August 12, 2011, Mojave, CA (XCOR PR): NASA has selected XCOR Aerospace to provide suborbital flight and payload integration services for research and scientific missions in a program that will offer up to $10 million dollars in contracts to match payload customers with flight vehicle services. The awards were announced by NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program, a part of NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC that is managed at Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
Louisiana Sen. David Vitter has proposed creating the Stennis-Michoud Aerospace Economic Corridor in order to market and promote the two NASA facilities. Vitter and other officials hope to attract hundreds of jobs by luring aerospace companies to the region.
Michoud, where the space shuttle’s external tank was built, has been hit especially hard by the end of the program. It boasts excellent facilities for manufacturing, while the Stennis center can test any type of rocket or commercial aircraft engine. The complementary capabilities makes it attractive to jointly market the two centers, officials say.
“Today GE Aviation is one of three of the largest manufactures of engines for jets and all sorts of aircraft. They are in a growth mode. They’ve got a $5 billion backlog, and so they are growing and looking for new opportunities to have facilities to expand their operations,” said Congressman Steven Palazzo. “It’s a natural fit to pull together and build off of each other’s synergies.”
An aeroshell mold at Masten Space Systems.
MOJAVE, Calif., August 10, 2011 (MSS PR) – Masten Space Systems, Inc., a leader in the emerging commercial spaceflight industry, announced today that it has been selected as a vendor for NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract will allow Masten to compete for task orders to fly payloads and technologies on board Masten’s reusable launch vehicles, which have flown more than 100 times from the Mojave Air and Space Port.
“We’re pleased to be selected as a Flight Opportunities vendor today,” said Joel Scotkin, Masten’s CEO. “In a few short years, we’ll look back on this contract as a major step towards lowing the barriers to space access.”
Roscosmos has posted the transcript of an interview that Vladimir Popovkin gave to the Russian newspaper Kommersant. The space agency chief touches on a wide range of issues, including space tourism, the budget, the restructuring of Roscosmos and the Russian space industry, and the future of the Angara rocket.
The highlights, translated from Russian:
Space Tourism
- Popovkin views human spaceflight as worthwhile if it produced practical results. “If a person just wants to go to orbit, I believe this is an inefficient activity.”
- On increasing annual Soyuz production to five spacecraft in order to fly space tourists: “Space tourism must be carried out on extra money. If the corporation Energia or any other corporation, or tourists themselves, will be able to find them [extra funds] and build a ship, then such tourism has the right to exist. Space tourism at the expense of the budget – it’s not space tourism…..This idea will be developed…We [Roscosmos] are for space tourism, but first create a business plan, and we will help take out loans. But there is no reflection of the state program of this issue should not be.”
Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center
Space layoffs are accelerating this month in the wake of the final space shuttle flight. Meanwhile, commercial space companies are expanding in Florida, California and Texas as they ramp up programs designed to carry American astronauts into space.
First, the bad news:
- Approximately 1,000 space shuttle workers will lose their jobs this month, including 515 at United Space Alliance’s Houston operations and 285 additional USA workers in Huntsville, Houston and Huntington Beach, Calif.
- Boeing and Lockheed Martin are also planning layoffs
- ATK laid off approximately 100 employees in Utah as a result of the space shuttle’s demise.
Logan, Utah (Andrews Space PR) — August 9, 2011: Andrews Space (Andrews) and ISIS – Innovative Solutions In Space BV (ISIS) – announced today that they have teamed to offer the SENTRY Nanospacecraft platform to international customers.
Andrews has developed the SENTRY NanoSat platform for spacecraft that range from a 3U CubeSat up to a 40 kg NanoSat. In addition, Andrews and ISIS are both developers of CubeSat and NanoSat subsystems, including the Andrews 100 Series of avionics components and the ISIS line of radios, power system elements, spacecraft structures and the ISIPOD series spacecraft dispenser. Under this joint marketing agreement Andrews and ISIS will jointly market a version of the SENTRY spacecraft to international customers that leverages the respective strengths and components of the two companies.
LAS CRUCES, NM (NMSA PR) – The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) congratulates the seven companies selected by NASA to provide near-space flight services. In a statement from NASA on August 9, each of these companies will integrate and fly technology payloads to the boundary of space using commercial suborbital launch systems as part of a package of contracts worth a combined total of $10 million. Several of the companies selected have conducted operations from Spaceport America.
DARPA successfully launched its second Falcon HTV-2 hypersonic vehicle from Vandenberg this morning — only to lose telemetry from the Mach 20 craft after it separated from the Minotaur IV rocket and entered its glide phase. A similar failure occurred on the first flight. No word on how much data — if any — was received prior to loss of signal. Updates as they become available.
UPDATE: A statement from DARPA:
Today, DARPA attempted to fly the fastest aircraft ever built. The Agency’s Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) is designed to fly anywhere in the world in less than 60 minutes. This capability requires an aircraft that can fly at 13,000 mph, while experiencing temperatures in excess of 3500F. The second test flight began with launch at 0745 Pacific Time. The Minotaur IV vehicle successfully inserted the aircraft into the desired trajectory. Separation of the vehicle was confirmed by rocket cam and the aircraft transitioned to Mach 20 aerodynamic flight. This transition represents a critical knowledge and control point in maneuvering atmospheric hypersonic flight. More than nine minutes of data was collected before an anomaly caused loss of signal. Initial indications are that the aircraft impacted the Pacific Ocean along the planned flight path.
Canadian Prime Minister held talks with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff during a state visit to the South American nation this week. The leaders agreed to cooperate in a broad range of areas, including space exploration, science and technology, and educational exchanges.
An excerpt from the official joint statement statement follows, with the full statement reproduced after it:
They affirmed their desire to initiate a Space Cooperation Dialogue and instructed the appropriate agencies and institutions in the two countries to explore possible avenues for cooperation in the use of outer space for peaceful purposes.
The launch of DARPA’s Falcon HTV-2 hyersonic vehicle from Vandenberg was canceled today due to weather constraints. The mission has been rescheduled for Thursday morning.