September 21, 1997 Vol. 1 - No. 13 ============================== 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 Launchspace. (www.launchspace.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 === * A US Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) satellite, the 168-kg second Miniature Seeker Technology Integration (MSTI-2) space- craft, flew by space station MIR, at a distance of about 430 meters. To be able to leave the station in emergency in case of a collision, the crew had to stay in the SOYUZ capsule for about half an hour. NASA had received a warning from the US SPACE COMMAND some 30 hours before the flyby. * The CASSINI/HUYGENS spacecraft, due to explore Saturn and its moon Titan in 2004, was mounted again atop the Titan 401B K-33 vehicle on September 15, after repair of a damaged internal thermal insulation inside the HUYGENS probe. The spacecraft had to be removed and returned to a processing facility on September 8. Launch is now scheduled for October 13. * A GKNPTs Khrunichev PROTON K vehicle lofted a cluster of seven IRIDIUM mobile telephony satellites from Baykonur, Kazakhstan, on September 14. This fifth launch brings the number of IRIDIUM satellites in orbit to 28 (one was lost shortly after launch this summer). * NASA's MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR (MGS) probe entered an elliptical Martian orbit on September 12 by firing its 596-N thruster at 1:31 UT. The 1,050-kg spacecraft, built by LOCKHEED MARTIN ASTRONAUTICS, of Denver, Colorado, was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, atop a McDonnell Douglas DELTA 2 vehicle on November 7, 1996. Shortly after its arrival, the MGS confirmed the existence of a planetary magnetic field. It is now due to perform aerobraking maneuvers into the Martian atmosphere to circularize its orbit before mapping the planet from March 1998 to January 2000. * ESA and CNES have completed a Launcher System Rehearsal (RSL) on September 6 in Kourou, French Guiana, to prepare for the second launch of an ARIANE 5 vehicle (L502). Four final countdowns have been conducted without major problem. The launch is now planned for early October. * A Lockheed Martin ATLAS 2AS vehicle successfully lofted the GE-3 communications satellite (24C/24Ku) into a supersynchronous transfer orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on September 4. The 2,845-kg spacecraft, built by LOCKHEED MARTIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS, of Sunnyvale, California, for GE AMERICOM of Princeton, New Jersey, will be located at 87°W to provide communications services to the US. ********************************************************************* * 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 pages at: * * * * http://www.launchspace.com/oreol * * http://www.orbireport.com/OReOL.html * * * * Or send an e-mail to requests@lists.newspace.com * * with only the words "info oreol" in the message body. * ********************************************************************* === BUSINESS === * ARIANESPACE, of Evry, France, is preparing the procurement of about 20 additional ARIANE 4 launch vehicles for some US$2 billion. These launchers would allow to continue the parallel operations with ARIANE 5 through 2002. At that time, ARIANE 5 launch rate should have reached, and exceeded, 8 launches per year. * After two weeks of final negotiations, HUGHES SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS, of El Segundo, California, and THURAYA SATELLITE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CO., of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, have inked the US$1-billion contract for the development, manufacturing and launch of the THURAYA mobile telephony satellite system in geostationary orbit. HUGHES, which will take a 2% stake in THURAYA SATELLITE, will deliver a first satellite, featuring a 12.25-m- diameter reflector, in orbit in May 2000. A second satellite is planned as a ground backup. * The US Air Force's SPACE & MISSILE SYSTEMS CENTER, of Los Angeles, California, has awarded a contract worth up to US$206 million to ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. (OSC), of Dulles, Virginia, for the development and launch of up to 24 vehicles derived from MINUTEMAN ICBM stages and elements from OSC's own PEGASUS and TAURUS vehicles. Up to 6 suborbital or orbital missions per year are planned from 1999 to 2004. * ALLIANT TECHSYSTEMS Space & Strategic Group, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was awarded a US$150-milllion order by BOEING SPACE & DEFENSE, of Huntington Beach, California, for the production of GRAPHITE EPOXY MOTORS (GEM) through mid 2001 as well as a 20% step up on the production of GEM and GEM-LDXL strap-ons for Delta 2 and 3 launchers under a previous procurement. * SPAR AEROSPACE LTD, of Mississauga, Ontario, was awarded a C$170- million (US$122-million) contract by the CANADIAN SPACE AGENCY (CSA), to complete design, development and manufacturing the final component of the SPECIAL PURPOSE DEXTROUS MANIPULATOR (SPDM), a two-armed robotic device planned to provide external servicing to the INTER- NATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS). * INTELSAT, of Washington, DC, has selected INTERNATIONAL LAUNCH SYSTEMS (ILS), of San Diego, California, for the launch of its INTELSAT 901 communications satellite atop a PROTON vehicle between May and August 2000. * MATRA MARCONI SPACE, of Velizy, France, was awarded a US$30-million contract from INTELSAT to develop, manufacture and support its new Flight Dynamics & Control system which will have to be available in April 2000 to improve management of INTELSAT's satellite fleet. * AEROSPATIALE, of Paris, France, is finalizing the acquisition of SODERN, of Limeil-Brevannes, France, a space optics manufacturer and a major provider of star and Earth sensors to European space industry. In early September, SODERN was selected by INFORMKOSMOS, of Moscow, Russia, and NPO PRIKLADNOY MEKHANIKI (NPO-PM), of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, to provide attitude sensor systems for their new GALS R16 series of direct broadcasting satellites. SODERN has already provided sensors to NPO-PM for EUTELSAT's SESAT communications satellite. * Previously reported merger talks between ROHR INC. and a major US aerospace company have been terminated without any agreement reached. === MARKETS === * TRW SPACE & ELECTRONICS GROUP, of Redondo Beach, California, has applied for a license from the US FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC) to build and operate a US$3.4-billion GLOBAL EHF SATELLITE NETWORK (GESN) composed of 15 satellites in circular orbits at an altitude of 10,355 km and 4 satellites in geostationary orbit to provide broadband communications capacity in upper Ka-band. * The US FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION has decided to terminate its policy of pioneer's reference and dismissed all pending requests on September 11. This decision affects 13 applications including requests from MOTOROLA SATELLITE SYSTEMS, of Chandler, Arizona, WORLDSPACE, of Washington, DC, and TELEDESIC, of Kirkland, Washington state. === TECHNOLOGIES === * HUGHES INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM (HITS) has demonstrated the ability of the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS) Core System, a huge data processing system under development for NASA's Mission To Planet Earth (MTPE) program. The EOSDIS Core System successfully performed 42 critical data archival and processing functions. The EOSDIS will have to be operational for support of the two first Earth Observing System (EOS) missions, Landsat 7 and EOS-AM1, currently planned in May and June 1998, respectively. * Japan's NATIONAL SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (NASDA) has decided to postpone the launch of its seventh ENGINEERING TEST SATELLITE (ETS-7), initially scheduled on November 1, due to the failure of one of its 12 attitude control thrusters during ground testing. The 2,370-kg Toshiba-built ETS-7 is due to release a 403-kg target space- craft to practice rendezvous maneuvers. The launch is planned on the 6th H-2 vehicle (to be launched before the 5th which was delayed to early 1998 due to technical concerns about its payload, the COMETS experimental communications satellite following the loss of the ADEOS-1 remote sensing satellite in June). Also to be flown on the 6th H-2 is NASA/NASDA's joint TROPICAL RAINFALL MEASUREMENT MISSION (TRMM). * MICROGRAVITY COMBUSTION experiments, conducted on behalf of NASA's MARSHALL SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (MSFC), were flown on September 17, on two BLACK BRANT 12 suborbital rockets launched from White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), in Las Cruces, New Mexico. ******************************************************************** * The latest issue of THE ORBITAL LAUNCHER REPORT (Vol. 3, No. 10) * * was published on September 17. * * It includes an overview of commercial spaceport projects, * * articles on LMLV and CZ-3B 'Long March' return to flight, * * latest news about expendable/reusable launchers, and much more ! * * * * For subscription information, contact us: orbirep@worldnet.fr * ******************************************************************** === PREVIEW === * September 23 The 100th ARIANE vehicle (an Ariane 42L-3) is planned to launch the INTELSAT 803 communications satellite from Kourou, French Guiana. * September 23 TRW's LEWIS experimental remote sensing satellite is expected to disintegrate in the atmosphere if attitude control cannot be restored. * September 23 The FAISat 2V messaging satellite is planned to be launched piggyback atop an AKO Polyot KOSMOS 3M, also carrying a Russian navigation satellite, from Plesetsk, Northern Russia. * September 24 SOCIETE EUROPEENNE DES SATELLITES (SES), of Betzdorf, Luxembourg, is expected to select a prime contractor for its new generation of ASTRA direct broadcasting and interactive multimedia satellites. * September 25 ESA and CNES are due to complete the Launcher Qualification Review (RQL) prior to the second ARIANE 5 qualification flight (L502) and set a firm launch date. * September 25 Space Shuttle ATLANTIS is planned to lift off from Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Cape Canaveral, Florida, for the STS-86 mission to space station MIR. * September 26 A Boeing DELTA 2-7920 vehicle is scheduled to launch a cluster of 5 IRIDIUM satellites, from Vandenberg, California. * September 29 An Indian POLAR SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLE (PSLV) is planned to loft an Indian Remote Sensing (IRS-1D) satellite into Sun-synchronous orbit from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh, India. * September 30 A GKNPTs Khrunichev PROTON K launcher is planned to loft the SKY 1 direct broadcasting satellite from Baykonur, Kazakhstan. * September 30 A Lockheed Martin TITAN 403A heavy-lift launch vehicle is set to loft a military LACROSSE radar observation satellite. * October 4 A TsSKB Progress SOYUZ U vehicle is scheduled to launch the PROGRESS M36 automated cargo to space station MIR. * October 6 A Lockheed Martin ATLAS 2AS vehicle is due to loft the ECHOSTAR 3 direct broadcasting satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida. * October 7 A Chinese CZ-3B "LONG MARCH" vehicle is planned to lift off from Xichang Satellite Space Center (XSLC) to loft the APSTAR 2R communications satellite built by SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL, of Palo Alto, California, for APT SATELLITE CO., of Hongkong, China. 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) 607 995 056 - Fax: +33 (0) 467 607 155 E-mail: orbirep@worldnet.net URL: www.orbireport.com Chief Editor: Stefan Barensky Technical Contributor: Samuel Szdat © Takyon International - September 1997 Takyon International also publishes The Orbital Launcher Report, a monthly space transportation newsletter. ------------------- End of issue Vol.1, No.13 ----------------------
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