An Australian hypersonic scramjet technology demonstrator is expected to be launched from the Andøya Rocket Range in Norway as early as Sept. 17. The Scramspace (Scramjet-based Access-to-Space Systems) vehicle will test an array of hypersonic-propulsion technologies as well as being designed to foster a new generation of Australian hypersonic specialists. The $12.9 million, three-year research project is led by the University of Queensland and builds on Australia’s lead in air-breathing hypersonics as part of the country’s emerging national space policy.

U.S. AIR FORCE

Scientists are beginning to use the Voyager I spacecraft to make in situ measurements of interstellar space, having applied a “gift from the Sun” to confirm that the venerable probe has traveled into the region characterized by plasma originating in other stars.

NEW DELHI — India soon will have a second satellite launch vehicle assembly unit at the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota (SDSC-SHAR) in southern India at an estimated cost of $3.64 billion rupees ($57 million).

SAN DIEGO — SpaceX says unspecified issues prevented the planned static firing of its first upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on Sept. 11, delaying the launch by several days.

NEW DELHI — India on Sept. 11 unveiled its Mars Orbiter, which is due to launch later this year to search the red planet’s atmosphere for methane, considered a “precursor chemical” for life. “The Mars orbiter is in the final stages of testing for launch between Oct. 21 and Nov. 19 on board a rocket with five scientific instruments to conduct various experiments after a nine-month voyage to the red planet,” says S.K. Shivkumar, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) satellite center director.

The Sept. 17 return to flight of Russia’s Proton rocket was postponed Sept. 11 for technical reasons associated with the Russian launch vehicle. Marketed by International Launch Services (ILS) of Reston, Va., the commercial mission was slated to loft The EADS-Astrium-built Astra 2E satellite for fleet operator SES of Luxembourg. “The launch date will be determined at a later time,” ILS said in a Sept. 12 statement.

The Pentagon and NASA will spend $44 billion developing and launching spacecraft over the next five fiscal years, including a $7 billion chunk to develop NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit.