Space – Page 172
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Air-launched booster under study by USA
Boeing is studying the feasibility of developing an air-launched booster capable of launching military and commercial payloads on demand. The AirLaunch booster is being designed by Boeing and Thiokol Propulsion as a possible launch system for the USAir Force's planned Space Manoeuvre Vehicle (SMV), a reusable, unmanned spaceplane. ...
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Second Fregat test precedes commercial debut
Starsem plans to launch the second Soyuz Fregat booster from Baikonur on 19 March to place two dummy satellites into a simulated orbit, using the Fregat upper stage. The mission will pave the way for two commercial launches in June and July, designed to place two pairs of Cluster ...
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Power problem delays IMAGE
Concern about the condition of DC-to-DC power converters on the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite has delayed the 15 March launch of the spacecraft aboard a Boeing Delta II from Vandenberg AFB, California. Launch preparations for the $153 million Lockheed Martin-built satellite have been halted after an ...
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NASA details ISS price list
Tim Furniss/LONDON Users of the US share of International Space Station resources will be charged a standard price of $20.8 million a year, according to a preliminary price structure released by NASA. The charge is quoted for use of each of two typical "bundles" of equipment, excluding transportation ...
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People
American Airlines has named David Cush as vice president (VP), international planning and alliances. Cush returns to American from Aerolineas Argentinas, where he has been chief operating officer (COO) since November 1998, after the termination of the US major's management contract there. Airbus Industrie of North America (AINA) says retiring ...
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Ball plans to bid for radar spot on remote-sensing satellite
Guy Norris/BOULDER Ball Aerospace & Technologies is "gearing up" to propose a synthetic aperture radar to NASA for a free-flying remote sensing satellite. This follows the success of its antennas on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), which was completed on 22 February. "We're starting to form a team ...
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Photo first for largest commercial satellite
Hughes Space and Communications has released an image transmitted from its first HS-702 spacecraft, Galaxy XI, in geostationary orbit showing the deployment of the spacecraft's solar panels. When extended, the wingspan of the satellite - 34m (111ft) - is equivalent to the wingspan of a Boeing 737. The 30min sequence ...
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Design flaw found in Polar Lander switch system
The Mars Polar Lander (MPL) Failure Review Board has identified a fatal design flaw that could be a possible cause of the loss of the spacecraft on 3 December. A simple switch system to turn off the $167 million lander's engine when contact was made with the ground may have ...
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NASA shocked by commercial Mir plans
NASA is calling for the Mir space station to be de-orbited as planned this summer. The US space administration is concerned that plans for commercialising the Mir is diverting Russian attention and funds from the International Space Station (ISS) and contributing to delays of the latter. The space administration ...
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RLV faces stiff competition
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC NASA will launch "rigorous trade studies" in March to establish the requirements for its revamped second-generation reusable launch vehicle (RLV) programme. The space agency anticipates pursuing "more than two architecture options" when it begins the five-year $4.5 billion second-generation RLV programme in October - assuming Congress ...
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White House calls for range efficiency
Commercial users should have a greater say in running US space launch ranges, concludes a White House-led interagency review of the future management and use of these government-owned facilities. The review was launched last March in response to issues raised by the growth of US commercial launch activity and ...
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NASA research for Spectrum Astro
Spectrum Astro has just been awarded a Phase II contract for its Optimal Orbit Transfer Analysis for Advanced Space Systems project under NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme. The contract provides for a two-year period of performance and funding for the development of prototype software capable of analysing ...
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NASA promises more Shuttle support
NASA will hire 1,850 more engineers in the next five years to concentrate on improvements to the Space Shuttle main engines, auxiliary power units and cockpit avionics. The move follows an independent Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel assessment which concluded that NASA's manned spaceflight team is too small and too ...
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Proton on course for Zvezda launch
Tim Furniss/LONDON The prospects for a launch of the Russian Zvezda service module to the International Space Station (ISS) in July were raised on 12 February by the successful lift-off of a four-stage Proton DM booster from Baikonur. The rocket carried the Asia Cellular System (ACeS) Garuda 1 mobile ...
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MIR hopes
MirCorp, established last year to fund the continuation of operations of the Russian Mir space station, says it has paid Russian company Khrunichev about $30 million to keep the orbiting base in space until the summer. The company needs to raise $40 million more from investors. Meanwhile, Russian scientists propose ...
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Reusable Fregat proves concept with return flight
Alexander Velovich/MOSCOW Tim Furniss/LONDON The Fregat upper stage was tested successfully for the first time on 9 February attached to a Soyuz booster. The Soyuz-Fregat placed into orbit and returned to Earth a dummy payload weighing about 110kg. The Fregat is a reusable module which has a unique ...
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NASA consents to Contour after Eros lift
NASA has approved the start of development of the Comet Nucleus Tour (Contour) spacecraft, which will be launched in 2002 to fly past up to three comets between 2003 and 2008. Contour, which is managed by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Baltimore, Maryland, which also built the ...
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Tarnished image
Three Japanese satellite launches in the last two years have failed: the country's space programme is in crisis Andrzej Jeziorski/TOKYO Japan's space programme has been tarnished by a series of launch failures that culminated this month in the unsuccessful mission to deliver a government observation satellite into orbit aboard ...
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X-33 engine passes test milestones
The X-33 Technology Demonstrator's linear aerospike engine has been test fired for 125s at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. It was the longest test to date at 100% power for the Boeing Rocketdyne engine, exceeding a previous run by 30s. The test also featured the first demonstration of ...