All Space articles – Page 189
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US Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel warns on Shuttle danger
The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel has warned NASA that its workforce has been so reduced by redundancies and a hiring freeze that Space Shuttle safety could be jeopardised. If new engineering and other staff are not employed, it could create a crisis over the next five to 10 years, ...
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NASA begins search for space lifeboat manufacturer
Guy Norris/LOS ANGELES NASA expects to issue a request for proposals at the end of March for the design phase of the International Space Station emergency crew return vehicle (CRV) due to enter service in 2003. The CRV is similar to the X-24A lifting body, but would glide ...
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Starsem blasts off with four Globalstars
Tim Furniss/LONDON Russian-Franco commercial launch consortium Starsem completed its first mission on 9 February when a Soyuz booster lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, carrying four Globalstar satellites. Starsem, a joint venture involving Aerospatiale, Arianespace and Russian Soyuz builder Samara, plans to launch 20 more Loral Globalstar ...
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News in Brief
Mars Fleet - NASA has awarded commercial space exploration company SpaceDev of San Diego a research contract to study the possible use of small spacecraft in Mars orbit. These could provide communications and navigation services for unmanned Mars craft. The SpaceDev vehicle would use a common spacecraft bus with interchangeable ...
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Europe navigates independent satellite route with Galileo
The European Commission (EC) has proposed development of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) independent from the US global positioning system (GPS) as the second stage in Europe's satellite navigation programme. The Galileo project, announced by EC transport commissioner Neil Kinnock on 10 February, will require funding of up ...
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NASA transfers aeronautics research funding to space
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC NASA has slashed funding for aeronautics research and transferred the money to the International Space Station (ISS) programme. The shift poses a question about the government's role in funding 'conventional' aerospace research, says NASA's financial controller, Mal Peterson. Compared to this year, funding for aeronautical ...
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Sea Launch aims for March take-off
The Boeing-led Sea Launch group is planning the maiden launch of its Zenit 3SL booster, from the Odyssey offshore platform in the equatorial Pacific Ocean, on 15 March. It will carrya dummy satellite to demonstrate geostationary orbit-launch capability. Six Ukrainian-Russian Zenit boosters are complete and three commercial flights are ...
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NASA budget hit by space station needs
NASA's budget is to be reduced for the sixth year running, with more money than ever going towards the International Space Station (ISS). The agency's fiscal year 2,000 budget request of $13.58 billion, which represents a slight decrease on the FY1999 funding level, includes $2.48 billion for the ISS, ...
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Lockheed Martin to build second Garuda
Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems has received an order to build a second A2100 satellite for the Asia Cellular Satellite Systems (ACeS) company. The US concern has also landed a deal with GE Americom to build four satellites. Lockheed Martin is a member of the ACeS consortium, which owns ...
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Clipped wings
NASA's decision to slash its funding for aeronautics research should be seen as a warning cry for the US aircraft industry- and as a clarion call for its European counterpart. The agency was only able to transfer funds from aeronautics research to the Inter-national Space Station because it was ...
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Mars fleet
NASA has awarded the San Diego-based SpaceDev privately operated commercial space exploration company a research contract to study the possible use of a fleet of small spacecraft in Mars orbit. The craft could provide communications and navigation services for future unmanned Mars spacecraft. The SpaceDev craft would use a common ...
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China may use Mir for docking
Tim Furniss/LONDON China Aerospace is considering using Russia's Mir space station as a docking base for its planned first manned spacecraft. Two Chinese astronauts, flying on an uprated Long March 2E booster, will be aboard the spacecraft - based on Russian Soyuz technology - for a launch, possibly at ...
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Israel plans to spy with Eros civilian satellites
Israel is to use three civilian satellites to improve its spy satellite capability. Under a deal signed in late January the Israeli Ministry of Defence will use earth remote observation satellites to be launched by a company known as West Indian Space - a Cayman Islands-registered concern jointly owned by ...
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Extra costs
The European Space Agency, which is investing more than $500 million to build the Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for the International Space Station, will have to pay Russia $25 million for modifications to the Service Module to allow it to accommodate the ATV, plus an extra $3 million "docking fee" ...
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More space for Mir
Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov has signed a decree allowing the Mir space station to remain in orbit for a further three years. The station was to have been de-orbited in June, to allow the cash-starved Russians to concentrate on their obligations to the International Space Station (ISS). NASA will ...
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Lockheed Martin hit by new X-33 delays
Tim Furniss/LONDON The first flight of the $1.2 billion Lockheed Martin X-33 spaceplane technology demonstrator has been delayed again. The latest setback, caused by a hydrogen tank problem, pushes the maiden flight back seven months, to July 2000 at the earliest. The programme - which was started in ...
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Electrical problems spark Shuttle observatory delay
NASA has delayed its first Space Shuttle launch in 1999 by at least five weeks from 8 April, after discovering potential electrical problems with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. The observatory is to be deployed by Space Shuttle STS93 Columbia, the launch of which has already been postponed from last ...
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World views
Tim Furniss/LONDON Orbital Sciences' (OSC) Orbimage division has acquired the worldwide sales and distribution rights for radar imagery to be returned by Canada's 1,650kg (3,600lb) Radarsat 2 satellite. The satellite, under construction by OSC's recently acquired MacDonald Dettwiler, will be launched in 2001 and is expected to be ...
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ESA takes flexible approach
Julian Moxon/PARIS The European Space Agency (ESA) is embarking on a more flexible system for programme funding designed to speed up the process of directing money to programmes where it is most needed. There will be no major change, however, to the system of "just returns", under which ...
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India's GSLV may get Arianespace work
India could gain commercial satellite launcher business for its planned Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) as a result of the decision to equip its booster with an Ariane-compatible satellite adapter. Under an agreement between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Arianespace last year, the GSLV could launch subcontracted ...