All Space articles – Page 199
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Nissan makes plans for small launcher
Nissan is planning to introduce a small commercial solid propellant satellite launcher as early as 2001, with a booster developed from two current Japanese programmes. It would be the first private Japanese attempt to enter the commercial launcher market. No government funding is envisaged for the project, which will cost ...
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Room for manoeuvre
Hughes is cutting satellite production cycle times with a new test site Tim Furniss/LONDON To meet the growing demand for its satellites, Hughes Space and Communications - has added 3,800m2 (41,000ft2) of test space at its factory in El Segundo, California. The extra space provided by a new thermal stress ...
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Spot on satellite
The Spot 4 launch has breathed new life into the French Earth observation satellite programme Andrzej Jeziorski/KOUROU Just another 2t of junk in a relentlessly growing orbital scrapheap, Spot 3 still zips from pole to pole, awaiting its end as a fiery skid mark across the upper atmosphere. In ...
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Space trace
An Orbital Sciences' (OSC) Pegasus XL booster air launched from the company's Lockheed TriStar carrier aircraft over the Pacific Ocean on 2 April successfully placed NASA's Transition Region and Coronal Explorer (TRACE) satellite into low Earth orbit. The 212kg TRACE will be used to investigate the connection between the sun's ...
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Cassini heads for Venus fly-by
NASA's Cassini Saturn Orbiter and its European Space Agency Huygens Titan lander, launched on a Titan 4 Centaur in November 1997, will pass to within 300km of the planet Venus on 26 April on its flightpath towards the ringed planet which it will reach in July 2004. The Huygens probe ...
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Hughes wins contract to build first Canadian Anik F satellite
Tim Furniss/LONDON Hughes Space and Communications has received a contract to build the first Anik F series communications satellite for Telesat Canada. The contract brings to 38 the number of geostationary orbit (GEO) communications spacecraft on Hughes' orderbook, with a further two craft on order for meteorological applications. ...
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STS90 Neurolab mission remains on schedule
NASA has confirmed that the next Space Shuttle mission will be launched on 16 April. The date had been threatened by fears that problems, mainly concerning a possible rescheduling of International Space Station (ISS)-related missions, could delay the launch to 28 April. The Neurolab - the final planned flight ...
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Israeli First
A space first for Israel occurred on 25 March when the national satellite Ofeq 3, launched in 1995, was manoeuvred into a higher orbit, reports the Molniya Space Consultancy, London. The spacecraft's 354-519km orbit was raised to 496-518km by two burns of the Ofeq's propulsion system. Source: Flight International
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Space Group
The European Space Agency (ESA) will establish a single European astronaut corps to prepare for the International Space Station programme by combining a cadre of ESA astronauts with those in programmes now operated by France, Germany and Italy. Source: Flight International
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ISS centre truss tested
Boeing has completed a test article of the 13m-long centre truss segment which is destined to become the backbone of the International Space Station (ISS). Assembly is now proceeding on the first production segment due to be attached in orbit to the crew laboratory module in early 2000. The centre ...
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Ariane 503 faces delay to September
Arianespace is preparing to delay the third and final European Space Agency (ESA)-funded demonstration flight of the Ariane 5 satellite launcher from July to September because it cannot find a commercial customer willing to provide a payload. The Ariane 503 launcher will be ready for lift-off in July, with ...
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Shuttle conundrum
To develop or not to develop new technologies? That is the question facing NASA Ramon Lopez/WASHINGTON DCTim Furniss/LONDON The additional $750 million NASA has been given over the next five years to help develop technologies for the next generation of re-usable launch vehicles (RLV) should instead be used for further ...
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ESA plan emphasises launchers
Julian Moxon/Paris Development of a 1t launcher, increased capability for the Ariane 5 rocket and a new emphasis on partnership with industry for telecommunications and science programmes are among initiatives planned by the European Space Agency (ESA) in its latest five-year plan. ESA's new director general, Antonio Rodota, ...
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Advertising space
US Vice President Al Gore has asked NASA to develop the concept of a small satellite to be launched for less than $50 million. The craft, due to launch in 2000, would sit in a solar orbit 1.6 million kilometres above the Earth, sending back continuous high-definition images to be ...
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Germany clears way for ISS participation
The German Government has approved German participation in the International Space Station (ISS)programme. According to Daimler-Benz Aerospace (Dasa), the move amounts to national confirmation of a commitment made jointly by the participating nations in the original agreement to proceed with the ISS, signed earlier in Washington DC. Germany ...
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Arianespace launches Spot 4
Andrzej Jeziorski/KOUROU Arianespace successfully launched the Spot 4 Earth observation satellite for the French Space Agency (CNES) on 23 March after three days of delays. The hold-up was caused by a single bent connector pin on communications equipment. The 2,755kg satellite, built by prime contractor Matra Marconi Space, ...
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Hughes wins three more contracts to build PanAmSat satellites
Hughes Space and Communications has received contracts to build the PanAmSat PAS 6B satellite and two spacecraft for the American Mobile Radio Corporation (AMRC). The PAS 6B is a rapid replacement for the Space Systems-Loral-built PAS 6 which has suffered electrical failures in orbit. PanAmSat has also expressed technical ...
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Outlook fine
Tim Furniss/LONDON The European Space Agency (ESA) already has its eyes fixed firmly on the next weather satellite programme, even though a structural and thermal model of the first satellite in the present programme has only just been unveiled. The model, for the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) programme (see box), ...
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UK launch scheduled
The UK Defence Evaluation and Research Agency's 100kg Space Technology Research Vehicles (STRV 1C and D) will be launched into geostationary transfer orbit by Arianespace in 1999 using the Ariane 5 Structure for Auxiliary Payloads system. Each STRV will weigh 100kg and each one will be equipped with 25 research ...
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High hopes
Space Dev of Colorado has received confirmation from NASA that proposals to provide experiments for its Near Earth Asteroid Prospector (NEAP) programme will be considered within the space agency's Discovery programme. The venture is the first by a commercial company to launch a privately financed interplanetary spacecraft. Space Dev has ...