On Tuesday, Russia marked the 54th anniversary of the launch of the first satellite, Sputnik, by celebrating Space Forces Day. While a Roscosmos delegation was in Cape Town, South Africa for the 62nd International Astronautical Congress, the commander of Russian Space Forces, Lt. Gen. Oleg Ostapenko, outlined the nation’s launch plans to reporters in Moscow.

“About 14 launches will be carried out from the Plesetsk and Baikonur space centers” by the end of the year, Ostapenko told reporters. The launches will include scheduled satellite launches as well as tests of new ballistic missiles.

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NASA PR — HOUSTON — In early November, NASA will seek applicants for its next class of astronaut candidates who will support long-duration missions to the International Space Station and future deep space exploration activities. “For scientists, engineers and other professionals who have always dreamed of experiencing spaceflight, this is an exciting time to join the astronaut corps,” said Janet Kavandi, director of flight crew operations at the Johnson Space […]

The latest video from the Rocket City Space Pioneers.  

SSTL PR — Small satellite pioneer Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) plans to jump-start space innovation by combining state-of-the-art avionics with flight proven systems in a low cost 50kg class satellite platform – and for a price tag of around £2m [$3 million].

Adopting a new set of satellite design paradigms, the SSTL-50 microsatellite has a novel dual-mode design with the sole purpose of supporting and stimulating payload and subsystem innovation. One side of the spacecraft will fly the latest avionics, subsystems and high speed electronics available – either customer supplied or from SSTL – while the other side contains SSTL’s flight proven systems, offering low risk, managed redundancy.
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By Lori Keesey
NASA

It currently takes 90 minutes to transmit high-resolution images from Mars, but NASA would like to dramatically reduce that time to just minutes. A new optical communications system that NASA plans to demonstrate in 2016 will lead the way and even allow the streaming of high-definition video from distances beyond the Moon.

This dramatically enhanced transmission speed will be demonstrated by the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), one of three projects selected by NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist (OCT) for a trial run. To be developed by a team led by engineers at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., LCRD is expected to fly as a hosted payload on a commercial communications satellite developed by Space Systems/Loral, of Palo Alto, Calif.

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On Saturday, I drove out to the Dell’Osso Family Farm in Lathrop, Calif., to see this amazing maze they had cut into their cornfield to honor the 50th anniversary of NASA’s human spaceflight program. There are seven mazes across the country; this one focuses on the space agency’s Kepler planet finding spacecraft, which is run by the nearby NASA Ames Research Center.

NASA Ames officials were out on Saturday for the opening day. Dr. John Hogan talked about how to sustain life in space using regenerative life support systems. And Drs. Steve Bryson and Steve Howell did 40-minute presentations about the Kepler mission. (more…)

Northwest Florida Daily News has a report on the recent summit by the Aerospace Alliance, a public-private partnership of business and economic development leaders from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. It sounds they had a lot of ideas but not much concensus: [Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer] Carroll said one of the biggest challenges her administration has dealt with since taking office is where to go with the space program now […]

Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center

NASA PR — CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and the Economic Development Commission (EDC) of Florida’s Space Coast are formally renewing their economic development partnership. NASA and EDC managers signed a new five-year Space Act Agreement on Monday at Kennedy that outlines economic development cooperation aimed at supporting NASA’s current and future missions.

“The Kennedy Space Center appreciates our relationship with the EDC of Florida’s Space Coast and looks forward to continuing our strong partnership with this agreement,” said Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana. “It’s the people of the Space Coast that have made Kennedy a success over the decades, and it’s our hope that working with the EDC and other partners will help us and the surrounding communities continue to be successful.”

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SuperMod launch. (Credit: Armadillo Aerospace)

NASA PR — WASHINGTON — NASA has selected nine proposals to demonstrate new technologies for the second set of payloads to fly on commercial suborbital reusable launch vehicles and the Zero-G commercial parabolic aircraft. NASA is using commercially available vehicles to carry these technology demonstration payloads to help develop the U.S. commercial reusable suborbital transportation industry.

NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program provides test flights to demonstrate and validate space technologies on airborne platforms flying above 65,000 feet, the area known as “near space.” The program also supports parabolic flights that simulate brief periods of microgravity or weightlessness.

“We’re moving out with a set of payloads that can benefit from the proving ground of near space,” Mike Gazarik, director of NASA’s Space Technology Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington said. “We’re looking forward to increasing the number of commercial flights and technology demonstration payloads flown, with companies providing a viable reusable flying science lab capability for researchers from all across America.”

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Mike Melvill stands atop SpaceShipOne after a suborbital flight on Sept. 29, 2004. (Credit: RenegadeAven)

Seven year ago today, SpaceShipOne rocketed into space for the third and final time, claiming the $10 million Ansari X Prize. Amid the resulting euphoria, Sir Richard Branson promised to begin regular tourist flights in about three years with a follow-on spacecraft.

Ah, what a difference 2,556 days make. No one has flown suborbital since, commercial flights remain 18-24 months away, and some people have grown impatient:

Venture capitalist Alan Walton has trekked to the North Pole, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and skydived over Mount Everest. A hop into space to enjoy a few minutes of weightlessness would have been the ultimate adventure.

After waiting seven years to fly aboard Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic spaceline, Walton gave up on the dream and asked for a $200,000 ticket refund on his 75th birthday this past spring.

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