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Aviation History
1996
1996 - 0141.PDF
SPACEFLIGHT No Date Spacecraft Type Launcher!*) 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 2 Dec 5 Dec 6 Dec 14 Dec 15 Dec 18 Dec 20 Dec 28 Dec 28 Dec 30 Dec SOHO Classified Telecom 2C Insat 2C Cosmos 2323 2325 Galaxy 3R Progress M30 Cosmos 2326 IRS-1C" Echostar1 XTE Science Recon Comsat Navsats+ Comsat Tanker Eltnt* Rem sens Comsat Astro Atlas (10)> Titan 4 (4)> Ariane 4(11)> Proton (7) Atlas (11)> Soyuz (12) Tsyklon (3)> Molniya (4)@ LM2E(2) Delta 2 (3)> Country!*) USA (24) USA (25) Launch site!*) Canaveral (14) Vandenberg(3) Europe (11) Kourou(ll) Russia (29) USA (26) Russia (30) Russia (31) Russia (32) China (2) USA (27) Baikonur (16) Canaveral (15) Baikonur (17) Baikonur (18) Baikonur (19) Xichang (2) Canaveral (16) * Indicates total number of orbital launches by this launch vehicle, country and launch site in 1995. (Japan's orbital launch of the Express on 15 January is not clas sified by US Space Command) > Atlas 2AS model (4), Titan 4 with no upper stage model (1), Ariane 44L model (1), Atlas 2A model (2), Tsyklon 2 stage model (2), Delta 7920 model (2) + Three Glonass satellites to complete 24^raft system. A Eorsat also carried civilian Konus science instrument " Also carried US Skipper minisatellite Firing tests completed on Vulcain for Ariane 5 THE SECOND AND FINAL qualification firing of the Vul cain cryogenic first-stage engine of the Ariane 5 booster was success fully completed at Kourou, French Guiana, on 6 January, clearing the NEWS IN BRIEF • ROCKET ENGINES The first of seven cryogenic rocket engines built by Russia will be shipped to India later this year as part of a deal for the development of the national Geostationary Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The Russians have demanded payment in dollars rather than rupees — as origi nally agreed. The first GSLV will be launched with the Russian engine in 1998. An Indian cryogenic engine under development may be first used in 2000. • MILSTAR FIRST The US Joint Chiefs of Staff opened a new age in satellite communications, sending a message halfway across the world via the crosslink anten nae on the Milstar Block 1 Development Flight Satellites 1 and 2, without relying on ground-relay stations. way for the booster's maiden flight on 7 May. The Ariane 5 will have its first commercial flight for Arianespace in late 1996, after two missions funded by the European Space Agency. The launcher market is expected to grow by 30%, to 30-35 satellites, to the year 2000. Arianespace plans to launch 70 spacecraft in the next four years, with 13 launches this year, including the two Ariane 5 development flights. Overall, there will be 30 Ariane 4 launches and 12 by Ariane 5 s to the end of 1999, an increase of 12 over original plans. Up to nine extra Ariane 4s may need to be ordered. PanAmSat of the USA has select ed an Ariane 5 to launch its PAS 7 satellite in 1997, while the launches of PAS 8 and 9 have been assigned to the ILS International Launch Services' Proton, built by Russia. • Germany's MAN Technologie has signed a DM60 million ($41.6 million) contract with Arianespace for the supply of lightweight, heat- resistant, structural components for the new launcher. MAN sup plies 10% of the Ariane 5's compo nents and has a 7.5% stake in Arianespace. SABCA of Belgium has signed a $133 million contract with Aerospatiale for the produc tion of skirts andhydraulic equip ment for the initial order of 14 Ariane 5s. • Russia plans Mir 1 missions to 2001 TIM FURNISS/LONDON THE RUSSIAN SPACE Age ncy (RSA) says that it plans to continue to operate the Mr 1 space station for at least five years, while still participating in the US NASA- led international Alpha Space Station, assembly of which begins in November 1997 (Flight Inter national, 13-19 December, 1995). The two stations would be operat ed in parallel. Yuri Koptev, director of the RSA, says that it "...would be too wasteful to stop using" the Mir 1, given the "great financial strain" under which the Russian space programme is operating, although "...there cannot be an alternative" to the Alpha. Launch of the final Mir 1 module, the Priroda, has been delayed by one month to April. NASA rejected a Russian pro posal to use the Mir 1 as part of the Alpha Station, but has accommo dated the RSA's situation by draw ing up a new assembly plan for the Alpha which reduces Russia's later launch responsibilities. The launch of the Russian func tional energy-block module, how ever, is still scheduled for the first Alpha element launch in Nov ember 1997, as is the flight of the service module in April 1998 (Flight International, 22-28 Nov ember, 1995). NASA may extend use of the Mir 1 for research mis sions beyond 1998, when the Shut tle Mir Missions are scheduled to be completed. • Shuttle launch seen from U-2 UNIQUE high- resolution bird's- eye views of a Space Shuttle launch were taken from a Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft circling over the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, at an alti tude of 20,000ft (6,100m), 8km (4nm) clear of the Shuttle's flight- path. NASA commissioned the recently released photographs of the STS30/Atlantis launch on 4 May, 1989, taken from a US Air Force U-2 based at nearby Patrick AFB, to enable engi neers to assess whether debris was being shed from the nose caps of the solid-rocket boosters (SRBs) during the launch phase. During an earlier launch, the tiles of the orbiter had been hit on 707 occasions by small particles. It was later deter mined that some tile damage was caused by booster ablative material falling off the SRB nose cap because of a bonding problem, which was then rectified. FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 17 - 23 January 1996 17
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