HEAT VISION: Lockheed Martin has completed assembly of the Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, the company announced April 16. The work was done at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Advanced Technology Center in Palo Alto, California, where environmental testing is about to begin. The University of Arizona and Lockheed Martin are responsible for the NIRCam instrument design, the instrument control and focal plane electronics and software.
PARIS — The Yahsat 1B (Y1B) telecom satellite owned by United Arab Emirates-based Al Yah Satellite Communications Co. is slated to launch April 24 aboard an International Launch Services Proton rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. When Y1B enters service, it will complete the two-spacecraft Yahsat system built by EADS-Astrium and Thales Alenia Space. Al Yah, however, is now considering ordering a third satellite and is soliciting interest from numerous manufacturers, according to industry officials.
HANDED OVER: Three months after its launch, the U.S. Air Force has accepted control of WGS-4 following Boeing’s in-orbit testing of the spacecraft, which is based on the 702HP commercial satellite bus. WGS-4 will be the first Block II in operation following USAF acceptance testing. Block II spacecraft feature three times faster data rate transmissions of airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance imagery as compared to Block I. WGS-5 is in production and due for launch in 2013. The WGS is the successor to the Defense Satellite Communications System.
Scientists preparing to use International Space Station facilities for research will have better online access to their experiments after U.S. astronauts finish revamping communications links. The work, intended to support a substantial increase in simultaneous science research, includes a doubling of the downlink data rate, solid-state recording and additional voice loops.
Scientists using NASA's Kepler spacecraft (see photo) to look for planets around other stars have been “surprised by the universe,” and the value of those surprises has earned the mission a four-year funding extension. Kepler was one of nine astrophysics programs granted peer-reviewed extensions on the recommendation of a NASA Senior Review Committee (SRC). Most of them—including the Hubble Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory—also will continue operating through 2016.
Michael Mecham (San Francisco), Amy Svitak (Paris)
A hosted payload agreement between Space Systems/Loral and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center offers the U.S. the chance to catch up with Europe's leadership in the use of optical systems, which hold the promise of faster data transmission for space communications and lower power demands.
More than a decade after the bottom dropped out of the prospective U.S. commercial launch market, the U.S. Air Force is struggling to deal with the continued financial ramifications of that unrealized opportunity. Those challenges are compounded by NASA's decision to rely on Russian rockets for its cargo missions in the near future, so the burden of shepherding the bloated U.S. launch infrastructure has now fallen into the lap of the Air Force.
With the ability of heavy-lift rockets to perform piggyback launches, and even after making 100 A2100 geosynchroneous communications satellites since 1996, Lockheed Martin has not seen two launched on the same ride.
With the ability of heavy-lift rockets to do piggy-back launches, it is surprising to learn that even after making 100 A2100 geosynchronous communications satellites since 1996, Lockheed Martin has yet to see two of the spacecraft launched on the same ride. That string is set to be broken May 15 when the 100th and 101st satellites in the series, JCSat-13 and Vinasat-2, are to be lofted by an Ariane 5 from Arianespace’s launch facility in Kourou, French Guiana. The two spacecraft were shipped to Kourou on April 12.
HOUSTON — A European Space Agency (ESA) inquiry points to a still-unexplained problem with a computer communications interface as the culprit in a temporary power loss that followed the recent docking of the cargo- and propellant-laden Automated Transfer Vehicle-3 with the International Space Station.
Calling optical systems “the next era of space communications,” NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center has selected Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) to host a laser communications relay demonstration (LCRD) payload on a 2016 commercial mission. The technology has two attractions: optical communications use an uncongested portion of the spectrum compared to the radio frequencies that currently transmit data from space; and they hold the promise of orders of magnitude higher data rates than RF communications.
PARIS — The European Space Agency (ESA) is working to re-establish contact with the 10-year-old Envisat spacecraft, which the agency says stopped relaying data to Earth April 8. The 8,000-kg (18,000-lb.) spacecraft has been in orbit twice as long as its five-year design life, but ESA hopes to keep the satellite operating until the launch of a follow-on mission under Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program.
Boeing is developing designs for a secure mobile phone that could relieve the woes of government officials and senior business executives who use Blackberries for their security features, but hope to have the functionality of a more modern device such as the iPhone. The company is developing the system with partners, but officials decline to name them for now. They say more detail is coming on the design and the team later this year, with a product launch slated by year’s end.
HOUSTON — U.S. and European astronauts Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers, as part of a temporarily downsized International Space Station crew, are preparing for the arrival of the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule, which is awaiting a tentatively scheduled April 30 liftoff on the first attempt at a U.S. commercial resupply mission to the orbiting science lab. NASA and SpaceX mission managers are scheduled to gather at NASA’s Johnson Space Center April 16 for a flight-readiness review to assess the preparations and settle on an official launch date.
BEIJING — China’s main rocket engine maker appears to have begun deliveries of production-standard YF-100 engines, the key powerplants for the forthcoming Long March 5, 6 and 7 launchers. A propulsion system for the Long March 5 heavy launcher, comprising two main engines and two auxiliary thrusters, was “recently” delivered by the Academy of Aerospace Propulsion Technology (AAPT) — also known as the 6th Academy — according to its parent, the national space group China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC).
Spurred by reports that LightSquared is considering bankruptcy, two lawmakers are hoping the government can recover the cost of testing the company’s proposed 4G communications network for interference with GPS.
ANOTHER TRY: Cobham has launched a hostile takeover bid for satellite communications equipment maker Thrane & Thrane after an initial offer was rebuffed by the Danish company. Cobham bid £270 million ($428 million) for outstanding shares in Thrane & Thrane after bringing its own holdings to 25.6%. The move comes after Cobham withdrew an earlier bid last month, after Thrane & Thrane rejected it. Since then, Cobham has acquired shares from Jupiter Asset Management and other entities that represent 22.7% of the Danish company’s shares.
