August 30 News Items

Space Shuttle Community-Wide Art Program Sponsorship Deadline Near! (Source: ASF)
Sponsorship opportunities for Brevard County’s first statue art program, Shuttles Orbiting the Space Coast are coming to a close on September 12. This community-wide art exhibit, hosted by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, a local nonprofit organization, will launch uniquely painted, eight-foot, fiberglass Space Shuttle statues across the Space Coast! In partnership with the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Florida's Space Coast Office of Tourism and Florida Today, the program will showcase shuttle statues at sponsored businesses and public venues while celebrating Brevard County’s heritage and NASA's 50th Anniversary.

Sponsorships are now available to corporations and individuals throughout Brevard County starting at just $2,800 with payment options available. Sponsors will have the opportunity to choose one of ninety pre-approved designs submitted by local artists to showcase their place in the community. Sponsors and artists will be recognized on a plaque which will be mounted on the statue for its public display. Visit http://www.astronautscholarship.org/shuttles/ or call 321-455-7012 for information. (8/30)

Ondas Moves Ahead on European Satellite Radio (Source: Space News)
Ondas Media of Spain, which is designing a system featuring three satellites in highly elliptical orbits to provide radio services in Europe, has signed around 2 million euros ($3 million) in binding contracts to technology developers so far in 2008. The company expects to commit more in 2009, Ondas Chief Executive Dave Krueger said Aug. 29. Loral would build the satellites. (8/30)

Lockheed Gets $97 Million Extension on SBIRS Work (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Sunnyvale, Calif., was awarded a one-year, $97 million contract modification by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center to continue engineering and development work for the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), a planned network of spacecraft designed to provide early warning of missile launches. (8/30)

ATV Helps Space Station Dodge Russian Debris (Source: Space News)
Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) fired two of its four rocket thrusters Aug. 27 to move the international space station away from the remnants of a Russian spy satellite. It was the first time in five years the space station's orbit has been altered to avoid a potentially disastrous collision at orbital velocity. The European-built cargo ship Jules Verne, which is docked at the station's aft end, fired its rocket engines for 5 minutes and 2 seconds, the first such station maneuver since May 30, 2003. The offending piece of space hardware, catalogued as Object #33246, was part of a Russian satellite formerly known as Kosmos-2421. (8/30)

DOD Plans to Leverage International Radar Satellites (Source: Space News)
Citing a persistent need among U.S. military forces, the U.S. Defense Department is moving ahead with a fast-tracked search for small, low-cost radar satellites and supporting ground systems that could be fielded as early as 2012, Pentagon documents show. In parallel, the Pentagon is considering near-term purchases of data from international and commercial radar satellites now in orbit. Potential data sources include Canada's Radarsat-2, the German SAR-Lupe constellation and the Israeli TecSAR satellite. (8/30)

Pentagon and Intelligence Community at Odds Over Spy Sat Program (Source: Space News)
The bureaucratic dispute over a U.S. government imaging satellite procurement program has flared up anew, with a senior Pentagon official accusing his intelligence community counterparts of overstepping their bounds and trying to undo previous agreements on how to proceed. The program in question is called Broad Area Surveillance Intelligence Capability (BASIC), which includes two satellites and related ground systems for collecting imagery at resolutions of a half-meter or better. The program is intended to serve both the military and intelligence communities, and has been the subject of previous disputes between the two camps. John Young, U.S. undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, voiced disagreement on a number of counts with a draft memo circulated by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) concerning the $1.7 billion BASIC program. (8/30)

NASA Revamping Focus on Hypersonics Research (Source: Space News)
As investigators work to pinpoint what caused an experimental suborbital rocket to veer off course during its Aug. 22 debut, NASA is moving ahead with a revamped hypersonics research program that has shifted its focus in recent years from big, expensive flight projects to more modest efforts. Riding atop a recently failed ATK suborbital rocket in Virginia were two payloads designed to answer fundamental questions about hypersonic flight and atmospheric re-entry. Today NASA spends a total of around $75 million a year on its hypersonics program. NASA also is participating as a junior partner in hypersonics flight projects led by the U.S. Air Force. (8/30)