Dr. Alan Stern performed 20 runs aboard a NASTAR STS-400 High Performance Human Centrifuge, with some runs reaching the 6-G accelerations that many suborbital launches will create. (Credit: Southwest Research Institute)

Worcester, Massachusetts — Nov. 16, 2011 — Two researchers set to fly aboard suborbital spacecraft as a part of Southwest Research Institute’s next-generation suborbital research program completed another milestone on November 2nd when they evaluated David Clark Company’s latest version of aerospace crew protective equipment designed for the commercial spaceflight industry. The two research scientists conducted evaluations of the Contingency Hypobaric Astronaut Protective Suit (CHAPS) during an intensive series of centrifuge runs designed to simulate the anticipated launch and entry profiles that will be experienced aboard suborbital spacecraft.

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A video of a Blue Origin test flight conducted earlier this year.

RIA Novosti has a report on yet another Russian rocket development program:

Russia and France will pool their efforts to build cutting-edge reusable space rockets, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

“Russian and French engineers are already working in this direction under Project Ural,” Putin told a news conference after a meeting of the Russian-French cooperation commission….

The 15-year Ural program to build advanced reusable carrier rockets was adopted in 2005….

The project is still at the conceptual stage as the type of rocket engine – hydrogen, kerosene or methane fueled – has yet to be determined.

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Artist's impression of UKube-1. (Credit: Clydespace)

UKSA PR — The UK Space Agency and Astrium have just approved the final design of UKube-1 – the UK’s first CubeSat mission.

On the 3rd and 4th November 2011, a young team of engineers from Clyde Space presented their final design to a team of experts for the Critical Design Review (CDR) – the typical ‘gateway’ for space missions to proceed into the flight build and implementation phase.

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During a community open house at its test site in McGregor, Texas, SpaceX gave the townspeople the excitement of witnessing a test firing of the Merlin engine.

A testing firing of the AJ-26 engine. (Credit: NASA) NASA PR — A team of engineers at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center conducted a test firing on an Aerojet AJ26 flight engine Nov. 17, providing continued support to Orbital Sciences Corporation as it prepares to launch commercial cargo missions to the International Space Station. AJ26 engines will be used to power Orbital’s Taurus II rocket for International Space Station […]

A  high-level committee has completed a probe into the controversial satellite deal between ISRO’s Antrix commercial arm and Davas Multimedia, according to Indian press reports. Investigations are being carried out based on the team’s review.

The five-member body, appointed in May by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was asked to investigate how the deal was made and to identify any acts of “omission and commission” by the government officials who approved it.

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SpaceX's test site in McGregor, Texas. (Credit: SpaceX)

An FAA environmental assessment has given the OK for SpaceX to test its Grasshopper reusable launch vehicle at its site in McGregor, Texas. The RLV is designed to test technologies needed to fully recover Falcon 9 stages for reuse.

After reviewing and analyzing currently available data and information on existing conditions and the potential impacts of the Proposed Action, the FAA has determined that issuing an experimental permit to SpaceX for operation of the Grasshopper RLV at the McGregor test site would not significantly impact the quality of the human environment. Therefore, preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement is not required, and the FAA is issuing this FONSI. The FAA made this determination in accordance with all applicable environmental laws. The Final EA is incorporated by reference in this FONSI….

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Blue Origin has finally updates its website which, until now, had a distinctively bare, Web 1.0 look to it. The site contains additional information, updated graphics, and new videos showing two successful test flights of the suborbital vehicle. The company also has immediate openings for: Aerodynamics Engineer Enterprise Software Developer Integration Engineer (West Texas) Propulsion Valve Engineer Test Engineer (West Texas) Aerothermal Engineer Avionics Engineer Integration Engineer Instrumentation and Controls […]

DoD PR — Today the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command conducted the first test flight of the Advanced Hypersonic Weapon (AHW) concept. At 6:30 a.m. EST (1:30 a.m. Hawaii-Aleutian Time) Nov. 17, a first-of-its-kind glide vehicle, designed to fly within the earth’s atmosphere at hypersonic speed and long range, was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii to the Reagan Test Site, U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll.

The objective of the test is to collect data on hypersonic boost-glide technologies and test range performance for long-range atmospheric flight. Mission emphasis is aerodynamics; navigation, guidance, and control; and thermal protection technologies.

A three-stage booster system launched the AHW glide vehicle and successfully deployed it on the desired flight trajectory. The vehicle flew a non-ballistic glide trajectory at hypersonic speed to the planned impact location at the Reagan Test Site. Space, air, sea, and ground platforms collected vehicle performance data during all phases of flight. The data collected will be used by the Department of Defense to model and develop future hypersonic boost-glide capabilities.

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