November 21 News Items

Space Show May Go Video (Source: ERAU)
The Space Show, a weekly space-focused audio (radio and webcast) interview program, may make the jump to video (television and webcast) under a collaboration with CCI of Cape Canaveral. CCI does production work for space launches and other aerospace industry projects at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Space Show host Dr. David Livingston is interested in focusing on outreach to students to promote interest and awareness of space programs. Visit http://www.thespaceshow.com/ for information on The Space Show. (11/21)

European Parliament Calls for Civil-Military Space Collaboration (Source: Space News)
A European Parliament resolution on space policy adopted Nov. 20 calls for improved collaboration between civil and military space programs, an idea that remains so sensitive in Europe that the Parliament's own press office sought to dilute it. (11/21)

Thales Alenia Forecasts Continued Growth Despite Global Downturn (Source: Space News)
Franco-Italian space-hardware manufacturer Thales Alenia Space expects to report a 17.5 percent increase in revenue for 2008, to 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) and forecasts further increases in 2009 despite the global economic crisis, Thales Alenia Space Chief Executive Reynald Seznec said Nov. 21. (11/21)

Military Satellite Networks get Boost (Source: GCN)
Agencies that rely on satellite communications—such as the Homeland Security and Defense departments and the intelligence community—can take advantage of new technology to improve application performance. Riverbed Technology has announced that its Steelhead appliances now support the U.S. military’s open standard Space Communication Protocol Standard (SCPS) to enhance communications over satellite networks. Originally developed jointly by NASA and DOD’s Space Command, SCPS is a variation of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) designed to cope with the latency, packet loss and interference inherent in satellite and wireless networks frequently used in military applications. The SCPS protocol suite provides support for transmission control, file transfer and security. (11/21)

NASA and USAID Bring Earth-Observation Benefits to Africa (Source: NASA)
NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and their international partners cut the ribbon Friday in Nairobi, Kenya, for SERVIR-Africa. The SERVIR-Africa system integrates the satellite resources of the United States and other countries into a Web-based Earth information system. This effort puts previously inaccessible information into the hands of local scientists, government leaders and communities to help address concerns related to natural disasters, disease outbreaks, biodiversity and climate change. (11/21)

Obama's Space Transition Group (Source: Daily Kos)
This post introduces the NASA transition team, and mentions a few of the elected (or formerly elected) officials who could play a role somewhere in an Obama administration concerning space policy. The three major positions worth discussing - NASC chairman, NASA administrator, and Director of the Office of Space Commercialization. Transition members include Lori Garver, Roderic Young, Ed Heffernan, George Whitesides, and Alan Ladwig. These members are profiled, along with other officials who may be involved in Obama's space policy implementation. Visit http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/19/224331/89 to view the article. (11/21)

Woerth Touted as Next FAA Chief (Source: AIA)
Duane Woerth, an airline consultant who helmed the Air Line Pilots Association from 1999 to 2006, is a top contender to take over the Federal Aviation Administration, sources say. Among the other names being floated for top regulatory posts: former FAA Administrator Jane Garvey as Secretary of Transportation, and Debbie Hersman, a current member of the National Transportation Safety Board, as its next chairwoman. (11/21)

European "Militarized" Space Policy Could Trigger Arms Race (Source: Telegraph)
The European Union is developing a military space policy which has the "potential for an arms race", a report has claimed. The European Space Agency is accused of developing technology to dominate the "high ground" of space, including a multimillion pound EU Satellite Center in Spain. The Transnational Institute, a Dutch think-tank, said: "EU-financed communication and spy satellites are slowly becoming reality and in the long term the inclusion of space-based missile defence and other more offensive uses of space are real options for an increasingly ambitious EU military space policy." (11/21)

Sea Launch Partners with Intelsat on Multi-Launch Agreement (Source: Sea Launch)
Sea Launch and Intelsat have signed a multiple launch services contract for five missions on the Sea Launch system, scheduled for execution beginning in late 2010 through 2012. (11/21)

Has the Space Station Achieved Anything or is it a Waste of Money? (Source: The Independent)
As well as being at least five years over its deadline, the space station is also heavily over budget, with estimated costs hovering around $100 billion. Conducting experiments in the near-weightlessness of low-earth orbit has been useful but it has not resulted in earth-shattering conclusions. Indeed, many scientists believe it could all have been done at far lower cost by using unmanned spacecraft, which are far cheaper because they do not require the high level of safety needed for a manned mission. Click here to view the article. (11/21)

ATK Scores Launch Abort System Test Success (Source: Flight Global)
Alliant Techsystems reported a successful full-scale test of the Orion crew exploration vehicle launch abort system (LAS) at the company’s Promontory, Utah, test site. The static test firing, with the inverted LAS attached to a vertical test fixture, follows five earlier subscale tests and precedes a pad abort test with the LAS attached to full-scale crew module mass mockup scheduled for spring 2009. (11/21)