November 9 News Items

Florida Ranks 12 in Federal R&D Obligations (Source: SSTI)
According to NSF statistics, with $588 million, Florida ranked 12th among the states in the amount of Federal R&D obligations in 2005, up from 14th in 2004 and 13th in 2003. Despite consistently ranking within the top five on other indicators (population, total budget, etc.) Florida has not ranked higher than 12th in this R&D measure since 2001.

Space Command Looking for More, Young Talent (Source: Air Force Times)
At a time when space-based military assets are crucial to U.S. national security interests around the world, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, some service leaders worry that Air Force Space Command is failing to entice the talented, scientifically oriented young airmen it needs to carry out its mission. The roughly 19,000 active-duty personnel who serve in Space Command constitute less than 6 percent of the total personnel strength in the service. That may be too few, officials say, to create, support and defend satellites and other space assets. More worrisome still, however, is that the average space industry professional is 50 years old, and experts expect that the military, NASA and the civilian space industry will suffer a shortfall of engineers in the next decade.

UK Set for Military Space Launch (Source: BBC)
The UK is due to continue the upgrade to its military satellite communications system with the launch of a new spacecraft on Friday. The Skynet 5B platform will ride into orbit atop an Ariane 5 rocket from the Kourou spaceport, in French Guiana. It will join the 5A satellite lofted successfully in March and which is already handling secure traffic for UK forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The £3.6bn Skynet project represents the UK's single biggest space venture. The investment includes replacing and updating control centers, and the major antennas and terminals used by military ships, land vehicles and planes to communicate through the satellites.

Shuttle Landing Facility Supports New Users (Source: ERAU)
After finalizing a "Finding of No Significant Impact" (FONSI) from a study of impacts on various non-NASA uses for the Space Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), the SLF last week accommodated test flights of "Starfighter" jet aircraft in support of a developmental NASA range safety technology system. The SLF also supports Zero-G aircraft flights, and the agency is in discussions with other potential commercial spaceflight users.

Delta 4 Weather Good for Saturday (Source: Florida Today)
A Delta 4 Heavy rocket is set to lift off Saturday night. The weather forecast issued this morning looks good except for a 30 percent chance of unacceptable weather.