January 23, 1997 Vol. 0 - No. 3 By subscription only ============================== THE ORBITAL REPORT ON-LINE ============================== Space Executive's Weekly News Digest This is an experimental issue of Takyon International's latest on-line newsletter. OReOL is intended to cover space industry's news and market trend and provide the necessary background information for immediate analysis. Please feel free to contact us for any comment. === HEADLINES === * A McDonnell-Douglas DELTA 2-7925 launch vehicle exploded shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Station at 16:28UT on January 17. The vehicle's self-destruct system was apparently triggered 13 sec. into flight, at an altitude of 484 m, possibly due to the separation of the first and second stages or the failure of one of the launcher's nine Alliant Techsystems-built GEM strap-on boosters. This is the first total launch failure of a Delta 2 vehicle in 55 flights since February 1989 and the first failure of a Delta vehicle since May 1986. The US$55-million launcher was carrying the first of the 21 NAVSTAR satellites to be built bty Lockheed-Martin under US Air Force's Global Posi- tioning System (GPS) Block 2R procurement. The loss of this US$40-million spacecraft due to take over an older Rockwell-built Block 2A satellite will not cause any disruption in the GPS service since a 24-satellite constellation is still operational. Falling debris caused only minor damage around the launch pad. An investigation board has been named. All Delta launches will be postponed until the cause of the failure is identified and fixed. Sixteen Delta missions were planned this year, including five launches to deploy 23 Iridium mobile telephony satellites. * AT&T Skynet's TELSTAR 401 communication satellite (24C, 24Ku) has been declared lost on January 17, after about one week of efforts for recovery. The Lockheed-Martin-built spacecraft suf- fered a major failure on January 11 whilst performing a station- keeping maneuver. All attempts to restore contact with the satellite were vain. All services have been transferred to Telstar 402R and other satellites, some with less capacity. Telstar 401 was to be transferred by AT&T to Loral Space under a US$712-million sales agreement also including AT&T's Skynet business and the three remaining Telstar satellites. Despite the loss, Loral has confirmed the deal. Pending approval from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an interim service is planned with the ageing Telstar 302 satellite, unless the Space Systems/Loral-built Telstar 5 is launch in May. * The US NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY (NRL) will modify a Titan 4 Launch Dispenser, initially developed for a classified mission (possibly US Navy's 'Triplet' ocean surveillance system) into an INTERIM CONTROL MODULE to replace the delayed Russian Service Module, which is now more than 8 months beyond schedule, in the early phases of the assembly of the INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ALPHA (ISSA). Refurbishing the module is expected to cost less than US$100 million. === BUSINESS === * JAPAN SATELLITE SYSTEMS INC. (JSS), of Tokyo, Japan, has ordered a sixth satellite from Hughes Space & Communications International Inc. (HSCI). As JC-Sat 3, 4 and 5, JC-SAT 6 (32Ku) will be based on HSCI's HS-601 bus. Launch is planned in June 1998 to support News Corporation's JSkyB direct broadcasting satellite system. JSS will contract separately for a launch service. * ORION ASIA PACIFIC CORP., a unit of Orion Network Systems, of Rockville, Maryland, has signed a contract worth an estimated US$275 million with Hughes Space & Communications for the procu- rement of an HS-601HP satellite with launch services and ground station. ORION 3 (32Ku) will be launched in late 1998 and posi- tioned at 139°E to cover the Asia-Pacific region. * CHINA TELECOMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING SATELLITE CORP. (CTBSC), a division of China's ministry of P&T, has contracted with SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, for the procurement of the CHINASAT 8 (16Ku, 36C) communication satellite. The spacecraft, to be delivered in orbit in late 1998, will be based on the high-power version of SS/L's FS-1300 bus. * SPAR AEROSPACE LTD, of Mississauga, Ontario, has received a US$115-million contract from National Research Council of Thai- land's Small Satellite Program Office to build a 300-400-kg THAI REMOTE SENSING SMALL SATELLITE (TRSSS) and the associated ground segment. Launch to a 550-km polar orbit is tentatively planned for the year 2000. * DELCO ELECTRONICS, of Goleta, California, manufacturer of Delta and Titan vehicles' guidance units, has been transferred from HUGHES ELECTRONICS to another General Motors branch, DELPHI AUTO- MOTIVE SYSTEMS. Following the sale of its defense activities to Raytheon E-Systems, Hughes Electronics will now focus its busi- ness on satellites and communication systems and services. * NASA's JOHNSON SPACE CENTER (JSC), in Houston, Texas, has awarded a contract potentially worth up to US$128.2 million to BRSP INC. of Houston, a joint-venture of Brown & Root Services and Pioneer Contract Services, for Base Operations Support Services including maintenance, operations, logistics support and security services at JSC. The contract includes a one-year base period and four one-year options. JSC's Medical Sciences Division also contracted with KRUG LIFE SCIENCES INC. (KLSI), a subsidiary of Krug International Corp. biomedical services in- cluding flight hardware work. The US$48.3-million contract lasts for three years with US$33.8-million options for two more years. * TELESAT CANADA was selected by ASIA BROADCASTING COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK LTD. (ABCN), a subsidiary of The M Group plc of Thailand, to operate the L-STAR geostationary communication satellites for a period of up to 24 months. Both L-Star satellites, built by Space Systems/Loral, are planned for launch in 1998 on Ariane vehicles. === MARKETS === * ODYSSEY TELECOMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL INC. (OTI), a joint- venture between TRW and Teleglobe Canada, has signed a MoU with CHINA TELECOMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING SATELLITE CORP. (CTBSC), a division of China's ministry of P&T. The agreement gives CTBSC exclusive rights to market Odyssey mobile communication services in China. CTBSC will also operate one of Odyssey's seven regional Earth stations. The 12 satellites of the US$3.2-billion Odyssey intermediate circular orbit constellation for global personal mobile communications is planned to be deployed in 2000 and 2001 provided that OTI can raise enough funding. * NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, plans to award up to five contracts worth about US$700,000 each for design and definition studies of a SMALL RADAR OBSERVATION SATELLITE dubbed 'LightSAR'. A selection is scheduled in March with final reports due in November. The studies will include market analysis as well as identification of potential industry cost-sharing for follow-on development activities. * Upon recommendation from United Space Alliance (USA), NASA officials have decided that Space Shuttle ATLANTIS' next overhaul will be performed at Boeing North American's US Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. This US$50-million ORBITER MAIN- TENANCE DOWN PERIOD (OMDP) is planned to begin in September after completion of the STS-86 mission and last 11 months. Atlantis will be fitted with a new docking adapter and its in-orbit auto- nomy will be extended with new cryogenic tanks. A proposal to save US$2 million by performing the OMDP at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral was dismissed not to interfere with the heavy launch schedule. USA, a joint-venture between Lockheed-Martin and Boeing North American is in charge of operating the shuttle fleet on behalf of NASA. * GE AMERICOM, of Princeton, New Jersey, has acquired a 17.25% stake in the capital of NAHUELSAT SA of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Incorporated in 1993 by Daimler-Benz Aerospace (DASA), Aero- spatiale and Alenia Spazio, together with IFC, Telecom Argentina, Uruguay's Entel and major Argentinean banks and investment funds, Nahuelsat SA is due to launch its first satellite, NAHUEL 1A (18Ku), on an Ariane vehicle on January 30. It will cover a foot- print including most of Latin America and parts of the United States. An interim service is already available on two Anik satellites leased from Telesat Canada. * TELESAT CANADA has renounced to buy TCI SATELLITE's second TEMPO direct broadcasting satellite. TCI had initially planned to operate two direct broadcasting satellites over the US but failed to get the necessary licenses from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Tempo 1 (32Ku) will be launched on a Proton vehicle to a US geostationary slot, in April. Tempo 2, to be launched atop an Atlas vehicle several months later, is planned to serve as a spare but could be sold to another operator. === TECHNOLOGIES === * The MARS'96 failure investigation board has concluded that the lack of telemetry data during critical parts of the mission pre- vented from identifying the cause of the failure which led to the loss of the 6,700-kg Martian probe on November 17, 1996. The failure apparently occurred at the second ignition of the Proton launcher's Block D-2 upper stage out of range from Russian ground stations. The US$300-million probe reentered over the Atacama desert on the border between Chile and Bolivia. * ALCATEL TELECOM has received a US$30-million contract from CNES, the French space agency, to develop and build the POSEIDON 2 dual frequency radar altimetry payload for the Jason satellite. A joint CNES-NASA mission, Jason will be launched in late 1999. * US Air Force's PHILLIPS LAB, of Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, has awarded a US$2-million contract to SATCON TECHNOLOGY CORP. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to develop and build a composite flywheel-based integrated power and attitude control system for low Earth orbiting satellites. * NASA's JET PROPULSION LABORATORY (JPL), in Pasadena, California, has selected a team led by TRW INC. for a four-month architecture study contract for the future SPACE INTERFEROMETRY MISSION (SIM) proposed within NASA's 'Origins' program. The team, which will review JPL's proposed SIM design, is composed of TRW Space & Electronics Group, Eastman Kodak and Hughes Danbury Optical Systems (soon to be acquired by Raytheon E-Systems). * Initial post-flight inspection of Atlantis' SOLID ROCKET BOOSTERS after the space shuttle launch on January 12 has shown no unusual erosion of the thermal insulation liner as previously reported on three SRB nozzles after the last two shuttle launches. * One of the three available Space Shuttle's MOBILE LAUNCH PLAT- FORM (ML-1) was damaged during roll-out of Space Shuttle Discovery from the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) to LC-39A on January 17. A 7-m long crack appeared on the platform's upper surface but the main frame is intact and repair is planned on pad with no effect on the launch schedule. Discovery is due to lift- off on February 11 for the STS-82 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). === PREVIEW === * Jan. 28. An Ariane 44L (V93) is due to loft GE Americom's GE-2 and Argentina's Nahuel 1A to geosynchronous transfer orbit for Arianespace's first mission in 1997. * Jan. 31. The investigation board on the loss of the Spot 3 satellite is due to release its final report. * Feb. 7. First launch of Japan's M-5 all-solid vehicle to loft the MUSES-B satellite for a radioastronomy mission. * Feb. 7. Launch of a PEGASUS XL vehicle over the Canary archipelago in the Atlantic ocean, to loft the MINISAT 0.1 satellite for Spain's Instituto National de Tecnica Aeroespacial (INTA). Erratum: A gremlin turned Space Shuttle Atlantis into its sister ship Endeavour in our previous issue. Our readers had made the correction. Atlantis flew to Mir whilst Endeavour is being refur- bished in Palmdale, California. Next issue is tentatively planned for January 30. The Orbital Report On-Line will be published 40 times per year by Takyon International (RCS Paris B 401 465 398) 34, boulevard Exelmans, 75016 Paris, France Phone: +33 (0) 146 566 490 * Fax: +33 (0) 146 561 355 Editorial hotline: +33 (0) 607 995 056 E-mail: orbirep@worldnet.net Chief Editor: Stefan Barensky Technical Contributor: Samuel Szdat © Takyon International - January 1997 Subscription information will be available soon. Takyon International also publishes The Orbital Launcher Report, a monthly space transportation newsletter. ------------------ End of issue Vol.0, No.3 ---------------------
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