October 13 News Items

NASA's Ares 1X Test Flight Faces Slip (Source: Florida Today)
The first in a series of test flights aimed at returning American astronauts to the moon faces a significant slip from its official April 15 target date, but NASA can't say now exactly when the $320 million Ares 1X mission will fly. NASA officials acknowledge that the mid-April target no longer is viable, and it appears the test flight might be pushed back to the late summer or fall of 2009. (10/13)

Florida State Senate Candidates Set Space Priorities (Source: ERAU)
Florida's Senate District 24, which includes the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, is an open-seat being vacated by Sen. Bill Posey, who is running for Dr. Dave Weldon's seat in Congress. The candidates include Thad Altman (R-Melbourne) and Kendall Moore (D-Rockledge). Legislators in Tallahassee look to the member from this district to provide expertise on space issues. Moore is an attorney who has family employed at KSC. Altman is a contractor and member of the Florida House of Representatives.

Thad Altman - Altman serves on the board of Space Florida and has sponsored various space-related legislative bills. "The shuttle program is scheduled to end in 2010 and as many as 6,400 of our space coast neighbors could lose their jobs. It would be a travesty to not utilize all of the talented human resources that call our community home. Under Thad's leadership, the legislature has allocated almost $15 million to strengthen the launch pad infrastructure and attract commercial launch businesses to Florida."

Kendall Moore - "Kendall Moore believes that creating good jobs for the Space Coast is essential to move us forward. Kendall will work with local business leaders, educational institutions, and our high-tech space industry to recruit new companies to our area." (10/13)

Florida State House Candidates Set Space Priorities (Source: ERAU)
Florida's House District 30, which is near the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and serves many of its workers, is an open-seat being vacated by Rep. Thad Altman, who is running for Bill Posey's seat in the Florida Senate. The candidates include Amy Tidd (D-Rockledge) and Ritch Workman (R-Melbourne). Workman is a mortgage broker and former Army National Guard officer. Tidd is a community organizer and former Navy Quartermaster and college instructor.

Amy Tidd - "We need to work together to save our Space Center jobs. If elected I will work tirelessly with other State and Federal elected officals and agencies to bring new jobs to the Space Coast in the Space Industry. One of the solutions that I will bring forward is to form a Space Consortium, similar to California's, that will work to bring the political and industry leaders together to bring new space funding to Florida and Brevard."

Ritch Workman - "Just as our kids will have to compete in the global economy, Brevard County is facing tough challenges from other states that are competing with us for future jobs in the space industry. As your legislator, I will fight to help Brevard remain the “Space Coast." (10/13)

The New Path to Space: India and China Enter the Game (Source: Space Review)
The space race at the beginning of the space age greatly accelerated the development of human spaceflight, raising the question of what would have happened without that competition. Dwayne Day examines the current state of Indian and Chinese human spaceflight planning to see what a more "normal" development might be like -- if there is such a thing. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1231/1 to view the article. (10/13)

When Will Rocket Racing Take Off? (Source: Space Review)
The Rocket Racing League was created three years ago to combine elements of the aerospace and racing industries into a new entertainment experience. The league still hasn't started competitive races, Jeff Foust notes, but it has helped contributed to the development of two NewSpace companies. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1230/1 to view the article. (10/13)

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Lessons for Space Commercialization (Source: Space Review)
The recent financial crisis has demonstrated the problems with public-private partnerships, at least in the United States. Taylor Dinerman examines the problems with such partnerships in the space arena, and why Europe has been more successful with such efforts. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1229/1 to view the article. (10/13)

The Commercial Suborbital Sounding Rocket Market: A Role for RLVs? (Source: Space Review)
One market of interest to entrepreneurial space companies is sounding rocket flights of various experiments. John Jurist crunches the numbers and proposes one way to help make the business case for reusable sounding rockets close. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1228/1 to view the article. (10/13)

Space Exploration at a Crossroad (Source: Space Review)
If large-scale human spaceflight programs are difficult to sustain and maintain public interest in, what is the alternative? Claude Lafleur argues that the search for life, and worlds that can sustain it, is a worthy alternative. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1227/1 to view the article. (10/13)

European Aerospace Industry Braces for Credit Crunch (Source: AIA)
Executives of European aerospace companies say the industry will likely suffer from the spreading credit crisis. Charles Edelstenne, chairman of Dassault Aviation SA, predicted military spending will suffer as countries shift budget priorities to support their faltering economies. The financial meltdown "will have a serious, serious impact on our industry," said Allan Cook, CEO of Cobham PLC in the U.K. On the other hand, Louis Gallois, CEO of EADS, said he expects only minimal impact as a rising dollar helps to improve margins at Airbus. (10/13)

Candidates Share Defense Priorities, Constraints (Source: AIA)
Analysts say Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are quite close on defense priorities, and that neither presidential candidate will have wide latitude on spending for at least the first several years of a new administration. Next year's $515 billion defense budget has already been passed by Congress, and a proposed budget for 2010 will be handed down by the current administration. In addition, says Steve Kosiak, a defense expert with the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, the next president will be hobbled by a weak economy propped up by billions of dollars in bailout guarantees. "Either party is going to be constrained by that," he says, "and they both have other priorities. (10/13)