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Aviation History
2004
2004-09 - 1914.PDF
SPACEFLIGHT SPACE STATION TIM FURNISS / LONDON Russia postpones Soyuz launch Concerns over oxygen supplies on board International Space Station thought to be behind latest delay Russia has again postponed the launch of Soyuz TMA 5 to the International Space Station (ISS) from 11 October for a "few days", citing a "malfunction in one of the craft's systems". But the delay could be motivated by concerns that the ISS may have to be evacu ated before year-end unless at least one of three non-operational Russian oxygen generators can be brought on line. An Elektron oxygen generator aboard the ISS has failed again, fol lowing a repair using spare parts that would have been used to bring a back-up system into operation. Of the three Elektron units on board the space station, the last one is "hard broken", NASA sources say. The other, although broken, was thought to be repairable using a jury-rigged bypass pump sent up on a Progress tanker - but the parts were used in the attempt to repair the prime generator. NASA admits that if Russia can not launch a new oxygen generator to the ISS before the end of the year, the space station may have to be abandoned if onboard reserves of back-up oxygen fall below 45 days. The ISS has about 162 days of back-up oxygen and there is no reason to doubt that two new Progress Ms will be able to carry new oxygen supplies, but delivery of a new oxygen generator is unlikely until February 2005. The worst-case scenario is that the failure may force NASA and the Russian Space Agency to cancel the October launch, leaving the cur rent expedition crew aboard until it may become necessary for them to abandon ship in the attached Soyuz TMA. The Progress tanker currently docked to the ISS has full oxygen and air tanks worth 100 days. Further oxygen is available in two high-pressure tanks in the US airlock and 84 solid-fuel oxygen generator canisters, adding a 42- day supply. This is enough to sup port the next crew, but there is no guarantee there will not be serious safety issues if the Elektrons cannot be repaired or replaced. The ISS expedition crew await ing launch may still be able to repair one of the two prime genera tors aboard the station. The second needs more extensive repair or replacement. A third back-up unit does not work. NASA will not be able to supply stored oxygen via refillable tanks until after the Space Shuttle has returned to flight and ISS Assembly Phase 1 has been completed in 2006. If abandoned, the ISS could remain empty for months, says NASA, which admits there is a 50% chance of losing the $100 billion station if there is no crew on board to troubleshoot problems. The ISS has been manned continuously since November 2000 and assem bly is due to be complete by 2010. SATELLITE Ciel aims for Canada's sky Ciel Satellite Group has been selected by the Canadian government to operate a communications satellite in competition with sole national operator Telesat Canada. Ciel, backed by US firm SES Americom, has received provi sional approval from Industry Canada to operate a satellite at 129°W in geostationary orbit. The company must begin operations by August next year to keep its orbital slot and plans to move an existing satellite to the location, with the intent of replacing it within a few years with a new, more advanced satellite. Ciel plans eventually to develop an independent Canadian fleet of satellites. Meanwhile, Thailand's Shin Satellite has launched a competition for a Thaicom 5 geostationary communications satellite to be launched in 2009 to replace Thaicom 3, which is expected to terminate service in 2007 after a series of malfunctions, and Thaicom 2, which is expected to go out of service in 2009. ANTI-JAMMING Antenna on test Northrop Grumman has begun testing the anti-jam ming nulling antenna for the US Air Force's Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) communications satellite. The US manufacturer is delivering two payloads to Lockheed Martin, which is the prime contractor for the AEHF. ENVIRONMENT ESA go-ahead for global sentinels European Space Agency member states have given the go-ahead to start work on the space segment of the Global Monitoring for Environ ment and Security (GMES) pro gramme. ESA has released €30 mil lion ($37 million) for definition studies for the five "sentinels" that will be the backbone of the future European Earth observation system. GMES is a joint initiative of the European Commission and ESA, similar in conception to the joint EC/ESA-funded Galileo navigation- satellite system now under devel opment. The total of €80 million released by ESA will also fund fur ther definition of the services to be provided by GMES, paving the way for a ministerial decision in late 2005 or early 2006 on full imple mentation of the system. Meanwhile, a structural model of the first of two experimental Galileo navigation satellites is being tested at ESA's ESTEC centre. The first Galileo testbed, the 600kg (1,3001b) GSTB-V2-A, is being built by the UK's Surrey Satellite. A sec ond experimental satellite, the 523kg GTSB-V2-B, is being built by Galileo Industries, the European consortium that will produce the operational spacecraft. Both testbeds will be launched aboard Soyuz boosters from Baikonur into medium-Earth orbits. The first launch is planned before the end of 2005. One of the test- beds must be in orbit by June 2006 to secure signal frequencies allo cated to Galileo by the Internat ional Telecommunications Union. The next step will be the launch of a four-satellite mini-constellation. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 5-11 OCTOBER 2004 31
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