All Space news – Page 173
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Hope X engine tests completed as Japan freezes funding
US company Aerojet has completed verification testing of the Orbital Manoeuvring Engine (OME) intended to power the Japanese HOPE-X orbiter. Aerojet has been developing the OME under contract from Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI), the vehicle's propulsion system contractor. The testing was completed shortly after the Japanese National Space Development ...
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New delay for Endeavour flight
Tim Furniss/LONDON New attempts to launch Space Shuttle Endeavour STS99 on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) have been further delayed to at least 11 February because of launch-related commitments at adjoining Cape Canaveral. A possible STS99 launch on 9 February has been ...
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SpaceDev/Boeing link for exploration
SpaceDev and Boeing have agreed a teaming arrangement to investigate opportunities of "mutual strategic interest" in commercial deep-space exploration and exploitation. They will use as the basis for the study a variety of small low-cost missions formulated by SpaceDev, the world's first commercial space exploration company. The two firms ...
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SeaStar pictures US winter storm
The extent of the intense winter storm that struck much of the eastern USA recently can be seen in this image, which was captured by NASA's sea viewing wide field-of-view sensor (SeaWifs) on board the Orbital Sciences SeaStar satellite. The SeaWifs was built by Hughes. Source: Flight International
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Inflatable heatshield tests set for Fregat
Tim Furniss/LONDON A Soyuz booster is scheduled to test the new Fregat upper stage for Franco-Russian venture Starsem. The test will be carried out after its launch on 9 February. The mission will also test new inflatable re-entry technology heatshields developed by Lavochkin and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. The Fregat will ...
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Minotaur is multiple success
The US Air Force Orbital Suborbital programme was inaugurated on 27 January when the Minotaur booster was launched for the first time, from Vandenberg AFB's commercial launch pad, operated by Spaceport International. The Minotaur carried the Jawsat multipayload adaptor holding the USAF Falconsat; the Arizona University Asusat; the Stanford University ...
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Mir makes Progress with docking success
A Soyuz booster was launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on 1 February, carrying a Progress M tanker that docked with the Mir space station on 3 February. The tanker will raise the Mir's orbit to 400km. The Russian Government has approved a proposed 750 million rouble ($26.2 million) programme to ...
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Cleaning up the act
The increasing risk to spacecraft from debris is causing concern in the space industry Tim Furniss/LONDON Space debris is a perennial problem. About 8,700 man-made objects larger than tennis balls - of which only about 700 are operational satellites - can be tracked in Earth orbit. Of these, ...
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NEAR near
NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous NEAR spacecraft is approaching the asteroid Eros for the second time. The first rendezvous attempt was thwarted by a spacecraft fault in December 1998. It is hoped that the NEAR will be in orbit around Eros on 14 February. The craft is sending back images ...
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Cassini tested
Many of the science instruments aboard the Cassini spacecraft en route to Saturn in 2004 have been calibrated and tested during a 1.5 million kilometres flyby of the asteroid Masrusky. Cassini was launched in October 1997 aboard a Titan 4B en route to Saturn via flybys of Venus and the ...
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High power
The world's largest commercial communications satellite is in orbit Tim Furniss/LONDON Galaxy XI, the world's biggest commercial communications satellite, has been operating for PanAmSat in geostationary orbit (GEO) following its launch in December aboard an Ariane booster. Its purpose is to carry video and telcommunications services to North America and ...
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XIPS - efficient electric propulsion
The xenon ion propulsion system, or XIPS (pronounced "zips"), is the culmination of nearly 40 years of research into the use of electric propulsion as an alternative to conventional chemical propulsion on spacecraft. Also used on the HS-601 and high power 601HP models as well as the HS-702 satellites, ...
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ESA budgets for Ariane 5 updates
The European Space Agency (ESA) is allocating $545 million of its $2.13 billion 2000/1 budget to launchers, mainly upgrades to the Ariane 5. For the first time, the ESA budget also features funding for Europe's two-stage satellite navigation programme - the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay System and Galileo. Much ...
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Radio revolution
WorldSpace plans to operate three satellites providing digital-quality sound to portable receivers Tim Furniss/LONDON The next Ariane 5 launch in February will help to spread radio broadcasts across the world. One of the two satellites it will carry will be the AsiaStar, the second in the three-satellite WorldSpace constellation, which ...
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NASA delays 'risky' HETE launch
Tim Furniss/LONDON The launch of the NASA High Energy Transient Explorer (HETE) aboard a Pegasus booster from Vandenberg AFB, California, was cancelled in late January as the space agency considered it too risky. NASA wants more testing of the satellite and further preparations at ground stations before it goes ...
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Thruster contracts for Kaiser Marquardt
Kaiser Marquardt is to provide 110lb-thrust (490N) bipropellant engines for the attitude control system of the International Space Station (ISS) and 200lb-thrust engines for the ISS Propulsion Module. The contract has come from Boeing Reusable Systems. The Propulsion Module will share long-term attitude control and re-boost work with the ...
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Atlas blast-off kick starts new millennium space programme
The first satellite launch of the new millennium was routine, with an International Launch Services (ILS) Atlas IIA lifting off from Cape Canaveral on 21 January, carrying the US Air Force DSCS III B8 satellite. It was followed on 24 January by PanAmSat's Galaxy XR, a high- power Hughes ...
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Eutelsat orders fresh NewBird
Eutelsat has ordered a new communications satellite, provisionally called NewBird, from Alcatel Space. The craft will be equipped with 26 Ku-band transponders switchable to three areas of coverage - a wide beam over Europe, a beam covering North and South America, and a steerable beam. The satellite will be ...
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Spacehab contract
Spacehab has won a $4.2 million contract from NASA to supply an integrated cargo carrier (ICC) and two Spacehab Oceaneering Space Systems Boxes - unpressurised tool boxes - for next year's Space Shuttle International Space Station (ISS) assembly flight 7A.1. It will be the first flight of an ICC without ...
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Comment3...
Comment3 Headlines USA reconsiders JSF policy4 Dragonair plans 26-aircraft order Dash 8-Q400 delays lengthen5 Lockheed Martin eyes job cuts A400M engine rivals in joint talks 6 MDH to take over former owner's site Air Transport Bombardier picks regional engines8 Crew drills highlighted at Little Rock hearing BM starts CityLine services9 ...