A Russian Soyuz spacecraft in orbit

The price of going to orbit just rose again. NASA has signed a $335 million contract for Soyuz flight services for 2013-14. The contract covers flights for six astronauts at a rate of $55.83 million per seat.

The Associated Press reports that this is nearly double $26.3 million per astronaut that NASA now pays for rides on Soyuz. It is also an increase over the approximately $51 million the space agency will pay in 2011-12.

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RED BULL STRATOS UPDATE An exclusive, all-access documentary about the Red Bull Stratos project is being produced by the BBC together with National Geographic. A few weeks after the jump in 2010, the feature-length film, “SPACE DIVE,” will premiere on BBC2 in the UK and National Geographic Channel in the US. It will be aired across the rest of the world soon after. “SPACE DIVE,” the 90-minute documentary about Red […]

RED BULL STRATOS PRESS RELEASE

History has been made today as Red Bull Stratos unveiled the first space suit ever to be produced by David Clark Company for a non-governmental space program. The Red Bull Stratos science team has also revealed the pressure helmet, which with the suit will serve as Felix Baumgartner’s sole life-support system when he steps off his capsule at 120,000 feet to attempt a record-breaking freefall from the edge of space.

This next-generation gear was manufactured by Massachusetts-based David Clark Company Incorporated, which has pioneered air and space crew protective equipment since 1941, including launch entry suits for Space Shuttle astronauts and the iconic suit that United States Air Force Colonel (Ret.) Joe Kittinger wore on his historic Excelsior III jump in 1960.

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Ukraine's Cyclone-4 rocket

Space powers Russia, China and Ukraine are finding South America to be a fertile ground for cooperation, assisting governments in the region in developing their own space capabilities and programs.

The latest news comes from Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia. Brazil has announced that it plans to launch a satellite in 2014 using a domestically produced VLS-1 rocket. The booster will be a revamped version of one that exploded in Alcântara (MA) in 2003, killing 21 people.

In addition, Brazil and Ukraine are scheduled to launch the Cyclone-4 rocket from Alcântara at the end of this year. The Ukrainian built rocket can launch satellites up to 5,300 kilograms to the equatorial low earth orbit (LEO) and 1,600 kilograms satellite to geosynchronous orbit.

Brazil also has been working closely with China. The cooperation has largely been in launching three China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellites (CBERS).

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SPACE FLORIDA UPDATE

Prior to the halfway point of the 2010 Legislative Session in Tallahassee, the Florida Senate moved rapidly to pass a critical bill to aid in stimulating economic development and job growth across the state. The bill, sponsored by Senator Don Gaetz (R-Destin), entitled “Jobs for Florida” (SB1752), includes critical funding for Florida’s aerospace industry. The inclusion of aerospace and the drive for its passage was initiated by leaders of the Florida Senate, including Senator Mike Haridopolos (R-Melbourne), the incoming Senate President, and Senator Thad Altman (R-Melbourne), chair of the Finance and Tax Committee.

“Floridians have kept our nation on the cutting edge of space exploration and development, and the loss of any Florida space jobs will create overwhelming challenges for the Space Coast and our state’s entire economy,” Governor Crist said. “I applaud Senators Gaetz, Haridopolos and Altman, as well as Representatives Steve Crisafulli and Ritch Workman, for their commitment to preserving and retaining our leadership in the global space arena.”

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Report: Space playing field becoming more level
Air Force Times

While the United States has enjoyed its position at the top of the space industry for decades, U.S. policymakers are now going to have to contend with a much more crowded and level playing field in space, according to the Pentagon’s interim Space Posture Review that was sent to Congress in early March.

“An increasingly congested and contested environment threatens both U.S systems and the ability of the global community to access and use space,” says the report, a copy of which was obtained by Defense News. “Increasing competition in the global marketplace and increasing global expertise in fielding space capabilities also challenge the historical advantages of the U.S. industrial base.”

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DSER PRESS RELEASE

Conventional wisdom among many space policy experts is that sustainability arises from technology development and job creation. But a strategic analysis group suggests that subtle, unaddressed drivers are equally critical; and without including them in policy, the manned space flight industry will be unable to graduate from a solely government-subsidized affair. Their report, “Space Policy via Macro-Economic Analysis,” introduces an alternative view of the space industry and highlights yet-unaddressed strategic drivers that affect sustainability.

“This work has been submitted to NASA and government officials, and met with great unofficial support,” said Dr. Gordon Smith, Ph.D., co-author of the report. “As the debate is moving further into the public eye, we felt it the right time to introduce our ideas on a broader stage.”

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AEB PRESS RELEASE

In four years Brazil will be able to launch its own rocket to put a satellite in orbit, said the G1 the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB). The thruster will be revamped from VLS (Satellite Launch Vehicle), the same family of rocket that exploded in Alcântara (MA) in 2003, killing 21 people.

“From 2003 up to now there has been a major revision of the design of the VLS,” says the director of space policy and strategic investments of AEB, Himilcon Carvalho.

The first test of the VLS-1 rocket as it is called, is scheduled for 2012, informs Carvalho. At that stage will be triggered only the first two stages of the propellant, which are at the bottom. In 2013 are expected to fly with full load, but still experimental. “In 2014 we will be able to put a satellite into orbit,” he says.

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Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium, is not a big fan of Obama’s proposed human space flight policy, which he believes lacks a clear direction beyond Earth orbit.

The space shuttle Discovery lit up the predawn sky as it roared off the launch pad from Cape Canaveral this morning at 6:21 a.m. On board are Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot Jim Dutton and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Clay Anderson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. They are on a 13-day mission to supply the International Space Station. NASA reports that the mission […]

Ben and Cariann talk to Ed Buckbee, who has been associated with the U.S. space program since 1959. As a NASA public affairs officer Ed met and worked with all of the astronauts who flew on the early Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. In 1970 Ed was selected by rocket legend Wernher Von Braun to be the first director of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Ed is also the […]