July 23 News Items

Florida Stats on SBIR Grant Awards (Source: SSTI)
Florida small businesses submitted at least 708 SBIR Phase-One proposals to various federal agencies in FY-2007, resulting in 107 grant awards (beating the 2004 record of 103). The highest win-rate was with the National Science Foundation (19.4%), followed by DOD (14.9%), and NASA (14.5%).

The total number of Florida Phase-One proposals submitted peaked in 2003 at 807, according to available figures. The state has been trying to increase its share of SBIR proposals and grants, so the 2006 data show some success. Since 2003, Florida companies submitted most of their proposals to DOD (2,555), followed by NIH (482), NASA (449), and the Dept. of Energy (188). Visit http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/070908t.htm to view nationwide statistics for 2007. (7/23)

KSC to Host Space and Air Show (Source: The Avion)
After the enormous success of last year's World Space Expo at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex and NASA causeway, officials have announced a second event this fall at the facility. From November 7-9, 2008, the KSC Visitors Complex will host the Space and Air Show. Headlining the event will be the United States Navy Demonstration Team the Blue Angels. This event will mark the team's second appearance at Kennedy Space Center since the mid 70's. The first event where the demonstration squadron performed was the U.S. Bicentennial Exposition on Science and Technology on July 20, 1976. NASA has significantly improved the schedule of appearances by different aircraft this year. As of the beginning of July, six other demonstrations have been confirmed. (7/15)

Arianespace Chosen to Launch MSG-4 Weather Satellite (Source: Arianespace)
EUMETSAT and Arianespace signed a launch Service & Solutions contract for the MSG-4 meteorological observation satellite in Kourou, French Guiana. The MSG-4 satellite is scheduled for launch in the first half of 2013 by an Ariane 5 or Soyuz launcher, from the Guiana Space Center, Europe's Spaceport, in French Guiana. (7/22)

Manned Spaceship Design Unveiled (Source: BBC)
The first official image of a Russian-European manned spacecraft has been unveiled. It is designed to replace the Soyuz vehicle currently in use by Russia and will allow Europe to participate directly in crew transportation. The reusable ship was conceived to carry four people towards the Moon, rivaling the US Ares/Orion system. Click here to view a graphic of the vehicle. (7/22)