All Space news – Page 193
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SSTL wins moon mission contract
UK company Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) has won a contract from the European Space Agency to undertake a Lunar Orbiter Mission study. SSTL will work with the Technical University of Berlin and the Swedish Institute of Space Physics. The SSTL-led Lunar Academic Research Satellite, Lunarsat, is the result ...
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NASA looking at X-38 and VentureStar combination
NASA and Lockheed Martin are studying a concept of using the X-38 International Space Station (ISS) Crew Return Vehicle and the proposed Lockheed Martin VentureStar single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane to provide an alternative to the Space Shuttle. The X-38, a prototype of which is being prepared for its second automatic atmospheric ...
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Arianespace resumes launch programme
Arianespace returned to space on 25 August after a launch hiatus going back to April, when Ariane V109 44P carried the Matra Marconi Space-built ST-1 communications satellite into geostationary orbit from Kourou, French Guinan. The ST-1 is to be operated by a Taiwan-Singapore consortium. It was the 37th consecutive successful ...
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Russian activity continues despite crisis
Tim Furniss/LONDON Russian space companies have been promised new funding, landed a multi-million dollar contract and completed another commercial satellite launch, despite the economic crisis that has beset the country. The fate of the nation's involvement in the International Space Station (ISS) remains unclear, however. A Khrunichev-built Russian ...
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Spar wins three new contracts for ISS
Spar Aerospace has been awarded three space contracts to support the International Space Station (ISS), as well as Hughes communications satellite projects. An $18.6 million contract from L3 Communications has been secured by the Canadian companyto supply a second Ku-band high-gain antenna for use on the ISS. Additional funding, ...
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Aerojet delivers final DSP sensor
GenCorp Aerojet has delivered the last in a 28-year legacy of infrared sensor products for the US Air Force Defense Support Programme (DSP) early warning satellite programme. The company says at Farnborough that the Sensor 23 delivery to satellite-builder TRW will earn it the final $42 million of the ...
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European missile men square off against Americans
Tim Ripley British Aerospace and Lagardere have re-affirmed their missile alliance after French moves to privatise Aerospatiale appeared to threaten the foundations of Matra BAe Dynamics (MBD). At Farnborough yesterday, MBD chief executive Fabrice Bregier announced that detailed negotiations are now under way to link his company with ...
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Spaceport Florida develops quick reaction launch pad
An old launch pad at Cape Canaveral is being converted for "quick reaction" commercial launches, says Spaceport Florida Authority (SFA) in Hall 2. SFA already operates a converted launch pad, No 46 at Canaveral, which made its debut in January with the launch of the Lunar Prospector aboard an ...
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UK funds navigation work but not Mars bid
Tim Furniss Another new UK space minister visited Farnborough yesterday, praising the virtues of public-private partnerships in space but unable to offer even a few million pounds to kick-start what could be the most prestigious UK space mission for years. Lord Sainsbury, successor to John Battle, whose reign ...
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Ex-astronaut fronts low-cost satellite initiative
Karen Walker A former NASA astronaut who helped in the famous Intelsat-6 satellite rescue is leading an industry initiative to provide global satellite services to small, independent operators. Rick Hieb is now director, commercial space, at AlliedSignal Technical Services in Maryland. He is better known, however, as the ...
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UK satellite to be launched by Russia
Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) has signed a contract with the Russian ISC Kosmotras company to launch its new Uosat 12 Minisatellite aboard a modified SS-18 missile renamed the Dnepr. Making the announcement yesterday, SSTL says the launch will be from Baikonur in 1999. SSTL's FA-SAT Bravo microsatellite - ...
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New European launcher awaits full funding
Tim Furniss Europe's new small satellite launcher, Vega, makes its debut on the Aerospatiale stand in Hall 1. If it gets full development funding, the 26m high Vega will make it first launch from Kourou in 2002. Commercial flights and transportation for European Space Agency (ESA) satellites will ...
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Alenia leapfrogs Euro space station work
Alenia Spazio's Space Division reports that its first Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is being processed at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in preparation for its launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in December 1999. It was shipped to the KSC on an the Airbus A300-600T Beluga cargo ...
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Saab Ericsson starts on new space projects
Work has started at Saab Ericsson Space on two major satellite projects. The company, which is featured in Hall 1, has won contracts to provide vital components for Metop meteorological and Astra communications satellites. Saab will supply antenna interface units, flight computers, and radar antennas for three Metop ...
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Europe's future: watch this space
Tim Furniss The European space industry is in limbo. It is awaiting, with extremely sweaty palms, the next Ariane 5 launch and, with puzzlement, the outcome of negotiations to form a major European space company. The next launch of the Ariane 5 is scheduled for 30 ...
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Ground control error led to SOHO hiccup
Tim Furniss The mysterious loss of contact with the European Space Agency's (ESA) Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) last June was caused by mistakes by ground controllers, ESA reported yesterday. The highly successful SOHO had been providing excellent data about the sun for over two years from its ...
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Atlantic Research develops new Agena engine
Tim Furniss Atlantic Research has released details at the Show of its new Agena 2000 rocket engine for the Lockheed Martin fleet of US Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELVs). The 15,000lb thrust nitrogen tetroxide-monomethyl hydrazine engine will power a storable upper stage that can be fitted as ...
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X-38 contract
GenCorp Aerojet has been awarded a $16.4 million contract to provide a de-orbit propulsion stage for the International Space Station X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (CRV). The technology demonstrator will make an unpiloted re-entry and landing test flight from the orbiting Space Shuttle in 2000-1. The contract includes an option for ...
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Orbital timebomb
Tim Furniss/LONDON Safety concerns are mounting over the de-orbiting of the Mir space station next June and an international debate has now begun on how to dispose safely of the flagship of Russia's aerospace industry. While Russia embarks this month on reducing Mir's orbit from its present 450km, ...
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Deep Space 1 arrives at Kennedy for October mission
Spectrum Astro has delivered the Deep Space 1, the first NASA New Millennium programme spacecraft, to the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, in preparation for launch on a Boeing Delta II 7326 booster from Cape Canaveral on 15 October. The craft, which weighs 490kg (1,100lb), will demonstrate new technologies for ...