All Space news – Page 182
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Columbia flies at third try
NASA successfully launched the Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS93 on 23 July after its second launch attempt on 22 July was called off because of bad weather. The Columbia, with its Chandra X-ray Observatory payload, was originally due for launch on 20 July - the 30th anniversary of the ...
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NASA Messenger mission will map Mercury
NASA plans to return to Mercury, after an absence of more than 30 years, when its Messenger spacecraft reaches the innermost planet in 2008. The Messenger mission to map Mercury is one of two new projects selected for NASA's "quicker, cheaper" Discovery programme (Flight International, 21-27 July). The other ...
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USAF chips in for X-37 spaceplane
The US Air Force is to contribute $16 million to the NASA/Boeing X-37 experimental spaceplane programme as a follow-on to the USAF-funded X-40, to demonstrate technologies for future military spacecraft. The X-37 design is scaled up from the X-40, an unpowered vehicle built by Boeing and drop-tested from a helicopter ...
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Solar array joints delivered
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space has delivered to International Space Station prime contractor Boeing the solar array rotary joints and the second of two thermal radiator rotary joints for the station. The 3m (10ft)-diameter solar array joints are "the largest mechanisms ever designed to operate in a space environment", says ...
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Shuttle could fly until 2030
NASA predicts that its Space Shuttle could still be flying up to 2030 unless the US Government helps to fund new reusable launch vehicle projects. The Space Shuttle programme's four orbiters are a quarter of the way through their lifetimes, says Richard Stephens, vice-president and general manager ...
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Spain joins Argentina for Cesar project
Spain and Argentina are working together on the Cesar satellite, planned for launch in 2003. Cesar, which will be developed by Spain's Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial (INTA) and Argentina's space agency CONAE, will transmit 5m (16ft)-resolution images of the earth. A launcher for the 400kg (880lb) spacecraft has ...
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Proton failure puts question mark over ISS Zvezda launch
Tim Furniss/LONDON The failure of a domestic Russian launch of a four-stage Proton booster on 5 July has grounded International Launch Services (ILS) and casts doubts on a punctual launch of the International Space Station (ISS) Zvezda service module in November. The US-Russian ILS Atlas fleet is already ...
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Arianespace signs Ellipso deal
Julian Moxon/PARIS Arianespace has signed a unique partnership agreement with satellite telecommunications provider Ellipso, which involves the launch of a constellation of 20 satellites aboard the Ariane 5 and an investment in the system by the launch company. The memorandum of agreement, which covers four launches from early 2002, ...
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Rosetta goes on as NASA retires
The European Space Agency (ESA) has completed the final design of its Rosetta orbiter and is preparing the spacecraft for a comet landing in 2012. NASA recently cancelled its Champollion comet lander project because of budget cuts. Europe "has seized the opportunity the USA always misses", said ESA director ...
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SpaceDev and Lockheed Martin probe low-cost services scheme
SpaceDev and Lockheed Martin have joined forces to investigate the development and marketing of low-cost access to orbit for small payloads. The delivery service will be based on the Lockheed Athena booster and SpaceDev's standardised MiniSIL spacecraft buses. Two SpaceDev craft would fly on the Athena, carrying science and ...
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Starsem gathers new contracts
Globalstar has awarded a contract to Starsem to carry four more satellites on a Soyuz launch in 2001. This follows three launches of four Globalstars each this year. Another three previously contracted Globalstar launches are due later this year. The Aerospatiale-Matra/Arianespace/Samara/Russian SpaceAgency owned Starsem also has contracts for two ...
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Second test for Vega's Zefiro
The second test firing of the Zefiro engine for the European Space Agency's (ESA) proposed Vega small satellite launcher has been completed in Sardinia, Italy. The Vega will be able to place 1,000kg (2,200lb) payloads into low earth orbit (LEO) at between $10 million and $25 million a launch, ...
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Box blamed for WIRE breakdown in orbit
NASA's Wide Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) satellite failed in orbit because of an incorrectly designed electronics box that prematurely fired explosive devices, says the space agency. The failure caused the early ejection of the satellite's telescope cover. The box's design did not take into account the start-up characteristics of ...
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Chandra Observatory is joined to Columbia
The Chandra X-Ray Observatory (foreground) was delivered in its canister to Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on 29 June, to be inserted into the payload bay of Space Shuttle Columbia. The observatory is due to be deployed into orbit shortly after the launch of the ...
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X-38 schedule doubts
As NASA prepares for another drop test of the X-38 prototype space station crew emergency return vehicle (CERV) at Edwards AFB, California, there are doubts about the schedule for the full scale version. There are indications that this version will not serve the International Space Station until 2005, rather than ...
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Delta III engine 'exploded'
Tim Furniss/LONDON The failure of Boeing's Delta III launcher to place the Orion 3 satellite into a correct orbit in May was probably caused by an explosion in the combustion chamber of the second stage engine, says Boeing. The stage was powered by a Pratt & Whitney RL-10 Centaur-class ...
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Surrey Satellite signs for Dnepr launches
The Russian-Ukrainian Kosmotras company has signed a contract with the UK's Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) for two launches of SSTL mini-satellites on the Dnepr, a converted SS-18 intercontinental ballistic missile booster. The launches are planned to take place in March/April and October/November next year. The first commercial Dnepr launch ...
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Orbital engine test
Orbital Sciences (OSC) has successfully test fired a new low cost, 4,500kN thrust rocket engine it is developing for a NASA/US Air Force upper stage. The hydrogen peroxide-JP-8 kerosene engine fired for 140s. The upper stage will be flown with a small OSC-developed craft scheduled to be launched on a ...
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Lockheed Martin seeks commercial GPS role
Graham Warwick/WASHINGTON DC Lockheed Martin has taken the first step towards fielding a commercially owned and operated satellite network for worldwide augmentation of the global positioning system (GPS), enabling it "to serve as the backbone for future air navigation". The company, which signalled its intent last year to ...
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Brazil sets date for second VLS launch attempt
The Brazilian Space Agency will attempt to launch its second Veiculo Lancador de Satelites (VLS) indigenous launch vehicle in September. The first flight failed in 1997, shortly after lift-off, when a solid rocket strap-on motor malfunctioned, putting the vehicle off course. The VLS will launch the SACI 2 satellite ...