February 17, 1997 Vol. 0 - No. 5 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. ***************************************************************** * TCS, TRANSCOSTSYSTEMS, of Ottobrunn, Germany, has updated the * * TRANSCOST-MODEL FOR COST ENGINEERING OF SPACE LAUNCH VEHICLES * * The 143-page Report is the most comprehensive document * * available on launch vehicle development cost, * * fabrication cost and operations cost., * * The new report, Version 6.1, can be ordered via e-mail: * * 101345.2644@compuserve.com. * * * * This space could be yours. Contact us at orbirep@worldnet.net * ***************************************************************** === HEADLINES === * A Lockheed Martin ATLAS 2AS vehicle (AC-127) successfully laun- ched the Hughes-built JC-SAT 4 communication satellite (12C/28Ku) for Japan Satellite System Inc. (JSS) on February 16. The satel- lite will be positioned at 124°E to provide a coverage over the whole Asia-Pacific region from India to Japan and New Zealand. * Space shuttle DISCOVERY lifted off from Kennedy Space Center's LC-39A at 08:55 UT on February 11 for the STS-82 mission. The US$795-million 10-day flight is dedicated to the repair and refurbishment of the US$2-billion HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE (HST). The HST was grappled on February 13. Two of the planned four spacewalks were performed on February 14 and 15 to replace Goddard Space Flight Center's High-Resolution Spectrograph and University of California's Faint Object Spectrograph with two Ball-built instruments, respectively University of Arizona's US$105-million Near Infrared Camera and Multi Object Spectrometer (NICMOS) and Goddard's US$125-million Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph. Astronauts also installed a US$8-million Fine Gui- dance Sensor provided by Hughes Danbury Optical Systems (to be transferred to Raytheon). * The SOYUZ TM25 spaceship was launched by a Soyuz U vehicle from Baykonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, at 14:09 UT on February 10 for a GERMAN-RUSSIAN MISSION to the space station Mir. German cosmonaut Reinhold Ewald will spend 18 days in space and perform a series of 27 experiments. Total cost of the mission is reportedly US$42 million, including US$16 million directly paid to RKA, the Rus- sian space agency. * NASA is studying the possible 6-month postponement of the launch of the first elements of the INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, the FGB and Node 1, respectively planned for late November and early December of this year, to optimize its schedule for the replacement of the delayed Russian service module by a US-built Interim Control Module (ICM). A US$98-million FGB-derived space tug is also under consideration in case the Russian participation to the station is delayed any further. The US space agency has also decided to forward US$20 million to its Russian counterpart, RKA, for future Shuttle/Mir missions in January and May 1998. This extra budget is expected to help keeping Russian space industry working despite delayed payments by Russian government. * A TSYKLON 3 vehicle was successfully launched from Plesetsk cosmodrome in Northern Russia on February 14, lofting a cluster of six satellites to low Earth orbit. Three STRELA 3 store-dump communication satellites will complement the ministry of Defense's tactical communication system whilst three similar civilian GONETS D will improve the commercial Smolsat messaging system. === BUSINESS === * SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL, of Palo Alto, California, has landed an agreement, estimated worth some US$375 million, with McDONNELL- DOUGLAS AEROSPACE, of Huntington Beach, California, for five launches atop DELTA 3 vehicles from 1999 through 2001. No firm payload has been announced for these flights. The first launch of a Delta 3 vehicle is planned for April 1998. * BOEING SPACE & DEFENSE GROUP has awarded a contract to ALLIEDSIGNAL TECHNICAL SERVICES CORP., of Columbia, Maryland, to provide a mission management and data display system for the SEA LAUNCH system. AlliedSignal will design, build, and install consoles in Sea Launch's command and control ship for off-shore launch operations. * ASHURST TECHNOLOGY's Government Services unit was awarded a US$75,000 contract by McDONNELL-DOUGLAS AEROSPACE to develop an aluminium-scandium alloy which could have applications for launch vehicles structural elements. * AIRTOUCH COMMUNICATIONS, of San Francisco, California, LORAL SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS, of New York, and CANADIAN SATELLITE COM- MUNICATIONS (Cancom), of Montreal, Quebec, have set up an agree- ment to jointly provide fixed and mobile wireless services throughout Canada using the GLOBALSTAR low Earth orbit satellite system. A new venture, Globalstar Canada, will be incorporated with Cancom as main shareholder pending approval by Industry Canada. === MARKETS === * SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL, of Palo Alto, California, has landed an agreement, estimated worth some US$375 million, with McDONNELL- DOUGLAS AEROSPACE, of Huntington Beach, California, for five launches atop DELTA 3 vehicles from 1999 through 2001. No firm payload has been announced for these flights. The first launch of a Delta 3 vehicle is planned for April 1998. * BOEING SPACE & DEFENSE GROUP has awarded a contract to ALLIED- SIGNAL TECHNICAL SERVICES CORP., of Columbia, Maryland, to pro- vide a mission management and data display system for the SEA LAUNCH system. AlliedSignal will design, build, and install consoles in Sea Launch's command and control ship for off-shore launch operations. * ASHURST TECHNOLOGY's Government Services unit was awarded a US$75,000 contract by McDONNELL-DOUGLAS AEROSPACE to develop an aluminium-scandium alloy which could have applications for launch vehicles structural elements. * AIRTOUCH COMMUNICATIONS, of San Francisco, California, LORAL SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS, of New York, and CANADIAN SATELLITE COM- MUNICATIONS (Cancom), of Montreal, Quebec, have set up an agree- ment to jointly provide fixed and mobile wireless services throughout Canada using the GLOBALSTAR low Earth orbit satellite system. A new venture, Globalstar Canada, will be incorporated with Cancom as main shareholder pending approval by Industry Canada. ***************************************************************** * SATEL CONSEIL, of Montrouge, France, * * has issued the proceedings of its fifth symposium, * * 'Where do satellites fit in the global communication picture' * * (Sep. 4-5, 1996) as an interactive CD-Rom. * ***************************************************************** === TECHNOLOGIES === * Japan's INSTITUTE OF SPACE AND ASTRONAUTICAL SCIENCE (ISAS) has successfully launched the first M-5 all-solid three-stage vehicle from Kagoshima Space Center at 04:50 UT on February 12. This US$125-million 128.4-t launcher, built by Nissan Aerospace, lofted the 830-kg 'HARUKA' radioastronomy satellite (previously known as Muses-B) which deployed a 8-m diameter antenna for the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Space Observatory Program (VSOP). * A Orbital Sciences Corp.'s (OSC) PEGASUS XL air-launched rocket has been transferred to Spain, under the 'Stargazer' carrier air- craft, a modified Lockheed L-1011 'TriStar', on February 9. The vehicle is due to loft the MINISAT 0.1 satellite to low Earth orbit for Spain's National Aerospace Technology Institute (INTA) on March 13. Take off will occur from Gando Air Base, in the Canary Islands. * MATRA MARCONI SPACE, of Velizy, France, will build four very- low-temperature MELFI freezers for the International Space Station under a US$25-million contract from ESA. Three freezers will be provided to NASA and one to Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) in 1999 and 2000. ***************************************************************** * SWEDISH SPACE CORPORATION (SSC), has revamped its WWW site. * * Visit it at URL: http://www.ssc.se/ssd/ * ***************************************************************** === PREVIEW === * Feb. 18 Public release of the final report on the loss of the SPOT 3 satellite. * Feb. 22 First launch of Lockheed-Martin's improved Titan 4 vehicle, the TITAN 4B, with Alliant Techsystems-built Solid Rocket Motor Upgrade (SRMU) strap-on boosters. * Feb. 25 An ARIANE 44P (V94) is due to loft the Lockheed Martin-built INTELSAT 801 to geosynchronous transfer orbit. * Feb. 26 Launch of the PROGRESS M34 resupply ship to Mir by a Soyuz U vehicle. * Late Feb. ESA council to take decision on CLUSTER 2 mission. * Feb. 28 Deadline for CANADA'S DBS SERVICE licensing application. * Feb. 28 Deadline for a decision regarding the replacement of INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION's Russian service module by a US-built Interim Control Module. Next issue is tentatively planned for February 24. 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 and advertisement information will be available soon. Takyon International also publishes The Orbital Launcher Report, a monthly space transportation newsletter. ------------------ End of issue Vol.0, No.5 ---------------------
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