P-18D at ignition.(Credit: Garvey Spacecraft Corporation)

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Garvey Space PR) — The NASA Launch Services Program (LSP) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida has initiated a new high-altitude launch service for demonstration NanoSatellites. This service is intended to provide streamlined, introductory launch opportunities for the growing number of academic, business and research organizations that are developing CubeSat and NanoSat-class payloads.

The first flight under this program took place on Saturday, Dec.8, and featured the Prospector 18D (P-18D) suborbital reusable launch vehicle (sRLV) originally developed and previously flown three times by a team consisting of Garvey Spacecraft Corporation (GSC) and California State University, Long Beach (CSULB).

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France Córdova

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL., December 20, 2012 (CASIS PR) – The new Board of Directors for the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization promoting and managing research on board the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, designated France Córdova, Ph.D., as the group’s Chairperson last week in Washington, D.C.

As Chair, Córdova will serve as the CASIS Board spokesperson, and will preside over future Board meetings. The meeting that took place in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, December 13, 2012, was the organization’s first official meeting of the new, permanent Board.

Córdova is President Emerita of Purdue University, where she holds the position of professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Her previous positions include Chancellor of the University of California at Riverside, Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of California at Santa Barbara, NASA’s Chief Scientist, Department Head at the Penn State University, and Deputy Group Leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Since her days as a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, she launched rocket and satellite payloads and authored or co-authored over 150 scientific and policy papers.

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ORLANDO, FLA. (Earthrise Space PR) – Earthrise Space Inc., the parent organization of the “Florida team” competing in the Google Lunar X PRIZE, is proud to announce that it has gained a new “Launch Level” sponsor, Southern Cast Solutions. The Haines City, Florida-based Southern Cast Solutions is contributing to Omega Envoy’s goal of landing a rover on the lunar surface by providing Omega Envoy with a variety of supplies that will allow them to test their equipment prior to its flight to the Moon.

Atlas V launches OTV3 into orbit from Cape Canaveral. (Credit: Pat Corkery, United Launch Alliance.)

EDC Secures $275,000 in State Defense Grants

Bulk of funding to go toward upgrading launch facilities
at Cape Canaveral station

Brevard County, Fla., December 19, 2012 (Space Coast EDC PR) – The Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast is pleased to announce that it has been awarded $275,000 in 2012 Florida defense grants. The awards are part of Governor Rick Scott’s announcement of $2.4 million in defense grants this year to communities and organizations that support Florida military installations.

The EDC received a $200,000 Defense Infrastructure Grant, one of just seven awards of that size issued statewide. The EDC also received a $75,000 Defense Reinvestment Grant, one of just 11 reinvestment grants given in 2012.

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KIRUNA, Sweden (Spaceport Sweden PR) — Spaceport Sweden AB has signed a strategic partnering agreement with QinetiQ Ltd, to identify, explore and exploit opportunities in the fields of commercial human spaceflight (CHSF), research and exploitation. Under the agreement, Spaceport Sweden and QinetiQ will initially use the Flight Physiological Centre (FPC) in Linköping, Sweden to develop a world-class preparation program for CHSF passengers.

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Huntsville, AL, Dec 20, 2012 (ME PR) – Moon Express, Inc., a provider of commercial and scientific missions to the Moon, announced today it has reached a Teaming Agreement with Dynetics for the acquisition of the Rocket City Space Pioneers (RCSP) Google Lunar X PRIZE Team. The agreement brings the substantial space capabilities of Dynetics to the Moon Express team for the pursuit of commercial lunar missions, and will leverage and carry forward the substantial work done by RCSP supported by its visionary partners: Dynetics, Teledyne Brown Engineering, Andrews Aerospace, Draper Laboratory, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, Von Braun Center for Science & Innovation, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, Moog, Huntsville Center for Technology, and Analytical Mechanics Associates.

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The Mojave Air and Space Port and its tenants now have access to high-speed, fiber-optic Internet and phone services, which officials see as a big draw for companies to locate to the desert test facility.

Race Communications completed hooking up the spaceport to its Los Angeles data center last month, CEO Raul Alcaraz told the facility’s Board of Directors on Tuesday. The airport’s administration building and four companies already have service, and other tenants can now sign up as well, he added.

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RocketMotorTwo Hot-Fire Test Summaries Courtesy of Scaled Composites UPDATE: For some unexplained reason, Scaled Composites edited out all references on its log page to the length of the test firings (5 seconds) on three of the four listings below. I have heard that the other test, which took place on Dec. 6 in Mojave, was relatively short as well, an estimated 10 seconds. Fire: 21 Date: 14 Dec 12 Objectives: […]

WhiteKnightTwo/SpaceShipTwo Test Summaries Courtesy of Scaled Composites Flight: 109/GF23 Date: 19 Dec 12 WK2 Flight Time: 1.6 hr  SS2 Flight Time: 13 min, 24 sec WK2 Pilot: Colmer WK2 CoPilot: Nichols WK2 FTE: Lassen SS2 Pilot: Stucky SS2 CoPilot: Alsbury GS Crew: Bourgeois, Glaser, Knupp, Bassett, Kalogiannis, Jaster, Zeeb, Gould, Binnie, Cassebeer, M. Fuchs, Verderame, Tighe, Withrow, Kroese SS2 Objectives: SS2 performance Stability and control with new shortened aft skirt […]