All Space articles – Page 178
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SpaceDev wins spacecraft deal
SpaceDev, the commercial space exploration and development company, has been selected by the Space Sciences Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley to design, build and operate a micro-spacecraft. The vehicle will conduct a one-year astronomy mission in low earth orbit. The spacecraft, the Cosmic Hot Interstellar Plasma ...
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Fire in Proton second stage caused engine failure
The failure of the Proton booster on 27 October was caused by "fire in the turbopump of the second stage", says the Russian Aviation and Space Agency. Engine No 1 on the booster's second stage failed, followed by the shutdown of the other three engines, at 222s into the ...
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Beyond the Shuttle
NASA is looking to 2020 and beyond in its search for new space transport vehicles Tim Furniss/LONDON While it acknowledges that the Space Shuttle may still be flying in 2015, NASA is looking at vehicles to complement or supplement and, eventually, to replace its current reusable space transportation system. It ...
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Spaceport Australia
Efforts to establish commercial launch facilities in Australia may deliver results, but the economics are harsh Peter La Franchi/CANBERRAThree decades ago, the former European Launcher Development Organisation walked away from the Woomera Rocket Range. Now, the re-emergence of Australia as a portal to space depends on the success of four ...
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KOMPSAT arrives
The Republic of Korea's Korean Multipurpose Satellite (KOMPSAT), has arrived at Vandenberg AFB, California, for its launch on an Orbital Sciences Taurus booster later this year. The KOMPSAT, built by the Korean Aerospace Research Institute and TRW, carries space physics experiments. Source: Flight International
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Beagle 2 to face ESA
The UK's Open University-led Beagle 2 Mars lander project goes before the European Space Agency's (ESA) Science Programme Committee on 10 November. It is bidding to take a piggyback ride aboard the ESA Mars Express orbiter in 2003. The 60kg (130lb) Beagle 2 is not yet fully funded but ...
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NASA releases new services request
NASA has released a complicated request for proposals (RFP) for multiple award indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) expendable launch vehicle launch services contracts. The RFP involves heavy, intermediate, medium and medium-light vehicles. Proposals are requested by 7 January. The RFP is open to emerging launchers not available at the ...
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ESA issues warning on space debris
The European Space Agency (ESA) is calling for the introduction of measures to prevent further space debris accumulating in orbit. ESA warns that there is a 1 in 25 chance of the Hubble Space Telescope being seriously damaged by space debris during its 17-year life. There are 8,000 pieces ...
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US Government wants cash for NASA
The Clinton Administration is to request money in next year's budget for NASA to start a five-year programme to develop technology for a next-generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV). NASA has concluded that "the current commercial market and the state of technology are not sufficiently favourable to enable private-sector development of ...
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Australia opts for new Optus satellite series
Tim Furniss/LONDON Australia has signed a contract with Cable & Wireless Optus (CWO) to provide the satellite and ground infrastructure for a new $327 million hybrid civil-military communications satellite, Optus C-1. The Optus C-1 is to be launched on an Ariane 5 in 2002, although the contract is ...
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Zvezda launch in doubt after latest Proton failure
The launch schedule of the International Space Station Zvezda service module is threatened again following a Russian Proton K launcher failure on 27 October. The booster, which was carrying the domestic Express A-1 communications satellite, was the second Proton launch failure from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome in four months. The ...
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Breitling Orbiter 3 tops GAPAN Awards
Achievements in ballooning, increasing the safety of escape and survival from helicopters ditching in water and the design and development of autogyros were among the aviation accomplishments of 1998-9 honoured by the UK's Guild of Air Pilots and Navigators (GAPAN) at its annual awards presentation on 27 October at London's ...
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NASA reschedules Shuttle launches
NASA has given tentative launch dates for the next three Space Shuttle missions as wiring inspections and repairs on orbiters Discovery and Endeavour near completion and similar work begins on Atlantis. The STS103 Discovery, the Hubble Space Telescope-Servicing 3A mission, will be launched on 2 December. The Shuttle ...
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ISS mission support site opens
Boeing support personnel for the International Space Station (ISS) and Space Shuttle have begun moving into a $3 million, engineering/mission support room (EMSR). Similar to NASA's mission control complex at Houston, the EMSR was opened at the company's Huntington Beach site in California on 18 October. It replaces ...
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Galileo partners set up consortium
The industrial partners in the European Galileo navigation satellite programme have established a joint venture consortium with headquarters in Brussels. DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, Dornier Satellitinen-systeme, Alenia Aerospazio and Matra Marconi Space are working on the definition phase of the Galileo system funded by the European Community and the European Space Agency. ...
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Globalstar tally increases as ICO changes business plan
Tim Furniss/LONDON Starsem launched another Soyuz-Ikar booster from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on 18 October, carrying four more Globalstar satellites into orbit, bringing the total to 44. Starsem, the Aerospatiale Matra, Arianespace, Russian Space Agency and Samara Space Centre company, plans another launch next month, carrying another four ...
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Arianespace puts Orion 2 into orbit
Arianespace launched a 44LP booster from Kourou, French Guiana, on 19 October on mission V122, carrying the Orion 2 digital TV satellite for Loral Orion. It was the 48th consecutive Ariane 4 launch success and the third Ariane 4 launch in 45 days. The V123 mission, set for 13 November, ...
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NASA denies Mars Polar science loss
Tim Furniss/LONDON The Mars Polar Lander (MPL) will not lose its science-gathering capability as a result of the loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter on 23 September, says NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The MPL is set to land on the edge of the Martian south pole on 6 December. ...
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Levitation kick-start could cut costs
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and PRT Advanced Maglev System have built a track to test whether a rocket-powered spacecraft could be given a low-cost, high speed kick-start into the atmosphere before the craft's engines are ignited. The 15m (50ft)-long development is an electrically powered advanced linear induction motor-powered magnetic ...
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Pizza Proton
The Pizza Hut company will place a 10m (30ft)-wide logo on the side of the Proton booster that will launch the Zvezda module to the International Space Station (ISS), providing the Russian space programme with much needed funds. The Russian Space Agency, which has sold experiment time on its segment ...