The first Minotaur IV Lite launch vehicle roars into the skies above California carrying DARPA's Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 on April 22, 2010. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Andrew Lee)

Florida will be able to compete with spaceports across the country to launch satellites aboard ICBMs that will be decommissioned under the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between the United States and Russia. The Department of Defense has also given a $48 million contract to Space Florida to support Minotaur launches from Cape Canaveral.

Pat McCarthy, Space Florida’s Director of Spaceport Operations, said that the DOD has agreed to designate Cape Canaveral as one of the sites where converted ICBMs can be launched. Other sites include: Vandenberg AFB, California; Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia; Kodiak Launch Complex, Alaska; and the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll in the U.S. Marshall Islands.

McCarthy writes on the Space Florida blog:

Our work to inform the Department of Defense of the benefit of designating the Cape as a “space launch facility” has also paid off. The Department of Defense agreed, through SDTW’s pre-qualification as part of Spaceports 3, the Cape should receive consideration as a space launch facility. We will now work with the USAF 45^th Space Wing and the USN’s Naval Ordnance Test Unit (NOTU) here at the Cape to get Complex 46 officially designated as a “space launch facility” under New START.

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Ariane 5

As Arianespace celebrates a successful year in which it went 6-for-6 with Ariane 5 launches and looks forward to the introduction of the Soyuz and Vega rockets in Guiana later this year, European officials have been trying to figure out how to help the consortium avoid a loss:

Europe’s Arianespace commercial launch consortium on Jan. 4 said revenue for 2010 dropped by about 10 percent compared to 2009 and that the company will report a loss unless it receives requested financial aid from European governments.

The Evry, France-based company conducted six launches of its heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket in 2010, down from seven in 2009, and this is the main reason for the revenue drop, to slightly more than 900 million euros ($1.2 billion), in 2010.

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Florida Today’s John Kelly asks an interesting question about NASA’s HLV rocket: Why in the world is NASA developing its own supersized rocket when no fewer than three private companies already have one on the drawing board? Decades of experience shows a big-ticket space project developed wholly by the government will: Take years longer than estimated to complete. Cost taxpayers billions more dollars than advertised. Fly with less capability than […]

Space: a frontier too far for US-China cooperation Reuters The prospects for cooperation between the United States and China in space are fading even as proponents say working together in the heavens could help build bridges in often-testy relations on Earth. The idea of joint ventures in space, including spacewalks, explorations and symbolic “feel good” projects, have been floated from time to time by leaders on both sides. Efforts have […]

NASA PROGRAM UPDATE Jan. 3, 2010 Space shuttle Discovery remains inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where technicians today are starting repairs on three support beams, called stringers, on the outside of the shuttle’s external tank. Recent X-ray type image scans of all 108 of the tank’s stringers revealed four small cracks on three beams on the side opposite Discovery. Managers decided Thursday to […]

Florida Today reports on the first batch of many layoffs along the Space Coast as the space shuttle program winds down: Lead space shuttle contractor United Space Alliance plans to lay off about 150 employees at Kennedy Space Center this week. The local layoffs, effective Friday, are the first of potentially several thousand this year as the Houston-based company undergoes a dramatic downsizing in preparation for the final shuttle flight. […]

Illustration of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft arriving at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

NASA has released certification requirements for commercial crew transports that will carry crews to Earth orbit. Key excerpts are below. The full document is here.

Commercial Crew Transportation System Certification Requirements
for NASA Low Earth Orbit Missions

1.0 Introduction

The Commercial Crew Transportation System (CCTS) Certification Requirements Document is a consolidated set of technical requirements, standards, and processes built upon the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) vast human spaceflight knowledge and experience. The intent of this document is to define the requirements, standards, and certification package contents that will be used to certify a CCTS to carry NASA crewmembers on Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Missions.

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The Sun reports that Muse wants to be the first band to play a concert in space aboard one of Virgin Galactic’s space tourism flights: Muse are really beginning to live up to the role of a stadium rock band. In true Spinal Tap fashion they have set their sights on playing the first ever gig in space. Muse frontman Matt Bellamy said: “We’ve had some discussions about playing in […]

This week in The Space Review…. Space challenges for 2011 A new year brings new hopes for the future, but plenty of challenges as well. Jeff Foust outlines some of the key issues facing civil and commercial spaceflight in the coming year, from budget battles to the end of the shuttle program. Peace International cooperation in space can pay dividends on Earth as well as in space. Lou Friedman argues […]

I’ll be appearing on The Space Show with David Livingston on Tuesday evening. This is my first visit to the show, and I’m thrilled that he invited me on it. We’ll be talking about my blog and the areas I cover, which include NewSpace, NASA, international programs and much more. Monday, Jan. 3, 2011 2-3:30 PM PST: We welcome back Dr. Chris McKay of NASA Ames to the show. Tuesday, […]

Jupiter Direct Launcher Variants

The Huntsville Times has an editorial titled, “It’s time to end NASA’s limbo,” in which it urges a quick action on finalizing the space agency’s budget and a rapid start of work on its heavy-lift program:

Congress and the White House then spent most of 2010 trying to agree on a direction for NASA. The end result, which should put the creation of a new heavy-lift vehicle in the hands of Huntsville’s Marshall Space Flight Center, now appears to be stuck: There’s a direction, but a continuing resolution by Congress doesn’t specifically point money to the new heavy-lift program, which means work might not get off the ground.

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ULA's Atlas V

ULA Says Workforce Reductions Will Help Cut Costs
Space News

United Launch Alliance (ULA) will reduce its work force by 19 percent over the next few years as it weeds out unneeded overlaps in Atlas and Delta rockets and finds other efficiencies, ULA Chief Operating Officer Dan Collins said.

The head-count reduction, which follows a 16 percent staff cut over the past four years, should enable Denver-based ULA to reduce operating costs and offer reduced launch-service prices to its U.S. government customer, he said.

Collins said ULA, established in December 2006, has already surpassed its goal of cutting launch costs by 25 percent over the previous generation of rockets, and that more cost reductions are on the way….

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