Ukraine's Cyclone-4 rocket

RIA Novosti reports that a Brazilian delegation headed by Defense Minister Nelson Jobin is in the Ukraine for three-days of talks on military and space cooperation.

On the space side, the delegation will discuss the Alcantara Cyclone Space joint venture, which was established in 2006 to launch Ukrainian Cyclone-4 rockets from the Alcântara spaceport in Brazil. The rocket was originally scheduled to debut this year. The first launch is now set for 2012.

Cyclone-4 can launch satellites weighing up to 5,300 kilograms to equatorial low earth orbit (LEO) and 1,600 kilograms to geosynchronous orbit (GEO).

(more…)

International Space Station

NASA PROGRAM UPDATE

NASA has awarded a five-year, $1.24 billion contract extension to The Boeing Co. to continue engineering support of the International Space Station through Sept. 30, 2015.

Work under the contract extension is intended to maintain the station at peak performance levels so the full value of the unique research laboratory is available to NASA, its international partners, other U.S. government agencies and private companies.

(more…)

NASA PROGRAM UPDATE

NASA announced the four astronauts who will make up the crew of STS-335, the rescue mission that would fly only if needed to bring home the members of space shuttle Endeavour’s STS-134 mission, currently the final scheduled shuttle flight.

(more…)

Boeing's CST-100 crew transport. (Credit: Boeing)

BOEING PRESS RELEASE

The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] and Space Adventures, Ltd. have established a memorandum of agreement regarding the marketing of anticipated transportation services to destinations in low Earth orbit (LEO) on Boeing commercial crew spacecraft.

(more…)

Railway to the Sky? NASA Ponders New Launch System
Space.com

Imagine this: A wedge-shaped aircraft attached to a supersonic jet engine is hurtling along an electrified track, carrying a pod or spacecraft destined for orbit. Sound farfetched? It may not be.

A team of engineers from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and some of the agency’s other field centers are looking into this and other novel launch systems based on cutting-edge technologies.

(more…)

A new promotional video from Virgin Galactic. No real news here. Richard  Branson provides no specifics on the status of the engine, the test schedule for powered flights, or when commercial operations might commence.

(more…)

Rocky - The Mars Rover

My good friend Lucinda Land of the Mars Society has passed along this news for those of you in the San Francisco Bay Area. There’s going to be free ice cream.

The USS Hornet Museum invites families and enthusiasts from across Northern California to join us for the public unveiling of this limited-time exhibit.

(more…)

Armadillo Aerospace conducted a “Super Mod” tethered flight on Saturday in Texas. The perturbations were part of the test, according to the description posted with this YouTube video: Includes induced perturbations to test recovery from aerodynamic impulses, and the telescopic legs extending at the end. We were ready to free-flight after this test, but a two-hour FAA hold would have put us too late in the day.

Spaceport construction ‘chugging along’
Las Cruces Sun-News

“It’s chugging along,” said Rick Homans, director of New Mexico Spaceport Authority, of the $200-million project. “Pretty much all the construction is on track.”

(more…)

A version of this RoboThesbian will soon greet visitors at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The £70,520 ($109,810) robot is built by the Cornish firm Engineered Arts and includes customizable programs.

Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo with Burt Rutan and Richard Branson

WhiteKnightTwo has completed its first flight following an Aug. 19 accident involving the left landing gear. The flight test summary and a statement from Scaled Composites follow after the break.

(more…)

CSF PRESS RELEASE

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is pleased to announce that Barrios Technology, BWSC Inc., J&P Technologies, ORBITEC, and Triumph Aerospace Systems-Newport News have joined the Federation as Associate Members.  With the addition of these five new Associate Members – in locations ranging from Huntsville, Alabama and Houston, Texas to Madison, Wisconsin and San Diego, California – the Commercial Spaceflight Federation now includes over 35 leading aerospace companies.

(more…)