Tim's Space Diary. Straight and to the point

27-29 July (29 July 2010)

1,394 of 8,100 Space Shuttle workers have been laid-off from United Space Alliance as the programme comes to an end. Two final shuttle missions are currently scheduled November and February 2011 to complete the International Space Station, which has been under construction since 1998 by a consortium of 16 countries. Congress is discussing the possible addition on a third and final shuttle mission. If approved, the extra flight would likely launch next summer.

Sea Launch has been contracted by EchoStar Satellite Services to launch up to three Zenit boosters from the launch site at 154degW for three communications satellites. Sea Launch Co. expects to receive final U.S. government approval of its post-bankruptcy reorganization plan by September, an event that will trigger the investment by its new Russian owner of $140 million in operating capital and $15 million for a creditors’ trust account, Sea Launch President Kjell Karlsen says. The new Sea Launch will be 95 percent owned by affiliates of RSC Energia of Korolev, Russia, a large space-system manufacturer that already had been a Sea Launch shareholder and provides the upper stage for Sea Launch’s Zenit-3SL rocket. The company’s first post-bankruptcy mission will not be by the sea-based operation, but by Land Launch of Moscow, for which Sea Launch acts as a marketing agent. Land Launch uses the same Sea Launch rocket hardware, but operates from the Russian-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Land Launch specializes in lighter telecommunications satellites. Land Launch’s next mission, scheduled for early 2011, is set to carry the Intelsat 18 satellite.

Lockheed Martin “expects” a multi-billion dollar order for a US government in 2012 for a new generation satellite system. The Director of National Intelligence plans to develop an exquisite,” or extremely high-resolution system, Imaging satellites under government procurement for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. At the same time, the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, The dates and contract volume point to the next-generation optical Earth observation satellite system that the U.S. government wants to operate alongside less-precise satellites built by commercial companies.

Russian cosmonauts, Fyodor Yurchikhin and Mikhail Kornienko made an EVA lasting 6hr 42min out of the Pirs module on the 25th Russian spacewalk from the ISS. The duo traversed along Zvezda's hull to the station's rear docking port to remove and replace an old TV camera needed for receiving European Automated Transfer Vehicle cargo delivery craft. The cosmonauts   worked opn stringing umbilicals to the new Rassvet module that Atlantis attached to the space station in May. The 147th spacewalk was devoted to station assembly and maintenance and the 11th so far this year. Total space station EVA time since construction began in 1998 now stands at 921 hours and 35 minutes. The next EVA is planned for August 5 when NASA astronauts Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell-Dyson perform a spacewalk from the Quest airlock module. They'll install an operating base on the Zarya module for the station's robotic arm and lay power lines outside the Unity node for use by the Leonardo storage module when it's delivered for permanent attachment during the November shuttle mission.

Launched in 2002 aboard an Ariane 5 booster the European Space Agency, the 17,636lb Envisat, will become one of the most dangerous piece of space debris for the next 150 years. The mission will be extended to 2013.

A camera aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has helped develop the most accurate global Martian map ever. Researchers and the public can access the map via several websites and explore and survey the entire surface of the Red Planet. The map was constructed using nearly 21,000 images from the Thermal Emission Imaging System, or THEMIS, a multi-band infrared camera on Odyssey.

28 July 1960
The Soviet Union launched a Vostok booster from Baikonur with the first Korabl-Sputnik spacecraft Vostok 1K man-rated craft with the dogs Chaika and Lisichka but the booster exploded.

29 July 1960
NASA’s first Mercury Atlas test launch ended at 8 miles altitude after a structural failure at 58.5s.

28 July 1970
The Soviet Union launched a Tsyklon booster from Baikonur with a Fractional Orbital Bombardment System (FOBS) payload into a 49deg inclination.

24-26 July (26 July 2010)

NASA’s JPL $2.3 million six-wheeled rover Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity has completed its first integrated test leading to the launch of the spacecraft on 25 November 2011 aiming for a landing in August 2012.

Sixty years ago on 24 July 1950, the first launch of a space rocket from Cape Canaveral. The 62ft Bumper 8 was launched from Pad 3 at the Joint Long Range Proving Ground now known as the Air Force Eastern Range. Since then, over 3,400 missiles, rockets and spacecraft have been launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and the Kennedy Space Centre.

A mishmash from the House and Senate sees a possible Ares 5 heavy lift booster and an additional Space Shuttle mission in mid-2011 to “ensure our nation's space programme remains the global leader and restores NASA's position as the premier exploration agency in the world”. The House bill only calls for $150 million in direct funding for commercial crew projects through 2013. The Senate's will offer $1.3 billion in commercial crew funding over the same time period. Legislation in both bodies directs NASA to develop a heavy-lift rocket and government-owned crew capsule for deep space missions. The craft should be based on the Ares and Orion vehicles. House lawmakers are directing NASA to build a human spacecraft for missions to the International Space Station. NASA could later turn over transportation to commercial providers once they demonstrate their capabilities. Orion-based capsule would only be a backup to private companies for space station missions. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $1.9 billion for a new space launch vehicle system using solid rocket motors as a core technology for a heavy lift rocket.

Orbital Sciences is designing the Taurus 2 rocket and Cygnus cargo freighter to deliver supplies to the International Space Station through 2015. Each Taurus 2 first stage is powered by two AJ 26 engines.The commercial resupply system is scheduled for its first test flight in the second quarter of next year. Orbital and SpaceX are splitting a $3.5 billion Commercial Resupply Services contract for unpiloted cargo flights to the space station. Orbital's portion of the deal is worth $1.9 billion and calls for eight operational Taurus and Cygnus flights.

Japan Exploration Aerospace plans a mission to Mercury equipped with mirrors to combat the planet’s 842degF. The mirrors will be kept at about 320degF. The craft will be about six-foot and powered by solar arrays.

22-23 July (23 July 2010)

The UK Space Agency announced a one year pilot programme to design and launch a CubeSat - a miniature, cube-shaped satellite that will allow the UK to test new space technologies and carry out new space research 'cheaply' and quickly. The pilot programme, named UKube 1, will use a spacecraft platform that is currently under development by the company Clyde Space Ltd and will involve a competition amongst companies and academic groups to come up with the most innovative ideas for payloads. The winning payloads will be launched on the satellite in mid 2011.

Intelsat’s out of control Galaxy 15 satellite will be shut down in August after four manoeuvres travelling through the orbital slot of Luxembourg-based SES's AMC-11 satellite in mid-May causing no service disruptions as Intelsat and SES took measures that included routing some AMC-11 traffic through a 19-meter-diameter antenna at Intelsat's Clarksburg, Intelsat prepared for the Galaxy 13 fly-by July 12-13, using some of the same interference-avoidance techniques developed for the AMC-11 encounter. Intelsat is already preparing customers using Galaxy 23 for a similar avoidance procedure in late August in the event Galaxy 15 is still active by then. The company has also begun coordinating with satellite fleet operator Telesat of Canada, whose Anik F3 satellite will have to contend with Galaxy 15 in mid-September.

Snowballs of icy materials in the rings of Saturn have been created by the gravity of a 2004 moon. Observations by NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal clumps of material forming in the planet's F ring, creating objects as large as 20 km in diameter. The objects, scientists said, are created by gravitational disturbances from the moon Prometheus, one of two "shepherding" moons that keep the narrow ring in place. Many of these objects break apart in a matter of months but some can escape, scientists said. This may explain a small moon discovered in 2004 that intersects the ring at times, creating debris.

A sad time for the Space Shuttle – the final SRBs are being assembled for the launch of the Endeavour STS 134 in February, hauling spare parts and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. NASA managers hope to add one more mission if the agency can reach an agreement with Congress and the White House.

40 years ago
21 July 1970
The Soviet Union launched a Voskhod booster from Plestesk’s LC43/4 pad, carrying a Zenit-4 spy satellite on a high-resolution photoreconnaissance mission.

23 July
The US Air Force launched a Thorad Agena D from Vandenberg AFB carrying a NRO/CIA, 4,400lb KH-4B surveillance satellite placed into a 59deg inclination.

A Thor Delta M was launched from Cape Canaveral carrying the 590lb Intelsat 3F-8 communications satellite into an unusable orbit at 12deg, in a 21,050-22,741 miles orbit. The satellite was used for practical and technology use and was located at 175degE. By 2007 the craft was drifting at 110W, drifting 7deg per day.

17-21 July (21 July 2010)

The UK Space Agency is to forge greater collaboration in civil projects with Russia. Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) has already had with various projects over 20 years especially with Commercial Space Technologies, including launching 21 small satellites. SSTL was the first customer and partner for the DNEPR and Kosmotras. SSTL is extending this relationship into the future through significant participation in the Kanopus high resolution Earth Observation constellation and the launch of three further satellites from Russia later this year.

Boeing plans a new manned capsule to ferry crews to and from the International Space Station and future private space stations. The new Crew Space Transportation-100 spacecraft (CST-100) is part of the company's $18 million award from NASA under the Commercial Crew Development Space Act Agreement. The award aims to advance the concepts and technology required to build a commercial crew space transportation system. Other private companies are planning similar spacecraft. The CST-100 will carry up to seven people. The craft will be larger than the Apollo spacecraft but smaller than the once planned Orion capsule. The spacecraft is being designed for compatibility with a variety of different rockets, including United Launch Alliance's Atlas and Delta boosters, and SpaceX's Falcon rockets. “While NASA could be the main user of the CST-100 capsule, the space agency is certainly not the only customer that Boeing has in mind. The company has teamed up with Bigelow Aerospace, a Las Vegas-based company that joined the Commercial Spaceflight Federation in June”. Boeing hopes to use the CST-100 capsule to take people to and from the Bigelow Aerospace Orbital Space Complex – a commercial space station the company is building. Bigelow Aerospace is developing private inflatable space habitats with the goal of launching the first private space station in 2014. The company has already launched two prototype modules into space.

Virgin Galactic's commercial spaceship has made its first flight with crew on board over California's Mojave Desert. VSS Enterprise made the test flight with two crew members on board. It did not reach space, and remained firmly attached to VMS Eve, it's WhiteKnightTwo mothership. VSS Enterprise, attached to its WhiteKnightTwo mothership, lands in California's Mojave Desert. The test flight, lasted about six hours. Three other crew members flew aboard the Eve mothership, which is designed to carry SpaceShipTwo spacecraft to an altitude above 50,000 feet from where it will use its own rocket engines to send it to space. SpaceShipTwo spacecraft are built to carry six passengers and two pilots on suborbital flights that would reach outer space for a few minutes but they would not go high enough to enter the Earth's orbit. Tickets for the flight cost $200,000 per person with a $20,000 deposit. As many as 300 people have booked their spot on a flight which will take them into space to see the curvature of the earth and experience weightlessness for several minutes. Virgin Galactic says the flight test programme will run through 2011 before it starts commercial operations.

OHB Technology of Germany has purchased Thales Alenia Space’s Antwerp, Belgium-based satellite ground hardware manufacturing company in a cash transaction that gives OHB a foothold in Belgium.

NASA unveiled its plans to send astronauts to an asteroid and to Mars no later than 2015 but NASA does not have capacities to build an asteroid mission spacecraft by 2015, the head of Roscosmos' manned flights department, Alexei Krasnov, said in the wake of NASA's announcement to create the spacecraft for deep space missions. Astronauts would likely to fly to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars in the mid-2030s but NASA was ready to boost the process saying the development of the spacecraft for manned deep space missions should be started as early as 2015. "It is unreal by 2015," Krasnov said. They] probably won't be able to any sooner than by 2023-2025. They do not have the necessary spacecraft, and we will be ready with the project by 2018-2020".

NASA and Europe plan dual-rover mission to collect Martian samples in 2018 using an Atlas 5 rocket. The samples would be collected returned by a second spacecraft during the 2020s. Firstly, a“sky-crane” will be tested on Mars in August 2012. The European Space Agency's ExoMars rover and a $2 billion NASA Mars Astrobiology Explorer-Cacher mission are the leading candidates for the tandem project. A simple sample cache was originally planned for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory launching next year, but officials removed the payload due to scientific and technical concerns. One sample return option could involve launching the caching mission in 2018, skipping a launch opportunity in 2020, then sending the an orbiter to Mars in 2022 that would ferry the cargo back to Earth. Another mission could fly in 2024 to fetch the samples from the 2018 landing site and launch the cache into orbit around Mars, where it would dock with the return orbiter and begin the journey home. This is early days however. One competitor for scarce NASA planetary science funding in the 2020s is a $4.5 billion flagship mission to Jupiter, another joint undertaking between NASA and ESA. The Jupiter mission would include a pair of orbiters on two separate launches in 2020. The decadal survey's ranking of the Jupiter flagship mission and Mars sample return will likely decide which project launches first.

NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) completed its first survey on 17 July but the $320 million mission will continue until its funding ceases and hydrogen coolant run out later this year.

The 35th anniversary of the of the Apollo Soyuz Test Project was celebrated by the surviving cosmonauts, Tom Stafford, Vance Brand, Alexei Leonov and Valeri Kubasov. Deke Slayton died on 13 June 1993.

14-16 July (16 July 2010)

NASA’s Swift X-Ray was temporarily blinded on 21 June by the brightest X-rays ever detected, which travelled for five billion years. The blast originated from a gamma ray burst from a massive star.

The final Space Shuttle 154ft long External Tank - 138 - has arrived at the Kennedy Space Centre after its journey from Lockheed Martin’s Michoud in New Orleans for the mission of Endeavour to fly on 26 February carrying the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer which will be docked to the International Space Station. The six-man astronaut crew includes commander Mark Kelly, pilot Greg H. Johnson and mission specialists Greg Chamitoff, Mike Fincke, Roberto Vittori and Drew Feustel.

If Orbital Sciences Corporation wins a contract to use its Taurus 2 booster carrying the proposed Cygnus cargo freighter for the International Space Station form Cape Canaveral. Crew flights could follow within three to four years. In addition to the test flight, NASA has ordered eight operational Cygnus and Taurus 2 missions to deliver cargo and supplies to the space station through 2015. SpaceX was awarded 12 logistics flights using its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule. The resupply flights will blast off from a launch pad now under construction at Wallops Island.

Space debris presents a political issue that must be addressed, says the United Nations. There is a need to reduce as much as possible of debris, says the Secure World Foundation. In higher altitudes, debris stays in space for many years. At 1,000 km [600 miles] the debris in space stays for centuries." A head-on collision between an American communications satellite and a defunct Soviet spacecraft in 2009 illustrated the seriousness of the orbital debris problem. Currently, the build-up is worst at some of the most crowded orbital areas, such as over Earth's poles and the equator. Of the 21,000 objects bigger than 4 inches (10 cm) in diameter now being tracked by the Department of Defense's U.S. Space Surveillance Network., 1,000 are working satellites. Experts estimate that hundreds of thousands more objects exist that are too small to track.

Gilat Satellite Networks has been chosen to provide broadband satellite networks for Asia.

NASA plans a trio of new competitions that could provide multimillion-dollars for space technology. The competitions, worth $5 million, are the latest competitions in NASA's Centennial Challenges prize programme. The largest of the three new prizes, valued at $2 million, is the Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge, for the development of a launch system that can place very small satellites into orbit twice in a week. The $1.5-million Night Rover Challenge is intended to support development of solar-powered rover technologies that can store energy to operate at night. The Sample Return Robot Challenge, also with a $1.5 million prize purse, is for the development of a robot that can locate and retrieve geologic samples for varied terrain autonomously.

Observations by NASA’s Messenger spacecraft on its third flyby last September include nclude images of a basin, named Rachmaninoff, with a smooth, sparsely cratered surface, evidence that the basin is relatively young. Scientists said this indicates that the planet's period of volcanic activity may have lasted longer than earlier thought, extending into the second half of the solar system's history. MESSENGER also observed the build-up of energy in substorms in the planet's magnetic tail, with 10 times the increase in energy and at 50 times the speed of similar events in the Earth's magnetic field. MESSENGER, launched in 2004, is scheduled to enter orbit around Mercury next year.

The US Senate has planned an extra Space Shuttle missions next year and the development of a heavy-lift booster which could one day send humans to an asteroid and Mars. However, the White House has cut in half the funds for commercial human space transportation over three years. "The bill contains the critical elements necessary for achieving the president's vision for NASA, it recognizes that Constellation is no longer the right program for achieving our boldest ambitions, it helps launch a commercial space transportation industry, it embraces the President's proposal for an additional $6 billion for NASA, it extends the International Space Station and it represents an important first step towards helping us achieve the key goals the president laid out," the White House statement said. The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation unanimously approved their version of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 on Thursday morning. The bill is the first time Congress has officially weighed in on NASA since the White House's proposed shake-up of the agency. "It's somewhat of a miracle that we have been able to achieve the unanimity in this consensus," said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., one of the chief architects of the bill. The authorization act passed provides for the launch of an extra shuttle flight sometime next summer, pending a review of safety concerns. The flight, designated STS-135, would keep much of the shuttle workforce in place for another year and resupply the International Space Station.

NASA currently plans two more shuttle flights launching in November and February. Workers are preparing equipment for a third mission that would fly as a rescue if the two scheduled shuttle flights experienced problems. The STS-135 flight would use the existing hardware if a rescue mission is not required. A heavy-lift rocket and human-rated deep space capsule, collectively called the Space Launch System, is also part of the Senate bill. The authorization act would move up the rocket's development to fiscal year 2011, which begins in October. The government-owned booster and manned spacecraft should lift between 70 and 100 tons to space In a major space policy speech April 15, President Obama announced his intentation to reinstate the Orion capsule for limited lifeboat duties at the International Space Station and identified asteroids and Mars as the ultimate destinations for the human space program. Obama also promised to start developing a heavy-lift rocket by 2015 for the asteroid and Mars missions, which would occur in the 2020s and 2030s. The Senate authorization bill keeps the asteroid and Mars goals for NASA, but it accelerates the timeline. Instead of picking a design and beginning development by 2015, the legislation sets a deadline for the shuttle-derived heavy-lift rocket and manned spacecraft to be fully operational by Dec. 31, 2016.

13 July (13 July 2010)

Sea Launch has won a contract to launch two future AsiaSat communications satellites to be launched between 2012-14. The satellites will be built by Space Systems/Loral. AsiaSat plans a Loral-built satellite to be in late 2011. AsiaSat moved their newest satellite from Sea Launch to the Proton rocket. AsiaSat has another contract for Sea Launch's backlog, which was nearly emptied in 2009 as the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Sea Launch now has four announced missions planned after the AsiaSat agreement. Energia Overseas Ltd., a subsidiary of the Russian aerospace giant Energia, plans to purchase 85 percent of the stock in Sea Launch for $140 million in cash. Energia is providing $200 million in working capital to Sea Launch. Sea Launch plans to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October, leading to a flight by its Land Launch subsidiary in the first quarter of 2011. The return-to-flight from the Baikonur Cosmodrome will feature the Intelsat 18 communications satellite. Sea Launch's next flight from the ocean-based Odyssey launch platform is scheduled for the third quarter of 2011. A Sea Launch mission in mid-2011 will likely carry a Eutelsat or Intelsat communications satellite.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched launch the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle C15 on 12 July, following a GSLV launch failure in April from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The latest launch featured the 694kg Cartosat 2B and three small satellites - the 116 kg ALSAT-2A from Algeria, two Nanosats from the University of Toronto and the other 1 kg nano-satellite from University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland. The next two immediate launches on the cards from Sriharkota included a communication satellite GSAT-5B carrying transponders in C-band and extended C-Band to augment India's satellite-based communication and broadcast systems. It will be flown on board on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle either by September-end or early October 2010. The second launch from here will be Resourcesat-2, another remote sensing satellite with very high frequency resolution cameras that will be placed in orbit by PSLV-C16 by mid-October this year.

China is making a move to offer unmanned models of the manned spacecraft Shenzhou for cargo missions to the International Space Station.

NASA has announced the assignment of new International Space Station crew persons: Joe Acaba, Sunita Williams, Kevin Ford, Gannady Padalka, Konstanin Valkov, Sunita Williams, Yuri Malchencko, Akihiko Hoshide, Oleg Novitskiy, Evgeny Tarelkin. These will fly on Soyuz 30-32. Three more crew persons will fly on Soyuz 33.

NASA will fly a Robonaut aboard the STS 133 Discovery mission in 2010.

10-12 (12 July 2010)

The Indian Space Research Organisation launched a four stage, 146ft tall Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle - without its usual six solid rocket boosters - from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on 12 July carrying the 1,530lb Cartosat 2B satellite and four minor spacecraft, an Algerian EADS Astrium built remote sensing satellite and three Indian student-built spacecraft.

The European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft launched by an Ariane 5 on 2 March 2004 has added another exploration, by flying 2,000 miles from an asteroid called Lutetia using the spacecraft’s OSIRIS instrument on 10 July - the largest asteroid studied by a spacecraft.

The American 12,150lb EchoStar 15 communications satellite was launched aboard a Proton/Breeze booster on 10 July. The satellite was built Space Systems/Loral equipped with 32 Ku-band transponders. EchoStar 15 joins two older satellites at the 61.5-degree slot: EchoStar 3 launched in October 1997 and EchoStar 12 launched in July 2003, both using ILS Atlas rockets from Cape Canaveral. This was the 358th Proton launch dating back to 1965 and the seventh of 2010. For marketer ILS, the mission represented the 61st commercial flight since 1996 and fifth this year.

The USA FAA has approved a license for launches from Complex 46 at Cape Canaveral. Space Florida may actively pursue commercial customers for launch commitments at SLC-46. Full Complex readiness is anticipated within 12 months of a formal customer commitment. The last active use of SLC-46 was in 1999 when RocSat 1 was launched on an Athena I rocket.

Thanks to Florida US Senator Bill Nelson (a Space Shuttle “tourist” in the early days of the programme) the Senate Committee of Commerce, Science and Transport is expected to pass bill matching the President’s $19 billion request, including an additional Space Shuttle mission in June 2011, a possible heavy lift booster and a fully capable “Orion” spacecraft. “As for the commercial launch industry”, Nelson says he wants to make sure launches are capable. "We will put in the policy of this committee, that safety, of course, is one of the paramount things here when it comes to putting humans on rockets and flying them commercial."

Indian’s Insat 4B communications satellite launched in March 2007 and co-located with 3A at 93.5degE and carries 12 Ku and 12 C-band transponders but half the Ku and C band power has been lost due to a power supply anomaly. It is this platform that caused the January 2009 failure of Eutelsat’s W2M telecommunications satellite, which was the first product of a joint venture created between ISRO and Astrium Satellites of Europe. Meanwhile, a turbo pump malfunction caused the failure of the GSLV launch on 15 April. The launch failure is a set back for India’s plans to attain self-sufficiency in cryogenic propulsion development. ISRO spent 3.3 billion rupees ($70.5 million) to develop the engine. ISRO aims to flight test the upper-stage engine within a year “after incorporating necessary corrective measures,” the statement said. The next two GSLVs will use Russian cryogenic stages.

9 July (9 July 2010)

Astrium has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to undertake initial development studies for a Next Generation Launcher (NGL) forfuture satellite launches.This 15 month project has a total contractual value of €8.5 million, of which Astrium will contribute €1.5m of its own funds. This contract will enable Astrium to investigate the most promising options for the next generation of European launcher in collaboration with nine European countries with past experience of working on the Ariane programme. The NGL project is part of ESA’s Future Launcher Preparatory Programme (FLPP), which aims to prepare a proposal combining all the technical and organisational aspects of the programme for presentation at the next ESA ministerial conference. “Astrium is designing, developing and building Ariane launchers.” said Alain Charmeau. “So the teams are obviously proud to be asked to contribute their know-how what will eventually be Europe’s future launch vehicle. For some of them, this project will take up a major part of their professional lives. The development of a new launcher involves creating the technologies of tomorrow, whilst minimising development costs and ultimately operating costs. It’s the adventure of a lifetime." Europe requires a new launcher to assure continuity and preserve its independent access to space. The study will look towards 2025 for institutional missions covering a performance range from three tonnes into geostationary orbit (including four tonne segment into sun-synchronous orbit (SSO)) through to eight tonnes. The NGL will be phased in with the Ariane 5ME (Midlife Evolution), an evolved version of Ariane 5 for which a preparatory programme was set in motion during the 2008 ESA ministerial conference. The Ariane 5ME represents a much-needed response to the institutional and commercial markets’ requirements for a medium-term launch capacity for heavy satellites in geostationary orbit (with a launch mass of more than 11 tonnes). ESA and Astrium will concentrate on the aspects of the project that will help to improve competitiveness between now and 2025, with special emphasis on reliability, availability and lower costs, in particular operating costs. The study will focus on modular concepts capable of covering the intermediate propulsion power range.The project is divided into three parts: definition of a launcher concept, required technological innovations, and the costs of building and operating the new launch vehicle: Architectural design studies will be conducted for the launch-vehicle concepts short-listed in the first period of the programme in 2007/2008: The so-called HH concept for a two-stage launch vehicle, in which both the main and upper stages are fuelled by a cryogenic mixture of liquid oxygen and hydrogen. The main, high-thrust engine (HTE) will be based either on the same gas generation technology employed in the Vulcain II or on the more powerful staged combustion technology, which is not yet operational in Europe. Phase 1: The CH concept for a two-stage launch vehicle consisting of a main stage powered by a methane/ liquid oxygen propellant and a cryogenic upper stage. 2. The PPH concept for a three-stage launch vehicle in which a solid propellant used in the main engine and the second stage and a cryogenic fuel in the upper stage. 3. The cryogenic engine for the upper stage will be a derivative of the Vinci engine developed for the Ariane 5ME. 4.To ensure modularity, the launcher will be equipped with solid-propellant auxiliary boosters. Innovative technologies will be identified in all relevant areas (propulsion, mmaterials, structures, avionics, pyrotechnics). They will be assessed both in terms of their intrinsic capacity to improve performance and, more especially, from the point of view of cost of ownership and lifecycle considerations. Cost estimates will be drawn up for each of the proposed concepts, not only for the development phase but also with respect to lifetime exploitation costs.

The International Space Station could continue to operate until 2025 or even into 2028, says NASA.

The last Lockheed Martin of Space Shuttle External Tank has been been rolled out of NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. One hundred and thirty ETs have been built since the contract was awarded in 1973.

While NASA is hoping that the Congress can renegotiated deal with Russia to acquire plutonium for its next robotic deep space missions, the European Space Agency is considering alternative nuclear fuels to power its own probes travelling into the “sun-starved outer solar system”. NASA's dwindling supply of plutonium-238 nuclear fuel will not be sufficient to power an orbiter to visit Jupiter's moon Europa. NASA's contribution to a planned $4.5 billion joint flagship mission between the U.S. space agency and Europe. That's unless the US Department of Energy receives funding to restart domestic production of plutonium or successfully resolves a contract dispute with the Russian government. It is hoped that another deal with the Russians for another delivery of plutonium-238 or get domestic production restarted.

Iran plans to launch a new satellite, Rasad, in August. The government had previously said that during the current Iranian year to March 2011, new satellites capable of transmitting data and images would be launched.

Japanese scientists have found traces of dust in a sample return capsule from the Hayabusa spacecraft that may be from an asteroid visited by the spacecraft. Scientists cautioned that the dust may not be from the asteroid but instead could be from deep space.

40 years ago
9 July 1970
The Soviet Union launched a Voskhod booster from Plesetsk carrying Cosmos 353, a Zenit 2M reconnaissance satellite which returned a film canister after 12 days in space.

1-7 July (7 July 2010)

The European Union may request more funding for the Galileo navigation system from its cash-strapped member states by the end of this year but European governments can not afford to fully deploy the satellite fleet until after 2015. The first 18 satellites should be in space by 2014. Although 30 satellites are planned, the present budget is not available.

As reported earlier in the Space Diary, the Israeli Air Force is upgrading its Palmachim missile test range, to also become the country's primary Space Centre, with launch facilities for different types of missiles and rockets.

ESA’s first all-sky microwave map of the Universe from ESA's Planck spacecraft has been unveiled so scientists can get a deeper understanding of how our Universe came to be and how it works now.

United Space Alliance plans to lay off about 15 percent of its 8,100-strong space shuttle workforce on I October.

The Russian-American crew living aboard the International Space Station welcomed the safe arrival of the cargo-delivery Progress M-06M on 4 July two days after the freighter aborted its initial rendezvous and sailed by the orbiting complex. The Progress docked to the Zvezda service module. The ISS Expedition 24 crew comprise Rusian commander Alexander Skvortsov, Mikhail Kornienko and Fyodor Yurchikhin and with NASA astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker. The cargo includes 2,667 pounds of equipment, food, fresh clothing, life support system gear, 1,918 pounds of propellant. It is the 38th Progress to dock with the station over its decade-long life and the third of six scheduled this year.

A short course-correction monouvre kept NASA’s New Horizons on track to reach the "aim point" for its 2015 encounter with Pluto, using June 30 thruster-firing lasting 35.6 seconds and sped New Horizons up by just about one mile per hour but enough to make sure that New Horizons will make its planned closest approach 7,767 miles to Pluto on July 14, 2015.

NASA managers asked engineers to reassess the launch dates with an official "change request" that went out June 22. At that time, the proposed target dates were Oct. 29 for STS-133 and Feb. 28 for STS-134. The new dates are no earlier than 1 November and 26 February.

European and Canadian space officials are in talks with Russia to purchase dedicated Soyuz capsules to ferry their astronauts to the International Space Station continuing crew transportation services after 2015 and possibly expanding European and Canadian astronaut access to the orbiting lab before then. Canada and Europe are discussing a deal with Roscosmos for Soyuz spacecraft to fly short-duration missions beginning sometime between 2013 and 2016."The Canadian Space Agency has discussed with Roscosmos the possibility of producing an additional Soyuz spacecraft that would serve the needs of the ISS partners." ESA and CSA could mount longer missions of up to several months. NASA receives 76.6 percent of the crew time it manages, and the agency allocates 12.8 percent to Japan, 8.3 percent to ESA and 2.3 percent to Canada. Russia is working on deals with India and Space Adventures, the U.S.-based tourism firm, to fly standalone Soyuz flights in the next few years.

In the last contract extension between NASA and Russia, the U.S. agreed to pay Roscosmos $335 million for transportation and crew rescue services in 2013 and 2014. The agreement has a value of nearly $56 million per seat, up from the previous published rate of $51 million per roundtrip.

Orbital Sciences Corporation has received two separate orders from NASA to launch scientific satellites on its industry-leading small rockets, Pegasus(r) XL and Taurus(r) XL. These contracts bring the total Pegasus and Taurus orders to 55 vehicles since the first Pegasus was purchased in 1988. IRIS is a NASA Small Explorer (SMEX) mission to measure the Sun’s flow of energy through the dynamic region in the solar corona and heliosphere to help scientists better understand the effects of solar energy release processes on Earth. The planned 2012 launch will be the rocket’s 45th mission since its initial flight in 1990 and the second Pegasus launch scheduled for that year, following the launch of the Orbital-built NuSTAR scientific satellite in February 2012.

In a separate NASA contract a Taurus XL launch will carry OCO-2 environmental monitoring satellite into orbit to provide critical space-based data on carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere.The next scheduled Taurus launch will boost the Orbital-built Glory satellite into low-Earth orbit for NASA in the fourth quarter of 2010.

40 years ago
7 July 1970
The Soviet Union launched a Soyuz booster from Baikonur,
carrying Cosmos 352, a 13,800 lb Zenit 4 into a 51deg inclination on a high resolution photo reconnaissance mission which returned a film capsule.

29-30 June (1 July 2010)

Russia launched a Soyuz booster from Baikonur on 29 June carrying Progress 38P/M-06M, the 38th Progress tanker, aiming for the International Space Station on 1 July, carrying 2,667lbs, including 1,918lb of fuel. The ISS has a present Expedition 24 crew, commanded by Alexander Skvotsov, with Mickhail Kornienko, Fyodor Yurchikhin and NASA astronauts, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker.

Astrium has been selected to deliver the Eutelsat Communications W5A satellite to be launched in late 2012 to be located at 70.5degE. The five-ton Astrium Eurostar E3000-based W5A will be equipped 48 Ku band transponders, replacing the W5.

The Canadian Space Agency has been awarded potential projects by MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA) and the University of Galgary, to help participation in NASA’s New Frontiers programme in 2016-18. These include the Surface and Atmosphere Geochemical Explorer (SAGE) in which Canada could provide a robotic arm on a landing probe on Venus; the MoonRise Lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin Sample Return Mission; Origins Spectral, Interpretation Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer.

Argentine satellite operator has selected Arianespace to launch either an Ariane 5 or Soyuz from French Guiana carrying the Arsat 1 with 24 transponders to serve Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay. Arsat will be built by Argentina’s INVAP and Europe’s Astrium and Thales companies. Arsat 1 will be the second of the country’s satellite to be launched by Arianespace after Nahuel 1A in 1997.

President Obama’s new space policy includes greater emphasis on international co-operation and greater use of commercial space capabilities by the government. The policy directs NASA to mount crewed missions to an asteroid by 2025 and send humans to orbit Mars by the mid-2030s. The International Space Station would also be extended to at least 2020.

Space debris will continue to be a growing problem, particularly after the 2007 and 2009 collisions between US, Russian and Chinese satellites. An anti-satellite sets in 2009 created over 250,000 new pieces of debris of about 0.4in.

NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft, launched on 20 August 1977 has reached a milestone of 12,000 days in space. Voyager 1 launched about two weeks later on Sept. 5. Having traveled more than 21 billion kilometers (13 billion miles) on its winding path through the planets toward interstellar space, the spacecraft is now nearly 14 billion kilometers (9 billion miles) from the sun. A signal from the ground, traveling at the speed of light, takes about 12.8 hours one-way to reach Voyager 2. Voyager 1 will reach this 12,000-day milestone on July 13, 2010 after travelling more than 22 billion kilometres. .

50 years ago
29 June 1960
The US Air Force launched a Thor Agena D from Vandenberg AFB, California carrying Discoverer 12, a KH-1 photo recon prototype. The launch failed.