December 9 News Items

Launch of Secret Satellite Delayed Until '09 (Source: Florida Today)
A United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket carrying a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload won't launch until next year, according to the NRO. The launch from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport's Launch Complex 37, which had been targeted for next Tuesday, is now anticipated in mid- to late-January. No target date has been set yet. (12/9)

Ares V Timeline (Source:Flight Global)
Visit http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2008/12/09/319921/ares-v-timeline.html to view a timeline schedule for significant events in the development of NASA's Ares V launch vehicle. (12/9)

India-Built Satellite for International Market (Source: Times of India)
In a major commercial achievement for the ISRO, its 'W2M satellite' built for Europe's leading satellite system specialist EADS Astrium is set to be launched from Kourou in French Guyana on December 20. W2M is the heaviest spacecraft built by the Indian space agency and will be launched on board an Ariane rocket. (12/9)

Intelsat to Launch $250 Million Satellite for Africa (Source: Reuters)
Private-fund owned satellite firm Intelsat and a South African investment consortium plan to build and launch a $250 million satellite to serve Africa and improve communications on the poorest continent. The "Intelsat New Dawn" satellite is expected to enter service in early 2011. Demand for fixed satellite services in Africa is growing given increased investment on the continent and as more people get hooked up to phones, the Internet and pay-TV. Poor communications are cited as a deterrent for foreign investment. (12/9)

Pentagon Eyes Orbiting Power Station (Source: Aerospace Daily)
Military planners responsible for finding space resources to support troops on the ground think the time may be ripe to advance the 40-year-old space solar power concept to help reduce the logistics train behind forward-deployed forces. The concept of collecting solar energy above the atmosphere and beaming it to the ground as microwaves or lasers has long been seen among military freethinkers as a way to get electricity to remote airfields, fire bases or other distant outposts without having to haul fuel for diesel generators.

But that out-of-the-box concept may be gaining new life as the incoming administration looks for "green-energy" technologies to reduce reliance on foreign oil, and technologists home in on the hardware that would be needed to orbit deployable sunlight collectors measuring kilometers across and get power down from them to troops on the ground. Engineers studying space solar power (SSP) believe a pilot plant could be orbited fairly soon. (12/9)

Putin: Russia, Argentina to Develop Atomic Energy, Space Cooperation (Source: ITAR TASS)
Russia and Argentina will develop atomic energy and space cooperation, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. Fernandez de Kirchner voiced the readiness to discuss cooperation priorities and thanked Russia for support of the Argentinean position on the status of the Falkland Islands. Russia and Argentina should unify their positions on the formation of a multi-polar world order, Fernandez de Kirchner said. (12/9)

Virgin Galactic in SpaceShipThree Talks (Source: Flight Global)
Virgin Galactic is discussing with organizations in Europe a two-stage expendable satellite launcher, previously referred to as SpaceShipThree, that would be launched from its WhiteKnightTwo mothership. Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn said that an all-composite two-stage rocket , launched from WK2 using commercial off-the-shelf solid rocket motor technology could put a 200kg (440lb) satellite into orbit. (12/9)

Russia Could Beat its 2007 Record for Space Launches (Source: Interfax)
Russia could surpass its record as to the number of space launches. "Russia plans to launch two more spacecraft from the Baikonur space center by the year's end. If these plans are fulfilled, the total number of launches will be 27, which is one launch more than in 2007, when a record number for the post-Soviet era was reached," the source said.

In 2008, 17 launches took place from the Baikonur spaceport, which Russia leases from Kazakhstan for $115 million per a year. Six rockets took off from the Plesetsk spaceport in Russia's Arkhangelsk region. One launch took place on the Yasny launch base, Orenburg region, and one from the Kapustin Yar missile range, Astrakhan region. The Sea Launch company performed five launches by means of Russian-Ukrainian Zenit-SL rockets this year. (12/9)

Virgin Galactic Customers Prefer Roomy Spacecraft (Source: Guardian)
Virgin Galactic is planning the first test launch of WhiteKnightTwo before Christmas. The two-hulled aircraft is the mothership that will – if all goes well – carry the SpaceShipTwo rocket containing the company's first space tourists. After SpaceShipOne scooped the $10m Ansari X-Prize the plan was to stick with SpaceShipOne, but Virgin Galactic's "founders" – its first 100 customers - said that just getting to the edge of space was not enough. They said, 'if we are going to pay $200,000 to go into space we want to have space in the cabin – to experience weightlessness. We want to do what we've seen in the movies'.

They told us that as customers they weren't interested in going into space in this tiny little spaceship. As a result, the company went straight to stage two of the project, which meant extra design and testing before it could make its first commercial flight, which is now scheduled for 2010. (12/9)

Hubble Finds Carbon Dioxide on Extrasolar Planet (Source: NASA)
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has discovered carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of a planet orbiting another star. This breakthrough is an important step toward finding chemical biotracers of extraterrestrial life. The Jupiter-sized planet, called HD 189733b, is too hot for life. But the Hubble observations are a proof-of-concept demonstration that the basic chemistry for life can be measured on planets orbiting other stars. (12/9)

Young Gives Nod To TSAT Without Laser Links (Source: Aerospace Daily)
Pentagon acquisition chief John Young is directing the U.S. Air Force to restructure the multibillion dollar Transformational Satellite (TSAT) program. In a newly unveiled acquisition decision memorandum (ADM), he includes a stern note to “act immediately on this direction in order to make progress on TSAT and stop poorly using taxpayer dollars.” The ADM, which lacks a date but was distributed late last week, directs the service to plan for a launch no later than Sept. 30, 2019 – a reflection of the decision this year to indefinitely delay a choice of designs between Lockheed Martin and Boeing while the Pentagon studies requirements. (12/9)

FAA Space Officials Visit Embry-Riddle (Source: ERAU)
FAA officials representing the agency's space transportation and air traffic divisions visited Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University last week to discuss potential collaborations to support ongoing federal efforts to integrate spaceflight requirements into the National Airspace System. Embry-Riddle is pursuing state support for a multi-university space transportation R&D initiative that would focus on various technical challenges facing the commercial space transportation industry. (12/9)

Virginians Rally to Protect Langley Research Center (Source: AIA)
Community leaders in Hampton, Va., are trying to shore up support for NASA's Langley Research Center amid a budget crunch that threatens funding. "The state of NASA today is as bad as it's been in the last 10 to 15 years," says Anna McNider, a lobbyist with the NASA Aeronautics Support Team, which has been fighting to maintain the research center for a decade. With the demise of the space shuttle program, McNider says atmospheric science and aeronautics could become a new focus for the center. (12/9)

Kaine May Boost Virginia Spaceport Again With $10 Million More in Bonds (Source: Spaceports Blog)
Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is expected to announce his annual executive state budget request to the money committees of the Virginia state legislature on Dec. 17. He is expected to include an additional $10 million in bonding authority for the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority to aid the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.

The bond funds are needed for: (a) the Horizontal Integration Facility and (b) the cryogenic fueling system to enhance the state-owned launch pad infrastructure. The Commonwealth of Virginia will be committed to a total of $26 million using its bonding authority with $16 of the $26 million being approved last year for the Virginia facility co-located at the NASA Wallops Island Flight Facility. (12/8)

Virginia Spaceport Auto Tag May Be Issued (Source: Spaceports Blog)
Virginia State Delegate Terry G. Kilgore plans to introduce a bill to authorize a new Virginia license plate tag displaying the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport logo during the 2009 Virginia General Assembly convening in Richmond next month. The potential new tag to be distributed by the Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles may generate revenue for aerospace education at the FAA/AST commercial licensed spaceport co-located at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility. A minimum of 350 must be pre-paid prior to Virginia DMV issuance. (12/8)