PRESS RELEASE
In preparation for NASA’s first Ares I-X test flight in August, engineers from Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne have finished pressurizing and loading 1,423 pounds of propellants into heritage hardware from the Peacekeeper missile system that will be used to help return humans to the moon by 2020.
CSA PRESS RELEASE
A study released today by the California Space Authority (CSA) shows California leading the nation and world in contributions to the economy. California accounts for 44 percent of the U.S. space market, and 21 percent of the global market, contributing more than $76 billion in total economic impact and more than 370,000 jobs.
Mojave: Where the Old Frontier Meets the Space Frontier
San Fernando Valley Business Journal
Arriving at the Mojave Air & Space Port, a quick scan of the ramshackle blue buildings and hangars left over from a World War II Marine Corps air station raises the question: This is the heart of the industry that will put regular folks into space?
Aviation Week reports that EADS-Astrium is pushing Europe to fund the development of a new medium-lift launcher to replace the Soyuz 2 rocket that will begin operating later this year from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana:
Reports out of Mojave indicate that WhiteKnightTwo took off on its fourth test flight earlier today (Tuesday). More details as they become available.
Another Big Moment for Elon Musk
Air & Space Magazine
At 37 years old, Elon Musk is poised to become either the Henry Ford or the Howard Hughes of his generation. If his Falcon rockets and Tesla electric cars succeed, he’ll revolutionize 21st century transportation. If they don’t, he’ll likely be remembered as a colorful, clever, but ultimately irrelevant tinkerer. After all, Neil Young has an electric car, too.
Some interesting items in The Space Review this week: The case for a suborbital COTS program As some suborbital companies struggle to raise the funding needed to develop their vehicles, NASA is taking an increasing interest in these vehicles’ capabilities to do science. Jeff Foust suggests that this may open the door for a COTS-like program that helps both NASA and industry. Revisiting “Tourists in Space†How rigorous should the […]
Sea Launch sends Italian satellite into orbit
Associated Press
Sea Launch Co. successfully sent a communications satellite into orbit early Monday for Italy’s armed forces and NATO from its floating launch platform in the equatorial Pacific.
India’s spy in the sky: ISRO launches RISAT-2
IBNLive
The Indian Space Research Organisation on Monday successfully launched a revolutionary spy satellite that will help security agencies monitor the hundreds of mountain valleys that connect India with Pakistan and terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan further north.
Stephen Hawking Hospitalized, Reported Very Ill AP Cambridge University says that famed mathematician Stephen Hawking has been rushed to a hospital and is very ill. The university said Hawking has been fighting a chest infection for several weeks, and on Monday he was taken to Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge, north of London. More here. Updates as we receive them.
David Livingston will have the following guests on The Space Show this week:
Republican Support for China Cooperation
Jeffrey Manber
Aviation Week’s On Space Blog
Republican Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama told a recent editorial meeting at the Huntsville Times that the United States should engage China on space cooperation. Though acknowledging the concerns, the highly partisan Senator, who is also a fierce defender of Marshall Spaceflight Center, said the opportunities were too great to just “push them in the corner.â€
