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May 2005
Space Watch
Week of May 2 - 6, 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
Discovery Commander Says Delay the Right Call
The astronauts who will fly on the Discovery mission have publicly stated that the NASA managers made the right call by delaying the launch until mid-July. The astronauts say they understand the reason for the decision and think that the longer they have to prepare, the less likely for kinks to develop. Most worrisome to NASA managers was new data that shows that large chunks of ice could build up on the pipeline outside the external fuel tank. They were most concerned that these chunks could break free and damage the fragile heat shield. The crew, recently completing a simulated countdown, considers the delay a good opportunity to continue training for the mission.
(Halvorson, Todd. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/ft_sts114_tcdt_arrival_050502.html, 5/1/05).
New Planet's Image is confirmed
European astronomers using the Very Large Telescope in Chile have confirmed that the image found next to a brown dwarf star is indeed an extrasolar planet. This finding is the first such direct image of a planet around another star. Comparing images taken last year, astronomers have determined that the planet is orbiting the brown dwarf star. They have also determined that the object is about 5 times as massive as Jupiter. The confirmation comes nearly a month after astronomers initially made the claim.
(Overbye, Dennis. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/30/science/space/30planet.html?, 5/1/05).
NASA to Help Pave the Way for Micro Spacecraft
NASA and The Aerospace Corporation are preparing to launch a ‘micro spacecraft' as soon as 2006, according to sources. Aerospace has been working on a prototype space flight mini-craft for several years now and is apparently ready to work with NASA to procure and launch. The ‘black box' as the spacecraft is called will attach itself to other larger spacecraft. The box is supposed to be able to record temperature, pressure data and to validate thermal protection systems for human space missions. According to NASA, these technologies and their research will make possible "sustained and affordable human and robotic missions."
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/spacetravel-05z.html, 5/2/05).
NASA Project Aims at Sending Astronauts to Mars Much Faster
According to NASA scientists, it takes conventional rockets nearly six months to get to Mars, while the total roundtrip can take as long as three years. A solution to this long process is being examined by a NASA-funded research project which could possibly send astronauts to Mars six times faster. The project is looking into sending a beam of plasma (electrified and magnetized gas) to Mars and having the spacecraft ride it like wind pushing an umbrella. The whole journey could be wrapped up in 90 days, according to scientists familiar to the project. The mission would require two space-based ‘Magbeam stations' which could sustain the plasma stream between the two planets. Apparently a beam targeted at the spacecraft for a mere four hours could propel the ship to and from its destination.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/spacetravel-05za.html, 5/2/05).
Science Community Says Cuts Threaten US Space Superiority
The American Astronomical Society says that recent cuts to NASA astrophysics funding will erode a superb science program and will ultimately lead to serious damage in the long run. President of the society, Robert Kirshner, suggests that the space community needs to make sure that the President's exploration vision is firmly linked to an overarching emphasis on science and technology. Recent NASA budget constraints have forced cuts in the support of individual astronomers. Some of these cut Research and Analysis programs are the seed stock of the nation's future talent, and reducing them could erode U.S. science superiority.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nasa-05j.html, 5/2/05).
NASA Begins Developing Hubble-Servicing Mission
New NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has informed Congress that he would begin to prepare for a possible shuttle servicing mission to the Hubble. A final decision on the servicing mission will not be made until the shuttle's safety and return to flight are guaranteed. For the time being, however, Griffin will direct engineers at the Goddard Spaceflight Center to prepare for the mission as if it were going forward. Griffin won't, however, let the Hubble mission interfere with his greatest priority of returning the shuttle to flight. The shuttle's further delayed launch date forces Griffin to begin preparations for the Hubble mission without a final decision on the table. The shuttle mission is now expected to launch on July 13th.
(Berger, Brian. Space News, 5/2/05).
Europe Looking Into Its Own Surveillance Network
Hoping to reduce their dependence on the United States for their space surveillance capacities, European governments are beginning to look into linking existing ground radars and optical telescopes in order to increase their own surveillance abilities. The goal would be to link systems operated by Germany, Britain, France, among others, in order to "stitch together a single network from existing facilities." The program would cost roughly $392 million with annual operating costs of nearly $100 million dollars. Europe currently requires the help of the U.S. Space Command for information about space debris. They have expressed that this fact makes them less informed of possible classified and unclassified orbital objects.
(de Selding, Peter. Space News, 5/2/05).
Orbital Space Tug To Extend Satellite Life
A proposed orbital space tug, proposed by Orbital Recovery Ltd of London, has cleared the design review stages. The proposed program is expected to extend the life of commercial communications satellites by up to eight years. It would dock with the satellite and help provide orbital station-keeping and pointing services. According to Orbital Recovery, there are nearly 70 telecommunications satellites that would be ripe for the tug's life extension services.
(News Briefs, Space News, 5/2/05).
NASA Receives Lockheed CEV Proposal
This week, NASA received the first of several contract proposals for the Crew Exploration Vehicle that will send humans back to the Moon and on to Mars. The Lockheed model was the first for NASA. The concept is a lifting body craft that can be outfitted for lunar and Mars operations. The lifting body would lessen g-forces on crew members and allow for greater maneuverability. The concept also consists of a titanium shell along with two layers of thermal protection materials. According to engineers, the CEV's first mission is returning to low-Earth orbit. Within the realm of capabilities though is supporting the International Space Station. NASA is planning on awarding two teams a contract in September of this year.
(David, Leonard. http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/050503_cev_nasa.html, 5/3/05).
Russia Planning to Enlarge ISS Crew
The Russian Space Agency expects to enlarge the International Space Station crew from two to six members in 2009; however the changes are contingent upon the United States being able to meet its commitments to the project. Until this is confirmed, the Soyuz ships will continue to take astronauts to and from the station. There is still no agreement as to including American astronauts in the process, however. Upon its completion, the ISS is expected to weight nearly 470 tons and measure 109 meters long, 88 meters wide, and cost nearly $40 billion dollars.
(Ria Novosti, http://en.rian.ru/world/20050503/39790068.html, 5/3/05).
China Attempts to Increase Space PR
The Chinese space agency has announced that it will fly items given by the public into space on the upcoming Shenzhou 6 mission. The abnormal invitation to contributions is apparently a Chinese attempt to increase public support for a space program that has recently failed to find a strong public backing. Chinese authorities have had a hard time in publicizing its space advances while also limiting itself because of military security constraints. The result has been a public that is relatively unaware of Chinese space growth. The request for public trinkets is the first of its kind. NASA has regularly launched disks bearing the names of members of the general public on its missions, but the Chinese request trumps even that project.
(Jones, Morris. http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-05zs.html, 5/3/05).
Britain's Skylark Program Ends at 50 Years Old
Britain launched the last of its Skylark rockets on Tuesday. The Skylark had been a British program for nearly 50 years. The 13-meter unmanned rocket blasted off from a launchpad in Sweden carrying scientific experiments. According to its operators, the Skylark program "is one of the most successful rocket programs of all time, but...is largely unknown." The first Skylark vehicle flew in 1957 as an inexpensive and efficient way to launch scientific experiments, allowing students to design an experiment, launch it, and write up the results in less than three years.
(Adam, David. http://www.guardian.co.uk/space/article/0,14493,1475153,00.html#article_continue, 5/3/05).
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Arrives in Florida
The next robotic program to Mars, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), made its first trip yesterday, arriving in Florida, where it will prepare for an August launch. The MRO is the next important step in fulfilling NASA's new vision of space exploration. The MRO's mission will run through 2010, studying Mars' composition and structure and evaluate possible sites for future landings and surface missions. The orbiter arrived at Kennedy Space Center this week after taking a trip aboard a C-17 cargo plane from Denver. Lockheed has been the principal contracting agent in the process and will launch the orbiter aboard its Atlas V rocket.
(http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2005/may/HQ_05114_mro_arrival.html, 5/3/05).
ESA to Pay Russia for German's Trip Aboard Shuttle
The European Space Agency will reportedly pay $30 million euros for ESA's astronaut Thomas Reiter to accompany the next shuttle mission to the International Space Station. In the contract, approved by NASA, ESA will pay 20 million euros in cash to Roskosmos, the Russian Space Agency, and will provide room for Russian equipment aboard ESA Automated Transfer Vehicle space tug set to launch in 2006. ESA is paying Russia because Reiter will replace a Russian cosmonaut originally scheduled to work aboard the station.
(Itar Tass. http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=1996633&PageNum=1, 5/4/05).
Russia To Discontinue Free Space Rides
Russia will reportedly stop sending foreign crews to the International Space Station free of charge in 2006. Roskosmos is planning on developing a purely Russian space program based on their own tasks, interests, and objectives. The Russian Soyuz space vehicle as been the lifeline of the ISS for the past two years as the U.S. attempts to get its shuttle back up and running. Alexei Krasnov, director of the manned flight program at Roskosmos, said that of course "we also plan to work jointly to service the station, but we still need to reach an agreement on time distribution."
(Xinhuanet. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-05/04/content_2913283.htm, 5/4/05).
Commercial
Boeing, Lockheed Martin Announce Joint Venture in EELV
In a relatively shocking turn of events, Boeing and Lockheed Martin have agreed to form a joint venture to build and launch rockets for the U.S. government, and particularly, the U.S. Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program. The new partnership, called the United Launch Alliance, will cover the production, engineering, testing, and the launching operations of the Atlas and Delta launch vehicles. The headquarters will be stationed at Lockheed's Denver facility, while most manufacturing would occur at Boeing's Alabama factory. The companies will reportedly continue to sell commercial launches on their own, however. Bitter rivals in recent years, the agreement also calls for the two companies to dismiss claims against one another related to the EELV disputes in the late 1990's.
(Shalal-Esa, Andrea. http://www.reuters.com/financeNewsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=8365571, 5/2/05).
Military Services Remain Main Focus of Satellite Operators
Government business growth continues to provide satellite operators the best chance of increasing their volume and profits. The U.S. military in particular remains the main focus of most satellite operators. As the largest customer for the industry, the Department of Defense generated $500 million in commercial satellite communications revenues last year. That number is actually expected to double over the next half-decade. The Pentagon has recently begun to turn towards the commercial industry for short-term occasional-use capacity needs, and the growing demand does not expect to subside anytime soon. However, how long the commercial industry will remain enthusiastic about government contracts depends on how quickly the private industries can begin to operate efficiently.
(Dykewicz, Paul. Space News, 5/2/05).
Military Space
Air Force General Explains Importance of Space
At a recent April visit to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the commander of the Air Force Space Command, General Lance W. Lord expressed his thoughts on the integral importance of space to a future military. According to General Lord, much like air superiority, space superiority is necessary to conduct effective war. It is critically important to protecting on-orbit satellites which are a part of everything the military does. His speech focused on three mission areas of space control, each critically important to the military: situational awareness; defensive counterspace, or protecting US assets; and offensive counterspace, used to maintain US ability to operate in the space medium. Space, General Lord said, "has given our forces the capability to maneuver faster, connect our communications, be more precise and when we need to be, more lethal."
(Culbertson, Elizabeth. http://www.spacewar.com/news/milspace-05q.html, 4/27/05).
Air Force Leaders Upbeat About Space Combat Progress
According to General Land Lord, the Air Force Space commander, and General Brian A. Arnold, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center, the space acquisition process is remarkably improving. The space professionals, presenting on the final day of the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, argued that the space acquisition process is "not broken." According to them, broken is when something is wrong and you don't know what it is. General Arnold, in particular, cited the program's 40 successful launches in a row dating back to May of 1999. This string of successes is remarkable considering the widespread troubles (six failures) experienced in 1998 and 1999. Still, according to the experts, the military can learn a lot from the commercial industry and they both suggest looking into civilian success stories, like XM Radio.
(Rush, James. http://www.spacewar.com/news/milspace-05s.html, 5/2/05).
Space Radar is Turning Into a Difficult Sell
Congressional staffers are beginning to hint to Air Force officials that the proposed Space Radar demonstration targeted for 2008 might be drastically cut from the Pentagon's 2006 budget request if not completely canceled. Many members of Congress have begun to question the utility, the costs, and the delays in the proposed two-satellite demonstration. The system is intended to gather imagery for the intelligence community and detect movement on the ground for the military. Last year, the Air Force unveiled plans for a demonstration after Congress had initially slashed its budget for the full scale model. Congressional members are becoming angered that the Air Force has failed to come to an estimate as to the price of the newest program. Previous estimates for a nine-satellite constellation have run as high as $34 billion. The Air Force is claiming that they will have a better cost estimate in about a year's time.
(Singer, Jeremy. Space News, 5/2/05).
Special Event
The GWU Elliott School to Host Space Security Conference
The theme of this all-day conference will be how U.S. actions and stated intentions related to the national security aspects of space are viewed by the international community. The conference will also question whether there is a basis for convergence among the United States and other countries with respect to creating a regime providing for the strengthening of security in space for all space-faring countries. Speakers will include individuals from Canada, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S. There is no charge for the conference, but registration is required. Details provided for at http://www.eisenhowerinstitute.org/programs/globalpartnerships/fos/newfrontier/www.gwu.edu/~spi.
(The George Washington University Elliot School, Space Policy Institute and the Security Policy Studies Institute, 5/1/05).
Credits
Compiled by Chad Kreikemeier
Edited by Suzanne Vogel
Space Watch
Week of May 9 - 13, 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
Russia to Build New Cosmodrome
Russia is set to create a new cosmodrome in the southern Urals region, according to the head of Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, General Nikolai Solovtsov. The new cosmodrome may be made available for commercial use, but details have yet to be finalized according to sources. It will be located at the military base at Dombarovskoye, near Orenburg. The base is currently being used to launch converted ballistic missiles for testing purposes. It will continue to be used for such purposes, but it will also be used to launch military spacecraft and possibly, commercial craft.
(AFP, http://www.spacewar.com/news/spaceport-05a.html, 5/5/05).
NASA Chief Speeds CEV Plans
In order to stem the tide of recent criticisms, new NASA Administrator Michael Griffin is pushing an ambitious plan to cut four years from the timetable of the Crew Exploration Vehicle, the proposed replacement for the shuttle fleet. The space shuttle fleet is expected to be retired in 2010. Originally, the CEV was expected to be completed and ready for use in 2014, making a four year gap in manned space flight for the US space agency. Critics of this time gap, mainly in Congress, have stated that this is an unacceptable situation for the world's premier space leader. Griffin reportedly wants to speed that process along in order to provide for continuous manned space initiatives. Critics now are suggesting that this ambitious move might be too risky, considering the original time table.
(Gugliotta, Guy. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/08/AR2005050800834.html+, 5/8/05).
NASA Begins Work on Shuttle Flight to Service Hubble
Under the directive of NASA's new chief, Michael Griffin, the Hubble servicing team at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland has begun to look back into a possible Hubble servicing mission. A decision will not be made until after the completion of at least two successful shuttle missions, according to Griffin. However, in order to be prepared for the possible servicing mission, work would need to begin now. Griffin has pointed out that a robotic servicing mission has been taken off of the table, saying that the mission is just not feasible given the time frame and the money restrictions. In order to service the Hubble, mission specialists need to have three goals: first, they need to replace one of its onboard gyroscopes; second is an upgrade of Hubble's scientific capabilities; and the third and most important task is to attack a retrorocket module that will steer Hubble to a harmless splashdown in the Pacific Ocean at the end of its mission early in the next decade.
(Fienberg, Richard. http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1511_1.asp, 5/9/05).
Researchers May Have Located Mars Lander
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft has apparently found the landing site of NASA's Mars Polar Lander. The Lander has not been heard from since its descent into the Martian atmosphere in December 1999. The Surveyor found what appears to be the remnants of an unfurled parachute, a ‘mussed up' piece of Martian terrain and, in the middle of the disturbed location, a small dot considered by many to be the Mars Lander. The failure of the mission is attributed to the premature shutdown of the Lander's descent engines which sent the spacecraft crashing into the Martian surface and resulted in a huge failure and humiliation for NASA's "faster, better, cheaper" programs in the 1990's.
(David, Leonard. Space News, 5/9/05).
Solar Sail Passes Crucial Test
A lightweight solar sail, made by NASA, has reportedly passed a crucial test with no problems. The sail, designed by NASA and Alliant Techsystems, was successfully deployed and controlled in the world's largest vacuum chamber. The chamber is designed to simulate the space environment. The sail, which will hopefully one day allow spacecraft to be propelled by the power of the sun, works by taking advantage of photons from the sun as they bounce off of the reflective sails, giving the spacecraft momentum. In theory, the solar photons could propel the spacecraft at a much faster rate than current chemical fuels. The fuel also takes up as much as 25% of the entire weight of the craft. Engineers suggest that a solar sail spacecraft would need a wingspan of 80 to 160 meters to gain a sufficient push from the sun. The entire series of tests is expected to run for six weeks.
(Young, Kelly. http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7362, 5/10/05).
NASA Satellite Records Black Hole Birth
NASA's Swift orbiting observatory satellite detected what scientists are calling the birth of a black hole this week. According to a report, the observatory detected a gamma ray burst of the collision between two dense neutron stars. The huge flash of gamma rays was "seen across the whole universe," said Neil Gehrels, lead scientists for the Swift Mission. Astronomers have predicted that the collapse or collision of massive stars is what actually produces black holes, and that the resulting gravitational energy sends gamma rays shooting out across time and space. The Swift project was launched last November in order to probe the workings of black holes, and this represents a stunning success for the program.
(Yahoo News, http://story.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050510/ap_on_sc/black_hole_birth, 5/10/05).
Delta Launch Delayed Again
For the third straight day, the launch of a weather satellite on a Delta 2 launch vehicle has been delayed, but this time the problem is being attributed to the launch pad. The launch is expected to take place from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The problem is with the electrical system of water deluge pumps that are designed to cool the pad and dampen vibrations at launch. The launch, which has been pushed back twice because of weather problems, has been rescheduled for Saturday morning. The satellite (the NOAA-N) is the latest in a series of Polar Operational Environmental Satellites that will help other satellites provide atmospheric sounding and other data.
(http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d312/050513scrub.html, 5/13/05).
Mars Express Antenna Successfully Deployed, Finally
European Space Agency officials have confirmed that the first of two radar booms have finally been deployed onboard its Mars Express spacecraft. Officials had to conduct a maneuver which locked a final segment of the boom into place in order to carry out the deployment. They could not previously confirm that the boom was ready and locked into place earlier in the week, thereby pushing back the scheduled deployment. To resolve the problem, controllers turned the spacecraft toward the sun in order to heat the side of the boom that had been shaded from the sun. The spacecraft was returned to normal orientation and after reestablishing contact, controllers found that the final segment had been locked and ready to go. Officials have indicated that normal operations could now resume in a few weeks. The booms were designed to search for water below the Martian surface.
(MSNBC.com. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7819797/, 5/13/05).
Commercial
New Lockheed Deal Will Not Affect Russian Contract
The new joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing will not affect the $1 billion contract between the US and Energomash, a Russian engine enterprise. The Russians are expected to supply 101 RD-180 engines to the United States, and this is in no danger of changing. Nine Atlas rocket launches have used the RD-180 Russian engines.
(UPI, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/launchers-05zt.html, 5/9/05).
Transformational Space Corporation Offers Option for Gap in Manned Space Flight
Transformation Space Corporation, a newly founded company, thinks it can help NASA close the gap between the retirement of the shuttle program in 2010 and the projected beginning of the CEV project in 2014. The gap would keep American astronauts out of space for 4 years. t/Sat is a company founded in response to the President's new Moon-Mars exploration vision and is claiming that they can offer an Earth-to-orbit crew transfer vehicle by 2008. The t/Sat team is comprised of Burt Rutan, builder of the first privately financed spacecraft and Brett Alexander, a former official with the White House Office of Scienct and Technology Policy. t/Sat expects the program to cost nearly $400 million The Crew Transfer Vehicle, known as the CXV, could ferry four to six astronauts to and from the ISS and serve as a crew lifeboat, according to t/Sat officials. It apparently would not infringe on Lockheed's quest for the CEV by 2014.
(Berger, Brian. Space Watch, 5/9/05).
Rutan's Company Preparing Test for X-37 Spacecraft
Burt Rutan's company, Scaled Composites, is getting ready to launch the first flight tests of the Boeing-built X-37. The X-37 is an unmanned aircraft designed to test advanced technology for future spacecraft. Rutan's White Knight turbojet, the same aircraft used to launch SpaceShipOne on its historic flight last year, will be used to launch the X-37. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is sponsoring the X-37 program and is planning on conducting three separate tests at Edwards Air Force Base. The White Knight will take off with the X-37 underneath and will release the craft, which is testing several new technologies including new thermal protection systems, composite materials, and advanced navigation and control systems. The X-37 is one of three X-plane projects started by the Clinton administration. (The X-33 and X-34 were cancelled after significant cost overruns.)
(Skeen, Jim. http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20943~2860487,00.html, 5/10/05).
Military Space
GPS Satellite Launch Delayed
The Air Force has delayed the launching of the next Global Positioning System satellite until mid-June as a result of problems found in the factory. The mission, whose price tag stands at $75 million dollars, is expected to continue without a problem. The Air Force and Lockheed Martin have worked together in order to determine the problems and believe that the issues have been properly resolved. The satellite is expected to launch on board a Delta rocket and is the first in the so-called ‘modernized' line of GPS 2R-model satellites. The ‘modernized' versions increase the power for existing GPS signals and offer two new military signals for use around the world.
(Ray, Justin. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0505/09gps2rm1/, 5/9/05).
DARPA has Breakthrough with Micro-thrusters
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has reportedly demonstrated thrusters that are 50 to 100 times more efficient than previously developed micro-thrusters. Researcher Dr. Amish Desai of Tanner Research Industries demonstrated a micro-thruster that used 35 milligrams of propellant to achieve 40 milli-Newton seconds of impulse. The propellant was composed mostly of black powder. This represents the highest known level of specific impulse achieved to date for thrusters of this size and type. The micro-thrusters are miniature actuators that provide thrust in the same way that the Space Shuttle solid rocket boosters do, while being much smaller.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rocketscience-05zb.html, 5/9/05).
Defense Contractors Cite SBIRS as Biggest Headache
Executives from Lockheed Martina and Northrup Grumman have said that the next-generation U.S. missile-warning system, the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) has been the biggest headache for their designers and engineers. Calling the SBIRS program a "library of lessons learned," Lockheed Martin Chairman Robert Stevens suggests that many of the problems have been caused by its increasing popularity with a broad range of government agencies. The sensor's sensitivity could possibly provide services to a number of various organizations, and they reportedly all want a piece of its capabilities. Satisfying each of these organizations has been the biggest problem for the designers. The program features two satellites in highly elliptical orbit and four satellites in GEO and is scheduled to launch in 2008. The cost increases and delays have also caused headaches for all parties involved.
(de Selding, Peter. Space News, 5/9/05).
French Weapon Systems to Be Galileo-Ready
French armed forces will be equipped to be work with Europe's Galileo navigation system in addition to using the future US GPS military code. Galileo's Public Regulated Service (PRS) signal will reportedly be fitted onto all French weapon systems. "We foresee equipping all our weapons systems with PRS," French Navy Commander, Bernard Cervoni stated. The Galileo PRS signal will be designed so as to be transmitted over a wide enough bandwith that it will be difficult, if not impossible to jam. Each member nation of the EU is expected to make their own decisions concerning the military uses of Galileo, but according to Cervoni, only two or three nations have said they were willing to pay for the military applications of the program.
(News Briefs, Space News, 5/9/05).
Op-Ed
Op-ed: China Poses Threat to American Leadership in Space
In her May 9th op-ed, Gabriele Garibaldi suggests that China's substantial space development progress offers the United States the biggest potential threat to their unipolar space dominance strategy. She suggests that the US space program, under Donald Rumsfeld, is in effect throwing down the gauntlet to potential peer competitors of the United States. She decries European and Japanese efforts as lacking political will and the Russian space programs as lacking the financial resources. She argues that China poses as the most as a potential challenger because its space program is strongly supported by the Chinese leadership who wish to assert and maintain Chinese regional power, "as well as attempting to dispute the current unipolar world."
(Garibaldi, Gabrielle. http://globalpolitician.com/articledes.asp?ID=699&cid=5&sid=30, 5/9/05).
Op-Ed: CEV Submissions Usher in Black Day at NASA
In his op-ed, Jeff Bell argues that the recently submitted proposal designs fro the new Crew Exploration Vehicle were not a banner day for President Bush's Vision for Space Exploration. The Lockheed-led team submitted a conception that is a crude modification of their Orbital Space Plane project, which was cancelled. The only new aspect is a Mission Module that is grafted on the old OSP. Mr. Bell believes the design to be a "massively overweight grab-bag design," which he derided by calling it a "Battlestar Galactica." He doesn't consider the new design to be a serious strategy for returning to the moon, but rather the kind of proposal that you slap together cheaply at the last minute for a program that you know will be cancelled. He doesn't blame Lockheed, but rather an "idiotic planning process set up by NASA's late idiotic administrator Sean O'Keefe."
(Bell, Jeffrey. http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-05zl.html, 5/10/05).
Credits
Compiled by Chad Kreikemeier
Edited by Suzanne Vogel
Space Watch
Week of May 16 - 20, 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
Flares From Young Stars Help Protect Infant Planets, Astronomers Say
A team of 37 scientists observed the Orion Nebula Cluster-a star forming region about 1500 light years from Earth-for 13 days and concluded that violent flares given off by young stars may help save infant planets from destruction. The team observed stars which were between 1 million and 10 million years old, a relatively young age compared to our sun which is about 4.6 billion years old. They saw that the young stars gave off powerful X-ray flares at a rate exponentially higher than our sun does today. The energy released from these flares may have provided turbulence to the disk of dust and particles around the star from which planets form. This turbulence might have prevented infant planets from being sucked in toward the star and destroyed. The scientists believe that this is probably what happened with the Sun and the Earth early on in the formation of our solar system.
(Reuters, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/05/10/star.flares.reut/index.html,
05/10/05).
Scrap Metal is a Blessing and a Curse to Local Residents
Villagers near the Plesetsk Space Center in Northern Russia have seen both the benefits and harm that can come from space launches. From the time the space station opened 40 years ago, tons of debris from rockets has fallen to the ground. Though locals are warned to stay away from the launching site, they often return after a launch to pick up scrap metal that fell to the ground during the launch. It is estimated that in 2003, 20 tons of scrap metal was picked up by the residents of the adjoining areas. The villagers use the metal parts to good effect; employing batteries to power lamps, and using metal sheets as building material for garages, fences and boats. A study by the Northern Medical University, however, has highlighted the adverse effects of some of the material left by some rockets and their relation to liver and blood diseases.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/debris-05d.html, 05/16/05).
Cassini Discovers Small Moon in Saturn's Rings
The Cassini spacecraft, a $3 billion project launched in 1997, took a series of photographs of a tiny moon in Saturn's outer ring on May 1. The moon, which has been named S/2005 S1, is about 7 kilometers across (approximately 4 miles) and orbits about 137,000 kilometers (85,000 miles) from Saturn's center. It is about 250 kilometers inside the outer edges of the Saturn's bright main rings in what is known as the Keeler gap. Carolyn Porco of the Space Science Institute said that further study of moons such as this one that are embedded in rings might provide clues to the formation of the solar system.
(Reuters, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/05/17/saturn.moon.reut/index.html, 05/17/05).
Geomagnetic Storm Brews in Space
Scientists said that powerful solar activity triggered a geomagnetic storm in space this week. The storm measured a 9 on the 0-to-9 K index that measures deviations from the Earth's magnetic field. Such storms interfere with communication and navigation signals and can also disrupt power grids. Scientists said that they expect the storm to pass in a few days.
(http://www.eisenhowerinstitute.org/programs/globalpartnerships/fos/newfrontier/www.spacetoday.net, 05/17/05).
Mars Rover Begins Slow Escape from Sand Dune
About two weeks after getting stuck in a sand dune on Mars, the $400 million Opportunity turned its wheels ever so slightly in an effort to extract itself from the dune. The rover has moved a few centimeters since getting stuck, and is being backed out of the dune by its controllers on Earth. When it is finally out of the dune, controllers will chart it with a new course, this time attempting to avoid other dunes.
(http://www.spacetoday.net/, 05/18/05).
Engineers Confident Discovery Tank Switch Will Go Smoothly
Engineers at NASA are confident that a process designed to change Discovery's fuel tank will not be problematic. The team of engineers and technicians wish to swap Discovery's fuel tank with one that has an extra heater to limit the problems posed by ice debris. The process will involve detaching Discovery from its current fuel tank, following which the orbiter will move towards the new tank that will await it. Discovery is expected to be launched on or after July 13 and is NASA's first shuttle flight since the Columbia disaster of 2003.
(Malik, Tariq. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/050519_rtf_tankswap.html, 05/19/05).
Astronaut Urges Congress to Monitor Asteroid
Russell Schweickart, a former NASA astronaut, asked Congress to consider setting up a space mission to track an asteroid that has a 1-in-10,000 chance of striking Earth in 2036. Schweickart also asked legislators to consider assigning responsibility to a government agency to protect the public from space rocks. The asteroid, named 2004 MN4, orbits the sun and crosses the path of the Earth. It is noteworthy, however, that several scientists, including Schweickart, say that future observation of the asteroid is likely to reduce the probability of it striking Earth to 0. Schweickart maintains, however, that there is a slight chance that future observations will not eliminate the chance that it strikes Earth, and that measures should be taken to monitor its path.
(David, Leonard. http://www.space.com/news/050519_asteroid_mission.html, 05/19/05).
Astronaut Aims to be First Brazilian in Space By 2006
In an interview, Sergio Gaudenzi, the President of the Brazilian Space Agency, said that he hopes that a Brazilian astronaut will go the International Space Station by the end of 2006. The astronaut would go on board a Russian Soyuz booster, an indication of the countries' close relationship in the area of space. The astronaut in question, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Marcos C. Pontes has gone through training at NASA and has to learn to speak Russian. Brazilian authorities hope that the cost of taking a flight on a Soyuz -about $20 million-is lowered for Pontes, a topic on which agreement should be reached by June of this year.
(Ria Novosti, http://en.rian.ru/world/20050519/40382737.html, 05/19/05).
NASA Chief Indicates Money Might be Diverted from Space Station
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said that he may divert resources from the International Space Station to develop a new space vehicle. Talking to a Senate panel, Griffin did not express confidence in the space station. "The station is limited in its research potential," he said, adding that testing and experiments done on the station can be done on Earth as well. Instead, he would like to shift the focus to a Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). "We need to get the CEV online sooner rather than later," he said.
(Reuters, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/05/19/nasa.research.reut/index.html, 05/19/05)
No Advertisements in Space, FAA Says
The Federal Aviation Agency proposed to amend legislation in order for the agency to have the power to enforce its regulations against billboards in space. As it stands, the FAA does not have the authority to enforce the law. "Objects placed in orbit, if large enough, could be seen by people for long periods of time," the FAA said. "Large advertisements could destroy the darkness of the night sky."
(Reuters, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/05/20/space.advertising.reut/index.html, 05/20/05).
Commercial
EADS Abandons Plans For Bigger Rocket
Citing low demand in the market, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company is halting plans to build a new and bigger 12-tonne version of its Ariane rocket. Currently, the biggest Ariane rocket can carry 10 tons, or the equivalent of two satellites into space. Market forecasts predicting a growing number of big satellites being launched into space have turned out to be wrong. Josef Kind, the head of EADS Space Transportation told a newspaper, "We don't need a 12-tonne version. There's no market for it. We should put the project on ice."
(AFP, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/ariane-05g.html, 05/17/05).
Newly Merged Company Wants to Provide Space Travel for Public
Canadian Arrow, a Canadian company, has joined hands with an American businessman, Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria to create a corporation called Planetspace. The company aims to provide space flight for the public. Canadian Arrow was in the process of building a spacecraft capable of taking passengers to space, while Dr. Kathuria was the founding director of MirCorp, a company famous for launching the world's first privately funded manned space program in 2000.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/tourism-05r.html, 05/17/05).
India Seeks Larger Share of Satellite Market
G Madhavan Nair, the chief of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), said that India aims to capture 10 per cent of the global satellite market within the next five years. A rising player in the area of space, India earned about $70 million last year from its space programs, and expects to maintain revenue growth of 25 per cent. "Our greatest advantage is the cost-competitiveness of our space program," Nair said. "The satellite that we just put in orbit, we had spent $88 million whereas a similar one in the U.S. would fetch about $350 million." India hopes to launch a series of satellites by 2007-8 before its lunar mission is launched.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/india-05r.html, 05/18/05).
Japan to Launch Satellite to Study Black Holes and Galaxies
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is planning on launching a satellite that will aid the study of black holes and distant galaxies some time between June and August. The satellite will be armed with five X-Ray telescopes to investigate physical and chemical characteristics of black holes and galaxies. On completion of the mission, the satellite will be used as an orbiting space observatory. Japan has stepped up its space activity in the recent past-it is currently working on a major lunar mission, and has sent a probe to collect and retrieve samples from an asteroid, the first mission of its kind. Japan also intends to send astronauts into space and set up a base on the Moon by 2025.
(AP, http://www.space.com/astronotes/astronotes.html, 05/18/05).
Military Space
Air Force Wants President to Weaponize Space
The New York Times reported this week that a new space policy directive is being passed around the Administration. Although there is currently no treaty banning the United States from putting non-nuclear weapons in space, there would be considerable diplomatic, economic and technological hurdles to such a measure. Many believe that putting weapons in space would bring about an arms race in space and could cost up to $1 trillion. Nevertheless, Air Force officials believe that the United States "must establish and maintain space superiority" as it is "the American way of fighting".
(Weiner, Tim. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/18/business/18space.html?hp&ex=1116475200&en=d2e1785def9a54d0&ei=5094&partner=homepage, 05/18/05).
White House Denies It Aims to Weaponize Space
Responding to a report in the New York Times, the White House signaled it was not interested in putting weapons in space. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "Let me make clear...the policy we're talking about is not looking at weaponizing space...we believe in the peaceful exploration of space." He added that the administration merely wants to protect its space assets. President Bush wishes to update U.S. space policy, which has not been done since the Clinton administration.
(AFP, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-05w.html, 05/18/05).
China Against Weapons in Space
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said that China was against the weaponization of space and that it backs treaties that call for only peaceful uses of space. "Space is our shared treasure and we have consistently maintained the need for peaceful use of space so as to benefit all of mankind," Kong said. "We are opposed to the militarization of outer space. We support preventive measures, including the adoption of international legal documents to guarantee the peaceful use of space." His comments seemed to be a reaction to a report in the New York Times which said that the United States was considering putting offensive and defensive weapons in space.
(AFP, http://www.spacedaily.com/2005/050519092831.92w6ioa1.html, 05/19/05).
Group of Scientists Urges Against Weaponization of Space
The Union of Concerned Scientists, a group of scientists opposed to the weaponization of space, spoke out against any moves by the U.S. to weaponize space. The group said that putting weapons into space would be extremely expensive and that the measure would run the risk of setting off a dangerous arms race. The group urged the United Nations to draft a treaty that would protect unarmed satellites to take away the prime justification for putting weapons into space.
(AP, http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7915501/, 05/19/05).
Op-Ed
Op-Ed: Arguing Against the Weaponization of Space
In an article published in the Baltimore Sun, Craig Eisendrath and Helen Caldicott stress the need to avoid putting weapons in space, an eventuality they contend the Bush administration is moving towards. Citing evidence from the Center for Defense Information, they say the administration has spent about $500 million a year on research on weapons that could be deployed in space, including anti-satellite weapons, space-based anti-missile systems, laser beam weapons and bombardment satellites. Eisendrath and Caldicott present four main reasons for banning weapons in space. First, the weaponization of space would spark an arms race that would cost hundreds of billions of dollars to the United States. Second, space-based weapons lag behind ground- or atmosphere-based weapons in terms of efficacy and relative cost. Third, the United States is already the preeminent military power in the world, and its competitors trail it by a considerable margin in military spending and technology. Fourth, the authors mention a draft international treaty forwarded by Russia and China banning weapons in space as well as General Assembly resolutions which the United States has not endorsed, a policy that the authors feel holds back global efforts to achieve disarmament through multilateral agreements. The writers opine that the weaponization of space is not pushed by national security interests but by the special interests of lobbyists.
(Eisendrath, Craig and Caldicott, Helen. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/balop.space16may16,1,7281644.story?coll=bal-oped-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true, 05/16/05).
Credits
Edited by Chad Kreikemeier
Compiled by Ahsan Butt
Space Watch
Week of May 23 - 27, 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
After Minor Hiccups, Weather Satellite Finally Launched
NOAA-N, a global weather-tracking satellite was launched this week after four separate delays. The satellite was originally due to be launched on May 11th, but was postponed twice because of high winds, once because of defective launch pad equipment, and once because of a loose bent hose. The $341 million project's aim is to improve forecasting and monitor global climate changes by collecting information about the Earth's surface and atmosphere and building a database. The 3100-pound satellite was built by Lockheed Martin Corp. and is the fourth in a series of five polar-orbiting weather satellites. The fifth and last satellite in the series is due for launch in 2007.
(AP, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/05/20/weather.satellite.ap/index.html, 05/20/05).
British Newspaper Reports ESA May Cooperate with Russia on Spacecraft
In a report this week, The Observer said that the European Space Agency is weighing a proposal to cooperate with Russia in the development of a new manned spacecraft. The Russian company Energia has been working on Kliper (or Clipper), a potential successor to Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. Kliper could possibly give the ESA the ability to launch humans into space on its own for the first time and would cost it about $1.8 billion. A decision on the matter is expected in December this year.
(http://www.spacetoday.net/Summary/2917, 05/22/05).
European Union Wants South Korean Participation in Satellite Navigation Project
The European Union Executive Commission urged its member states to let it begin talks with South Korea in relation to the latter's cooperation in Galileo, a satellite navigation system aimed at rivaling the United States' GPS system. Cooperation agreements have already been signed by the EU with China and Israel, and discussions are currently ongoing with Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, and Ukraine.
(AFP, http://www.spacedaily.com/2005/050523123825.von36n28.html, 05/23/05)
Team of Astronomers Finds New Planet
A team of amateur and professional astronomers has detected the existence of a massive planet some 15,000 light years from Earth. Using the process known as gravitational microlensing, the astronomers determined the size of the planet-it is estimated the new planet is about 3 times the mass of Jupiter. Gravitational microlensing involves detecting changes and deviations in a start's brightness from the Earth due to the gravitational effects of a large body passing in front of it. "There is absolutely no doubt that the star in front has a planet, which caused the deviation we say," said Andrew Gould, an astronomer at Ohio State and the head of the Microlensing Follow Up Network of telescopes that followed the star.
(http://www.space.com/astronotes/astronotes.html, 05/23/05).
Astronomers Detect Star Tidally Locked to Planet
In an unusual discovery, astronomers for the first time have discovered a planet tidally locking its star, that is, the planet's gravitational force has forced the star to rotate in step with the planet. The relationship is similar to the one the Earth has with its moon, where the moon rotates at a rate which always keeps the same face to the Earth. Scientists suspect that it is common for exoplanets to be tidally locked to their stars, but this is the first time the phenomenon has been observed in reverse. "This is truly a stellar story of ‘tail wags dog'," said Jaymie Matthews of the University of British Columbia.
(Schirber, Michael. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050523_star_tide.html, 05/23/05).
Putin Does Not Want Space to Become ‘National Idea'
Russian President Vladmir Putin warned against space exploration becoming Russia's ‘national idea' as Russia prepares for the world's first manned mission to Mars. "We are working without fuss, sometimes cooperating with the U.S., sometimes on our own," said Putin. "But I would not say that this should become our national idea. The Russian national idea should be economic growth...by the development of innovative economic fields, such as the field of space exploration," he said.
(MosNews, http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/05/23/putinspace.shtml, 05/23/05).
Russia to Increase Spending on Space Program
The Ministry for Economic Development and Trade in Russia approved a space plan for 2006-2015 that calls for increased spending on the space program. The program includes building the Kliper manned shuttle, the completion of the Russian part of the ISS, a launch to Mars' moon Phobos and expansion of the Global Navigation Satellite System. Anatoly Perminov, head of Roskosmos, said in April this year that the space program for 2006-2015 would cost about $11 billion.
(UPI, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/russia-05e.html, 05/23/05).
Voyager Entering Edge of Solar System
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is nearing the end of the solar system and has entered a region where the sun's influence ends and the solar wind is disrupted by the thin gas that lies between stars. "Voyager 1 has entered the final lap on its race to the edge of interstellar space," said Dr. Edward Stone, a Voyager project scientist at the California Institute of Technology. Scientists believe that the spacecraft has now entered a region known as the heliosheath that lies beyond the termination shock region-one where the solar wind is disrupted and slowed by the effects of the pressure from gas that lies between stars. The spacecraft, now about 8.7 billion miles from the sun, was observed to be behaving strangely towards the end of 2003, which led scientists to believe that it was approaching, or already in, a different zone of the solar system.
(JPL, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/voyager1-05b.html, 05/25/05).
Low Orbit Space Filled with Debris
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has reported low earth orbit to be filled with man-made debris. NORAD is currently tracking 13,000 objects in space, only 6 per cent of which are satellites. Though that is worrying enough according to Theresa Hitchens of the Center for Defense Information, who commented that there are between 100,000 and 200,000 objects in space between the size of a marble and the size of a baseball that NORAD doesn't track. Hitchens stated that earlier this year NASA released a study which said that the chances of the International Space Station or the Space Shuttle suffering catastrophic damage from a collision with a piece of debris is 1-in-200. "That's a shocking number. They hope to bring the figure down to one-in-600 chance," she said. Though collisions with man-made debris happen all the time in space, no shuttle in orbit has ever been struck by any object bigger than 0.08 inches in diameter.
(Sieff, Martin. http://www.spacedaily.com/news/debris-05e.html, 05/24/05).
NASA Offers Cash Prize For Extraction of Oxygen From Moon
NASA has offered $250,000 to any scientist who is able to extract five pounds of breathable oxygen from a simulated lunar soil within an eight-hour period. Although there currently exist ways of extracting oxygen from the material that lies on the surface of the moon, there do not exist techniques that can supply the large quantities of oxygen that NASA needs. NASA hopes that a source of oxygen on the moon can serve as a steppingstone for future missions to outer space. This particular competition is one in a series of challenges called "Centennial Challenges" issued by NASA in the hopes of developing technology that facilitates space exploration.
(CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/05/25/moondust.oxygen/index.html, 05/25/05).
Russia to Use Kazakh Launch Site Until 2050
Russia's parliament ratified an agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan that will allow Russia use of Baikonur launch site until the year 2050. Currently, Russia pays $115 million a year for use of the site. The agreement also covers cooperation between the two countries on the development of an environmentally friendly space missile complex at Baikonur, based on Russia's Angara complex. Presenting the agreement to members of parliament, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the Baikonur site is a key link to the space programs of Russia and the former Soviet republics in Central Asia.
(UPI, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/launchers-05zz.html, 05/25/05).
Spot On Titan Confounds Scientists
The Cassini spacecraft photographed a bright spot on Saturn's moon Titan that scientists cannot fully explain. "At first glance, I thought the feature looked strange, almost out of place," said Robert Brown, a member of the Cassini project. Scientists think the bright spot could have been caused by an impact from an asteroid, a landslide or a volcanic eruption. Cassini is scheduled to fly by Titan again in July, the results of which could provide a more definitive explanation and description of the spot.
(AP, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/05/26/titan.ap/index.html, 05/26/05).
Chinese Satellite to Provide Better Forecasts
The Fengyun-2C satellite, launched last October, will greatly improve weather forecasts for China. "The new satellite will greatly increase the accuracy of short-term weather reporting for Shanghai and other Chinese cities," said Zhou Hongmei, a senior engineer at Shanghai Meteorological Bureau. The satellite weighs 1.38 tons and has five monitoring channels, giving it an observation range of one-third of the Earth's surface. "With two new channels added to its scanning array, the new satellite is capable of capturing more detailed environmental changes," Zhou said.
(XNA, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/weather-05y.html, 05/26/05).
Discovery Set for Launch
The final touch-ups to Discovery took place this week as the shuttle prepares for launch in mid-July. The shuttle was on the launch pad when NASA decided to install a heater on it to ward off the danger posed by ice forming on its surface. It also had a new and safe fuel tank installed. The changes were made at a hangar, the journey to which took Discovery 10 hours from the launch pad site.
(Reuters, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/05/26/space.shuttle.reut/index.html, 05/27/05).
Commercial
NASA Wants Private Sector to Deliver Cargo to ISS
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin announced that the space agency will call for bids and proposals from companies that want to deliver cargo the international space station (ISS). The agency announced last year that it wanted to buy cargo delivery services from the private sector but never actually issued a formal request for proposals. Griffin said that a request for proposals will be made in late summer or early fall. "It is in our interest to sponsor commercial development in that area by providing the only market I have for the next few years, which is cargo delivery to the station," Griffin said. The prospect of selling delivery services to NASA has piqued the interest of several firms, including established ones such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and smaller companies, like Kistler Aerospace and Constellation Services Inc.
(Berger, Brian. http://www.space.com/spacenews/050523_business_monday.html, 05/23/05).
Military Space
China Would Respond to U.S. Weapons in Space, Expert Says
China is weary of any U.S. plans to weaponize space and would be prepared to respond, an expert on the issue has said. Hui Zhang, an expert on space weaponization and China's nuclear policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University said recently that China's leaders fear U.S. superiority in space would damage China's position on key issues such as Taiwan. "China first (intends to) pursue an arms control agreement to ban space weaponization, as it is advocating now," Zhang said. "If this effort fails, and if what China perceives as its legitimate security concerns are ignored, China would very likely develop responses to neutralize such a threat."
(Sieff, Martin. http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-05zb.html, 05/20/05).
Russia Against Militarization of Space
Alexander Yakovenko, an official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said that Russia is against the placement of weapons in space. "Essentially, our position is that at different international forums Russia actively pursues a policy line in favor of preventing the placement of armaments in space. It is our consistent and principled position," said Yakovenko. Meanwhile, Yuri Baluevski, first deputy of the Russian defense minister and chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, predicted that President George Bush would not allow the weaponization of space. "Today's generally recognized international norms for representatives of all the leading powers prevent the militarization of space," Baluevski said. He added that the issue had been discussed at the United Nations, and no country, including the U.S., had officially declared a violation of the moratorium on placing weapons in space.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/milspace-05zc.html, 05/23/05).
Russia's Space Troops Commander Says No Nukes in Space
General Vladimir Popovkin, head of Russia's military space command, said that Russia does not intend to put nuclear weapons in space. "Russia does not plan to do that - I can say that categorically," said Popovkin. "I hope that humanity has enough sense not to put such awful weapons into space. Controlling weapons on earth is one thing, but in space it's more difficult - there are meteor showers, sunbursts - it's very dangerous," he said.
(Interfax, http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/0.html?id_issue=11296229, 05/25/05).
U.S. Space Radar Program Hits New Snag
According to reports, a planned on-orbit demonstration of the U.S. Space Radar Program is likely to be cancelled. The program, which provides continuous coverage of the earth for military and intelligence needs, has been recently faced with questions in Congress on affordability and a disagreement among its users over what purposes it should serve. The latest concerns center on Congressional and intelligence officials questioning the usefulness of the demonstration, which would cost between $200 million and $400 million.
(Koch, Andrew. Jane's Defence Weekly, Volume 42, Issue 21, 05/25/05, page 10).
Op-Ed
Op-ed: Questioning Space Weaponization
In an editorial this week in the New York Times, the paper questioned the viability of weapons in space. The paper explains that although some satellites are already used for military purposes, such as communications and navigation in wartime, what the Air Force is pushing the White House to do is altogether a different story. The editorial speaks of some of the ideas the Air Force has-among them, a global strike space plan that would carry munitions halfway around the world in 45 minutes-and says that these ideas bear resemblance to the ambitious plans of missile defense, which have largely been a failure. The editorial goes on cite three basic concerns with space weaponization: the question of how effective weapons in space would be, the sheer cost, and the prospect of an arms race in space. It suggests that the administration and congress assess whether or not a multilateral treaty banning weapons in space would be preferable to unilaterally pursuing weapons in space.
(New York Times editorial, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/24/opinion/24tue1.html,
Credits
Compiled by Ahsan Butt
Edited by Suzanne Vogel
Space Watch
Week of May 30 - June 3, 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
Astronomers Say Andromeda Galaxy Bigger Than Previously Thought
Astronomers have revised their estimate of the size of the Andromeda galaxy, increasing it by a factor of three. The galaxy, which is the closest one to our own Milky Way, is now thought to be 220,000 light years across. Previous estimates had the galaxy between 70,000 and 80,000 light years across, but astronomers now believe that a region of stars that was first thought to be a halo is in actually within the galaxy. The galaxy is about 2 million light years from Earth.
(Reuters, http://news.:2117;_ylt=, 05/30/05).
Cooperation with U.S. "Too Complicated to be Feasible" says ESA
The European Space Agency is distancing itself from the U.S. and NASA because of difficulties arising out of U.S. technology-transfer laws. ESA, currently developing a Mars rover, has decided that its long-term space interests lie in being independent of NASA because ITAR (International Traffic in Arms Regulations) precludes too much trans-Atlantic cooperation. "It's a shame, but it's not for me to comment on U.S. law, only to note its effects and for the rover, ITAR would have made cooperation too complicated to be feasible," said Daniel Sacotte, head of ESA's Human Spaceflight program. "We are now obliged to develop our autonomy in various areas, which is no bad thing. We are fully capable in Europe of developing these technologies. We may also find partners besides NASA," Sacotte added.
(de Selding, Peter B. Space News, Volume 16, Issue 21, 05/30/05, page 4).
Opportunity Makes Slow, Steady Progress From Dune
The Mars rover Opportunity continues to slowly extract itself from the dune it got stuck in a few weeks ago, moving just a few centimeters a day. "We're seeing slow, steady progress, at a remarkably constant rate," said Steve Squyres, MER Principal Investigator. "For every meter of wheel turns that we command, we get half a centimeter of actual motion. It's been like this since the start of the extraction process. We're typically doing 12 meters of wheel turns a day, and typically seeing about six centimeters of motion...it's a slow, laborious process."
(JPL, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/mars-mers-05zzf.html, 05/30/05).
South Africa Will Have Space Agency by End of 2006, Says Minister
Mosibudi Mangena, South Africa's science and technology minister, wants South Africa to have its own space agency by the end of next year so that it can cooperate with other countries on space-related issues. A former mathematician and anti-apartheid activist, Mangena said that space has become very important for communication, research, and climate observation. The minister said that the country's budget and expertise will dictate what can and cannot be done, in apparent reference to the country's numerous other problems, such as HIV-AIDS and unemployment.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/dsn-05b.html, 05/31/05).
China Begins Work on ‘Seed Satellite'
China has approved a seed satellite project and begun development work on it according to the Commission of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense. The project is designed to have a satellite carry seeds into space, and observe their reaction to alien conditions including cosmic radiation, micro-gravity and an alternating magnetic field. Scientists hope to cultivate high yielding varieties of seeds based on the research. The satellite is recoverable and will return to earth after the launch.
(XNA, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/china-05zzc.html, 05/31/05).
Griffin, DeLay Promise Mission to Moon, Mars
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay promised that President Bush's wish to send astronauts back to the moon and to Mars will be fulfilled. "We have the money to do good things," said Griffin. "In my judgment, we can go to the moon. We can go to Mars. We can't do them quite as quickly as we did during Apollo, but we can do it," he said. Despite the war in Iraq, DeLay emphasized that NASA remains an important priority. "We will provide the funding necessary to get us where we want to go," DeLay said. "And hopefully we can do it in an expedited manner."
(AP, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/06/01/moon.nasa.ap/index.html, 06/01/05).
Millionaire Space Tourist Could Fly to ISS This Year
The Russian Space Agency announced that it is "optimistic" that a space tourist could fly to the International Space Station on a Soyuz spacecraft later this year. Gregory Olsen, a 60 year-old millionaire scientist, has recently resumed training after failing a medical exam last year. "The Federal Space Agency and Space Adventures are optimistic that Gregory Olsen can complete a flight to the international space station this year," said a statement from the Space Agency. The earliest possible date for the flight is in October, when the next scheduled Soyuz mission to the ISS is scheduled.
(AP, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/06/01/russia.space.tourist.ap/index.html, 06/01/05).
6 out of 10 Americans Believe Aliens Exist, Poll Finds
In a telephone poll of 1000 Americans, 60 per cent said they believe extraterrestrial life exists on other planets. Of those who believed that alien life exists, 90 per cent said humans should respond to a message from another planet. The poll also found belief in alien life varied with religious practice - only 46 per cent of regular churchgoers believed in extraterrestrial life compared with 70 per cent on non-churchgoers. The poll was conducted by the Center for Survey and Research Analysis at the University of Connecticut and was commissioned by the National Geographic Channel.
(Malik, Tariq. http://www.space.com/news/050531_alienlife_survey.html, 05/31/05).
Deep Impact on Schedule to Strike Comet, Suffering Blurry Vision
NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft is on target to strike a comet on July 4th but its high-resolution camera is not in focus. The clarity of the pictures due to the problems with the camera will reduce by a factor of four, but it is hoped that computer processing of the images will help scientists achieve what they originally aimed for. The spacecraft is designed to take pictures of the comet and the resulting collision in the hope that the images would provide clues about comets and their structure. "We're all getting very excited, because we know it's coming down to impact time, so it's a lot of years of previous work that everybody's looking forward to seeing the fruits of," said Rick Grammier, project manager of the $330 million NASA mission.
(Kridler, Chris. http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/ft_050531_deepimpact_update.html, 05/31/05).
Russia Launches Animals Into Space
A Foton M-2 spacecraft carried by a Soyuz rocket took off from Russia's Baikonur site in Kazakhstan this week. The spacecraft is carrying aboard it various animals, including Cuban crayfish, Georgian snails, geckos and Spanish ribbed newts, for research purposes. The spacecraft will remain in orbit for 16 days and be exposed to zero gravity and enhanced radiation, the effects of which scientists wish to study.
(Ria Novosti, http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050531/40449748.html, 05/31/05).
Jupiter's Moon Causes Scientists to Revise Theories on Moon Formation
Jupiter's moon Amalthea has been found to be made of icy material less dense than water, a finding with important consequences. Existing theories of the formation of the solar system, and Jupiter in particular, precluded the moons of large planets from being icy - scientists would normally expect such a body to be rocky - due to the high temperatures around Jupiter when it formed. Scientists are now positing that perhaps Amalthea formed after the other moons of Jupiter or that it could have formed far away from Jupiter and been captured by it. Both theories challenge the way scientists would normally expect moons to form.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/jupiter-moons-05a.html, 06/01/05).
ESA Celebrates 30th Birthday
The European Space Agency celebrated its 30th birthday this week. ESA has made up the considerable ground between it and the space agencies of the U.S. and Russia, and can now legitimately say that it is a partner for both. "ESA came into being on 31 May 1975, following in the footsteps of its two parent organizations, ESRO and ELDO, and has now turned 30," said ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain. "What an achievement! In such a short time, ESA has grown to become one of the foremost space agencies in the world. International cooperation - first among the Member States themselves and then with other space-faring nations - has been the key to this success story."
(ESA, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/esa-general-05h.html, 06/01/05).
Commercial
European Space Policy Draft Calls Attention to Absence of Level Playing Field
A first draft of future European space policy issued by the European commission cited an uneven playing field for the imbalance in the global space market. "The absence of a level playing field with regard to foreign competitors which benefit from important and protected institutional markets - the United States, Russia - is critical and needs consideration," the commission says in the document. The policy also attempts to chart the relationship between the commission and the European Space Agency, as well as individual nations' space agencies and the global space marketplace. After consultations and recommendations, a final policy is expected by late November this year.
(de Selding, Peter B. Space News, Volume 16, Issue 21, 05/30/05, page 6).
Inmarsat To Go Forward with IPO
Inmarsat is going to proceed with an initial public offering of shares and is seeking to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. JP Morgan Cazenove and Morgan Stanley are the Joint Sponsors for the proposed flotation. "We are delighted to announce Inmarsat's intention to float," said Andrew Sukawaty, chairman and CEO of Inmarsat. "Inmarsat is the premier global provider of mobile satellite services, which through its scale and leading technology is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the exciting growth prospects in the sector. We are looking forward to the opportunities afforded by public company status, and we will use the proceeds of the IPO to strengthen our balance sheet," he said.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/inmarsat-05j.html, 06/02/05).
SpaceX, NASA Sign Agreement
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA for the development of human spaceflight hardware. Space Act Agreements are joint ventures between NASA and the private industry that further research and development and provide avenues for cooperation by sharing personnel, technology and expertise. "This agreement provides a framework for working with NASA on future spaceflight needs in support of low Earth orbit space missions and other steps in the Vision for Space Exploration," said Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX. "We look forward to working with NASA to create an exciting future in human spaceflight."
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rocketscience-05zg.html, 06/03/05).
Military Space
U.S. Army Wants Higher-Resolution Maps
The U.S. Army wants sharper maps to further its understanding of terrain in which it must operate. "All of our archived data is 30-meter," said Colonel Tim Coffin, chief of the National Security Policy and Space & Missile Defense divisions on the Army staff at the Pentagon. "We can do much better." Government owned Landsat satellites collect 30-meter resolution imagery and while commercial satellites in orbit today can collect imagery of 1-meter resolution or even better, they do not have the area coverage the Army needs, Coffin said.
(Space News, Volume 16, Issue 21, 05/30/05, page 8).
Russia Vows "Retaliatory Measures" Against Weapons in Space
Russia said that it would not stand idly by if another country put weapons in space, a thinly veiled reference to reports that the U.S. is contemplating putting offensive and defensive weapons in space. "Russia's position on this question has not changed for decades," said Russian defense minister Sergei Ivanov. "We are categorically against the militarization of space. If some state begins to realize such plans, then we doubtless will take adequate retaliatory measures," Ivanov warned.
(Gutterman, Steve. AP, http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050603/ap_on_re_eu/russia_weapons_5, 06/02/05).
Op-Ed
Op-ed: President Bush's Space Policy Would Set Off Arms Race
In an op-ed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Sean Kay and Theresa Hitchens write that President Bush will soon issue a directive that will call for weapons to be put into space. The authors argue that this would be an unwise step, and would provoke other countries, including Russia and China, to step up their efforts to weaponize space. Kay and Hitchens write that the U.S. already has superiority in space, and that President Bush should seek to lock in this position with an international treaty. The authors recommend Congress getting involved in the matter and investigating the repercussions of a change in space policy.
(Kay, Sean and Hitchens, Theresa. http://www.cdi.org/program/&ProgramID=68&from_page=index.cfm., 05/25/05).
Op-ed: Idea of Weapons in Space Mirrors 19th Century Strategic Thinking
In an op-ed in the New York Times, Frances Fitzgerald outlines the evolution of the policy of putting weapons in space. Fitzgerald writes that prior to becoming Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld led the National Space Commission which called for "the option to deploy weapons in space." The author notes that after President Bush withdrew from the Antiballistic Missile Treaty in 2002, the Air Force has tried to convince the administration to deploy weapons in space. Fitzgerald posits that the current drive for weapons in space resembles the policy advocated by Midwestern Republicans in the late 19th and early 20th century that called for a stronger navy to project power abroad while remaining isolated from the troubles of Europe. The writer argues that the two policies are similar in that they seek to limit manpower in the armed forces, while emphasizing technological advances in warfare.
(Fitzgerald, Frances. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/03/opinion/03Fitzgerald.html, 06/03/05).
Oddly Enough
Neil Armstrong, Unhappy With Barber, Threatens to Sue
Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, is threatening to sue the man who used to cut his hair. Armstrong used to frequent Marx's Barber Shop in Lebanon, Ohio, before he discovered that the owner, Marx Sizemore, collected his hair clippings from the floor and sold them. Sizemore sold the clippings to John Reznikoff, a collector who is in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest collection of hair from famous personalities, including Napoelon, Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein and Abraham Lincoln. A letter from Armstrong's lawyer to Sizemore said that he would face legal charges unless he returned the hair or contributed his profit to charity and paid for Armstrong's legal expenses.
(AP, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/06/01/armstrong.hair.ap/index.html, 06/01/05).
Credits
Compiled by Ahsan Butt
Edited by Suzanne Vogel