A couple of items about the United Arab Emirates and its efforts to build up a space program.
Speaking at a conference, Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud – who became the first Arab in orbit aboard the space shuttle in 1985 – praised UAE’s efforts to train its own space scientists and engineers.
Alliant Techsystems to cut 800 jobs
Deseret News
Tough times continue for Alliant Techsystems as the defense contractor and aerospace company announced on Thursday that 800 jobs would be cut from its Utah work force early next year.
It is second round of layoffs announced by the company this year.
Chirinjeev Kathuria, Chairman & CEO Planet Space, speaks during a forum in October about space tourism, commercial space, and hypersonic point-to-point travel.
A bit more information on the Sea Launch bankruptcy reorganization – which includes Excalibur Alaz (which is planning to launch a space station) and U.S.-based PlanetSpace:
Excalibur Almaz and PlanetSpace are working to provide exit financing through Space Launch Services, LLC (“SLS LLCâ€), as well as equity investment in a reorganized Sea Launch, for the purpose of sustaining reliable commercial access to space. SLS LLC is led by Bohdan (Bo) Bejmuk, an aerospace consultant with in-depth knowledge of space systems and launch vehicles. In parallel with its focus on the reorganization process, Sea Launch successfully completed the launch of the Intelsat 15 satellite on November 30, on a Zenit-3SLB vehicle from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan. This is Sea Launch’s fourth and final launch campaign of 2009.
Escaping from the Big Bad Wolf of Mojave that blew his party tent down, Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn flew to Naples, Florida, where he pitched his company’s space tourism service to a couple of groups:
Some Forum attendees Friday questioned the project’s safety and wondered if a catastrophic accident could kill the project.
“Safety is the North Star of the whole project,†Whitehorn said, adding that an accident early in the effort could ground the ship, but an accident say ten years in could be overcome.
Man in the News: Burt Rutan, Rocket Man
The Financial Times
He has been married four times – a friend told a 2004 New Yorker interview that his current wife was “the best one he’s ever had†– and he tends to start each day with a rousing rendition of James Brown’s “I Feel Goodâ€.
“Burt is plain-talking, direct and he has a great sense of humour,†says Robert Weiss, president of the X-Prize Foundation. “He can also be very charming – and he looks a lot like Wolverine’s dad.â€
The Tehachapi News has a pretty dramatic account of the event:
The Kern County Fire Department and the management of the Mojave Air and Space Port averted a major disaster and doubtless saved lives Dec. 7 at Virgin Galactic’s splashy rollout of SpaceShipTwo when they ordered the evacuation of a massive temporary structure 36 minutes before high winds destroyed it.
Will Pomerantz reports that NASA’s Centennial Challenges program is in line for another $4.5 million in funding under a bill reported out of Congress this week. This is a good thing because the agency has given out nearly all the money it had for the existing challenges, including the ones for regolith excavation, lunar lander, power beaming and astronaut glove. NASA recently solicited ideas for new challenges.
An interesting concept for high-altitude flight from a Barcelona company called zero2infinity. The website ncludes the following description:
Bloon’s near-spaceship will calmly soar through our atmosphere pulled by a balloon in a clean and safe way to an altitude of 36 km. Meanwhile, the four shirtsleeves travelers on board the pod will dispose of about 3 hours to discover the amazing beauty and fragility of the Earth. There’s no need to rush. Space travel is a journey of discovering and enlightenment. Near-space travelers can have dinner, sip their favorite drink or simply relax in the warm cabin’s environment with the only worry of not missing any detail of our great world and knowing that the trip not only did no harm, but helped protect her.
Bezos’ space flight project Blue Origin shows signs of life
TechFlash
Blue Origin recently selected three scientific projects — from Purdue University, the University of Central Florida and Louisiana University — for future test flights, though it didn’t specify when the flights would take place. The company will likely respond to a Dec. 4 NASA request for suborbital space flight companies interested in working with the agency on research programs, said Alan Stern, a planetary scientist and former NASA official now consulting for Blue Origin.
X-51 Waverider
PRATT & WHITNEY ROCKETDYNE PRESS RELEASE
The U.S. Air Force X-51A WaveRider vehicle yesterday successfully made its first captive carry flight under the wing of a B-52 carry aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The X-51A is powered by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX) company.
Jaxa: Space programme left out in the cold
Financial Times
Funding requests for fiscal 2010 from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency were given a frosty reception at unprecedented public budget screening sessions organised by the new ruling Democratic party-led government.
