September 21 News Items

Modernization Delays Will Affect New Administration's Budget Planning (Source: AIA)
The next president will face tough defense policy choices because military modernization has been chronically delayed, according to a recently released AIA Report. The report cautions that between 2010 and 2019, the United States must change course or risk falling behind other global powers. (9/19)

France to Buy 10 Soyuz Launchers from Russia (Source: Space Daily)
The European commercial space-launch consortium Arianespace on Saturday signed a deal with the Russian space agency Roskosmos to acquire 10 new Soyuz launchers for around $500 million. The contract was signed on the sidelines of a visit by French Prime Minister Francois Fillon to Sochi in southern Russia where he met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. The new launchers would be used from the second quarter of 2009. (9/21)

Problems Curtail Lunar Lander Competition (Source: Live Science)
The space grapevine was a buzz late last week - looks like the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico will not be held there October 24-25th. According to Sarah Becky Ramsey, Director of Communications at the X Prize Cup Foundation, the official word is that “because of some other activities on the base, we will not be able to hold the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge there on our previously scheduled dates.”

Ramsey added that other options are being investigated, “with an eye toward rescheduling the competition as soon as practical in southern New Mexico.” “While we are eager to see our teams compete,” Ramsey added, “we do expect them to put the extra time to good use, and we know we will have a better competition for it.” (9/21)

Community Salutes Dave Weldon's Congressional Service (Source: HSWRI)
Community leaders gathered in Melbourne on Friday to salute Dr. Dave Weldon for his leadership in Congress on behalf of his Space Coast district. Dr. Weldon is retiring from Congress, having advanced to a position of seniority and appointment to the Appropriations Committee. Dr. Weldon has been a steadfast supporter of space issues throughout his career in Congress. The event raised funds for the Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute. (9/21)

Shenzhou 7 Put on Pad for China's Next Manned Flight (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
The 19-story rocket that will dispatch three Chinese astronauts into the final frontier next week was moved from a massive assembly building to the launch pad Saturday. The Long March 2F rocket, topped with the Shenzhou 7 capsule, rode a rail track nearly 1 mile to its launch pad at the Jiuquan space center in northwestern China. Jiuquan is located near the border between the provinces of Gansu and Inner Mongolia. The rocket transfer took more than an hour. The launcher was assembled vertically inside a vast integration building. The 191-foot-tall rocket could launch as early as Thursday, according to earlier reports. (9/21)

Space Wars (Source: Newsweek)
The launch this week of three astronauts, one of whom will perform China's first "walk" in space, asserts its rise as one of the Great Powers of this new century. The question now beginning to engage Washington is whether China sees itself as a collaborator in space, or as a potential adversary? Many policy experts have come to the conclusion that it's time for the United States to think seriously about some kind of arms-control regime to avoid a destabilizing rivalry in near-space.

During the Cold War, satellites were key to the cold-war nuclear standoff. They informed each side what ICBMs the other deployed, allowed them to track any changes and alerted them almost immediately to any missile launches. Any move to destroy the other's satellites might have been seen as a prelude to a nuclear strike. Circumstances, however, have changed. Over the past 20 years, America's conventional forces, as well as the nuclear ones, have come to rely on satellites.

Conflict with China is unlikely, with one exception: if China tries one day to retake Taiwan by force. Many people in the U.S. defense community believe that China's goal is to target satellites to neutralize a U.S. defense of Taiwan. If China did such a thing, the U.S. might be tempted to strike ASAT launch facilities on China's territory, escalating the conflict. How would China reply? When satellites are military tools of strategic significance, should attacks on them be deterred with the threat of nuclear retaliation? The Bush administration seems to have edged toward this view. Click here to view the article. (9/21)

Editorial: New Mexico County Should Have a Seat at Spaceport Table (Source: Alamogordo Daily News)
How often in life are we presented with an opportunity to secure our future by simply doing what comes naturally, with the support of our friends and neighbors? Otero County has a spectacular history of success and growth based on high technology and research, and on Tuesday, Nov. 4, we have a chance to lock in our future with a "YES" vote for Spaceport America. It's time to take our seat at the table, and give Otero County a voice in the development of the growing commercial space industry in Southern New Mexico.

Spaceport America is an ambitious project, and as the people of Otero County know so well, ambition can earn great rewards. When Alamogordo Air Field was established in 1942, local citizens recognized how important the military was for economic growth. Today, Holloman Air Force Base is the largest employer in the county. Coupled with White Sands Missile Range in neighboring Doña Ana County, the two installations together contribute hundreds of millions of dollars annually to our economy. Spaceport America will be a perfect complement to an existing high-tech infrastructure, and will help diversify the local economy. (9/21)

California Space Authority Announces 2008 SpotBeam Awards (Source: CSA)
At the upcoming SpotBeam Awards Dinner, space industry leaders will recognize the accomplishments of those who have made unique and outstanding contributions in their specific areas of expertise. The fifteen awards are designed to help showcase the important role space enterprise plays in the everyday lives of ordinary Americans. Visit http://www.californiaspaceauthority.org/_spotbeam%20awards/index.html to view the list of awardees. (9/20)

Ben Bova: Living, and Loving, in Low Gravity (Source: Naples Daily News)
As I get older and creakier, I look forward to leaving this world — and spending the rest of my years in space. Living off-Earth in a low-gravity environment might be very beneficial, and could help to extend one’s life span. Not only that, but living in low gravity could allow a person who’s weak and feeble on Earth to be active and vigorous. We take Earth’s gravity for granted. After all, we’ve lived in a one-G environment all our lives. Gravity makes our bodies sag and wears away at us all our lives. Astronauts who’ve been in zero gravity report that it’s exhilarating to float weightlessly. Click here to view the article. (9/21)

The Real Space Race is in Asia (Source: Newsweek)
China's upcoming launch and spacewalk will no doubt be lauded as yet another indication that China is ready to join the ranks of the world's space titans, Russia and the United States. But are these missions cause for worry in Washington and Moscow? Although the ability to launch payloads can also be used to lob bombs, the military implications of a manned program are virtually nil: nobody has yet figured out what humans can do in space that robotic weapons can't do better.

China's true opponent in this space race is not the West so much as its Asian neighbors—India in particular. India has transformed its space program from a utilitarian affair of meteorological and communications satellites into a hyperactive project that seems designed to make a splash on the world stage. Its robotic lunar exploration program will launch a probe on Oct. 22 that will orbit the moon for two years. And Japan is considering expanding its well-established (if less ambitious) space program--which includes research on the Space Station and a respectable commercial satellite business--and exploring military applications. Against this backdrop, Beijing's dominance is not unshakable. China's recent accomplishments have provided merely the opening salvos in a modern-day Asian space race. (9/21)

Groundbreaking for New Virginia Launch Pad Set for October 6 (Source: Spaceports Blog)
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, co-located at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, will be the scene of an Oct. 6 groundbreaking ceremony for a new commercial launch pad planned for the Orbital Sciences Corporation Taurus-II booster. Orbital on the way to meeting more than half of the NASA COTS milestones to ultimately boost a payload to the Space Station from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in 2011. (9/20)

Groundbreaking Set for Cape Canaveral Launch Pad in October (Source: Space Florida)
SpaceX broke ground on its new launch pad (Launch Complex 40) at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in November 2007 and hopes to launch its Falcon 9 rockets from there as early as next year. Meanwhile, Space Florida's Air Force-approved efforts to convert Launch Complex 36 (for vehicles yet-to-be-identified) will commence with a groundbreaking ceremony some time in October. Space Florida received $14.5 million from the state this year to begin the conversion. (9/21)