Space News reports that United Space Alliance has been ordered to stop pursuing new business, signaling the likely end of a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture whose main task was operating NASA’s now-retired space shuttle fleet. The Houston-based company, formed in 1995, has a contract with NASA to complete close-out of the shuttle program that expires at the end of September. Although the article does not say definitively that the company […]
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
Cygnus service modules. (Credit: Orbital Sciences Corporation
OSC CYGNUS PROGRAM UPDATE
January 2012
Integration and testing of Cygnus spacecraft service modules continues at our Dulles, VA Satellite Manufacturing Facility (SMF). The service module on the left in the photo below will be used for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration flight to the International Space Station (ISS) later this year. The service module on the right will carry out the first of eight cargo resupply missions under Orbital’s Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract with NASA, also scheduled for later this year. A third Cygnus service module (not shown) is also undergoing integration in a separate clean room facility in the facility.
ECLIPTIC PR — Pasadena, CA – January 3, 2012 — The year 2011 was a record year of launch activity for Ecliptic Enterprises Corporation and its RocketCam™ product family, with a total of 17 RocketCam systems successfully launched–12 onboard various rockets and 4 onboard various spacecraft.
The firm closed out the year celebrating the successful Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuvers executed by the twin NASA GRAIL spacecraft, each of which carries a 4-camera RocketCam video system to be used for the project’s education and public outreach program. Both “MoonKAM” systems will begin operating in March this year.
The Space Generation Advisory Council is pleased to announce its partnership with the International Astronautical Federation’s Entrepreneurship and Investment Committee (EIC) to organise and run the 2012 IAF-EIC/SGAC Emerging Commercial Space Paper Competition for Students and Young Professionals – $pace is Business!
Just as the crippled Russian satellite, Phobos-Grunt, threatens to fall from our sky, the film “Space Junk 3D” will open in IMAX® and other giant screen theaters in both 2D and 3D, beginning January 13th. The movie is the first to explore the exponentially expanding ring of manmade debris that threatens the safety of our planet’s orbits.
[Editor’s Note: Phobos-Grunt really isn’t threatening to fall from the sky; it’s coming down, baby — maybe even on an IMAX® theater near you. Imagine the irony of that, huh? And re-entry date is January 15 — give or take a day or two. What are the odds that….But, I digress. Back to the PR.]
“After half a century of space exploration we’re now suddenly faced with what has long been a staple of science fiction—an orbiting junkyard of cast-off space debris,” explains Academy Award® Nominee Tom Wilkinson, who narrates the film.
Video caption: Aboard the International Space Station, Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank and Flight Engineers Don Pettit of NASA and Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency fielded questions about the progress of their mission aboard the orbital laboratory with reporters from Space.com and the Fox News Radio Network during a pair of in-flight interviews on January 4, 2012.
The crowd has not been very kind to the Shackleton Energy Company (SEC). The lunar mining start-up’s attempt to get its business off the ground through crowd source funding via RocketHub.com fell a bit short of its goal. The Texas-based company had aimed to raise as much as $1.2 million in a campaign that began in November. When the effort finished at the end of December, the amount contributed was […]
This week on The Space Show with David Livingston…. Monday, January 2, 2012: 2-3:30 PM PST: We welcome Michael Listner, attorney, to the program to discuss national and international space law. Michael is a contributor to several online publications, including Space Safety Magazine He is also a Senior Contributor to Defense Policy.Org, Thus our discussion will cover several very interesting areas of space law. SPECIAL DAY: Wednesday, January 4, 2012, […]
Mockup of India's human spacecraft (Credit: ISRO)
India’s plan to launch astronauts into space on its own appears to have slipped into the 2020s, while the possible involvement of foreign partners in the effort has been nixed.
On Friday, it was announced that ISRO had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Indian Air Force (IAF) for the selection of astronauts beginning no earlier than 2020. In late January 2010, ISRO announced a $4.8 billion plan to launch astronauts aboard its own rocket and spacecraft in 2016.
China’s Space Activities in 2011
Chinese Government White Paper
December 29, 2011
II. Progress Made Since 2006
Since 2006, China has made rapid progress in its space industry. Breakthroughs have been made in major space projects, including human spaceflight and lunar exploration; space technology has been generally upgraded remarkably; the economic and social benefits of space applications have been noticeably enhanced; and innovative achievements have been made in space science.