Launch of France's first Pleiades Earth-imaging satellite plus a quartet of French military radar-mapping microsatellites atop the second Russian Soyuz flying from the European spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana, suggests that some cross-fertilization may be in order for the troubled Russian space program. The Dec. 16 mission marked the second flight of the Europeanized rocket from the new Soyuz pad at Sinnamary (see photo).
New approaches to life-support technologies, as much as powerful rockets and optimally configured spacecraft, promise to pace NASA's push into deep space with humans. Frequently, advances in the space life-support realm—where the emphasis is on compact, reliable low-energy systems—can lead to improvements at a faster clip in more down-to-earth arenas, including public and personal health, and even environmental protection. Activities at NASA's Kennedy and Johnson space centers, as well as on the International Space Station, are bearing this out.
It's been two years since European launch consortium Arianespace turned a profit. Despite Europe's economic crisis, the market for commercial satellite communications is strong and conditions for launch providers are generally favorable, yet the Evry, France-based launch services company continues to rely on government subsidies.
When it comes to the U.S. missile defense market, nothing and everything have changed. In the closing days of 2011, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) announced that Boeing would retain its decade-long position as prime contractor for the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) missile shield for another seven years. But if the $3.48 billion contract signifies a renewal of the partners' sometimes-rocky marriage, there now seems to be a change in the wedding vows.
AERONAUTICS/PROPULSION •The AeroVironment Nano Air Vehicle Team developed and unveiled a tiny remotely piloted air vehicle, the Nano Hummingbird. Looking and flying like a tiny bird, it is designed to record video with an onboard camera and send color video to a hand-held controller.
The initial two service modules for the Orbital Sciences Corp. Cygnus commercial cargo carrier, which is scheduled to fly to the International Space Station this year, are nearing completion at the company's factory in Dulles, Va.
Tight budgets and other factors have left the U.S. facing “serious gaps” in its ability to monitor the Earth’s climate from space, both for near-term forecasting and for tracking longer-term changes, a panel of the National Research Council has found.
PARIS — Years have ticked by since European launch consortium Arianespace turned a profit. Despite Europe’s economic crisis, the market for commercial satellite communications is strong and conditions for launch providers are generally favorable. Yet the Evry, France-based launch services company continues to rely on government subsidies.
NASA’s twin Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (Grail) spacecraft will spend the next month refining their orbits around the Moon, where they will provide the most detailed gravity maps available and important clues to the origins of Earth’s big satellite.
“Mr. President, congratulations. You're a tough adversary. No hard feelings, old pal. It's a great two-party system we have. We gave our best and you outdid us. As a matter of fact you stunned us. I never figured you could beat us that badly. I want to wish you all the success in the world.” Those words were spoken three decades ago by then-U.S. House Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O'Neill, a liberal Massachusetts Democrat, to President Ronald Reagan, a conservative Republican, after the chief executive prevailed in a tough budget battle.
The two largest space powers outside the U.S. had wildly divergent records in 2011, with Beijing boasting 19 launches and demonstrating in-orbit docking for a future space station while the Kremlin ordered an investigation into a string of high-profile engineering failures plaguing Russia's space program.
Few details about the merger are being disclosed, but if approved, it will create a company with more than 40,000 employees and operations to 115 destinations in 23 countries. The combined entity will be named LATAM Airlines Group, although the two companies will operate as separate brands.
BENGALURU, India - India's Defense Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory has developed an oxygen life-support system for helicopter pilots operating at high altitudes.
"There are concerns expressed by us time and again and we are watching the progress at the other end," one senior Indian Air Force official told AVIATION WEEK.
The June 9 test-stand fire that ruined one of the two rocket engines scheduled to power the first flight of the Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus II launch vehicle was caused by kerosene fuel leaking from a 40-year-old manifold manufactured in the former Soviet Union.
