February 10 News Items

NASA Plans CubeSat Launch Program (Source: NASA)
NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate is looking to launch a number of CubeSats as secondary payloads aboard a 2010 launch. The pilot project will be limited to eligible CubeSat development efforts for which a flight opportunity is within the scope of existing NASA-supported agreements. NASA anticipates placing a competitive emphasis on U.S. higher education and graduate programs for the pilot project. Upon completion of the pilot, NASA anticipates establishing an on-going capability to launch CubeSats as secondary payloads on Expendable Launch Vehicles (ELV's) at an estimated rate of six to twelve CubeSats (equivalent) per year, depending on available excess resources (volume and mass) on NASA-procured ELV's. (2/10)

State Lt. Governors Sponsor "Aviation Week" Forum (Source: SpaceRef.com)
The Aerospace Sates Association (ASA) is now hosting an interactive web-based forum in collaboration with Aviation Week magazine. The initial forum is seeking comments on ASA's aerospace agenda that will be presented to President Obama and appropriate Congressional Committees. Click on the Forum Tab at www.aviationweek.com to view responses and comments to the forum.

"Lt Governors across the country care passionately about the future of aerospace and aviation in America," ASA Chair, Vermont Lt. Governor Brian Dubie said. "That is why they formed Aerospace States Association and why ASA is hosting this forum, which will give policymakers and lawmakers in the federal government the opportunity to learn about aerospace activities in each state, interact with their counterparts across the country, and respond to issues that are important to us all." (2/10)

Sirius XM Prepares Bankruptcy Filing (Source: New York Times)
Sirius XM Satellite Radio has been working with advisers to prepare for a possible bankruptcy filing in a move that could put pressure on the satellite company EchoStar, which owns a substantial amount of the company’s debt. Sirius has been working with the restructuring expert Joseph A. Bondi of Alvarez & Marsal and the bankruptcy lawyer Mark Thompson of Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett to help prepare a Chapter 11 filing, people close to the company said. The documents and analysis are close to being completed and a filing could come within days, according to a person familiar with the matter. (2/10)

8th Continent Chamber of Commerce Opens for Business (Source: Business Wire)
The 8th Continent Project has launched the world’s first Chamber of Commerce dedicated to the global commercialization of aerospace technology. “The 8th Continent Chamber of Commerce is the first entrepreneurial support organization to represent the emerging market for ‘Space 2.0’ companies – venture-backed new businesses that apply technologies developed by NASA and the Department of Defense to wide-ranging commercial markets,” said 8th Continent Project Director Burke Fort. “From energy to healthcare and from manufacturing to retail, and just about everything in between, aerospace technology is flowing quickly into our daily lives.”

While adapting best practices from traditional city and regional chamber of commerce models, the 8C Chamber’s activities will cross international boundaries, multiple markets, companies and individuals. With the opening of the Chamber itself, the 8th Continent Project’s initial Founding Membership drive offers the first three months free for individuals and companies who are involved in the process of commercializing space-derived technologies. After the initial period, annual membership dues will be $20 for students, $250 for individuals, and $350 plus $25 per employee for companies. Visit http://www.8cproject.com for details. (2/10)

NASA Shuffles Shuttle Stack For Hubble Flight (Source: Florida Today)
The external tank-solid rocket booster stack for the launch of Atlantis on the STS-125 mission is being moved from one high bay to another in the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building, clearing the way for the build-up of another stack for a subsequent Endeavour mission. The roll-around leaves open an option to begin the build-up of the Ares I-X rocket for a test-flight now scheduled for launch July 11. (2/10)

One More Step for Private Moon Mission (Source: Nature)
A spectrometer meant to fly to Mars on a European mission in 2016 will get to the Moon first. The Dutch team that is building the instrument last week announced it would send a scaled-up version, dubbed MoonShot, to the lunar surface by 2011 with Odyssey Moon, a company headquartered in the Isle of Man, UK.
The MoonOne lander aims to fly cargo to the Moon for cash.The MoonOne lander aims to fly cargo to the Moon for cash. If it works, the private MoonOne lander and its successors could serve scientists much as a commercial trucking company serves wholesalers, providing a platform to ferry science instruments and other payloads to the lunar surface. (2/10)

Satellite Execs Keep Close Eye on Broadband Provisions in Stimulus Bills (Source: Space News)
In what could be a boon for satellite broadband providers well positioned to connect hard-to-reach communities to the information superhighway, the $800 billion-plus economic stimulus package nearing passage in the U.S. Congress contains billions of dollars to bring broadband Internet service to rural communities and other underserved areas. (2/10)

Eutelsat Raises Revenue Forecast (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat is raising its revenue estimate for the fiscal year ending June 30 as its core Western European satellite-television business expands eastward and southward, and is increasing prices for satellite capacity at its most popular orbital positions, Eutelsat officials said Feb. 10. (2/10)

Spacehab Reports Financial Results for Second Quarter (Source: Spacehab)
Spacehab posted a second quarter fiscal year 2009 net loss of $1.6 million on revenue of $3.8 million compared with a second quarter fiscal year 2008 (December 31, 2007) net loss of $32.8 million on revenue of $4.3 million. The net loss for the quarter ended December 31, 2008 included a non-cash gain of $0.7 million resulting from the repurchase of $1.8 million principal amount of the Company’s outstanding notes at a discount. On December 31, 2008 Spacehab’s cash and short-term investments were approximately $7.3 million. (2/10)

Eutelsat Shares Up After Raising Revenue Target (Source: Reuters)
Shares in Eutelsat rose 4.4 percent on Tuesday after the world's third-biggest satellite operator slightly raised its revenue target for the full year. "The raised guidance is definitely very encouraging, and in this case the market was not expecting it. It's so rare for a company to raise its guidance these days," said one Paris-based trader. Eutelsat said it now targeted sales of 910 million euros ($1.2 billion) in full-year 2008-2009, up from a target of more than 900 million last confirmed on Nov. 4. The firm posted a 52.8 percent increase in net profit over the first half of 2008-2009. (2/10)

Space Foundation Hosts 7th Annual Space Career Fair on April 2 (Source: Space Foundation)
The Space Foundation has good news for college students and transitioning military looking for jobs in the space industry. First, the outlook for landing a well-paid professional position in space and aeronautics is stronger than most other career tracks. And, second, high-caliber employers looking for candidates will gather in Colorado Springs on April 2 for the seventh annual Space Career Fair, held in conjunction with the 25th National Space Symposium. To register or find out more about the Space Career Fair, visit www.SpaceCareerFair.org.

'Marsupial' Robots Could Roam Mars and the Moon (Source: New Scientist)
A spool-shaped robot could one day rappel into steep craters on other planets or moons, anchored to another spacecraft by a rope. The craft, which would descend to its targets from an airborne balloon or emerge from the belly of a larger rover, is being described as a 'tethered marsupial'. NASA and Caltech engineers are designing the system, which consists of a simple cylinder with a wheel on either side. The wheels can roll over 0.5-metre-tall rocks.

Called Axel, the robot has an arm that can move 360° around its wheel shaft. The arm can gather soil samples and give the wheels a boost in tricky terrain. The tether that connects the rover to its home base can also be reeled in our out, allowing the rover to explore surfaces that are too steep for un-tethered robots, such as NASA's twin Mars rovers, to traverse. (2/10)

Is Iran's Space Program More Advanced Than Thought? (Source: New Scientist)
Iran's first satellite launch aboard a home-grown rocket last week has left observers puzzled over just how it was done. Was the satellite launched by a feeble rocket pushed to its limits, or has Iran's secretive space program managed to develop a far more powerful launch vehicle without anyone noticing? The answer will affect how soon the country might achieve its stated goal of sending humans into space. Iran launched its satellite – called Omid, or "Hope" – on 2 February. According to Iranian media, it is a 40-centimeter cube weighing 25-kilograms, and is equipped with radio transmitters.

Foreign tracking stations and amateur sky watchers have been following the craft's relatively low orbit, which is expected to decay over weeks or months due to atmospheric drag. At first, it was thought that the launch vehicle, called Safir-2, was derived from relatively feeble missiles that burn ambient-temperature liquid fuel, which Iran was already known to have. Two of these missiles stacked one on top of the other could boost a third, small, solid-fuel rocket that could take a lightweight payload like Omid to orbit.

But evidence has begun to emerge that the rocket might be more powerful than this. Amateur observers report that the last stage of the rocket, which is also in orbit, is much brighter than the satellite itself, suggesting it is too large to be the third stage of a relatively modest rocket. Geoffrey Forden of MIT, who specializes in the analysis of foreign countries' launch capabilities, is one of those now mulling over whether the rocket had just two stages, with a second stage that was much more powerful than anything Iran was known to possess. This would be possible using a cryogenic fuel system involving liquid oxygen. (2/9)

Russian Cargo Ship Blasts Off for ISS (Source: AFP)
A Russian cargo ship carrying supplies for the International Space Station (ISS) blasted off Tuesday from the Baikonour spaceport, Russian state television pictures showed. The Progress M-66 cargo ship blasted off on a Soyuz rocket from the Russian-operated spaceport in Kazakhstan. It is due to dock with the ISS on Friday. The ship carries around two-and-a-half tons of cargo, including more than one ton of fuel. Other supplies include oxygen, hygienic materials, food and clothes as well as new electrical equipment. (2/10)

Boeing Adjusts Loss (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Boeing Co. said it won a long-pending international arbitration case filed by a group of insurance underwriters seeking as much as $365 million for defects on a satellite the company manufactured and sold to a Middle Eastern telecommunications provider. Boeing disclosed that an International Chamber of Commerce arbitration panel last month "issued a final decision rejecting insurers' claims" regarding one of the company's satellites that experienced power problems in orbit. The satellite, called the 702 model, is used for video broadcasting and telecommunications.

Closely watched by the satellite industry and the global insurance community, the dispute was the first major legal case ever in which insurers targeted any satellite maker to pay damages stemming from chronic satellite problems or defects. The satellite was purchased by Thuraya Satellite Telecommunication, which received a settlement from its insurers for the defective satellite. The insurers, in turn, filed the arbitration case against Boeing in September 2004. (2/10)

Could 2011 Seal the Ariane Rocket's Fate? (Source: Flight Global)
The European Space Agency's lofty goals of an all-new rocket, partially or completely reusable, entering service around 2020 are falling by the wayside as its 2012 re-entry vehicle technologies demonstrator flight approaches. Known as IXV, the Intermediate Experimental Vehicle re-entry test is one of four demonstrator projects within ESA's Future Launcher Preparatory Program (FLPP). This has been ESA's effort, involving seven of its member states, to develop technologies for that all-new rocket and to upgrade the operational EADS Astrium Ariane 5 and soon-to-launch ELV Vega.

"We want significant cost reductions with lower lifecycle costs," says FLPP program manager Guy Pilchen. Another FLPP demonstrator, High Thrust Engine, had its first subscale test on 4 February using liquid methane fuel with liquid oxygen. Further testing is due this year. In the coming months procurement for another demonstrator, called Solid Propulsion, will begin, with manufacturing planned for completion within the next two years. The Vega, with its maiden flight expected in December, is a likely recipient of successful solid propulsion advances. (2/10)