All Space news – Page 183
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Starsem gathers new contracts
Globalstar has awarded a contract to Starsem to carry four more satellites on a Soyuz launch in 2001. This follows three launches of four Globalstars each this year. Another three previously contracted Globalstar launches are due later this year. The Aerospatiale-Matra/Arianespace/Samara/Russian SpaceAgency owned Starsem also has contracts for two ...
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Second test for Vega's Zefiro
The second test firing of the Zefiro engine for the European Space Agency's (ESA) proposed Vega small satellite launcher has been completed in Sardinia, Italy. The Vega will be able to place 1,000kg (2,200lb) payloads into low earth orbit (LEO) at between $10 million and $25 million a launch, ...
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Box blamed for WIRE breakdown in orbit
NASA's Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) satellite failed in orbit because of an incorrectly designed electronics box that prematurely fired explosive devices, says the space agency. The failure caused the early ejection of the satellite's telescope cover. The box's design did not take into account the start-up characteristics of ...
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Chandra Observatory is joined to Columbia
The Chandra X-Ray Observatory (foreground) was delivered in its canister to Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 29 June, to be inserted into the payload bay of Space Shuttle Columbia. The observatory is due to be deployed into orbit shortly after the launch of the ...
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X-38 schedule doubts
As NASA prepares for another drop test of the X-38 prototype space station crew emergency return vehicle (CERV) at Edwards AFB, California, there are doubts about the schedule for the full scale version. There are indications that this version will not serve the International Space Station until 2005, rather than ...
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Delta III engine 'exploded'
Tim Furniss/LONDON The failure of Boeing's Delta III launcher to place the Orion 3 satellite into a correct orbit in May was probably caused by an explosion in the combustion chamber of the second stage engine, says Boeing. The stage was powered by a Pratt & Whitney RL-10 Centaur-class ...
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Surrey Satellite signs for Dnepr launches
The Russian-Ukrainian Kosmotras company has signed a contract with the UK's Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) for two launches of SSTL mini-satellites on the Dnepr, a converted SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile booster. The launches are planned to take place in March/April and October/November next year. The first commercial Dnepr launch ...
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Orbital engine test
Orbital Sciences (OSC) has successfully test fired a new low cost, 4,500kN thrust rocket engine it is developing for a NASA/US Air Force upper stage. The hydrogen peroxide-JP-8 kerosene engine fired for 140s. The upper stage will be flown with a small OSC-developed craft scheduled to be launched on a ...
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Lockheed Martin seeks commercial GPS role
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin has taken the first step towards fielding a commercially owned and operated satellite network for worldwide augmentation of the global positioning system (GPS), enabling it "to serve as the backbone for future air navigation". The company, which signalled its intent last year to ...
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Brazil sets date for second VLS launch attempt
The Brazilian Space Agency will attempt to launch its second Veiculo Lancador de Satelites (VLS) indigenous launch vehicle in September. The first flight failed in 1997, shortly after lift-off, when a solid rocket strap-on motor malfunctioned, putting the vehicle off course. The VLS will launch the SACI 2 satellite ...
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Hermes knowhow lives again
Dassault Aviation is talking to NASA on conducting further aerodynamics design work on the International Space Station (ISS) Crew Research Vehicle (CRV) and the X-38 reuseable spaceplane, using technology from its ditched Hermes programme. NASA chief Daniel Goldin says the work carried out so far by the French company ...
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Mechanical faults delay Japan's moon probe launch
The launch of Japan's Lunar-A space probe will be delayed for at least another three years, following mechanical faults. The launch was originally planned for mid-1997 and postponed on two occasions by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, because of mechanical problems. During tests, two "penetrators" - which ...
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Rotary Rocket woos investors with low-risk Roton engine
Rotary Rocket will use a low-risk conventional engine for its Roton flight demonstrator, rather than the original RocketJet engine, "so that the development programme can be concluded more rapidly and with less technical risk". The move is believed to be in response to investor concern about the use of new ...
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NASA could pay Russians more to build Space Station module
Tim Furniss/LONDON Frederic Castel/PARIS NASA is considering providing funding to Russia in exchange for hardware to ensure that the Russian service module for the International Space Station (ISS) makes its 12 November launch. Any shortfall in payments by the Russian Government could delay further the launch of the $320 million module ...
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Icy crater
Close-up radar images of the lunar south and north poles by NASA's tracking network antenna indicate that deep craters that do not receive direct sunlight may hold ice deposits. NASA's Lunar Prospector could release up to 18kg of water vapour from the craters when it makes its scheduled controlled crash ...
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Russia develops new family of boosters
Russia's Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Centre has introduced a family of launchers which could compete in the commercial market by 2001. The largest of the five proposed Angara launchers has a maximum performance to low earth orbit of 28t and can place 7,600kg (16,520lb) into geostationary transfer ...
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Germany plans RLV flights
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (Dasa) is to build a demonstrator to develop reuseable launch vehicle (RLV) technology, with test flights to begin in 2002. The 6m (20ft)-long, rocket-powered Phoenix demonstrator is intended as a testbed for RLV technologies that could later be applied to a longer-term, two-stage to orbit RLV programme ...
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Chinese aim for first manned Long March mission in 2003
Tim Furniss/LONDON China will launch the first unmanned test flight of its spacecraft and booster system next year in preparation for its first manned mission in 2003. China Great Wall Industry (CGWIC) says the manned space programme will involve an uprated version of the Long March 2E satellite launch ...
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Successful Delta II launch cheers Boeing
A Delta II booster lifted Boeing's morale on 10 June, when a successful launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, placed four Globalstar satellites into orbit. It was the first launch since the Delta III mission failed in May. The Delta II is lined up for four more missions this summer, ...
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Eurockot plans Iridium launch on converted SS-19 ballistic missiles
The Russian-German Eurockot company has won a contract from Motorola for the December launch of two Iridium mobile communications satellites. This will be the first launch by the commercial organisation, which uses Rockot-converted Russian SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missiles as launch vehicles. Eurockot, a joint venture of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace and ...