To list an event, send information in calendar format to Donna Thomas at [email protected]. (Bold type indicates new calendar listing.) JULY 16 — 24th Annual Greater Washington Aviation Open, "the regions largest Aviation Golf Charity," Lansdown Golf Resort near Leesburg, Va. For more information contact [email protected] or go to www.gwao.org JULY 26 - 28 — NewSpace 2012, "The Space Frontier Foundation's Annual Conference," Moffett Field, Calif. For more information go to spacefrontier.org/ns12registration/
As Earthbound researchers prove slow to realize the orbital capabilities available to them, top managers are beginning to worry that support for human spaceflight could wane
LONDON — The European Space Agency is emulating the emphasis on collaboration with the private sector adopted by the U.K. Space Agency that was stood up last year. Britain has long been a second-tier player to ESA relative to its economic strength in Europe. U.K. contributions to ESA programs lag far behind those of France, Germany and Italy. For a time it looked like Britain might fall behind Spain in funding European space.
Excalibur Almaz, a human-spaceflight startup based on the Isle of Man that has purchased surplus Soviet-era hardware, plans to position one of its two Almaz 20-ton space stations at the Earth-Moon L2 lagrangian point for commercial operations. In a July 12 announcement, the company said it will refurbish the Almaz with up-to-date life support and other internal hardware, and use Hall thrusters to position it in a halo orbit at L2. The estimated 90-day trip could come as early as 2015, according to Art Dula, the company’s founder.
NASA’s role in developing new technologies and proving them in space is vital to industrial advances for the public sector, industry executives say. A House Science subcommittee on July 12 heard from four industry executives and NASA’s chief technologist about spin-off success stories from NASA, and what can be done to keep successes in the pipeline.
Virgin Galactic has officially unveiled a low-cost, small satellite launch system that builds on elements of its space tourism development. The LauncherOne system will deliver payloads up to 500 lb. to low Earth orbit, and with a target price of under $10 million per launch, is aimed at dramatically cutting the cost of launching small satellites. Backed by Virgin Galactic’s partner Aabar Investments, the development of the “new vehicle will create a long-awaited shake-up of the satellite launch industry,” Virgin founder Richard Branson says.
LEAVING NASA: Arthur E. (Gene) Goldman, acting director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, will leave the space agency to become head of Aerojet’s Southeast Space Operations, where he will oversee Aerojet’s partnerships with Teledyne Brown Engineering of Huntsville, Ala., and Florida Turbines Technology of Jupiter Beach, Fla., that could lead to a kerosene-powered strap-on booster for the planned NASA heavy-lift Space Launch System. Goldman, who has spent 22 years at the Alabama field center, will retire from NASA Aug. 3.
LONDON — Aerojet is forming a European subsidiary that will use indigenous manufacturing and engineering talent to produce in-space thrusters and propulsion systems, the Sacramento, Calif.-based company announced July 9. The new entity, European Space Propulsion, will be based in Northern Ireland. Work is to be conducted jointly with Thales Air Defense Ltd. of Belfast, a division of Thales UK, which will provide manufacturing assembly and test capabilities. Aerojet will furnish engineering-support services through its Redmond, Wash., operations.
ON ORBIT: Controllers in Luxembourg are checking out the SES-5 communications satellite after its successful deployment in a geostationary transfer orbit following a 9-hr., 12-min. Proton mission that started with liftoff at Baikonur Cosmodrome at 2:38 p.m. EDT July 9. Built by Space Systems/Loral, the 6-metric-ton spacecraft carries an L-band hosted payload for the European Commission that will aid in the verification, improvement and monitoring of European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (Egnos) positioning signals.
FARNBOROUGH — Armenia is planning to order a commercial communications satellite from Russia under the terms of a memorandum of understanding signed July 9 during the Farnborough air show. Vladimir Popovkin, director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said the satellite — Armenia’s first — is expected to carry 15 transponders, though details of the satellite’s development and launch are still being negotiated. Popovkin expects a contract to be signed by year-end.
FARNBOROUGH — With politicians in the U.S. clamoring for a “hedge” against future missile threats, and budget cuts anticipated on both sides of the Atlantic, Raytheon is pitching a “smart defense” approach.
POOLING SATCOM: The European Defense Agency (EDA) achieved an initial operational capability milestone in the area of satellite communication through a new “pooling and sharing” procurement strategy, the organization announced July 4. EDA’s ad hoc project calls for Italy, France, Poland, Romania and the U.K. to share modest amounts of satellite bandwidth as part of a pilot initiative that aims to save money through a common procurement scheme at the European Union level.
The third in a series of advanced European weather satellites and the U.S. EchoStar 17 telecommunications satellite soared into an elliptical transfer orbit July 5
NEW DELHI — India is preparing to install a shield to protect against intermediate-range ballistic missiles and ICBMs in some of the country’s major cities. “The final locations, which have adequate stealth features and protection against enemy sabotage, will soon be determined by the government to install the ballistic missile defense [BMD] system,” a defense ministry official says. A detailed proposal is currently being prepared for approval by the Indian government.
Pedro L. “Pete” Rustan, who made a daring escape from Fidel Castro's Cuba as a young man and went on to design U.S. reconnaissance satellites, send a spacecraft to the Moon and develop technology used in the mission to kill Osama bin Laden, died of cancer on June 28 at home in Woodbridge, Va., near Washington. He was 65.
As aerospace and defense suppliers head to this year's Farnborough air show, two of their biggest customers present a stark picture of an industry going in two directions. Boeing Commercial Airplanes is hoping to roll out big orders for its reengined 737 MAX narrowbody jet at the show, further proof of airlines' seemingly insatiable appetite for more efficient aircraft.
With several members facing debt crises at home, the European Space Agency (ESA) is paring Earth-observation spending plans ahead of a key budget meeting in November. The initial five-year, €1.9 billion ($2.4 billion) proposal for ESA's fourth Earth Observation Envelope Program (EOEP) will instead involve €1.6 billion over four years, says Volker Liebig, ESA director of Earth-observation programs.
