Congratulations to Richard Branson! His Virgin Galactic company has won the latest Parabolic Arc poll by a large margin over rivals XCOR and Armadillo. Which company will fly the first tourist into suborbital space? Virgin Galactic (71%, 75 Votes) XCOR (23%, 24 Votes) Armadillo Aerospace (6%, 6 Votes) Total Voters: 105 Sadly, I have no prizes to give out here at PA, so Sir Richard is just going to have […]
Florida Today has a great editorial about NASA’s sad plight. The space agency must pay through the nose to the Russians for human space transport but lacks proper funding to field an alternative due to Congressional ineptitude: The fastest way to do that and end the dependence is for Congress to stop its endless fighting and reach a sensible compromise on a federal spending and deficit reduction plan that has […]
A video from WAAY-TV with comments from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden during his visit to Huntsville. Below is an excerpt from a story in The Huntsville Times below: The price is going up “because of inflation,” Bolden said in Huntsville, not because Russia is taking advantage of the end of the American space shuttle program. Only two flights remain this year before the shuttle is retired. “That’s not just for […]
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — NASA Administrator Charles Bolden participated in an event Thursday to highlight the contributions of small businesses to the agency’s mission and the national economy at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The meeting of the Marshall Small Business Alliance provided networking opportunities and encouragement for businesses to compete for procurement and subcontracting opportunities.
During the meeting, Bolden presented Marshall with an agency award for managing the most effective small business program. It was the second time in three years Marshall has earned NASA’s Small Business Administrator’s Cup.
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View from a test camera inside the cylinder from the March 23 Shell Buckling Knockdown Factor test at the Marshall Center. (NASA/MSFC)
NASA PR — WASHINGTON — NASA put the squeeze on a large rocket test section today. Results from this structural strength test at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., will help future heavy-lift launch vehicles weigh less and reduce development costs.
This trailblazing project is examining the safety margins needed in the design of future, large launch vehicle structures. Test results will be used to develop and validate structural analysis models and generate new “shell-buckling knockdown factors” — complex engineering design standards essential to launch vehicle design.
Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Senior Vice President Frank Culbertson gave an update on the company’s progress on its Taurus II launch vehicle and Cygnus freighter during the 14th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference. I’ve excerpted some of the more interesting slides.
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Reports out of the cloud shrouded island of Britain indicate that the government wants to easy liability laws that have discouraged space tourism companies from operating out of the United Kingdom:
The 1986 Outer Space Act is the primary piece of legislation in Britain governing all matters to do with space activity. Commentators have long called for it to be updated, especially in relation to the liabilities that cover space operations – if there was an accident involving a British spacecraft, for example.
At the moment, liabilities are essentially unlimited and this makes insurance premiums much more expensive for UK companies than their international competitors.
ILS PR — BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 23, 2011 — ILS International Launch Services, Inc. (ILS), citing the recurring subsidies provided to its primary competitor, Arianespace, is waging an aggressive protest and intends to pursue “all avenues of recourse to stop such inordinate and direct subsidization of Ariane’s commercial operations,†said ILS President Frank McKenna.
This followed the most recent decision by the 18-nation European Space Agency (ESA) on March 17 to grant an additional infusion of funds totaling 250 million euros ($318 million) to support Europe’s Arianespace launch consortium with the implied promise of continued support beginning in 2013.
CSCA PR — Toronto, Ontario, March 23, 2011 — In reviewing the federal budget released yesterday, the Canadian Space Commerce Association (CSCA) believes that proposed government plans are not optimal for the requirements of the Canadian space systems sector. The CSCA’s primary concern is with the proposed 12 – 18 month “strategic review†of the “aerospace†industry. The smaller, but growing and primarily Canadian owned space systems sector has a different set of planning and policy requirements than those appropriate for the much larger aviation industry.
Putting the two categories of businesses together for a combined policy review does neither industry any service.
The U.S. Air Force is proceeding on its Reusable Booster System:
A new $250 million U.S. Air Force program to develop a reusable booster system for space flights has been launched from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Air Vehicles Directorate, which is based at Wright-Patt, issued the request for proposals on Monday.
France To Invest $710 Million in Space Competitiveness
Space News
The French government on March 23 announced four launch vehicle and satellite projects that will receive a combined 500 million euros ($710 million) in state aid as part of a government bond issue designed to spur innovation.
The four projects are a next-generation rocket to succeed today’s Ariane 5 and Europeanized Soyuz vehicles; an ocean-altimetry satellite mission to be conducted with the United States; an upgraded multimission microsatellite platform for satellites weighing around 200 kilograms at launch; and investment in new telecommunications satellite technologies to keep French industry competitive on the world marketplace.
Orion abort motor test firing
As the United States moves toward building replacement vehicles for the retiring space shuttle, substantial attention is being focused on how to keep crews safe in the event of a booster malfunction. This has led to the development of innovative “pusher” abort systems with escape rockets below the vehicle instead of on top of it. These systems are being developed by Boeing, Blue Origin and SpaceX. Other key projects include an emergency detection system for the Atlas V and Delta IV boosters and an autonomous flight safety system to improve range operations.