July 15, 1997 Vol. 1 - No. 8 ============================== THE ORBITAL REPORT ON-LINE ============================== Space Executive's Weekly News Digest This issue of Takyon International's latest on-line newsletter was published in cooperation with New Space. (www.newspace.com) OReOL covers space industry news, market trends, and provides the necessary background information for immediate analysis. Please feel free to contact us for any comment. === HEADLINES === * NASA's US$271-million MARS PATHFINDER mission is successful beyond expectations. The 325-kg JPL-built probe performed hard-landing in the Ares Vallis region, by 19.33°N/33.55°E, at 16:56 UT on July 4. The airbag-protected spacecraft hit the ground at a velocity of some 18 m/s (62 g on impact). It bounced some 15 times and rolled over about 1 km before stopping. The US$25-million SOJOURNER rover was deployed on ramps provided by SPAR AEROSPACE on July 6 and began exploring the neighborhood of the probe at a speed of about 1 cm/s. Initially planned to perform for one week, the rover is now expected to be operational for about one month. The 9-kg SOJOURNER rover was developed on behalf of NASA's Office of Advanced Concepts & Techno- logy as Microrover Flight Experiment (MFEX) to test microrover per- formance on unknown planetary surfaces. Similar rovers may fly on future US planetary missions as well as on Japan's MUSES-C mission to asteroid 4660 Nereus. * The PROGRESS M35 cargo spacecraft was successfully launched to MIR on July 5 and docked with the station, using the Ukrainian KURS system, on July 7. The cargo brought 1,350kg of supply to the station including 300kg of repair hardware. MIR's Russian crew is due to perform an Intra Vehicular Activity inside the damaged SPEKTR module on July 17 to reconnect electrical cables from the module's three solar arrays and two other generators on the PRIRODA module, thus restoring most of the station electrical power. * A cluster of 5 IRIDIUM global telephony satellites was launched on July 9 within a 5-sec. window atop a McDonnell Douglas DELTA 2 vehicle from Vandenberg AFB, California. This is the third IRIDIUM launch since May 5 and 17 of the planned 66 satellites are now in orbit. Commercial service is planned to begin in September 1998 === BUSINESS === * LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP., of Bethesda, Maryland, is about to acquire NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP., of Los Angeles, California, for US$11.6 billion. The transaction is to be completed late this year, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals. Northrop Grumman provides space sensors through its Electronic Sensors & Systems Division, formerly WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC CORP.'s Electronic Systems acquired in March 1996 for US$3 billion. * ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. (OSC), of Dulles, Virginia, will acquire CTA SPACE SYSTEMS, of McLean, Virginia, for an estimated US$12 million in cash and US$25 million in debt. The merger could be effective in late August, pending regulatory approval. CTA is currently building two EarlyBird remote sensing satellites for EARTHWATCH, of Longmont, Colorado, a major competitor to OSC's own ORBIMAGE subsidiary. * MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS HOLDING INC. (MCHI), of Washington, DC, has awarded a US$150-million contract to L-3 COMMUNICATIONS, of New York, for the production of ground segment hardware and software for the ELLIPSO mobile telephony satellite constellation. LOCKHEED MARTIN MANAGEMENT & DATA SYSTEMS (M&DS), of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, will provide ground segment specifications. * COMDEV, of Cambridge, Ontario, has signed a long-term agreement with ALCATEL ESPACE, of Nanterre, France, for the delivery of switches, multiplexers and other microwave hardware for communication satellites payloads. Under a first contract, worth US$5 million, COMDEV will supply switches, filters and ancillary equipment for the payloads of the INTELSAT 901 and 902 satellites. Total value of the agreement is estimated at about US$39 million over three years. ********************************************************************* * As part of the New Space Journal, two interactive columns are now * * being published. "Minimum Cost Design" by Arthur Schnitt focuses * * on the MCD criteria and its application to space launch vehicles. * * "Reality Check" by Rick Fleeter takes a critical look at current * * space industry issues and concepts from the perspective of a * * seasoned veteran. You can view these columns on the web: * * * * www.newspace.com/schnitt -or- www.newspace.com/fleeter * ********************************************************************* === TECHNOLOGIES === * Crew onboard space shuttle COLUMBIA has nearly completed US$86- million worth of science activities in the reflown first MICROGRAVITY SCIENCE LABORATORY (MSL-1R) mission. Landing is due on July 17 after 16 days in space. === PREVIEW === * July 16 Launch of a TITAN 403A heavy lift vehicle from Vandenberg AFB, California. The payload is classified. * July 17 MIR's crew to perform spacewalk inside the SPEKTR module to reconnect electrical power lines to the station's core module. * July 23 A McDonnell Douglas DELTA 2 vehicle is slated to loft the second LOCKHEED MARTIN-built NAVSTAR Block 2R global positioning satellite from Cape Canaveral, Florida. * July 23 Lockheed Martin's LMLV-1 small launch vehicle is expected to return to flight, lofting the TRW-built LEWIS experimental remote sensing satellite for NASA from Vandenberg AFB, California. * Late July An Orbital Sciences PEGASUS XL is planned to loft the ORBVIEW 2 (formerly SEASTAR) ocean color monitoring spacecraft. ********************************************************************* * The Orbital Report On-Line is a great way to get your message out * * to space executives all over the world. For more info, visit our * * web page at http://www.newspace.com/oreol -or- send e-mail to * * requests@lists.newspace.com with only the words "info oreol" in * * the message body. * ********************************************************************* The Orbital Report On-Line is published 3 to 4 times per month by Takyon International (RCS Paris B 401 465 398) 34, boulevard Exelmans, 75016 Paris, France Phone: +33 (0) 146 566 490 or +33 (0) 607 995 056 Fax: +33 (0) 146 561 355 or +33 (0) 467 607 155 E-mail: orbirep@worldnet.net URL: www.orbireport.com Chief Editor: Stefan Barensky Technical Contributor: Samuel Szdat © Takyon International - July 1997 Takyon International also publishes The Orbital Launcher Report, a monthly space transportation newsletter. ------------------- End of issue Vol.1, No.8 ----------------------
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