All Space articles – Page 176
-
News
USAF launches uprated weather satellite
The US Air Force launched a Titan II booster from Vandenberg AFB, California, on 12 December, carrying a Defense Meteorological Satellite Programme (DMSP) Block 5D3 satellite into orbit. The satellite is the first of a new generation of Lockheed Martin-built craft with larger sensors, more power, longer battery life ...
-
News
'Real estate in space' for ISS
Spacehab and Russia's Energia plan to build the first privatised commercial module for the International Space Station (ISS). Called Enterprise, the module will be used for commercial microgravity experiments and to host a studio for television and Internet broadcasts. The latter is expected to be in conjunction with an established ...
-
News
Second Brazilian launch fails
The Brazilian Space Agency failed in its attempt to place its first national satellite into orbit aboard an indigenous booster on 11 December when the second stage of the 19.4m (64ft)-high, $7.5 million Veiculo Lancador de Satelites VLS 1 went out of control. The booster had to be destroyed at ...
-
News
First Hughes 702 will be largest in orbit
Hughes Space and Communications' first HS-702 satellite was due to be launched on 21 December aboard an Ariane 4. The HS-702, which will be PanAmSat's Galaxy XI satellite, will be the largest commercial communications satellite deployed in orbit - equipped with 64 transponders (40 Ku-band and 24 C-band) and ...
-
News
Commercial launch success for Ariane 5
Tim Furniss/LONDON Arianespace's first Ariane 5 commercial flight placed the European Space Agency's (ESA) X-Ray Multi Mirror (XMM) space telescope into elliptical orbit after launch from Kourou, Guiana, on 10 December. The success of the fourth Ariane 5 flight buoyed commercial hopes for the booster after a chequered ...
-
News
Forecasts for 2000 - Space
Launch failures put pressure on space station project Tim Furniss/LONDON Already four years behind schedule, the fledgling International Space Station (ISS) faces a crisis in 2000. The critical launch of the Russian Zvezda service module is on hold until the Proton booster can be cleared for flight again following ...
-
News
Rocket science
NASA must be eagerly awaiting the New Year following its string of disasters in 1999. The US space administration, which has done so much for space exploration this century, is hardly ending it on a high note. The latest setback - the further delay of the crucial Hubble Space ...
-
News
Orbcomm launch
Orbital Sciences launched a Pegasus booster from its Lockheed L-1011 TriStar carrier over the Atlantic on 4 December, placing seven Orbcomm subsidiary satellites into orbit. It was the fourteenth consecutive successful Pegasus launch, with the number of Orbcomm satellites in space reaching 35. Source: Flight International
-
News
Mission failure leaves Mars exploration in disarray
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Mars Polar Lander Mission (MPL) was declared lost on 6 December after the failure of the seventh and final attempt to pick up signals from it using the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor. NASA administrator Dan Goldin says that a detailed review will be conducted of ...
-
News
Europe to define GalileoSat
The European Space Agency and the European Commission (EC) have signed a contract to launch the €20 million ($20.2 million) GalileoSat definition phase for the proposed Galileo satellite navigation system. By mid-December, the EC was also expected to sign four major contracts with industry on Galileo system definition. The ...
-
News
Sweden wins contract to develop Smart for ESA
The Swedish Space Corporation and the European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a €33 million ($32.9 million) contract to develop the Small Advanced Research and Technology 1 (Smart 1) science and technology demonstration spacecraft. Smart 1 will be launched to the moon in about 2003. The Smart series of small ...
-
News
Matra Marconi wins climate monitor deal
Matra Marconi Space (MMS) has received a €791 million ($798 million) contract from the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (Eumetsat) to build three polar-orbiting Metop satellites. Metop is the first European polar-orbiting satellite dedicated to operational meteorology and climate monitoring. ...
-
News
Ariane launches Helios 1B
Arianespace launched an Ariane 40 booster from Kourou on 3 December, carrying the 2,500kg Helios 1B "spy satellite" into 700km sun-synchronous orbit. It was the 50th consecutive successful launch of an Ariane 4 model and the eighth successful Ariane launch for the year. The $1 billion two-satellite Helios 1 ...
-
News
NASA plans the first of Mars mission series
NASA will launch a navigation and communication microsatellite into orbit around Mars in 2003 as the first of a series of micromissions there. NASA plans to launch the 485kg (1,100lb), $50 million, microsatellites, built by Ball Aerospace, with an Aerojet propulsion unit, to form the Mars Network. The network ...
-
News
NASA prepares to launch Earth-observing Terra
The first International Launch Services Atlas booster to fly from Vandenberg AFB, California, is due to lift off on 16 December. The Atlas IIAS will carry NASA's flagship Earth Observing System (EOS) satellite, Terra, into a 705km circular Sun-synchronous polar orbit. Terra, originally called EOS AM, is the first ...
-
News
Close shave
Just 4min before the Galileo's 300km fly-by of one of Jupiter's moons, Io, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers restored power to its cameras. They had been decommissioned by the craft going into "safe mode" as it flew through the intense radiation of the gaseous planet on 25 November. Source: Flight ...
-
News
Ariane 5 faces critical lift-off
The Ariane 5 launcher will conduct its first operational and commercial flight from Kourou, French Guiana, on 10 December. It will carry the $1 billion X-Ray Multi Mirror (XMM) telescope - Europe's largest-ever science satellite. The first full commercial Arianespace-operated mission - Ariane 504 - will place the 10m ...
-
News
SBIRS team
Aerojet has signed a teaming deal to become a member of the TRW-Raytheon project for the Space Based Infrared System Low (SBIRS Low) project. Aerojet will play a key role in the ground segment, systems engineering and space segment. SBIRS Low is the low-Earth orbiting component of the US Air ...
-
News
Hubble service trip delayed for repairs
NASA has delayed the launch of STS103 Discovery on the Hubble Servicing Mission 3A to 9 December. The delay is to allow time for repairs to be made to minor damage on cables between the orbiter and the external tank. During preparations for orbiter Endeavour's mission in January, NASA ...