Last week, Roscosmos Head Vladimir Popovkin laid out his plan to shift the focus of Russia’s space program away from human spaceflight toward a more balanced effort that also emphasized Earth observation, communications and planetary exploration. The moves also included tightening state control over a key Russian rocket builder.

The most dramatic move is the cancellation of Russia’s large Rus-M rocket, which Energia was building to replace the venerable Soyuz booster. Rus-M was intended to carry the nation’s new six-person crew vehicle from the Vostochny spaceport. However, the effort was widely rumored to be running badly behind schedule and unlikely  to meet deadlines of an initial test flight in 2015 and human flights in 2018.

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Computer generated image showing the debris cloud around Earth.

ESA PR — Strong agreement was voiced on the need for Space Situational Awareness (SSA) by delegates representing a wide range of European-level and national stakeholders at an SSA seminar in Warsaw while exchanging views and ideas on the future direction of Europe’s capabilities.

As part of an extensive six-month programme of political, cultural and scientific initiatives during Poland’s tenure in the Presidency of the Council of the EU, the country’s Ministry of Economy hosted a special seminar devoted to Space Situational Awareness (SSA) on 29 September in Warsaw.

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Astronaut Shannon Walker activates NanoRacks experiments. Image credit: NASA

NASA entered into a non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement with Space Adventures for astronauts aboard the International Space Station 250 miles above Earth to conduct the winning experiments on the orbiting outpost. The experiments will be performed on the U.S. portion of the space station that has been designated as a national laboratory.

The National Laboratory Education Initiative seeks innovative ways to use the unique microgravity environment of the space station to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. The contest is designed to encourage students from 14 to 18 years old to develop STEM skills through practical experience. The goal is to develop creative and analytical abilities by working on teams to solve problems using the latest information technology and tools.

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Argentina is looking to join the exclusive club of nations with the capacity to launch its own satellites by 2013. Engineers are now working on the new Tronador II (Thunderer II) , a two-stage rocket that will be capable of launch a 200 kg payload into low-Earth orbit. According to El Argentino, engineering faculty at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata will begin tests on a Tronador prototype next year […]

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL (October 7, 2011) – Next week, Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, Chair of the Space Florida Board and Space Florida President Frank DiBello will travel to the UK and Spain to meet with leadership of both countries to discuss enhanced business opportunities.

Significant activities include a meeting with members of the British Parliament regarding space policy, as well as formalizing Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) to enhance partnerships in the areas of small satellite development, agricultural biotech and genetics, research on aging and intervention to promote the health of older adults.

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Artist's conception of Orbital Sciences Corporation's Cygnus freighter approaching the International Space Station. (Credit: OSC)

SpaceX’s and Orbital Sciences Corporation’s schedules for COTS flights are sliding into 2012, according to an internal NASA manifest quoted by Space News:

Launches of Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Taurus 2 and Space Exploration Technologies Corp.’s Falcon 9 rockets, which until recently were scheduled for this year, are now expected to push into January and February, respectively, according to an internal NASA manifest. A second Taurus 2 flight, this one carrying Orbital’s Cygnus cargo module for the first time, is still officially scheduled for February, but the NASA manifest indicates a May launch date.

Both the Falcon 9 and Taurus 2, developed with funding assistance from NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, are expected to begin making regular cargo runs to the space station starting in 2012. But the rockets and their associated cargo capsules first must successfully complete a series of COTS flight demonstrations intended to convince NASA and its space station partners that the new vehicles can safely do the job.

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Google Lunar X PRIZE team member Amanda Stiles recently flew on Zero G as a journalist with engineering students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They designed and built an experiment to test in microgravity as a part of the NASA Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program.

The reorganization of the Russian space industry continued on Friday as Roscosmos Head Vladimir Popovkin announced plans to create of a new rocket building holding organization and to replace the management of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center.

Roscosmos Head Vladimir Popovkin announced the plan in remarks before the State Duma, according to Interfax. The report doesn’t say why the move is being made, but it appears to be an attempt by the Russian space agency to tighten control over the industry.

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Roscosmos has canceled its planned Rus-M rocket and will launch its new six-person Soyuz replacement spacecraft on an upgraded Soyuz-2 rocket instead, according to space agency officials.

“We have come to the conclusion that we do not need a new rocket, we can continue using those we already have,” Roscosmos Head Vladimir Popovkin told Russian media.

The two-stage rocket was designed to replace the venerable Soyuz booster. Built by Energia, Rus-M was schedule to begin test flights from the new Vostochny spaceport in the Far East beginning around 2015. Human missions would have followed three years later.

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A review of work being done on NASA’s Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle.