen before 2015.

Although a draft NASA study says it is possible to keep flying the shuttle during that five-year gap, Griffin has been outspokenly opposed -- and has been ratcheting up his warnings that the shuttle is too unsafe to fly after 2010. His critics in the space community say Griffin's real purpose is to protect the shuttle's troubled successor, the Ares I rocket. Without the money now being spent to fly the shuttle, Griffin says, Ares could be delayed past 2015 -- or killed by a new administration.

However, a copy of the NASA draft study to extend the shuttle obtained by the Orlando Sentinel shows that flying the shuttle three times a year through 2015 is feasible and would cost $2.3 billion, less than the current annual budget of at least $3.3 billion. The savings would be achieved by retiring one of the three orbiters and using it for parts, and by small cuts in the work force, the study said. (11/15)

Griffin's Shuttle Risk Assessment Questioned (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Mike Griffin has been insisting that safety concerns argue against any extension of the Shuttle program. In an interview in September, he said that NASA had determined that flying the shuttle is more dangerous than previously estimated. He had told Congress in April that the risk of losing a crew during the shuttle's 10 remaining flights was 1-in-12. Five months later, he said a re-examination of the numbers indicated that the risks were actually higher: 1-in-8. "These are the odds. This is why the shuttle needs to be retired," he said.

Since then, he has cited that number repeatedly, saying it was computed using an engineering tool known as Probabilistic Risk Assessment, or PRA. But in 2003, soon after the Columbia disaster, Griffin, then CEO of an intelligence-technology company, told Congress that PRA was not entirely reliable. "Analytical methods such as 'probabilistic risk analysis' . . . depend very strongly on underlying assumptions which are, in essence, impossible to verify," he said. "So, in the end, we can estimate risk levels but cannot know them accurately." And, indeed, the draft study estimated the risks of crew loss at 1-in-77 per mission, based on how NASA had expressed its PRA calculations before Griffin's more-dramatic interpretation. (11/15)

Russian Loans Late for Building Progress, Soyuz Spacecrafts (Source: iStock Analyst)
RKK Energy (Russian State Corporation Energy) has not received a loan for construction of transport spacecrafts Progress and piloted spacecrafts Soyuz, RKK Energy Constructor General Vitaly Lopota said in Korolyov on Friday. "We raised this issue in the government, three weeks have passed since, but they have not extended a loan yet," he said. He said he hoped this issue will be resolved soon and the spacecrafts will be built on time. (11/15)

The Big Picture (Source: New York Times Magazine)
NASA consultants are working with about 25 NASA engineers to devise the interior of a rover module so that two people will be able to sleep, prepare and eat meals, exercise, use the facilities, drive around and conduct scientific research on missions lasting from two days to two weeks — all in about 380 cubic feet. As space becomes a home away from home, with the ultimate goal of establishing a permanent moon colony by 2020, so-called human design has come to play a larger role.

“They think design is about survival, and we come along and say we want to survive well,” Finney says, squashing any Virgin Galactic-fueled fantasies. “The psychological stress is amazing. This is not a serene environment. There is constant white noise, things beeping. It’s like, ‘Is that my phone or a death warning?’ ” According to Finney, who has argued for luxuries like a window large enough for two people to look out of simultaneously, questions like “How acceptable is it to have the toilet close to the table?” quickly dissolve into questions like “What is the definition of acceptable?” (11/15)

Job Cuts Coming at Michoud (Source: WWLTV)
About 75 percent of the employees at NASA's Michoud plant are assigned to making fuel tanks, but the space shuttle program is slated to end in 2010 and its new fleet of spacecraft won't need that new tank. As a result, Lockheed Martin is expected to make progressive cuts to their workforce at the plant. "Every quarter beginning in 2009, we will reduce the workforce, most likely in approximately 20 percent increments until 2010," said a Lockheed Martin official. The gradual cuts translate to an eventual elimination of about 2,300 jobs over the next three years.

The 500 employees that will remain at Michoud under Lockheed Martin will be in charge of producing the new crew exploration vehicles which will be attached to NASA's new line of space craft. Many of the workers who aren't chosen to work on the NASA project will likely be transferred to other projects contracted out to Lockheed Martin. (11/15)

Shuttle Blasts Off for Home Improvement at Space Station (Source: Bloomberg)
NASA launched the shuttle Endeavour on a home-improvement mission to the space station, where the ship will deliver new bedrooms, a gym and a device that turns astronauts' wastewater into drinking water. Endeavour's cargo will double the station's living capacity to six and includes a second toilet and an extra refrigerator for the $100 billion outpost, currently manned by one Russian and two U.S. astronauts. The shuttle's seven-person crew will spend 15 days off Earth and make several spacewalks for repairs. Gears that rotate the International Space Station's solar panels need lubrication and service. (11/15)

Workforce Summit Reviews Steps to Lessen Impact of Shuttle Retirement (Source: Florida Today)
As it makes the transition from the space shuttle to the next-generation Constellation program, NASA must avoid creating the economic hardships that befell Brevard County during the shift from Apollo to the shuttle, the space agency's administrator said Friday. "It really needs all hands on deck: local, federal, state, NASA, and other departments," NASA administrator Mike Griffin told the Workforce Leadership Summit.

Involving more than 100 space industry leaders, the summit met to begin forming the path that will help workers at Kennedy Space Center adjust to the new work environment and changing space program. Already, a state-sponsored van of advisers travels around KSC, helping workers with resumes and retraining opportunities. The new KSC director, Bob Cabana, a four-time shuttle astronaut, promised an effort to keep employment high at KSC. To mitigate the problem of job losses, Cabana has suggested bringing some commercial technical projects to KSC that fit with the technology focus. (11/15)

Griffin to Recommend Obama Retire Shuttle in 2010 as Planned (Source: Florida Today)
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin will urge President-elect Barack Obama to retire the space shuttle as planned, even though American astronauts will have to ride Russian rockets to the $100 billion International Space Station for at least five years. "The recommendation I would have for the new administration would be to stay the course," Griffin said in an interview Friday.

"I don't like the fact that the United States is dependent upon them or anyone else for a function as crucial as our own access to space -- to the space station that we built," he said. "So I don't like the situation that we're in. But the path to getting out of it is not to fly the space shuttle for longer periods of time." (11/15)

NASA Chief Michael Griffin Wants to Keep Job Under Obama (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said Thursday that he would like to continue serving under President-elect Barack Obama -- but doesn't expect to be asked. "If the next president asks me to continue, I would be happy to do it," said Griffin, speaking to Kennedy Space Center workers. But, he said, "I doubt that will happen." He said he would stay on only "under the right circumstances," including being able to continue the Constellation program meant to replace the space shuttle. "If somebody wanted me to stay on but said, 'No, we need to go over here,' well," he said with a shrug, "do it with somebody else." (11/15)

California Ordered to Prepare for Sea-Level Rise (Source: Scientific American)
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday ordered preparations for rising sea levels from global warming, a startling prospect for the most populous U.S. state with a Pacific Ocean coastline stretching more than 800 miles. Recorded sea levels rose 7 inches during the 20th century in San Francisco, Schwarzenegger said in the executive order for study of how much more the sea could rise, what other consequences of global warming were coming and how the state should react.

California is considered the environmental vanguard of government in the United States, with its own standards for car pollution and a law to cut emissions of carbon dioxide, the main gas contributing to global warming. "The longer that California delays planning and adapting to sea level rise the more expensive and difficult adaptation will be," Schwarzenegger said, ordering a report by the end of 2010. Editor's Note: Florida has 1,197 miles of Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coastline. (11/14)

Changing NASA's Course? (Source: MSNBC)
Even as NASA works to put the finishing touches on the space station, it's laying the groundwork for the next giant leap. But is that leap heading in the right direction? Some prominent space advocates want NASA to reduce its emphasis on returning to the moon. Other countries have the moon clearly in their sights. It will be up to the Obama administration to decide what kinds of course changes might be required in America's space vision. The lead players in NASA's transition are Lori Garver, a former NASA associate administrator; and Roderic Young, who served as a top NASA spokesman during the Clinton administration.

A Planetary Society roadmap urges NASA to put the moon aside for now, and work with international partners to develop the next generation of spaceships. "Human landings should be deferred until after the costs of the new interplanetary transportation system and space shuttle replacement are largely paid, and after that system has been utilized to conduct the first human missions beyond the moon," the report said. Buzz Aldrin largely endorsed the Planetary Society's plan. "U.S. landings on the moon should be deferred so that they can be part of an international base on the moon preparing for the permanent settlement of Mars," he said in a written statement.

But Apollo 17's Harrison Schmitt (who is also a former U.S. senator), scoffed at the roadmap: "This strategy would leave deep-space activities, exploration and resources to others, i.e., China, India, maybe Russia, for the indefinite future," Schmitt wrote. "I believe that would be major step in initiating the decline of America's global influence for freedom and the improvement of the human condition." (11/14)

Swarms of Small Satellites Coming Soon (Source: ZDNet.com)
The first satellites were launched about 50 years ago as a way to conquer space. Now, satellites are essential for our civilian and military communications. But they remain large and expensive, some of them costing several hundreds of millions of dollars. This is why researchers from the University of Florida (UF) are building small satellites able to work as a team to take multiple and distributed measurements or observations of weather phenomena for example. These small satellites should cost only about $100,000 to produce. The first one should be launched next year by a NASA rocket and should not be larger than a softball. The goal is to mass-produce these satellites to even reduce their costs. Click here to view the article. (11/14)

Sea Launch Prepares for the Launch of SICRAL 1B (Source: Sea Launch)
Sea Launch took delivery of the SICRAL 1B communications satellite this week at the Payload Processing Facility at Sea Launch Home Port in the Port of Long Beach. With additional arrivals this month of associated hardware and personnel, preparations for launch operations are now underway in support of this mission in January 2009. (11/14)

US Space-Funeral Company Plans to Launch Lunar Cemetery (Source: AFP)
A US funeral business that specializes in launching cremated human remains into Earth's orbit has begun taking reservations for landing small capsules of ashes on the moon. "Celestis' first general public lunar mission could occur as early as 2010 and reservations are now being taken," said Charles M. Chafer, Celestis founder and president. "We can send up to 5000 individual capsules to the lunar surface," he said.

The company hopes to install a cemetery on the lunar surface to hold cremated remains of the dead, or a smaller symbolic portion of them, which one day could be visited by relatives of the deceased, said Chafer. For transportation, Celestis has made deals with two other US private space companies, Odyssey Moon and Astrobotic Technology, which are currently working on making commercial flights to the moon. (11/14)