The U.S. Air Force plans to launch two new, secretly developed satellites this year to spy on activities in the densely populated geosynchronous orbit belt, according to Gen. William Shelton, who leads Air Force Space Command. The spacecraft, classified until Shelton revealed their existence Feb. 21, were developed by the Air Force and Orbital Sciences Corp. under the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP), service officials say.
A Japanese H-IIA launcher lifts off Feb. 27 with the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) Earth-science spacecraft onboard, setting up unprecedented coverage of rain and snowfall from a slot in the sun-synchronous “A-train” satellite constellation. Liftoff of the GPM “core observatory” came at 1:37 p.m. EST (3:37 a.m. Feb. 28 local time) from the launch site on Tanegashima Island in southeastern Japan, and the big rocket performed nominally.
Data mining the first two years of results from NASA’s Kepler planet-finding probe, using a statistical technique based on the discovery that multi-planet systems are more common than once thought, has confirmed 715 new exoplanets orbiting distant stars, scientists announced Feb. 26. Two papers to be published by the Astrophysical Journal outline the Kepler findings, the statistical technique derived from them and the results when the data were analyzed with it.
Sofia, the Joint NASA and German Aerospace Center (DLR) Boeing 747SP flying observatory, is on the verge of reaching full operational capability after completing the final commissioning flight for the last of four major science instruments.
The U.S. Air Force has ruled that the first Falcon 9 v1.1 flight conducted last fall does count as one of three required for Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) to be certified to compete for boosting U.S national security payloads into orbit, as the upstart company works to take on the United Launch Alliance (ULA) monopoly.
HOUSTON — NASA will hold off on scheduled spacewalks outside the International Space Station until late July or early August in response to the findings and recommendations of a Mishap Investigation Board (MIB) that probed the spacesuit leak that flooded the helmet of Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano with water last July 16, according to top agency managers.
MOJAVE, Calif. — Masten Space Systems has used its Xombie vertical landing launch vehicle to successfully fly what is thought to be a landing sensor package and software system for Astrobotic Technology, a Google Lunar X-Prize (GLXP) contender.
PARIS — With Eurofighter Typhoon sales lagging, and Germany expected to reduce its planned order in the multinational program by 37 jets, Airbus Defense and Space is paring back export projections. “I’m not terribly optimistic as to future sales prospects beyond 2017 or so, because so far the export success has been rather meager,” Airbus Group Chief Executive Tom Enders said during a Feb. 26 news conference unveiling the company’s 2013 earnings results. “In addition, we have governments considering uptake cuts for the Eurofighter.”
Skybox Imaging will use a commercial version of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Minotaur 1 rocket to launch six of its cubesat-derived, high-resolution imaging satellites in 2015, potentially clearing the way for Orbital to launch seven more of the Space Systems/Loral spacecraft later.
MOJAVE, Calif. — Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic are modifying the interior of SpaceShipTwo (SS2) to accommodate the final configuration of the rocket motor that will be used to power the space vehicle to suborbital space later this year. The modifications also include fitting the interior and passenger seats for the first time. Completion work on the cabin, and the upgrades to install the full-duration-capable Sierra Nevada RM2 motor, are expected to take several months and will pave the way to the fourth powered test flight (PF04) around mid-year.
The civil upheaval in the Ukraine has had no discernible effect on production of the core stage of Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Antares launch vehicle, according to a company spokesman, who said the company has enough Ukrainian hardware on hand to continue launching cargo to the International Space Station in its pressurized Cygnus capsule into early 2015.
Scaled Composites and Virgin Galactic are modifying the interior of SpaceShipTwo (SS2) to accommodate the final configuration of the rocket motor that will be used to power the space vehicle to suborbital space later this year. The modifications also include fitting the interior and passenger seats for the first time. Completion work on the cabin, and the upgrades to install the full-duration-capable Sierra Nevada RM2 motor, are expected to take several months and will pave the way to the fourth powered test flight (PF04) around mid-year.
Final reports on the 2012 Delta IV anomaly that generated low thrust in its RL-10B-2 upper-stage engine are expected in April, but the successful launch of a Delta IV with the GPS IIF-5 spacecraft Feb. 20 indicates fixes added to the launcher’s engine-processing procedures worked as planned.
HOUSTON — NASA estimates it will spend between $8 billion and $11.2 billion on U.S. commercial resupply services in support of the six-person International Space Station between 2017 and 2024, according to a request for information (RFI) related to a forthcoming Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract announcement. The agreement will call on providers to deliver 14,250-16,750 kg (31,400-36,900 lb.) of pressurized cargo and 1,500-4,000 kg of unpressurized cargo annually.
NEW DELHI — India is lining up international customers for its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) as the country looks to boost its share of the global launch market. Antrix Corp., the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), has signed an agreement with Singapore Technologies Electronics Ltd. to launch its first commercial satellite, TeLEOS-1.
ORLANDO, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force is planning to launch two new and previously classified space situational awareness satellites into geosynchronous orbit this year, according to Gen. William Shelton, who leads Air Force Space Command. The spacecraft were developed covertly by the Air Force and Orbital Sciences under the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSAP), according to service officials.
LOS ANGELES — Engineers at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center are completing key load tests on elements of a large hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (HIAD) that ultimately could enable larger payloads to be delivered to the surface of other planets, or returned to Earth.
Valery Kubasov, the flight engineer on Soyuz 19, which docked with an Apollo spacecraft in Earth orbit in July 1975, died Feb. 19 in Moscow. He was 79. His death was announced on RSC Energia's website, which called him a “high-spirited instructor test cosmonaut.” No cause of death was given.
In the fraught atmosphere that wracked NASA and the spacefaring world after the Columbia accident in 2003, perhaps the sharpest condemnation stemmed from an off-the-cuff remark by the U.S. space agency's space shuttle program manager. Ron Dittemore said he did not seek imagery from classified reconnaissance satellites that might have revealed the extent of the launch-debris damage to the orbiter's left wing because nothing could have been done anyway. Sean O'Keefe, then the agency administrator, begged to differ.
HOUSTON — After a dozen years, NASA’s university-level student rocket competition is growing more difficult — much more like the real-life efforts to introduce powerful new propulsion sources like the agency’s deep space-enabling Space Launch System heavy lift rocket.
