Florida TaxWatch is urging Gov. Rick Scott to veto $2.5 million worth of infrastructure improvements for Cecil Spaceport. In its annual review of legislative spending bills, the group identified the project as part of $120 million in spending qualifying as Budget Turkeys. The funding is part of Space Florida’s operating budget. “The budget review identifies appropriations that circumvent transparency and accountability standards in public budgeting,” the group said in its […]
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. (Credit: A. Savin)
With ties with the United States frayed over Ukraine, Russia has rushed to deepen its ties with China. Everyone’s favorite Josef Stalin-loving deputy prime minister was in China last week to lay the foundation for deeper cooperation in space.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin has followed last week’s rhetorical bombshell — that Russia was not interested in extending operation of the International Space Station, or ISS, beyond 2020 — by trumpeting a future of increased cooperation with the emerging Chinese National Space Agency.
Meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Deputy Prime Minister Wang Yang, in Beijing on Monday, Rogozin announced on Twitter that he had signed “a protocol on establishing a control group for the implementation of eight strategic projects.” In a later Facebook post, he said “cooperation in space and in the market for space navigation” were among the projects.
The partnership appears to be aimed largely at post-ISS cooperation. China has plans to place a multi-module space station in orbit by 2020 to which Russia could contribute.
Video Caption: Footage from Virgin Galactic’s recent Hybrid Rocket Motor Test Editor’s Note: I saw this test while I was driving into Mojave. Managed to pull off the highway and catch the ending of it. You’ll notice the video fades out prior to shutdown, and there’s a reason for that. The shutdown didn’t seem to go that well. The best I can describe it as is the engine seemed to […]
RocketMotorTwo firing. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
MOJAVE, Calif., May 23, 2014 (Virgin Galactic PR) – Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline which is owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi’s aabar Investments PJS, has selected a polyamide-based fuel grain to power its hybrid rocket motor for the remainder of the test flight program and start of commercial operations. This decision follows numerous ground test firings and is supported by data collected over an extensive development program.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (UMD PR) — The University of Maryland has announced the establishment of the Center for Orbital Debris Education and Research (CODER) to address critical issues in orbiting space debris and serve as a hub for academic, industry and government research collaboration.
“CODER is the first academically led center established to address the full range of issues surrounding the orbital debris problem,” said founding faculty member and Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering Raymond Sedwick. “Most existing organizations focus on just one aspect of the problem—tracking, modeling, remediation, mitigation, policy, etc.—but CODER will serve as a research collective to provide expertise in all of these areas.”
Nitrous nylon engine test on Jan. 16, 2014. (Credit: Ken Brown)
From: Future Astronauts
Date: May 23, 2014
Cc: Future Astronauts
Subject: Rocket Motor Milestone News
Dear all,
We have said on previous occasions that of the numerous challenges Virgin Galactic has faced and overcome in our unprecedented mission to create the world’s first spaceline, the greatest has been that of creating and perfecting the world’s largest operational hybrid rocket motor to power SpaceShipTwo and its occupants safely, regularly and efficiently to space. This has also been, of late, the area of greatest external speculation.
Air Force official awards $10B+ contract uncompeted & then takes lucrative job w funds recipient https://t.co/SHqFYWd3CR
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2014
Just when you think you’ve seen everything, someone comes along and uses social media in a way that leaves you opened mouthed in astonishment. This week, that someone was SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. The social medium he used was Twitter. And what he did was accuse a United States Air Force officer of accepting a bribe of a job from a major defense contractor to steer a launch contract to United Launch Alliance.
V likely AF official Correll was told by ULA/Rocketdyne that a rich VP job was his if he gave them a sole source contract
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 23, 2014
Nitrous nylon engine test on Jan. 16, 2014. (Credit: Ken Brown)
As I’ve reported here for months now, Scaled Composites has been testing an alternative to SpaceShipTwo’s rubber-nitrous oxide engine that burns nylon. Today, Virgin Galactic formally acknowledged the existence of the program, and said it would be ditching the troubled rubber hybrid engine.
Specifically, the engine will burn a polyamide-based fuel grain, which is another way of saying it’s a plastic-based fuel. The ship will continue to use nitrous oxide.
SpaceX would test a propulsive landing system for its Dragon spacecraft at its test site in McGregor, Texas, under an experimental permit the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed granting the company. The agency has issued a draft environmental assessment for testing the DragonFly reusable launch vehicle (RLV) at the Texas site where SpaceX tests its Merlin D engines. Under the proposed experimental permit, the company would conduct up to […]
Washington, D.C., May 19, 2014 (SIA PR) — The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) today released its 2014 State of the Satellite Industry Report, showing a three percent growth rate in world satellite industry revenues in 2013. Globally, 2013 revenues for the satellite industry totaled $195.2 billion, up from $188.8 billion the previous year. Overall industry growth was led by the satellite services segment, the traditional driver for the industry, which saw its revenues increase by almost $7 billion. Satellite manufacturing also saw significant growth, with 2013 revenues coming in eight percent higher than the year prior. Satellite ground equipment revenues saw modest growth, while satellite launch revenues decreased.