April 24, 2015

Habitats Could Be NASA’s Next Commercial Spacecraft Buy (Source: Aviation Week)
The Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle is designed to take humans to Mars, but with less than 20 cubic meters of pressurized volume for a crew of four it could get more than a little cozy en route. Commercial cargo vehicles designed to supply the International Space Station (ISS) may add some elbow-room for the long haul to the Red Planet. Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Orbital ATK all have won small NASA contracts to study how their commercial cargo vehicles could be modified as habitats. (4/24)

Three Rockets to Deliver New Russian Modules to ISS (Source: Itar-Tass)
Two new modules for the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) will be put in space with Proton-M rockets, said the president of the space rocket corporation Energia, Vladimir Solntsev. "Protons will be employed to deliver the multi-functional module and other heavy modules. The Uzlovoy Module (Nodal Module) will be launched with a Soyuz-2 rocket," Solntsev told TASS in an interview. (4/23)

2015 Economic Action Plan Supports Canadian Space Initiatives (Source: Market Wired)
Essential funding for the Canadian space industry and a program to develop the Canadian supply chain were included in today's federal Economic Action Plan (EAP), which was praised by the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC) for its leadership on the important contributions the industry makes to Canada's economy.
 
The government committed $30 million over four years, starting in 2016-2017, to the Canadian Space Agency to support research and technology development through the ARTES program at the European Space Agency. They also announced the extension of Canada's participation in the International Space Station (ISS) mission until 2024. (4/21)

NASA Officials Defend Study of Climate Change (Source: MyNews 13)
It's Earth Day, and NASA is hoping to spread awareness about the work the agency does to help people better understand the world. But members of Congress are criticizing NASA, stating the space agency should be focused on human space exploration instead of studying climate change. At an Earth Day event over the weekend in Washington, D.C., NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden told the crowd the work NASA does is a key to understanding climate change. (4/22)

Australia, Japan, Korea, Russia May Join with India for Satellite Navigation (Source: IBC)
Countries including Australia, Japan, Korea and Russia have expressed interest for cooperation in satellite navigation and applications with India. Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions, Jitendra Singh in a written reply to an unstarred question in the Lok Sabha today said that “the cooperation will be pursued on receiving specific proposals from these countries”.

He added, in the area of satellite navigation, India has established GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) system primarily for the use by aviation sector. GAGAN provides improved position accuracy over the Indian region. This system is based on Global Positioning System (GPS) of USA. (4/23)

ULA Needs Commercial Business to Close Vulcan Business Case (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
United Launch Alliance will need to lure commercial customers to ensure the economic viability of its new Vulcan rocket, which is set to debut in 2019 just as the rate of U.S. military satellite launches is due to take a dip. The Vulcan rocket must fly at least 10 times per year to keep factory and launch crews operating at the efficiencies needed to reach ULA’s price goal of $100 million per mission, according to Tory Bruno.

ULA says the Vulcan rocket can be ready for its debut launch in 2019, and the company plans to introduce the new launcher over several years while still flying the Atlas 5 and Delta 4 boosters in ULA’s existing inventory. The Vulcan may not be certified to send up the most expensive national security payloads until 2023, so ULA plans to rely on commercial business for the new rocket’s early launches. (4/22)