July 18 News Items

Aerospace Industry Mentors Needed for California Education Program (Source: CSEWI)
Calling all aerospace industry professionals! The California Space Education & Workforce Institute (CSEWI) needs virtual mentors for its new university student mentoring program. Professionals will mentor students conveniently through a virtual mentoring platform requiring up to only 1 hour of their time per week. Please visit http://www.icouldbe.org/CSEWI to register today. (7/17)

Governor Schwarzenegger & NORAD Discuss State and Federal Military Cooperation for Firefighting (Source: CSA)
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger met with U.S. Air Force General Victor E. Renuart, Jr., Commander, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command (USNORTHCOM) to build on California’s successful partnership with the US military in fighting fires and to ensure that the state continues to get the critical resources it needs to respond to future emergencies. Also in the meeting were officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Forest Service, California National Guard, California Resources Agency, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. (7/17)

New L.A. Space Center Welcomes Home Apollo Capsule (Source: CSA)
Officials at the City of Downey announced that BP-19 - a test version of the Apollo space capsule that went to the Moon - would be transported on July 16th from Lancaster's Apollo Park to their new Columbia Memorial Space Center. BP-19 was constructed in Downey by North American Aviation in 1963 and was used in many parachute drop tests. (7/15)

NASA Responds to California Wildfire Emergency Imaging Request (Source: NASA)
A remotely piloted aircraft carrying a NASA sensor flew over much of California earlier this week, gathering information that will be used to help fight more than 300 wildfires burning within the state. Additional flights are planned for next week. The flights by NASA's unmanned Ikhana aircraft are using a sophisticated Autonomous Modular Scanner developed at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. The flights are originating from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. (7/11)

Lockheed Martin Awarded Contract for BSAT-3b Satellite (Source: CSA)
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems (LMCSS) achieved two recent milestones with the successful launch of Vietnam's VINASAT-1 communications satellite and the BSAT-3b spacecraft contract award. Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (B-SAT) of Japan selected Lockheed Martin to build its next geostationary telecommunications satellite, designated BSAT-3b. BSAT-3b will provide high-definition (HD) direct broadcast services throughout Japan following its scheduled launch the third quarter of 2010 aboard an Arianespace launch vehicle. BSAT-3b is the second consecutive satellite order B-SAT has awarded to Lockheed Martin. (7/15)

Orbital Plans Upgrade To Its Satellite Line (Source: Space News)
Orbital Sciences Corp., which already is investing in a new medium-lift rocket, is weighing a fresh capital investment to increase the size and power of its current line of commercial telecommunications satellites, Orbital Chief Executive David W. Thompson said. (7/17)

Group Records Conversation Allegedly Showing Eutelsat Dealings with China (Source: Space News)
A tape-recorded conversation alleged to be between a Eutelsat representative and a Chinese dissident posing as a government propaganda official has been publicized by an international free-speech organization as an example of the extreme lengths some companies go to in search of Chinese business. The transcript — translated from a conversation conducted in a Chinese dialect — was released by Reporters Without Borders, a not-for-profit organization concerned with free-speech issues.

In the conversation, the alleged Eutelsat representative complains that satellite-fleet operator Eutelsat has not won as much business as its competitor Intelsat despite Eutelsat's multiple efforts to please the Chinese, including removing New Tang Dynasty TV (NDTV) from Eutelsat's W5 satellite using a recent power failure on the satellite as an excuse. Other efforts discussed include: the possible launch of a future Eutelsat satellite aboard a Chinese rocket, which the Eutelsat representative said cost the company $32 million in extra manufacturing costs to assure the satellite carried no U.S. parts that would make it un-exportable to China. (7/17)

ESA Set To Begin Study of Venus's North Pole (Source: Space News)
Venus Express will reach its new orbit Aug. 4 to study the magnetic field of the planet's northern polar region, study the plasma environment deeper in the ionosphere and determine the atmosphere's density. (7/17)

SUIRG Opposes Proposal For Sharing in the Ku-band (Source: Space News)
The Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group, or SUIRG, is opposing a request by the Utilities Telecom Council (UTC) to use Ku-band spectrum currently reserved for fixed satellites. SUIRG says the Telecom Council's proposal, if approved, would lead to an increase in the number of interference incidents affecting fixed- and mobile- satellite services. (7/17)

NASA Langley Awards SAIC $45 Million Contract (Source: Space News)
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) will analyze and assess program objectives, costs and schedules at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., under a $45-million, five-year contract with NASA. (7/17)

New Group To Promote Cheap Access To Space (Source: Space News)
The Space Frontier Foundation, National Space Society and several other nonprofits announced July 17 the formation of the National Coalition for Cheap and reliable Access to Space (CATS) to promote the importance of low-cost, reliable launches. The groups intend to collaborate over the next 12 weeks to develop a National Declaration for Cheap and reliable Access to Space. The finished document will be signed by the chief executives of nonprofit and for-profit companies interested in low-cost launch and presented to the next U.S. president after the November elections. Other founding members of the CATS coalition include the Ohio Aerospace Institute, the California Space Authority, the NewSpace Alliance and several other organizations. (7/17)

Gulf Coast May Be Part of Aerospace Corridor (Source: SunHerald)
The central Gulf Coast is poised for an exciting future as an aerospace corridor from Louisiana to Florida. "There are so many ingredients out here for making the brightest future possible, and all we've got to do is have a little nudge... [to] make this thing go gangbusters" said Leroy Barnidge, vice president of state and local government relations, Air Mobility Systems, for Northrop Grumman. That nudge could be contract approval for Northrop Grumman to build the KC-45 aerial refueling tanker to replace aging Air Force tankers, he said. (7/18)

UCF Physicist Strikes GOLD (Source: Florida Today)
An orbiting camera designed by a University of Central Florida researcher could be predicting space weather by 2013. Those predictions could help Global Positioning System users, satellite television companies, communications businesses and the military understand and compensate for electromagnetic interruptions to their signals. UCF physicist Richard Eastes has spent almost two years designing the Global-Scale Observations of the Limb and Disk, or GOLD, project. As the university's first principal investigator on a satellite project, he leads a team that will oversee construction and launch of an imaging spectrograph that will go into orbit attached to a commercial communications satellite. (7/18)

Indian Government Clears Funding for Six GSLV Launches (Source: Domain-B)
The Union Cabinet cleared the funding for the operational flights of six geo-stationary satellite launch vehicles (GSLV), numbers F11 to F16, at a total estimated cost of Rs1280.96 crore. The funding also involves a foreign exchange component of Rs272.90 crore. The GSLV flights will be made to cater to the growing need for satellite transponders that will offer meteorological and navigational services. With these six operational flights end-to-end capability to launch communication satellites will become available during the Eleventh Five Year Plan. The six flights will take place in the period 2010-1012. (7/17)

Air Force Plan to Improve Launch Environment (Source: USAF)
Members from various military units and civilian organizations met last week to compare findings and discuss plans for a consistent Roadmap to Launch (RTL) that could be used on both the Eastern and Western Ranges. Attention has turned to launch operations because some processes were ill-placed in the sequence of events, causing unnecessary strain as the launch date approached. Further, on the Eastern Range, launches were set up differently from those on the West. The meeting identified 14 processes on the Eastern Range that needed to be moved, as well as 11 additional areas where efficiency could be improved.

A consistent launch procedure will aid in communication as well increase the value for the customers using the Eastern and Western Ranges. "Our processes should be as transparent as possible. Imagine trying to have dialog on a substantive issue between the ranges when we neither speak the same language in all instances or we execute the RTL differently," said one official. "In addition, think how this dissimilarity confuses our range customers."

To recapitalize assets in a time of diminished resources, those who run the launch procedures will need to step outside their normal comfort zones and seek innovative solutions. "Enduring success of any program or culture only occurs when everyone is on board," he added. "Consistency executed by the range and users will go a long way in supporting space policy for commerce and the Department of Defense." said another official. (7/17)

Orbital Sciences Reports Strong Second Quarter (Source: Satellite Today)
Orbital Sciences Corp. reported revenues of $301.2 million in the 2008 second quarter, a 15 percent improvement over revenues a year ago. The company posted a profit of $25.8 million in the quarter, compared to earnings of $13.8 million. The earnings reflected a $15 million gain on the sale of the company’s Transportation Management Systems (TMS) business unit, which closed in June.

Orbital credited the revenue gains to significant growth in the advanced space programs and launch vehicles segments. Advanced space programs segment revenues nearly doubled to $38.2 million, driven by increases in contract activity on NASA’s Orion program and on national security satellite programs. Launch vehicles segment revenues increased $12.8 million, principally due to increased contract activity on missile defense and space launch vehicle programs. Both segments also reported gains in operating income. (7/17)

Space Chiefs Ponder ISS Transport Problem, Post-2015 Future (Source: AFP)
The heads of five agencies building the International Space Station staged talks Thursday on tackling a looming transport problem for the ISS and gave positive signals for extending the orbital outpost's life beyond 2015. The ISS will need extra transport for crew and freight to substitute for the US space shuttle, scheduled to be retired in 2010 when the ISS is completed.

The head of the Russian Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov, told reporters that the United States and Russia will hold talks on beefing up flights by the Soviet-era workhorse, Soyuz, to ferry astronauts to and from the ISS between 2011 and 2014. "By the end of this year or by the beginning of next year at the latest, the whole rationale for our cooperation will be laid out," Perminov said. (7/17)

NASA Not Ruling Out Wildlife-Site Launches (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA is considering abandoned launch pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for commercial space flights but has not given up the possibility of using environmentally sensitive sites in a world-renowned wildlife refuge for the private ventures, officials said. "We are in discussions with the Air Force to determine if there are any viable sites there," NASA's Mario Busacca said. "The public asked us to please go talk to the Air Force, and that's what we're doing." With the shuttle program winding down, NASA began considering offering some its 140,000 acres inside KSC and the sanctuary for commercial launches. Rockets launched from the private pads could be used to transport cargo, astronauts, satellites and even tourists into space. (7/17)

Russian Satellite Debris Poses Hazard (Source: NPR)
NASA is carefully tracking some 500 pieces of debris from a Russian intelligence satellite that may pose a hazard for the international space station. The satellite exploded in March; another piece of it broke apart in June. In recent days, a couple of pieces looked like they might come close enough to the international space station to prompt an evasive maneuver, says Gene Stansbery, of NASA's Johnson Space Center, who helps track debris. Further tracking, however, indicated the debris would pass at a safe distance. (7/17)

Editorial: It's a Station, Not a Ship (Source: Washington Post)
The article in Sunday's Outlook section was more science fiction than science. it argues that the aimlessly orbiting International Space Station (ISS) doesn't serve much of a purpose -- and that we should retrofit it to fly somewhere more interesting. I pictured Jean-Luc Picard piloting the ISS on a fantastic voyage through the solar system, searching out alien beings on Europa and Titan. And I wondered whether, with some "minor modification," my family's sedan might be adapted to fly to Europe.

Human spaceflight still remains in its infancy. NASA has had only one astronaut remain in space for a mission longer than 200 days, and only 27 astronauts have traveled more than 900 miles above the Earth's surface. Just think, until 1973, the "Flying Key Brothers" held the U.S. record for the longest time spent above the Earth's surface on a single flight. That was in 1935. In an airplane. (7/16)

AlphaStar Presents New XM-Sirius Wrinkle (Source: Broadcasting & Cable)
There is a new wrinkle in the already prunelike process of the Federal Communications Commission's year-plus review of the proposed XM Satelllite Radio-Sirius Satellite Radio merger. In a letter to FCC chairman Kevin Martin, satellite-uplink company AlphaStar, a company built to track Soviet satellites and missiles, said it had the satellite backbone to provide the independent channels the FCC is considering carving out of the merged company as a condition of approving the deal, if it does so. Martin has proposed requiring a 24-channel set-aside, or about a combined 8% of XM/Sirius' capacity. Others, including a number of Democratic legislators, have called for more channels, and based only on a percentage of capacity to account for the addition of more channels with the advancement of digital compression. (7/17)