December 2005

Space Watch
Week of December 5 - December 9, 2005

Welcome to Space Watch. This is a weekly update compiled by The Eisenhower Institute of the most significant news items in civil, military and commercial space.

If you are interested in receiving a weekly email update version of Space Watch, please send an email to spacewatch@eisenhowerinstitute.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. Space Watch will be sent out every Friday.

 

Civil Space

 

Kazakhstan Announces Ambitious Space Plan
Kazakhstan's Prime Minister, Danial Akhmetov, announced last week that his country has plans to build a satellite network. The country's first satellite will be launched in December, and Akhmetov said they already have a plan to launch a second within two years. Kazakhstan is working with the Moscow Institute of Thermal Engineering to develop the Ishim satellite launching system as well. This system will be ideal for launching small payloads of up to 160 kg. Kazakhstan's space program also includes participation in the International Space Station by 2008 and participation in the development of a replacement for the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/stans-05r.html, 12/4/05)

ESA Discusses Future
Representatives from 17 European countries are meeting in Berlin to discuss the European Space Agency's future space programming. ESA is seeking 8.8 billion Euros over a period of three and a half years to continue its space science program and to start new ventures. Proposals for new projects include human voyages to Mars and the Moon, satellites to monitor the health of Earth, and a joint spaceship program with Russia. "The success of ESA today is based on decisions which were taken 10 years ago," said ESA spokesperson Franc Bonacina at the meeting, "Now it is time to start opening doors to set the course for new programmes." Another discussion topic is the flagship Global Monitoring for Environment and Security project which has been the subject of intense lobbying in the UK.
(Briggs, Helen, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/sci/tech/4500106.stm, 12/6/05)

ESA Approves Budget
The European Space Agency approved a $9.6 billion budget for 2006-08 on Tuesday. Programs funded by this budget include an advanced global satellite network and an unmanned mission to Mars by 2011. The ESA Council also approved measures to increase collaboration with the European Union and require member states to use European launch programs exclusively. ESA wants to stay competitive with other leading space programs and hopes that this increased budget will do the trick. "If we had not taken these decisions, in that context we would have been indeed the museum Europe, as people sometimes try to call us," said ESA Council Chairman Jan Brinkhorst.
(AP, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/12/06/esa.budget.ap/index.html, 12/6/05)

Arm Trouble for one Mars Rover
One of the two Mars Exploration Rovers, which have been exploring the Red Planet for almost two years, is unable to move its experiment arm. Officials announced Monday that a problem with the arm's shoulder joint stopped the arm from moving ten days earlier. A team of engineers is working on the problem but has remained stumped, as the arm joint does not appear to be blocked by anything. Engineers hope that they can either fix the joint or extend the arm so that the instruments mounted on it can be used. There are two identical Mars Exploration Rovers in orbit, but the other has not suffered any similar problems. The rovers were only designed to work for 90 days on the surface of Mars, but have been working successfully since January 2004.
(SpaceToday, http://www.spacetoday.net/Summary/3173, 12/6/05)

NASA Trying to Stay on Track
Despite continued problems with foam insulation, NASA still plans to launch a space shuttle in May of next year. NASA engineers are considering the option of eliminating the dangerous section of foam insulation that was the cause of the 2003 Columbia accident and endangered last summer's Discovery launch. Recent inspections showed that the piece of insulation on the external tanks could crack once the tank fills with chilled liquid hydrogen and oxygen. The liquids are minus 423 degrees and minus 298 degrees Fahrenheit when they enter the tanks, causing the insulation to contract and expand. The cracking then causes the foam to break apart or come off completely. NASA said testing shuttles without the insulation could last a year, but every effort will be made to proceed with a launch this spring.
(Halvorson, Todd, http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051203/NEWS02/512030330/1007, 12/7/05)

NASA Plan Changes
The head of NASA announced Tuesday that the space agency must cut back its plans due to financial problems. "We must also acknowledge the plain fact that we cannot do everything that was on our plate when I assumed office," said NASA Administrator Michael Griffin. In 2004, President Bush had outlined a plan to send humans to the moon by 2020 with a trip to Mars not long after. NASA is facing a shortfall of up to $5 billion dollars in its budget over the next five years. Griffin explained the NASA must work with the resources it has, which means that some programs will be cut of delayed. Griffin insisted that science will not take a backseat to the International Space Station as critics have recently implied. "I am aware that many in the science community have questioned NASA's commitment to science, and believe their own work to be gravely threatened by the vision for space exploration," he said. Griffin maintained that NASA will try its best to work with the money and resources it has.
(Reuters, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/12/07/nasa.cutback.reut/index.html, 12/07/07)

Hayabusa May Not Return with Samples
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said Wednesday that its space probe which landed on an asteroid last month may not have completed its mission to collect rock samples. The probe, Hayabusa, did successfully touch down on the asteroid, but may have failed to shoot a metal ball toward the surface and collect the resulting debris. "We have found out that there is a high possibility that the projectile was not discharged," JAXA said. The probe was launched 2.5 years ago to collect samples from an asteroid named Itokawa and return to the Australian outback in June 2007. The only rocks that have been collected from outer space came from the moon.
(Reuters, http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyID=2005-12-07T102818Z_01_HO737675_RTRUKOC_0_US-SPACE-JAPAN-ASTEROID.xml, 12/07/05)

Possible Oxygen Leak During Shuttle Launch
NASA is looking into the possibility of an oxygen leak into the shuttle Discovery's rear engine compartment during last summer's launch. NASA engineers recently found evidence suggesting the highly flammable gas was present in the compartment two minutes after liftoff. Although engineers remain unsure whether a leak actually occurred, the issue must be resolved before NASA's next shuttle mission to prevent a possible explosion. A formal investigation has been launched and engineers hope to report back to shuttle managers in January.
(Halvorson, Todd, "Florida Today," http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051209/NEWS02/512090350/1007/news02, 12/9/05)

 

 

 

Commercial

 

Alcatel Wins Contract
Alcatel Alenia Space has won a contract to build a large communications satellite for China. The company will build the Chinasat 6B satellite for China Satellite Communication Corporation for launch in 2007. The satellite, which will weigh 4600 kg, will carry 38 C-band transponders dedicated to television broadcasting. It will also avoid US export control restrictions by avoiding the use of any US-made components. This will be the fourth "ITAR-free" satellite that Alcatel has built for China.
(SpaceToday, http://www.spacetoday.net/Summary/3172, 12/6/05)

NASA Looks for a Replacement
NASA issued a solicitation for proposals on Tuesday for companies interested in taking over cargo flights to the International Space Station once the NASA fleet is retired in 2010. Interested firms include Space Exploration Technologies, AirLaunch LLC, Andrews Space Inc., Universal Space Lines, and Constellation Services International, Inc., among others. The companies have until February 10 to submit proposals to NASA and the space agency expects to award at least one contract by May. NASA has allotted $500 million to pay for the first phases of the program through 2010.
(Reuters, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/12/08/space.bids.reut/index.html, 12/08/05)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Military

 

DoD Reevaluates SBIRS Contract
The Pentagon is considering using NASA hardware developed for civil space programs to help plug a potential gap in missile-warning satellite coverage. Prospective problems with the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) could be solved by NASA's infrared sensors, said Gary Payton, deputy undersecretary of the Air Force for space programs. The Air Force is actually considering terminating the SBIRS satellite program altogether or reducing its purchase of SBIRS satellites due to delays and massive cost overruns. The SBIRS contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin in 1998 with a value of $2 billion. Six years later, the price tag had grown to $10 billion dollars and no satellites had been launched. The current Defense Support Program constellation will begin to degrade soon, thus a replacement is needed by 2015. A final decision will be made December 13th.
(de Selding, Peter B., "Space News," 12/5/05)

Changes Considered for GPS System
A recent study by a Defense Science Board recommends changing the number of orbital planes in the Global Positing System (GPS) from six to three, as well as increasing the total number of satellites from 24 to 30. Now the U.S. Air Force must weigh the benefits and risks of changing the architecture of the GPS system as it transitions to GPS-3. "At this point, we're not on a path to transition from a six- to a three-plane system, but I would not rule that out," said Air Force Col. Alan Ballenger. The transition could start as early as 2006, when the next GPS satellite is set to launch, but no decision has been made. The European Space Agency's planned Galileo satellite system is being designed with three orbital planes and 10 satellites per plane. Basically, as the number of satellites increase, the loss of one satellite becomes more negligible and fewer planes are necessary. The Air Force has been looking for ways to improve the performance of the GPS system, which has both military and civil uses.
(Frederick, Missy, "Space News," 12/5/05)

 

 

 

 

 

Op-Ed

 

"Go West, Young Astronaut"
In his recent editorial, John Tierney suggests that NASA add a competition with a cash prize to advance space progress. Tierney details last years Ansari X Prize for a reusable spacecraft that produced the new Virgin Galactic spaceship. The ship beat out two dozen competitors to win a $10 million prize, but billionaire Paul Allen spent over $25 million to create it. "That's the beauty of offering prizes: a little money buys a lot more R&D than you would ever get by giving the funds to NASA...Competition inspires innovation that would never be approved by bureaucrats," Tierney says. He suggests that NASA start a competition to build a spacecraft to take a human to Mars. Even if the space agency offered a $30 billion prize, far less money would be spent; NASA has allotted $100 billion just to reach the Moon. Tierney believes that competitions like Ansari's could be the solution to all of NASA's financing problems.
(Tierney, John, http://select.nytimes.com/2005/12/06/opinion/06tierney.html?hp, 12/6/05)

 

 

 

 

 

Credits

Compiled by Brita Ericson

Edited by Suzy Vogel

Space Watch
Week of December 12 - December 16, 2005

Welcome to Space Watch. This is a weekly update compiled by The Eisenhower Institute of the most significant news items in civil, military and commercial space.

If you are interested in receiving a weekly email update version of Space Watch, please send an email to spacewatch@eisenhowerinstitute.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. Space Watch will be sent out every Friday.

 

Civil Space

 

Construction of Soyuz Launch Site Begins in French Guiana
According to the French Space Agency (CNES), the infrastructure for launches of the Soyuz spacecraft in Korou, French Guiana will begin in December of this year, and are expected to be completed by July 2008. The first launch of a Soyuz from the site is scheduled for the second half of 2008.
(Andrei Nizamutdinov, http://en.rian.ru/world/20051212/42453203.html, 12/12/05)

Russian Company Signs Agreement with Indonesia for Satellite Launch Site
Following the signing of a government-to-government agreement between Indonesia and Russia, Air Launch Aerospace Corporation President Anatoly Karpov expects to win approval for the use of Biak Island in the Papua province as a satellite launch site. Plans to use the location as a launch site have been on and off many times over the past several years, due in part to the changes in Indonesian government. According to Karpov, "Biak is the best place for launching satellites on the equator." The location is advantageous because there are several nautical miles of water to the east of Biak Island in the event that something goes wrong during the launch.
(http://en.rian.ru/russia/20051214/42484945.html, 12/13/05)

First Galileo Satellite Set to Launch by Year's End
The Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element GIOVE-A is set to launch on December 26th aboard a Soyez-Fregat rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This satellite will mark the first of a planned constellation of 30 satellites that will constitute a European global position system similar to the US GPS system. The GIOVE-A satellite will be placed in Medium Earth Orbit at an altitude of 23,222 km.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gps-euro-05zg.html, 12/14/05)

Hayabusa Probe Not to Return for Three Years
Japan's much troubled Hayabusa probe has developed engine problems, delaying its return to Earth by at least three years, according to JAXA. The new return date is now June 2010. Junichiro Kawaguchi, a project manager, expressed a determination to continue to work on salvaging the probe. He remarked, "We are disappointed about the postponement of the departure, but we will work hard to have the probe back to Earth as long as there is a possibility." The engine glitch occurred on November 26, when it landed on, then took off from, the Itokawa asteroid a second time.
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10463981/, 12/14/05)

ESA Works on New Space Engine Technology
The European Space Agency reports that the first test of its new plasma drive for spacecraft was a success. The new technology is an ion drive that works by accelerating charged particles between two layers of argon plasma, a gas where the atoms have been stripped of electrons. ESA believes that this type of drive will yield much more power than existing versions and can operate for much longer than a chemical engine.
(Roger Walker, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4527696.stm, 12/14/05)

Lawmakers Express Concern about NASA's Budget
Several Texas congressmen are speaking out on concerns that the White House budget writers will imperil the US shuttle program, which will leave work on the International Space Station and the Hubble Telescope incomplete. Tom DeLay, former Speaker of the House, sent a letter last week to President Bush with the signatures of 29 House Republicans and 6 House Democrats. The letter warned that with the expected NASA budget, they may have to mothball one of its three remaining shuttles and lay off workers. Estimates of the budget shortfall range between $3 billion and $6 billion through 2010.
(Mark Carreau, http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/nation/3523361, 12/14/05)

 

 

 

Commercial

 

New Mexico To Be the Site of Virgin Galactic Spaceport
Virgin Galactic has reached a deal with the state of New Mexico to build a $225 million spaceport near the White Sands Missile Range. Construction could begin as early as 2007 and Virgin will have a 20-year lease on the facility. Plans are to build 90% of the site underground, with only the runway and a few other structures above ground.
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051213/ap_on_sc/britain_space_tourism, 12/13/05)

SES Global to Purchase New Skies Satellites
The world's largest satellite operator, SES Global, has agreed to purchase a rival, New Skies Satellites, for $760 million. The goal is for SES Global to increase its presence in Latin America and South Asia. The deal is under review by regulators.
(Gilles Castonguay and Jeffrey Goldfarb, http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-12-14T160340Z_01_L14373471_RTRIDST_0_TELECOMS-NEWSKIES-SESGLOBAL-UPDATE-4.XML, 12/15/05)

Canadian Space Tourism Company Releases Plans for Orbital Spacecraft
PlanetSpace, an Ontario-based space tourism firm, released designs for its Silver Dart spacecraft. The Silver Dart is based on experimental aircraft studies done in the 1970's and will be designed to both carry eight people into orbit and resupply the International Space Station (ISS). NASA's recent decision to purchase commercial services for cargo and crew flights to the ISS encouraged Geoff Sheerin, the president of PlanetSpace, to push this design forward.
(Tariq Malik, http://space.com/missionlaunches/051215_planetspace_silverdart.html, 12/15/05)

 

 

 

Credits

Compiled by Suzy Vogel

Edited by Chad Kreikemeier

 

Space Watch
Week of December 19 - December 23, 2005

Welcome to Space Watch. This is a weekly update compiled by The Eisenhower Institute of the most significant news items in civil, military and commercial space.

If you are interested in receiving a weekly email update version of Space Watch, please send an email to spacewatch@eisenhowerinstitute.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. Space Watch will be sent out every Friday.

Space Watch will not be available the week of December 25th through January 1st. It will return the week of January 2nd. Have a Happy Holiday season from all of us here at The Eisenhower Institute.

 

Civil Space

 

Galileo Launch Delayed
Europe has delayed the launch of its first global navigation system satellite a few days. The launch, to have taken place on December 26, has been pushed back to December 28 because of problems with communications equipment on the ground. The satellite, a component of the future Galileo system called the GIOVE-A, is set to be launched by a Russian Soyuz rocket and will be joined in 2006 with the GIOVE-B and in 2008 by four more working satellites. The final tally of satellites should reach to a constellation of 30. In order to secure the rights to the radio frequencies that Galileo is slated to use, the project must launch its first test satellite by June 2006.
(NewScientist.com, http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn8484-launch-of-first-galileo-satellite-delayed.html, 12/19/05).

NASA Prepares for Pluto Voyage
NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, set to launch next month, will be the first spacecraft dedicated to studying Pluto, the tiny ice planet at the edge of the solar system. Spacecraft have visited every other planet in the system, starting in the 1960's, yet none have been sent to study Pluto. The Pluto probe will be powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) with 24 pounds of plutonium dioxide. The small probe will be accelerated to 8 miles per second by an Atlas rocket, making it the fastest spacecraft ever. Even at that speed, it will take a decade to reach Pluto. The program is set to cost roughly $650 million.
(Chien, http://washingtontimes.com/national/20051219-110923-6446r.htm, 12/20/05).

New Technology to Help Asteroid Warning System
A new system of telescopes using the world's biggest digital cameras will be an integral component to the next generation of asteroid warning systems. When finally operational, the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) project will deeply scan the sky several times a month. From Hawaii, the Pan-STARRS program will use four linked telescopes to take extremely detailed pictures of the sky. The new system is said to be able to spot objects as much as 250 times fainter than the current asteroid spotting system. The first of the telescopes is set to begin operation in January 2006, while the rest will be up and running by 2009.
(Myers, Robert. http://space.com/businesstechnology/051221_pan-starrs.html, 12/21/05).

Scientist Finds Beagle Probe on Mars
Colin Pillinger, the head scientist of the Beagle 2 Mars probe mission, purported this week that he has found the probes wreckage a few miles from its planned landing site. The Beagle 2 probe has not been heard from since it separated from its mother ship in December of 2003. It was supposed to have landed on Mars one week after its separation. Though the probe was only 143 pounds and would be undetectable in any pictures, Pillinger said the nearby crater indicates signs of a heavy impact. "There is a lot of disturbance in this crater which we think is the primary impact site," says Pillinger. The probe, which cost nearly $120 million, instigated a series of inquiries in Britain about Europe's ability to participate in the space race to Mars.
(Yahoo News, http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051220/ap_on_sc/britain_mars_probe, 12/21/05).

Ariane Conducts Two Successful Launches
Europe successfully launched an Indian communications satellite and a European weather satellite this morning from Kourou, French Guiana. The two systems were launched on board an Ariane 5 rocket. The rocked placed a 3200 kilogram communications satellite built by the Indian Space Research Organization into geosynchronous orbit. The satellite will help provide communications services for much of the Indian subcontinent. The Ariane 5 also launched a 2000 kilogram weather satellite for Europe.
(BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4548562.stm, 12/22/05).

Russia Launches Supplies to ISS
Nearly 3 tons of supplies were launched to the International Space Station this week on board a Russian Progress Cargo spacecraft. The spacecraft was launched into space by a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The ship's cargo consists of food, water, propellant, and holiday gifts for the two crew members currently at the station. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the station at the end of this week.
(Maliq, Tarik. http://space.com/missionlaunches/051221_exp12_prog20_lnch.html, 12/22/05).

Life on Mars: Probably Not, Say New Studies
Two new studies to be published in this month's journal, Nature, suggest that there is little reason to be optimistic about the notion that Mars was once capable of supporting pools of water with the necessary components of life. The studies argue that layered rock outcrops seen by NASA's Mars explorer Opportunity could have been created by a meteorite impact long ago. Scientists had previously suggested that the rock formation was created by ancient pools of water.
(Chang, Alicia. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051222/ap_on_sc/mars_rovers, 12/22/05).

Senate Passes NASA Bill
The Senate has approved legislation which helps to shape the US space policy for at least the next two years. The bill supports policy elements which begin the process of returning the US to the moon. "Our national policy will determine the nation's role in future space exploration and its contribution to broad research and our national security, says Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. The NASA reauthorization bill, which has already passed the House, is now being sent to President Bush for his signature and approval. The bill gives spending outlines, but does not provide for specific appropriations, which are done in separate bills.
(Reuters, http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/nation/3541679, 12/22/05).

 

 

Military

 

Pentagon Cuts SBIRS Program
Senior Pentagon officials will reportedly seek congressional approval next year to scale back the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) from five to three spacecraft due to continuing technical difficulties. The Pentagon is seeking instead to begin work on a new missile warning system satellite that will take advantage of more up-to-date sensor technology. The new project will be less publicly ambiguous in terms of what the system will do. This is the latest in a series of setbacks for the SBIRS program, whose costs have grown from a projected target of $2 billion to more than $10 billion in little less than a decade.
(Singer, Jeremy. Space News, 12/19/05).

Year in Review: Congress Reins in Space Programs
Many will see 2005 as the year that Congress and Pentagon officials did their best to rein in the military's out-of-control space programs. Congress, in particular, was vehemently against any new development projects, while also slashing the budgets for cost-intensive programs like the Transformational Satellite and the Space Radar. A string of retirements and a virtual leadership vacuum in the Air Force could be seen as a cause for many of these over-runs and missed deadlines. The Missile Defense Agency, on the other hand, has ended the year on a relatively high note, conducing its first successful flight test since early 2004. The program, however, is still not considered operational nearly one year past the date the MDA had targeted.
(Singer, Jeremy. Space News. 12/19/05).

USAF Space Commander Steps Down
General Lance Lord, the Commander of the Air Force Space Command, is reportedly retiring from the Air Force on April 1st. General Lord, the longest-serving four-star general on active duty, entered the Air Force in 1969. He has headed the Space Command for nearly three and a half years. As the commander of this agency, he was in charge of a global network of satellites, missiles warning and launch facilities, and the country's ICBM force.
(UPI, http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?StoryId=Cq6Ep0eidyM1KD2f0y2G, 12/20/05).

Defense Bill Cuts Back Space Programs
The Senate and House appropriators brought the Fiscal 2006 Defense Spending bill to a conclusion this week. The conferees were especially hard on the more funding-intensive space programs. They reduced the Transformational Satellite Communications (T-Sat) program by $400 million due to technology concerns. They cut nearly $125 million from the Space Radar program for its excessive spending growth, and they sliced nearly $50 million from the Space Based Infrared System-High program.
(Bruno, Michael. http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_aerospacedaily_story.jsp?id=news/DEF12205.xml, 12/20/05).

 

 

 

Op-Ed

 

 

Holiday Gift Ideas
In a recent editorial, Space News developed a holiday wish list for those parties interested in space issues and policies. A few of the gift ideas are included. For NASA Administrator Michael Griffin: not the Moon, just the machinery to get there. For General Lance Lord, the retiring commander of the Air Force Space Command: a legacy that does not involve the phrase "get over it." For Air Force Brigadier General Tom Sheridan, director of the Space Radar Program Office: a program to run in 2006. For former US Air Force Undersecretary Peter B. Teets: assured access to space and a peaceful retirement.
(Space News editorial, 12/19/05).

 

 

 

Credits

Compiled and Edited by Chad Kreikemeier