Future U.S. launch vehicles include Space Launch System 130 MT and 70 MT, SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, ATK's Liberty, Orbital Sciences Corporation's Taurus II, and ATK's Athena IIc and Athena Ic. (Credit: Edward Ellegood, Douglas Messier)

NASA PR — WASHINGTON — NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and the U.S. Air Force signed an agreement this week to establish clear criteria for certification of commercial providers of launch vehicles used for national security space and civil space missions.

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A couple of updates on the ever mysterious Blue Origin:

At Popular Mechanics, Dave Mosher looks at what is known and unknown about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ secretive suborbital and orbital projects. This is mostly a compilation of what’s already been reported by Clark Lindsey, myself and others. It quotes an anonymous aerospace executive as saying:

“I get why they’re so secretive. It’s a competitive business environment. But we’ll ultimately see them open up a little bit. They’re taking public money, so they’ll have to at some point.”

True enough. But, there might be more to it.

Google engineer Steve Yegge has posted a long entry on Google+ that discusses, among other things, his previous time working for Jeff Bezos at Amazon. Yegge says that Bezos is “super smart” but that his micro-management “makes ordinary control freaks look like stoned hippies.”

I’ve included a couple of excerpts below: (more…)

UKSA PR — The first £8.5 million of investment from the UK’s National Space Technology Programme was announced today by the Science Minister, David Willetts. This boost to the UK space sector will match-fund a range of projects with industry to develop commercial products and services using space technology or space-derived data.

The competition is funded by the UK Space Agency, in partnership with the Technology Strategy Board and the South East England Development Agency. Proposals are sought for projects that fall into one or more of the following market areas: Satellite Telecommunications; Sensing: Position, Navigation and Timing; Robotics and Exploration and Access to Space. All projects must be collaborative, business-led and have a clear route through to commercial exploitation.

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VIRGIN PR – LAS CRUCES, N.M. –  Virgin Galactic will take another step toward opening a new era of space travel by formally dedicating its new home at Spaceport America in southern New Mexico on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011. Sir Richard Branson will attend the event, which will include a press conference and dedication ceremony, along with more than 150 future Virgin Galactic astronauts from around the world. The Terminal Hangar Facility will serve as the operating hub for Virgin Galactic and will house up to two WhiteKnightTwos and five SpaceShipTwos, in addition to all of Virgin’s astronaut preparation facilities and mission control.

Gear down. (Photo: Mark Greenberg)

VG PR – MOJAVE, CA – Virgin Galactic has confirmed an order from NASA for up to three charter flights on its privately-built spacecraft to provide opportunities for engineers, technologists, and scientific researchers to conduct cutting-edge experiments in suborbital space. The agreement calls for NASA to charter a full flight from Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline, and includes options for two additional charter flights. If all options are exercised, the contract value is $4.5 million.

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Russia has delayed the planned 2015 launch of its OKA-T free-flying experiments module by two to three years due to a lack of experiments, the Xinhua news agency reports. The autonomous, 7.8-ton laboratory is designed for experiments in materials sciences, biology, medicine, nano technology, and other microgravity research areas. The vehicle would fly close to the International Space Station (ISS), docking with it periodically for maintenance and to change out […]

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) violated a Congressional ban on meeting with Chinese officials. OSTP doesn’t deny violating the provision, which was included in a spending bill, but claims the ban is unconstitutional.

The GAO stated its conclusion in a letter sent this week to Rep. Frank Wolf, who had requested an inquiry. The GAO found that OSTP, which is an arm of the White House, had spent about $3,500 to lead and participate in a series of high-level meetings and events with Chinese officials in May concerning technology, intellectual property protection, climate change, joint cooperation and other matters.

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL (October 11, 2011) – Today, Space Florida President Frank DiBello and Rees Ward, A|D|S Group, Ltd., CEO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further enhance business development opportunities between Florida and the UK in the aerospace sector.

A|D|S Group Ltd. is the only UK-based trade organization recognized by the UK government as the association responsible for advancing the UK aerospace, defense and security industries. A|D|S encompasses the British Aviation Group (BAG) and also claims Farnborough International Unlimited (organizer of the Farnborough International Air Show) as a wholly owned subsidiary.

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A scale model of Boeing's CST-100 spacecraft undergoes wind tunnel tests at NASA Ames Research Center. (Credit: Boeing)

By Edward Memi
Boeing PR

Boeing is nearing completion of wind-tunnel testing for a new spacecraft to ferry people and cargo to the International Space Station.

Engineers have been testing the spacecraft, called the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100, since Sept. 17 at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California. The test team is using a 12-inch-wide, 14-inch-long aluminum model that is about 1/14th the size of the operational space capsule that Boeing plans to build. Testing is scheduled to conclude by the end of October.

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Space Expedition Curacao’s Michiel Mol talks with CNN about space tourism flights aboard XCOR’s Lynx space plane.