October 20 News Items

Rocketplane to Focus on Space Tourism (Source: NewsOK)
Rocketplane's recent loss of a multimillion-dollar contract with NASA may concern outsiders about the company's future in space tourism. But the concern stops there. Instead, company officials say the halt on the NASA project means Rocketplane will be able to turn its focus to another project: getting tourists into space. "We're looking at a stronger focus on the XP,” said George French, chairman and chief executive officer. The XP is Rocketplane Global's tourism spacecraft.

Although Rocketplane Kistler was unable to raise enough funds to keep its NASA contract, Rocketplane Global is attempting to raise funds for the XP spacecraft; a task French said will be more successful. "XP requires lower levels of funding to move forward,” he said. Rocketplane Global will release the latest designs for the XP next week at the X Prize cup in New Mexico. French said although Rocketplane Kistler and Rocketplane Global are operated by the same parent company, Rocketplane Inc., the two subsidiaries are separate. He said a backslide for one company does not equal a backslide for the other. French said though the loss of the NASA contract may also make it look as if Rocketplane Kistler has abandoned its K-1 project, that is not the case. "We've always had a business plan for the K-1,” he said. "We have other customers in mind. We are looking at all of our options.”

Authority Provides SBIR/STTR "Boot Camp" (Source: TRDA)
Florida's Technological Research & Development Authority (TRDA) is sponsoring a Nov. 8-9 "boot camp" for small businesses interested in pursuing federal SBIR and STTR research grants. Increasing the number of SBIR/STTR awards to Florida businesses has been an important goal for the state as it attempts to diversify its high tech economy. The event will be held at the new TRDA Business Innovation Center in Melbourne. To register or for more information, contact Bonnie O'Regan at 321-872-1050 ext. 107, or mailto:Boregan@trda.org. Also ask about TRDA's six-week "Roadmap to Success" workshop series for emerging businesses.

NASA Readies Shuttle for Tuesday Flight (Source: WESH)
The astronauts who will fly aboard space shuttle Discovery next week arrived at Kennedy Space Center on Friday. The crew took part in training exercises last week, but they took a week off leading up to their arrival in Central Florida. The countdown to launch begins on Saturday at 2 p.m. Discovery will carry parts for the International Space Station and is scheduled to liftoff on Tuesday at 11:38 a.m.

C-Band Fight Tops Agenda at World Radio Conference (Source: Space News)
The world's major satellite-fleet operators — and some of their biggest customers like the U.S. Department of Defense — will begin a four-week battle Oct. 22 to protect their access to 800 megahertz of precious radio spectrum that has been the exclusive preserve of the satellite industry for years, but now is coveted by terrestrial wireless broadband companies. At stake, satellite industry officials say, is the continued functioning of hundreds of thousands of satellite transmission networks that currently enjoy unencumbered use of the C-band radio spectrum from 3.4 to 4.2 GHz. Claiming that their expected growth rates justify the demand for more spectrum, backers of WiMax and other terrestrial wireless broadband technologies want the rights to enter that spectrum even though they concede that coexistence with satellite signals is impractical in many cases.

Chinese Military Space Plans Fuel Concern in Washington (Source: Space News)
Growing concern over U.S. satellite vulnerability was highlighted recently by a report on Chinese space warfare plans and a U.S. lawmaker's call for open hearings on space security. "The Chinese People's Liberation Army and Space Warfare," a report released Oct. 17 by the American Enterprise Institute, concludes that China is preparing for war in space and considers the United States a likely adversary. "They're very serious about developing means to attack targets in the atmosphere and on the Earth's surface from space," Larry Wortzel, the report's author, said.

Orbital Decision Near on Taurus 2 (Source: Space News)
Orbital Sciences Corp. is more optimistic than ever about building a medium-lift rocket, called Taurus 2, which would replace the Boeing-built Delta 2 launch vehicle for U.S. government and commercial customers. Delta 2 is scheduled to be retired around 2010. Orbital Sciences plans a preliminary design review of its Taurus 2 project in December. If the technical and financial assessments remain positive, the company will proceed with early development until a final decision is made in August or September 2008 on whether to proceed with production.

Congressman Pushes NRO, Air Force Space Consolidation (Source: Space News)
The top Republican on the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, Rep. Terry Everett (R-Ala) plans to ask for White House support to once again consolidate coordination of classified and unclassified space efforts under one leader. Everett said combining those positions, which previously had been done between late 2001 and 2005, would improve coordination of military and intelligence community space work on issues including protecting satellites. The Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization, headed by Donald Rumsfeld from 1998 to 2000, the year before his selection as U.S. Defense Secretary, strongly had recommended combining the two jobs. Opponents of combining the two roles have argued that the two jobs combined are too much responsibility for a single official.