Malaysian astronaut’s space mission
Sun2Surf.com
MALAYSIA’S second astronaut, Major (Dr) Faiz Khaleed, 29, will be sharing his desire, experience and advice to other astronaut hopefuls through short film clips which were created specially in conjunction with the airing of the popular series The Universe (Astro Channel 555).
Profile: Elizabeth Rumsey, Virgin Galactic’s FD
Accountancy Age
But with every major project, there has to be someone tasked with keeping its financial feet firmly anchored to the ground and Virgin Galactic’s FD Elizabeth Rumsey has the ultimate responsibility.
At 30, Rumsey is one of the youngest FDs ever to grace the pages of Accountancy Age, but her relative youth masks her undenied pedigree in the business world. Her ultimate boss, Richard Branson thought enough of her to pick her brains for advice on a takeover deal one Saturday night when she had her feet up in front of the TV.
The Japanese government will begin developing space-based solar power systems later this year.
BOEING PRESS RELEASE
An industry team led by The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] has received a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for work on Phase 2 of the Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed (FAST) program. The $15.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is currently funded to $13.8 million.
DARPA’s FAST program aims to develop a new, ultra-lightweight High Power Generation System (HPGS) that can generate up to 175 kilowatts — more power than is currently available to the International Space Station. When combined with electric propulsion, FAST will form the foundation for future self-deployed, high-mobility spacecraft to perform ultra-high-power communications, space radar, satellite transfer and servicing missions.
SFF PRESS RELEASE
The Space Frontier Foundation is proud to announce the list of speakers presenting at the NewSpace 2009 Conference. Industry leaders and visionaries will cover topics focusing on future space ventures on Saturday, incorporating the corporate side of the Newspace industry on Sunday, and envisioning our next giant leaps on Monday. The speakers will culminate the weekend with a look forward to future of mankind’s presence in space and by paying tribute to the past with the Apollo Anniversary Gala.
X-51 Waverider
I found an interesting story today on Global Security Newsire that sheds some light on what the U.S. military is doing relating to hypersonic technologies. It seems that the goal is to deploy “rapid-strike, long-range conventional weapons” by 2015 that could hit any target in the world within 60 minutes:
X-51A hypersonic test vehicle (Air Force photo/Mike Cassidy)
EDWARDS AFB PRESS RELEASE
The first X-51A Scramjet Engine Demonstrator WaveRider vehicle arrived at Edwards Integrated Maintenance Facility, Building 710 June 25. The aircraft will begin ground tests July 6. Assembly was completed last month at Boeing’s High Desert Assembly, Integration and Test facility at Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif.
The Royal Aeronautical Society held a conference on space tourism on Tuesday.
Scaled Composites has begun posting test logs for the SpaceShipTwo rocket engine. The site reads: Many subscale hot-firings were performed at Scaled Composites between Jun 05 and April 09 to evaluate several different fuels, igniters, injectors, insulators and nozzle configurations, as well as other components and parameters. Based on the results of those subscale firings, the Scaled/SNC team chose a full-scale rocket motor system design and began testing in April, […]
Richard Mains looks at branding for NewSpace and why everyone is suddenly interested in commercial space options.
Sea Launch Bankruptcy Stokes Fears of Rising Launch Prices
Space News
Major commercial satellite fleet operators said the June 22 Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Sea Launch Co. LLC is bad news for the health of the industry despite repeated claims by some launch service providers that the global market is oversupplied with rockets.
India is keen to expand its ongoing space cooperation with Russia to joint development of a “cheaper” reusable spacecraft, ISRO Chairman Madhavan Nair has said.
