December 31, 2010

26 Colorado Companies Win Seed Money From NASA (Source: Denver Business Journal)
Colorado companies won the third-highest number of NASA small business innovation grants meant to seed new technologies for the space agency. There are 26 technology companies in the state, most from the Denver area, that were awarded 39 of the 449 grants NASA awarded in December for 2010. Only California and Massachusetts had more companies winning awards. (12/31)

Lost In Space: 8 Biggest Space Misfires of 2010 (Source: Space.com)
While 2010 saw many historic successes in spaceflight and space science, plenty of things went wrong, too. For example, several rockets failed to deliver their scientific payloads, Japan's Venus probe Akatsuki missed the planet entirely, and a NASA balloon crashed spectacularly in the Australian desert, partially destroying its telescope payload and smashing into a parked car. Here's a rundown of 2010's space mishaps. (12/31)

2010: A Momentous Year for Commercial Spaceflight (Source: Popular Mechanics)
Amid much political turmoil, it was an exciting year for commercial spaceflight, with the achievement of many technical milestones, the announcement of new spaceports, the rollout or demonstration of new concepts for suborbital and orbital flight and commercial orbital facilities. Click here to read the article. (12/31)

ULA Says Workforce Reductions will Help Cut Costs (Source: Space News)
United Launch Alliance (ULA) will reduce its work force by 19 percent over the next few years as it weeds out unneeded overlaps in Atlas and Delta rockets and finds other efficiencies, ULA Chief Operating Officer Dan Collins said. The head-count reduction, which follows a 16 percent staff cut over the past four years, should enable Denver-based ULA to reduce operating costs and offer reduced launch-service prices to its U.S. government customer, he said. (12/31)

India Launch Failed as 10 Connectors Snapped (Source: DNA)
The December 25 failure of geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle (GSLV)-F06 carrying an advanced communication satellite GSAT-5P occurred because of premature snapping of a group of 10 connectors located at the bottom of the Russian cryogenic stage. These connectors carry command signals from the on board computer in the equipment bay, located near the top of the rocket, to the control electronics of the four L40 strap-on first stage boosters of the rocket. (12/31)