February 7, 1997 Vol. 0 - No. 4 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. ***************************************************************** * The latest issue of The Orbital Launcher Report (Vol.3, No.4) * * was published on January 31. This month's highlights include: * * Delta 2 launch failure, more Ariane 4s ordered, * * EarlyBird launch on Start 1, Clipper Graham failure report, * * an overview of all launch contracts signed in 1996 * * and much more. * ***************************************************************** === HEADLINES === * CNES, the French space agency, has presented its NEW STRATEGIC PLAN on February 6. It includes 50 actions to be conducted in 1997 to reinforce partnerships, clearly identify strategic goals and improve the agency's 'way of thinking'. Among these actions is the success of Ariane 5 second test flights, the definition of a strategy for small launch vehicles, a feasibility study for a small remote sensing satellite based on the Proteus bus as well as a study for military derivatives, the improvement of the Spot system, a partnership with Alcatel on the Sativod project (64 LEO satellites for broadband communications) and a cooperation with NASA on CTV and X-38 studies. The use of piggyback micro- satellites for technology demonstrations is also reviewed. Deputy manager in charge of strategy, Mr. Jean-Yves Le Gall, denied rumors of new Ariane 5 delays. The budget adopted in December is for a launch before July 15, he said, but a safety margin for an additional 3-month delay has been included. * In a new bid for the acquisition of France's state-owned THOMSON SA electronics manufacturer, ALCATEL ALSTHOM has teamed with AEROSPATIALE and DASSAULT AVIATION which are due to merge in mid-1997. Alcatel's proposal includes the merger of Aerospatiale's Espace & Defense division (including launcher and satellite businesses), Dassault Electronique (defense and space electronics) and Alcatel's Radio Space & Defense (RSD) division in a restruc- tured Thomson company. Lagardere Group and GEC, parent companies of Matra Marconi Space, are also teaming for a competing bid. * An ARIANE 44L was successfully launched from Kourou at 22:04 UT on January 30 to loft GE Americom's GE-2 (24C/24Ku) and Argen- tina's NAHUEL 1A (18Ku) to geosynchronous transfer orbit for Arianespace's first mission in 1997 (V93). GE-2, built by Lockheed-Martin Telecommunications, will provide additional capacities (65 channels) to PrimeStar's direct broadcasting services. Nahuel 1A will be operated by Nahuelsat SA, of Buenos Aires, a joint-venture of GE Americom, Daimler-Benz Aerospace, Aerospatiale, Alenia and Argentinean interests, and provide communication services over all Latin America and the southern United States. * FRANCE and CHINA have signed a preliminary agreement on space cooperation in the fields of manned spaceflight, remote sensing and small satellite systems on January 28. The final agreement is due to be signed by French president, Mr. Jacques Chirac, in May. Despite various announcements by some press agencies, the agreement does not include any 'back-up' launch agreement between Arianespace and China Great Wall Industry Corp. (CGWIC), the operator of CZ 'Long March' vehicles. The possibility of such an agreement has been discussed during the visit of French space minister, Mr. Francois Fillon, in China but preliminary talks have not even been initiated yet. * NPO ENERGOMASH, of Khimky, Russia, and United Technologies' PRATT&WHITNEY Space Propulsion, of West Palm Beach, Florida, have set up a joint-venture, RD Amross , LLC, to be based in Florida, to manage production and marketing of the RD-180 engine. A two-chamber version of Zenit vehicle's four-chamber RD-170 engine, the RD-180 is due to power the core stage of Lockheed-Martin's new Atlas 2AR vehicle as well as the standardized booster stage of Lockheed- Martin's Atlas-derived EELV proposal. === BUSINESS === * SPACE/SYSTEMS LORAL, of Palo Alto, California, is in the pro- cess of signing a contract worth more than US$100 million to KISTLER AEROSPACE, of Kirkland, Washington state, for 10 launches onboard Kistler's reusable K-1 two-stage-to-orbit vehicle from 1999 through 2002. First test flight of the K-1 vehicle is sche- duled for July 1998. Aerojet, of Sacramento, California, will provide the vehicle's NK-33 and NK-43 engines. * JAPAN SATELLITE SYSTEMS INC. (JSS), of Tokyo, Japan, has signed a contract worth an estimated US$90 million with International Launch Services (ILS), of San Diego, California, for the launch of its JC-SAT 6 satellite on an Atlas 2AS vehicle in June 1998. * RAYTHEON CO., of Marlborough, Massachusetts, will provide 25 additional sets of IRIDIUM main mission antennas under a US$52.4- million contract from MOTOROLA, of Chandler, Arizona. Raytheon is already delivering 80 sets of antennas through October 2000 under a previous contract. Iridium's prime contractor, Lockheed-Martin, holds a contract for 125 satellites. * HM2 CORP., of Titusville, Florida, was awarded a US$3.2-million contract by NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) to upgrade and modernize the Firex fire suppression system at LC-39A and 39B space shuttle launch pads. * AEROSPATIALE ESPACE & DEFENSE has received orders from DAIMLER BENZ AEROSPACE (DASA) for 72 lightweight wound fiber tanks. The order includes 42 carbon fiber 300-liter tanks for the first 14 Ariane 5 vehicles contracted by Arianespace and 30 kevlar fiber 123-liter tanks for the second stages of the 10 last Ariane 4s. * SPACEHAB, INC., of Vienna, Virginia, which provides pressurized modules for NASA's space shuttle missions, has agreed with NORTHROP-GRUMMAN CORP. to purchase the latter's ASTROTECH SPACE OPERATIONS LP, a payload processing service provider with faci- lities in both Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Vandenberg AFB, California. The transaction will be completed later this month. * The Applied Systems Group of SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORP. (SAIC), of McLean, Virginia, has signed an agreement with SPOT IMAGE CORP., the US affiliate of Spot Image, of Toulouse, France, to establish SAIC's Spatial Information Customer Support Center (SICSC) as a distributor and value-added reseller of Spot geographic image products. === MARKETS === * COLUMBIA COMMUNICATIONS CORP., of Honolulu, Hawaii, was granted waivers by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to begin construction of two communication satellites to be operated from 41°W (C-band, Ku-band still pending) and 172°W (C & Ku-band). Columbia currently relies on capacities hired from NASA on Tracking & Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). * CTA SPACE SYSTEMS, of McLean, Virginia, will roll-out its first geostationary satellite, the INDOSTAR 1 direct broadcasting satel- lite build for PT Mediacitra Indostar, of Jakarta, Indonesia, on February 10. Launch is scheduled for this fall on an Ariane 4 vehicle. * RESSOURCE21, of Denver, Colorado, has decided to proceed with its project of a 4-satellite COMMERCIAL REMOTE SENSING CONSTEL- LATION to be deployed in 2000. Ressource21's partners include Agrium US, Boeing Commercial Space Co., Farmland Industries Inc., GDE Systems Inc. and the Institute for technology Development. * INMARSAT has introduced its INMARSAT-E ('Emergency') service using dedicated L-band channels on existing satellites on January 30. This new search and rescue service will be free of charge. Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) will be able to transmit alert messages almost instantaneously to search and rescue centers via Inmarsat's geostationary satellites and ground stations. * The GOVERNMENT OF INDIA has released a draft version of the proposed LAW ON BROADCASTING. A Cabinet subcommittee is due to give its opinion on the text in mid-February. The bill includes regulation on direct broadcasting services via satellite which is expected to allow the development of several regional DBS systems. === TECHNOLOGIES === * RKA and NKAU, the Russian and Ukrainian space agencies, has teamed with eight manufacturers an design bureaux of both coun- tries to form the International Cooperation for Space Transport Systems consortium in order to market the DNEPR vehicle, a deri- vative of the RS-20 (SS-18 'Satan') missile, the largest ICBM ever in service in the world. Over 100 missiles, to be destroyed under the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), are available for conversion and launch services could begin as soon as next year. The Dnepr vehicle is reportedly proposed to deploy 22 to 102 pairs of spacecraft of Teledesic's 840-satellite constellation. * TELESAT CANADA will provide a flight dynamic system to HUGHES SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS, of El Segundo, California. This software will be used by Hughes to control recently launched satellites prior to handing them over customers. First delivery is scheduled in January 1998 for use on Hughes' first HS-702 satellite to be launched as Galaxy 11 on a Sea Launch Zenit 3SL vehicle in June 1998. * LOCKHEED-MARTIN MISSILES & SPACE (LMMS), of Sunnyvale, Cali- fornia, has received the first Hughes-built medium data rate (MDR) payload for the second block of US Department of Defense's MILSTAR 2 communication satellites. Three Milstar 2 satellites are set for launch on Titan 4 vehicles from 1999. * MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP. (Melco), of Tokyo, Japan, is deve- loping a performance verification model of a Ka-BAND ACTIVE PHASED ARRAY ANTENNA for Japanese Ministry of P&T's Communications Research Laboratory. Such an antenna would allow a 1.2 Gbps data rate for future satellite-based advanced communication infra- structures to complement ground-based fiber optic networks. The development is to be completed in 2000. * NEC, of Tokyo, Japan, has completed a series of deployment and refurling tests of solar arrays elements during a 24-parabolic- flight campaign of Novespace's AIRBUS A-300 'ZERO-G' research aircraft. The tests validated a design to be introduced on the COMMUNICATION AND BROADCASTING ENGINEERING TEST SATELLITE (Comets) to be launched by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) this summer. * HUGHES SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS, of El Segundo, California, has received a US$2.6-million grant from US Department of Defense's ADVANCED RESEARCH PROGRAM AGENCY (ARPA) to evaluate the use of commercial grade diamonds in high power transistor packages for satellite communications and radar systems. ***************************************************************** * NORSK ROMSENTER, the Norwegian space agency, has revamped * * its WWW site. Visit it at URL: http://www.spacecentre.no/ * ***************************************************************** === PREVIEW === * Feb. 7 US vice-president, Mr. ALBERT GORE, is to discuss Space Station issues (including delayed funding for the Russian Service Module) with Russian Prime minister, Mr. VIKTOR CHERNOMYRDIN during their meeting in Washington, DC. * Feb. 10 First launch of Japan's M-5 all-solid vehicle to loft the MUSES-B satellite for a radioastronomy mission. (04:50-05:05 UT) * Feb. 10 Launch of the SOYUZ TM25 spacecraft by a Soyuz U vehicle for a Russian-German mission to Mir. * Feb. 11 DISCOVERY lifts-off for the STS-82 mission to refur- bish the Hubble Space Telescope. (08:56-10:01 UT) * Feb. 15. A Lockheed-Martin ATLAS 2AS vehicle is due to loft the Hughes-built JC-Sat 4 communication satellite for Japan Satellite System Inc. (00:37-02:01 UT) ***************************************************************** * The Space Studies Institute will hold its * * 13th CONFERENCE ON SPACE MANUFACTURING * * in Princeton, New Jersey, on May 8-11, 1997. * * Contact: Bettie Greber, e-mail: ssi@ssi.org * ***************************************************************** Next issue is tentatively planned for February 15. 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 - February 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.4 ---------------------
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