Dr. Alan Stern

Alan Stern just wrapped up things here at NSRC in Palo Alto with an observation that was at once both simple and profound. He said, and I paraphrase:

We’re moving from an era of limited access to space using very expensive vehicles (Atlas V, space shuttle) to almost unlimited access with much more affordable systems. Multple companies will be providing regular access to space using different technological approaches that will give the system true redundancy. And the only real limitation is the number of payloads people want to fly.

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MONTREAL, QUEBEC, Feb 27, 2012 (Industry Canada PR) — Today, the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Industry, pledged continued government support of Canada’s aerospace and space sectors and officially launched the Review of Aerospace and Space Programs and Policies.

“The Harper Government is focusing on what matters to Canadians-job creation and economic growth,” said Minister Paradis. “Canadian aerospace and space sectors are leaders in their fields, and our government wants to ensure that they continue to create quality jobs across the country today and in the future. This comprehensive review will examine how we can maximize our efforts, together with industry, to sustain Canada’s leadership position.”

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Cecil Field in Jacksonville, recently designated a commercial spaceport.

JAA PR (January 25, 2012) — The Jacksonville Aviation Authority Board of Directors has accepted a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation to conduct an Environmental Assessment, which will examine the environmental impacts and investigate the feasibility of the operation of a Concept ‘Y’ Horizontal Launch – Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) at Cecil Spaceport.

While Concept ‘X’ and Concept ‘Z’ Vehicles take-off using the typical turbojet engines to reach a predetermined location and altitude before igniting a rocket engine, Concept ‘Y’ Vehicles are powered by a rocket engine for the entire span of their operation.

In January 2010, after completing the original Environmental Assessment and Launch Site Operator’s License application process, JAA was issued a Commercial Spaceport license from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The license allows the airport to accommodate 52 horizontal takeoffs annually of sub-orbital horizontal launch vehicles.

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Premier Space Systems' Mig-21UM jet during a test flight. (Credit: Premier Space Systems)

I saw an interesting presentation at NSRC yesterday by Scott Powell and Arif Karabeyoglu on a new plan to launch suborbital payloads using jet aircraft.

Their company, Premier Space Systems, is developing a system that uses Soviet-era MiG-21UM to air launch payloads weighing up to 45 kg (99 pounds). The company is developing 10-inch and 22-inch LOX-parafin hybrid rockets, which are being tested in Butte, Montana.

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Andøya Rocket Range PR — In its 50th year, Andøya Rocket Range and the Norwegian sounding rocket community is once again a rising star. After years of recess and declining funding for sounding rocket missions, two new projects were given “good to go” in December 2011 by the Norwegian Space Centre and the Norwegian Research Council.

ICI-4 will be the fourth sounding rocket project led by Professor Jøran Moen from the University of Oslo. The two-stage rocket will be launched from Ny-Ålesund at Svalbard, late 2013. The single-stage MAXIDUSTY I will mark the re-entry of Tromsø University into the sounding rocket community. Launch will take place from Andøya during the summer of 2013. Both will be based on the Hotel Payload concept from Andøya Rocket Range, and they will be built, integrated and tested on-site at ARR.

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The Rocketplane has been revived.

Rocketplane Global, which went under two years ago, is out of bankruptcy and searching for about $100 million in investment to build its six-passenger suborbital space vehicle.

Speaking at the Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in Palo Alto, Calif., Vice President of Business Development Chuck Lauer said the firm came out of bankruptcy last  year under a new Wisconsin-based holding company called Space Assets, LLC. Original backer George French is involved in the new venture.

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XCOR CEO Jeff Greason

Jeff Greason, CEO of XCOR

• suborbital spaceflight is not just about flying rich playboys into space
• They’re doing it for a broader reason — because they feel that it matters as a broader way of getting people out into space — expand humanity
• Introduced Tuskegee airman Le Roy Gillead who is scheduled for a flight….standing ovation
• One of the key benefits — making microgravity into something you can just go and do…without spending years and years waiting to do one flight that might or might not work
• Previously, might have to wait for six years to fly an experiment
• People would get fed up working with government regs, with the long timetable, etc. (more…)

Hey everyone. Greetings from the Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in Palo Alto. We’re well into Day 2 here of the three-day conference. Things here at the hotel got off to a chilly start this morning. Apparently the water heating system failed here and a number of guests ended up with very cold showers. This matches the rainy and chilly weather outside. A lot of the content this morning is fairly […]

PITTSBURGH, PA – February 28, 2012 (Astrobotic PR) — NASA has awarded Astrobotic Technology Inc. an additional task in its $10 million Innovative Lunar Demonstrations Data (ILDD) contract under which NASA buys information about the company’s commercial robotic expeditions to the Moon. The $100,000 task order brings total funding under the ILDD contract thus far to $610,000.

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ORLANDO, Feb. 27 (UCF PR) — More jobs and economic investment may be coming to Central Florida thanks to the creation of the new Center for Microgravity Research and Education.

The center (microgravity.physics.ucf.edu) will conductfundamental research in ground-based laboratories, on parabolic microgravity airplane flights, with a laboratory drop tower, and on suborbital rocket flights. The center will also develop experiments for the International Space Station.

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