ENTREPRENEURIAL SPACE AND EXPORT CONTROL:
Red Tape in the Final Frontier
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill
The Thornton Room
400 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
SPACEX PRESS RELEASE
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has signed an agreement with CONAE, Argentina’s National Commission on Space Activity, for two launches aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 medium-to-heavy lift vehicle. The flights will send the SAOCOM 1A and 1B Earth observation satellites into sun-synchronous orbits, where they will provide imagery for natural resources monitoring, as well as emergency and disaster management.
Discovery Space has a special section on asteroids this week with a number of interesting articles: News: Incoming Asteroid Under Close Watch Asteroid Apophis is set to swing by Earth 20 years from today, on Friday April 13, 2029. Are we ready? Discovery News reports. Top 10: Asteroid-Stopping Technologies Can nuking an asteroid — or simply painting one — really save planet Earth? HowStuffWorks.com investigates. Interview: Protecting Earth from Asteroids […]
Near-Earth Objects: Risks, Responses and Opportunities
– Legal Aspects
Space & Telecom Law
April 23-24, 2009
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Rusty Schweickart will help lead a two-day conference later this month on the subject of near Earth objects sponsored by the University of Nebraska College of Law. The college is hosting the conference in conjunction with the Association of Space Explorers with Co-Sponsorship of the Secure World Foundation and Supported by the American Branch of the International Law Association.
Rocket Launches Damage Ozone Layer, Study Says
National Geographic
Plumes from rocket launches could be the world’s next worrisome emissions, according to a new study that says solid-fuel rockets damage the ozone layer, allowing more harmful solar rays to reach Earth.
Space tourism probe: State may try to get grant money back
Orlando Sentinel
A key legislator said Wednesday that Florida could attempt to recover grant money given to a Panhandle orthopedic clinic to launch a “space tourism” center, even as the clinic announced the resignation of a former employee who shepherded the grant.
Startup to Beam Power from Space
Technology Review
Now Solaren Corporation, a startup based in Manhattan Beach, CA, is trying to get the idea off the ground. It’s working with the California utility Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), which intends to enter into a power-purchase agreement with the company. If the agreement is approved by regulators, starting in 2016, the utility will purchase 200 megawatts of power from Solaren at an undisclosed price–that is, if the startup can get a system into space and working by then. The company has already selected a site in California for the receiving station; it hasn’t said exactly where, but it will be close to a PG&E substation and won’t require long-distance transmission lines.
Elegant Resorts prepares to sell Virgin Galactic space flights
Travel Weekly
As one of the four Elegant Resorts staff given the job of selling the Virgin Galactic programme in the UK, product manager Justine Pitt found herself having one of her stranger experiences in travel: being spun around to recreate the g-forces encountered while breaking the earth’s atmosphere.
California Space Authority to Release
Study on Space Industry’s Impact on California Economy
California Space Industry Ranks #1 in US and #1 in World in Economic Impact, Contributing more than $76B to State Economy and 370,000 Jobs
This just in from director Michael Potter: “Orphans of Apollo” has been nominated for the World Technology Awards in the Entertainment category. The awards ceremony will be held in July in New York City. The next screening of Mr. Potter’s documentary about MirCorp is scheduled for the San Diego Air & Space Museum on Saturday, May 9.
At the end of the second week inside the special isolation facility, ESA-selected participant Cyrille Fournier describes how the Mars500 crew is managing to feel at home, decorating their sleeping quarters and eating fresh vegetables grown in the greenhouse.
NASA has selected 16 proposals for negotiation of Phase 2 contract awards in the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. The selected projects have a total value of approximately $9.6 million. The contracts will be awarded to 16 hi-tech firms partnered with 15 universities in 18 states.