Russia is the "Biggest Threat" to U.S.
Security, Air Force Secretary Says (Source: Reuters)
Air Force Secretary Deborah James says Russia is the "biggest threat"
to U.S. security currently. "This is no time to in any way signal a
lack of resolve in the face of these Russian actions," she said, noting
her disappointment that most NATO countries were failing to meet
defense spending targets. (7/8)
Eutelsat, ESA Taking a ‘Quantum’ Leap
Toward Fully Software-defined Satellite (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat and the European Space Agency on July
9 signed a contract to build a new-generation satellite payload, called
Eutelsat Quantum, that takes what they said is a further step toward a
fully software-defined spacecraft, which has long been a Holy Grail for
commercial fleet operators. The contract, valued at 180 million euros
($198 million), will lead to a further contract with Airbus Defence and
Space UK as prime contractor for the first satellite.
The ability to reshuffle a satelilte’s coverage and on-board power as a
function of how the business develops over 15 years has long been an
ambition of commercial fleet operators. They have often complained that
terrestrial telecommunications technologies make generational leaps in
a couple of years, while geostationary telecommunications satellites’
designs, frozen two or three years before launch, must remain relevant
for 15 years in orbit. Quantum is designed to change all that. (7/9)
NASA Names Commercial Crew Test Pilots
(Source: Florida Today)
NASA on Thursday named four astronauts who will train for test flights
of new Boeing and SpaceX capsules, likely becoming the first crews to
launch from the Space Coast since the final shuttle mission four years
ago. Bob Behnken, Eric Boe, Doug Hurley and Sunita Williams are veteran
test pilots who have flown on the shuttle and the International Space
Station.
The orbital test flights to the station, which could launch in 2017,
hope to pave the way for regular trips by the new commercial crew
vehicles, ending reliance on Russia for access to and from the outpost.
SpaceX plans to launch its Falcon 9 rocket — which suffered a failure
on its last flight that is now under investigation — and Dragon
capsules from Kennedy Space Center's pad 39A. Boeing will launch
CST-100 capsules on United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station. (7/9)
Roscosmos: Can New Company Modernize
Russian Space Industry? (Source: RBTH)
Details about Roscosmos, Russia’s new state space corporation, were
revealed on July 7. A law adopted on July 1 is intended to help with
the space industry’s reform. However, experts fear that the corporation
may be inefficient in the long run. The State Duma adopted a law
establishing it on July 1, but industry representatives declined to
comment until the law is approved by the president.
According to Komarov Russian space enterprises should become
joint-stock companies over the next five years. “To achieve this
result, decisions have been made concerning the decentralization and
the empowerment of Roscosmos with the authority to carry out effective
reforms,” Komarov said. (7/9)
Despite Failure, Keep Reaching for
Stars (Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal)
No inventor, scientist or business owner likes to see failure. But we
know from history that failure is a precursor to success. As President
Kennedy said at Rice University in 1962, “We choose to go to the moon
and to do other things not because they are easy — but because they are
hard.”
Space exploration and an expansion of the aerospace industry are not
easy, nor will they ever be easy. The most rewarding things in our
lives are challenging. They do not fall into our laps. We work hard to
achieve them. (7/9)
Brevard OKs $3.5 Million Tax Break for
Lockheed Martin (Source: Florida Today)
Brevard County commissioners approved $3.49 million in property tax
breaks for Lockheed Martin, which plans to create up to 300 jobs in
Titusville. Lockheed Martin also plans to make an $80 million capital
investment at an aerospace manufacturing plant formerly used by
Astrotech for payload processing. That includes $52 million in new
construction, and $28 million on machinery and equipment. The company
plans to use the facility for its Space Systems operations. (7/8)
Congress Considers Easing Ban on
Russian Engines (Source: Arizona Republic)
Lawmakers are weighing whether to give the Defense Department more
leeway to buy Russian engines that deliver the Pentagon's military and
spy satellites into space. The issue has resurfaced only months after
Congress voted in December to require a firm phase-out of the engines
amid rising tensions with Moscow over Ukraine.
The House and Senate recently passed competing versions of the fiscal
2016 National Defense Authorization Act, which lays out the Pentagon's
mission for the coming year. Lawmakers hope to hammer out a compromise
on the bill before they recess in August. (7/8)
Vandenberg Brings in Private Experts
(Source: Santa Maria Sun)
Vandenberg Air Force Base is bringing private companies into its Joint
Space Operations Center. The program is the first of its kind and it’s
aimed at fostering cooperation between the military and private sector
as spaceflight slowly becomes privatized. It’s the first time
commercial operators will be physically integrated into the command
center.
“The reason we want to do this is that it will allow for rapid
identification, diagnosis, and resolution,” said Capt. Nick Mercurio,
adding that the operators were chosen based on the scope of their
existing operations with the U.S. Department of Defense. The six
companies selected are Intelsat, SES Government Solutions, Eutelsat,
DigitalGlobe, Iridium Communications, and InMarSat. They will
participate in the program for a six-month trial period.
Experts brought in from these companies will be helping to run the
satellites that they designed: They will participate in training
exercises alongside military staff at Vandenberg and assist with the
launching and operations of those satellites. The satellites do
everything from communications to imaging. The private sector employees
will work eight to 12 hours a day in the operations center, according
to Aviation Week, and could move to a round-the-clock trial if
successful. (7/9)
SpaceX Delays Next Crew Dragon Abort
Test (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
The next test of a critical safety system on SpaceX’s human-rated
Dragon spaceship will be delayed, likely until at least late next year,
as the company adjusts the development schedule for the new commercial
crew capsule designed to take astronauts to the International Space
Station.
The in-flight abort demonstration, which is designed to prove the
Dragon’s escape rockets can carry a crew away from an exploding rocket,
will occur from launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida,
according to an update posted July 1 on NASA’s website. The abort test
was previously expected to go from Vandenberg Air Force Base in
California. (7/8)
Despite Blast, USAF Says SpaceX Has
Time to Show Readiness for Missions (Source: Reuters)
A Falcon 9 rocket accident last month should not eliminate SpaceX from
the competition to launch a new GPS satellite, U.S. Air Force Secretary
Deborah James said on Wednesday, since there would be "plenty of time"
to test the rocket before any future launch. James said that SpaceX
remained certified to participate in the competition, expected to kick
off in coming weeks. She noted that any future launch would not occur
for about two years. (7/9)
Air Force’s ORS-5 Satellite to Launch
on Minotaur 4 at Space Florida Pad (Source: Space News)
Orbital ATK has won a $23.6 million contract to launch a small
space-surveillance satellite for the U.S. Air Force’s Operationally
Responsive Space Office aboard a Minotaur 4 rocket in 2017. Orbital ATK
will launch the satellite from Launch Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station in Florida, according to a spokeswoman at the Air Force’s
Space and Missile Systems Center.
The launch will mark the first for a Minotaur rocket, a vehicle based
in part on excess missile hardware, from Cape Canaveral and the first
from that particular pad since 1999. Launch Complex 46 was licensed as
a commercial launch facility in 2010 by the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration. The last launch from the facility was of Lockheed
Martin’s solid-fueled Athena 1 rocket, which carried Taiwan’s Rocsat-1
Earth observation satellite.
Last year, Space Florida selected Orbital ATK to upgrade communications
systems at Space Launch Complex 46, hoping that the improvements would
attract commercial and government business. In a February request for
qualification to improve the pad, Space Florida said it had identified
a potential tenant, a prime contractor for launch systems, for the
site. (7/9)
Six Space Questions the Senate Asked
Gen. James Dunford (Source: Space News)
As part of his Senate confirmation process to become the next chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford
said the protection of the military’s satellites should be a higher
national security priority. Dunford submitted 75 pages of answers to
questions submitted by lawmakers in advance of his July 9 confirmation
hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. The responses were
posted on the committee’s website as the hearing got underway. Click here.
(7/9)
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