All Space news – Page 226
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GE invades European sector
Tim Furniss/LONDON GE AMERICOM IS TO be the first US Company to invade the European communications-satellite industry following a 1992 decision by the European Commission to deregulate the sector by opening it to international competition. The US Company, through its subsidiary GE Capital Satellites International ...
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Shuttle docks with the Mir
MARKING THE FORMAL end of the space race, a record ten people were orbiting the Earth aboard a single spacecraft as the US Space Shuttle Atlantis/STS 71 docked to the Russian Mir 1 space station on 29 June. The assembly of a 223t spacecraft in orbit was the ...
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NASA reviews space access after second Pegasus failure
Tim Furniss/LONDON NASA HAS FORMED a series of teams "...to address all aspects of its strategy for access to space", following the second failure on 22 June in two launches of the new Orbital Sciences (OSC) Pegasus XL. The Administration has four spacecraft due for launches on the ...
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Super Science
The European Space Agency plans to take the lead in space science, with the imminent launch of six satellites. Tim Furniss/PARIS Six European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft are being prepared for launch in 1995, which is described as Europe's "year of glory" by Roger Bonnet, director ...
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The great plunge
NASA's Galileo space probe will shortly be released into a 170,000km/h plunge into Jupiter's atmosphere. Tim Furniss/LONDON On 13 July, an 340kg instrumented probe, will be released from NASA's $1.4 billion Galileo spacecraft, 80 million kilometres away, from the planet Jupiter. The 1.25 x 0.86m ...
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Space Systems/Loral wins Asia-Pacific deals contracts
Tim Furniss/LONDON SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL has been awarded contracts for two communications satellites: the ApStar 2R for Asia Pacific Satellite and a high-power spacecraft for Mabuhay Philippines Satellite. The Mabuhay satellite will be in competition with another planned national satellite system, the Agila, the contract for which ...
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A question of US space flight numbers
Sir - You are wrong to say that NASA's STS70 Shuttle mission is the 100th US manned space flight (Flight International, 7 - 13 June, P29). There were 31 US space flights, before the Shuttle flew for the first time in April 1981, and, to date, there have been 67 ...
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Programmes
SCD These 1m-high, eight-sided, 115kg satellites are designed to provide real-time data from environmental data-collection stations, of which more than 250 are planned. A key area being monitored for temperature, moisture, carbon dioxide and ozone is the Amazon River basin and the rain forests. The SCD 1, costing ...
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Indian Alliance
India's Antrix is finalising strategic alliances with Daimler-Benz and Ford Aerospace to enhance its exposure in the international aerospace and space markets, offering an "entire spectrum of space services, from satellite building to launch services". The country's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle is being promoted for launches to low-Earth orbit. India ...
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Finishing tape
The docking of a US shuttle with the Russian Mir 1 marks the official end of the "space race". Tim Furniss/LONDON When the US Space Shuttle STS71/Atlantis makes its historic docking with the Russian Mir 1 space station later this month, space exploration will have turned full ...
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Count down to success
The Ariane 5 launcher promises to provide a much-needed boost to the European space industry. Julian Moxon/PARIS When the Ariane 5 launcher finally roars away from the Kourou launch pad in French Guiana in early 1996, European launch capability will receive a badly needed shot ...
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October launch is planned for SOHO
Gilbert Sedbon/TOULOUSE MATRA MARCONI SPACE (MMS) is completing final integration and tests of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) in Toulouse, before shipment to Cape Canaveral, Florida, for its launch on an Atlas 2AS booster in October. The 1,850kg SOHO will be ...
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Orbcomm passes space tests
NORMAL communications, with the Orbcomm 1 and 2 satellites, which were lost after launch on 3 April, have been restored. The first data messages to and from one of the spacecraft and a Panasonic personal communicator have been completed. A software problem, which was preventing the Orbcomm 2 ...
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Huygens test success
The flight-test of the separation mechanisms and parachutes for the Huygens space probe, scheduled to land on Saturn moon Titan, has been completed by the European Space Agency, Aerospatiale and French space agency CNES. An engineering model of the Huygens, which will be placed piggyback on the NASA ...
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Ariane 5 evolution
The need for an early growth version of Ariane 5, to meet the demand for higher launch weights, has been deemed essential by Arianespace if it is to compete with other launchers into the next century. A decision on development of the Evolution will probably be taken at the Toulouse ...
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The Shuttle/Mir missions
The objectives were: to gain engineering and operational experience in conducting research on an orbital space station; to characterise the environment relative to micro-gravity and life sciences; to better understand past and future investigations; to conduct specific investigations in medical support, life ...
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Empty Space
Just when we've really got something to talk about, we can't go," says Debbie Rahn of NASA's public affairs office for international affairs, explaining that the US space agency has pulled out of this year's Paris air show, for reasons of economic expediency. The timing is unfortunate because ...
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Columbus in dock
ESA's future as an important influence on the world of space flight could be in jeopardy. Tim Furniss/LONDON The European Space Agency's (ESA) Columbus space-station programme is over 11 years old, but no flight hardware has yet been built. The political and bureaucratic wranglings among ...
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Russia plans space milestone
THE RUSSIAN SPACE Agency (RSA) has been refused the use of two Molniya boosters by the country's military space forces. The launch vehicles are required to allow the RSA to launch the Prognoz satellites as part of the 14-nation Interball project to study the Earth's magnetosphere. The ...
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A global competition
PanAmSat plans to become the first private operator of a fully global communications satellite system. Tim Furniss/LONDON PanAmSat, of Greenwich, Connecticut, will not let a little problem like a failed Ariane launch and a lost satellite get in the way of its bold plans ...