Antares rolled out to the launch pad on Wallops Island. (Credit: NASA)

By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor

The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA) has issued a Strategic Plan [Download PDF] that calls for the development of Wallops Island as a multi-user spaceport focused on small and medium-lift rockets to supplement existing launches and future Antares cargo flights to the International Space Station.

“The VCSFA’s location and capabilities are ideal for small and medium-lift launches,” according to the report, which covers the years 2012-17. “Although ISS resupply missions are growing, VCSFA intends to look to additional commercial launches, including the areas of defense and national security. The near-term focus is on expanding medium-lift launches as the market outlook is favorable.”

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The Chinese space probe Chang’e 2 spacecraft snapped this image of the asteroid Toutatis. A series of radar images of the asteroid are shown in the video below. Video Caption: With optical telescopes, it’s difficult to make out the surface features of asteroid Toutatis. Radar gives us a different picture. On Dec. 12 and 13, 2012, scientists pointed NASA’s Goldstone Solar System Radar precisely on the asteroid while it was […]

DLR PR — The vision is enticing – board in Europe, sit back, and disembark 90 minutes later on the other side of the world, in Australia. But before the SpaceLiner, which is being developed by the Institute of Space Systems at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), can fly a route like this for the first time, new technologies still have to be tested and basic requirements defined. Scientists from Germany, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Sweden have been carrying out research for the Fast20XX (Future high-Altitude high-Speed Transport) project, which is supported by the EU, for three years. The results of the project, which has now been concluded, will influence the future design of the DLR SpaceLiner and the Aerospace Innovation GmbH ALPHA aircraft.
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Proton rocket

Thales Alenia Space engineers have placed the Yamal-402 communications satellite in its proper geosynchronous orbit after a botched launch by Russia’s Proton launch vehicle.

The recovery effort involved four firings of the satellite’s on-board propulsion system. Media reports indicate that this will reduce the spacecraft’s on-orbit lifetime from 15 to 11 years.

Thales Alenia Space built the Yamal-402 satellite for Gazprom Space Systems.

Meanwhile, an investigation has begun into the failure of the Proton rocket’s Breeze-M upper stage, which stopped firing earlier than planned during its final burn.

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PULLMAN, Wash. (WSU PR) — Imagine landing on the moon or Mars, putting rocks through a 3-D printer and making something useful – like a needed wrench or replacement part.

“It sounds like science fiction, but now it’s really possible,” says Amit Bandyopadhyay, professor in the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Washington State University.

Bandyopadhyay and a group of colleagues recently published a paper in Rapid Prototyping Journal demonstrating how to print parts using materials from the moon.

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Dream Chaser hybrid motor test firing. (Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NASA PR) —Many human spacecraft -— Mercury, Apollo, Russia’s Soyuz, and China’s Shenzhou — include tower abort systems that “pull” the crewed capsule away from a failing rocket. Although its design has proven to be reliable, it comes with inefficiencies. Rather than depending on this heritage design, NASA’s commercial crew partners are developing innovative alternative approaches that not only will allow crews to reliably escape from a launch vehicle accident, but also should prove less costly for missions to low-Earth orbit.

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ORLANDO, FLA., Dec. 14th, 2012 (Earthrise Space PR) – Earthrise Space Inc. (ESI) announced today that it has obtained approval from the US State Department for a Technical Assistance Agreement (TAA) with Team Angelicvm. This agreement is a critical step, permitting the teams to work together prior to both teams simultaneously descending to the lunar surface in the Google Lunar X PRIZE race to the moon.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NASA PR) — An integrated crew transportation system is a complex and difficult endeavor, and NASA’s partners will inevitably experience challenges along the way. But, the success of the partners in satisfactorily completing their initial milestones is encouraging. Four months into the Commercial Crew Integrated Capabilities (CCiCap) Space Act Agreements (SAAs), NASA’s industry partners have already completed a combined eight milestones.

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The Orion spacecraft crew access arm seal prototype is being checked out at the Launch Equipment Test Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The tests include a mockup of the vehicle outer mold line and the White Room that would be at the end of the access arm. Testing simulated work going on in the White Room while attached to the Orion. (Credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann)

By Bob Granath
NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center

Preparations for the launch of NASA’s new Orion spacecraft recently took an important step forward. A prototype seal for the launch tower’s crew access arm, or CAA, was successfully tested at the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Equipment Test Facility in Florida.

The simulation evaluated the new technology used in the design and function of the inflatable seal. The assessment team used mockups of Orion’s outer mold line and the access arm White Room to evaluate the performance of the seal while simulating vehicle to CAA work.

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Richard Branson and then New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson at Spaceport America during happier times back in 2010.

On Dec. 13, 2005, Richard Branson and New Mexico Economic Development Secretary Rick Homans appeared at a press conference at The Science Museum’s Alien Exhibition hall in London to announce they had ironed out a 20-year lease agreement to bring Virgin Galactic to Spaceport America. The first suborbital tourism flights were then set for late 2008 or early 2009.

Exactly seven years later, the whole venture is in trouble. The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space, the company’s fancy name for the terminal hangar, is still incomplete and running years behind schedule. With the facility unfinished, the state has not seen a penny of the $1 million in annual rent Virgin Galactic is set to pay.

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