February 26 News Items

Iridium Satellite's Profit Down 83% (Source: Washington Business Journal)
Despite higher sales, earnings at Iridium Satellite LLC, which provides mobile satellite communications services, plummeted 83 percent to $1.5 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with the same quarter in 2007. The Bethesda-based company’s revenue increased 14 percent to $76.8 million from $67.3 million in the comparable quarter. The decline in earnings, executives said, was due to increased expenses for developing Iridium NEXT, the company’s new group of satellites expected to launch in 2014, and other one-time costs. (2/26)

Commercial Zenit Rocket Launches with New Telstar (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
A Zenit rocket blasted off from Kazakhstan today to begin a nearly six-hour mission delivering a Canadian communications satellite to an oval-shaped orbit high above Earth. The Zenit 3SLB booster launched from pad 45 at the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan, beginning the second mission of a Sea Launch spinoff program aimed at serving the market for medium-class communications satellites. Propelled by a four-nozzle RD-171 engine, the 192-foot-tall launcher darted into the night sky and flew to an altitude of 52 miles before jettisoning the first stage about two-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. (2/26)

North Korean Space Launch a "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
An armada of air, sea and space intelligence assets are being deployed above and around North Korea in anticipation of the imminent test of a 105 ft. Taepo-Dong-2 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile disguised as a satellite launch vehicle. The timing of the test is unknown, but expected soon. Key North Korean support hardware has been spotted moving into place around the launch site and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il visited the launch facility Feb. 25.

Iranian hardware, including possible satellite components, are part of the North Korean test. Many of the same flight test objectives for demonstrating ICBM flight and guidance can be duplicated with a space launch, where the velocity of the upper stage is allowed to reach 17,500 mph. Obama adminstration officials say any kind of test will immediately result in strong new sanctions against the North. (2/26)

Russian Proton to Launch AsiaSat 5 in Summer (Source: Aviation Week)
An International Launch Services Proton will boost AsiaSat 5 into orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan this summer. The satellite is under construction by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) in Palo Alto, Calif., based on the company's 1300 series spacecraft bus. It is to replace AsiaSat-2 at 105-deg. East and offer C- and Ku-band footprints over East Asia and South Asia and an in-orbit maneuverable Ku-beam. AsiaSat CEO Peter Jackson said a change in launch plans by another, unidentified customer allowed AsiaSat to gain access to the Proton and slip onto the manifest for a third-quarter launch. SS/L is expected to ship the satellite to Baikonur early this summer. (2/26)

Why China Will Launch More of the World's Satellites (Source: TIME)
News this week that China has secured its first launch contract with a major Western satellite operator in more than a decade comes as a major boost for Beijing, which wants a bigger chunk of the world's bustling satellite launch business. The last Western company to launch a satellite in China was U.S. firm Lockheed Martin way back in 1998. Since then, the U.S. has tightened its regulations on the exports of arms, defense technologies, and even on technologies that can be adapted to military ends. That prevents American companies from using China's launch capabilities. The regulations even apply to U.S. trading partners that build satellites with U.S.-made components. Beijing has therefore had to do with launches for smaller companies from Asia, Africa, and South America.

Industry estimates place the total world satellite industry — from construction to transmission services — at $92 billion a year. Launch activity makes up just $3.2 billion of that. According to one expert, the price of launching a satellite in the U.S., Europe, or Russia runs around $80 million. China can put a satellite into orbit for around half that cost — and offers additional services such as ground transportation and handling, and some technological additions that clients usually pay extra for.

Since tighter [ITAR] rules were introduced in 1998, U.S. market share of satellite manufacturing has plunged from 80% to 41%. "If non-American groups are constructing those satellites for clients ready to turn to China for cheaper launches, China will be handling the same technology despite a U.S. ban...They'd be better off changing the rules to apply to only to truly sensitive military and defense technologies." Not everyone sees it that way. Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher stressed that any rule revisions must ensure "nations who proliferate weapons of mass destruction and rogue nations are barred from receiving our high tech systems." (2/26)

Obama Continues Bush Space Plan, Adds Money (Source: MSNBC)
President Barack Obama is proposing moderate increases in space spending. Obama emphasizes global warming research and continues plans to retire space shuttles next year while eventually returning astronauts to the moon. The $18.7 billion proposal for the budget year starting Oct. 1 is 6 percent more than President George W. Bush asked for last year. The Obama proposal essentially keeps the space agency on the course set by Bush. It would retire the shuttles in 2010, land people on the moon by 2020 and go five years relying on Russia for rides into orbit. The president wants to add one space shuttle flight next year. The spending highlight in Obama's plan is for tracking global warming from space, a major change from previous years. (2/26)

Florida Math & Science Day Features Space Exploration Theme, May 1 (Source: FDOE)
The Florida Department of Education "Florida Math and Science Day" is May 1, 2009 and this year's theme is Space Exploration! Florida K-12 teachers are invited to submit lesson plans related to the Space Exploration theme. The announcement, template for lesson submission, and scoring rubric are available at http://www.fldoestem.org/page582.aspx. (2/20)

Space Solar-Power Backers Hope Obama Will Become Powerful Ally (Source: AIA)
Researchers hoping that President Barack Obama will help resurrect the space solar-power program were encouraged when he appointed two solar-power advocates to senior positions at NASA. Space solar power, a technology that draws the sun's energy to Earth with microwave beams, has caught the attention of the U.S. military but has not received significant NASA funding since 2002, despite pleas from government and private industry volunteers. "I don't see how NASA or the space program can stand aloof from these [alternative energy] efforts," said a NASA official. (2/26)

Two Japanese Pilots Selected as Astronaut Candidates (Source: Mainichi)
Two Japanese pilots have been selected as astronaut candidates, hoping to go to space as early as 2013 and stay on the International Space Station (ISS). The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has selected Takuya Onishi, 33, an ANA copilot, and Kimiya Yui, 39, Lieutenant Colonel at the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF), as astronaut candidates -- the first active pilots to be chosen. "We selected the two who received the highest evaluation for overall qualifications to become astronauts," said an official. (2/26)

Professor, Wife Accused of Defrauding NASA (Source: Fox News)
Iranian-born Samim Anghaie, 59, is the Director of the Innovative Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Institute at the University of Florida. His wife, 55-year-old Sousan Anghaie, is president of New Era Technology Inc. (NETECH) in Gainesville, Fla. Authorities say Sousan Anghaie persuaded NASA to award her company "several fully funded contracts," including nearly $600,000 to develop and study a uranium-related technology. But, according to an affidavit unsealed today in federal court, the couple allegedly used most of that money to buy personal luxuries -- including their $480,000 home in Gainesville, a 2007 BMW and a 2005 Toyota Sienna sports van. They also used that money to buy a property for their son in Tampa, Fla., a property for their other son in Manchester, Conn., a 2008 Toyota Corolla for Sousan Anghaie's sister, and a 2007 Toyota Corolla for another family member. (2/26)

Shuttle Launch Set for March 12 (Source: Florida Today)
NASA on Wednesday set Mar. 12 as a tentative launch date for Discovery's launch, after putting in place a plan that should enable the agency to safely send the shuttle and seven astronauts to the International Space Station. The new target date provides time to replace suspect main propulsion system valves and complete ongoing testing and analyses aimed at making certain the shuttle is safe to fly. Liftoff time would be around 8:54 p.m. NASA is leaving open an option to move the launch up to March 11 if work goes well. (2/26)

Russia Set to Put U.S. Telecom Satellite Into Orbit (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russia is planning to launch on Thursday a U.S. Telstar telecom satellite on a "Land Launch" Zenit rocket from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. The Telstar 11N, built by Loral, will provide services from 39 high-power Ku-band transponders spread across four different geographic beams in each of North and Central America, Europe, Africa and the maritime Atlantic Ocean Region. The Zenit-3SLB is a modernized three-stage version of the Zenit-3SL, which was previously used at Sea Launch's floating platform in the Pacific Ocean. (2/26)

Witnesses Highlight Need to Reform Export Controls (Source: Science Committee)
In a hearing of the House Science and Technology Committee, a panel of expert witnesses unanimously agreed that the current system of U.S. export control policies, under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and the Export Administration Regulations, are outdated and must be reformed...“Industry and academia are shying away from bringing products and ideas into the international arena – or collaborating with our friends and allies. The result is less business and less engagement with leading researchers the world over. It is, in essence, a system that is designed to slowly erode our technological superiority.” Many of the export controls used today are from the Cold War era when Soviets sought access to U.S. technologies for potential military applications. In response, the U.S. instituted export control mechanisms largely directed by the Export Control Act of 1968 and the Export Administration Act of 1979. (2/26)