September 29, 1997 Vol. 1 - No. 14 ============================== 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 === * Space Shuttle ATLANTIS successfully lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Merritt Island, Florida, at 02:34 UT on September 25, for the STS-86 mission. The orbiter vehicle docked with MIR space station at 19:58 UT on September 27. The two spacecraft are planned to remain docked through October 3. ATLANTIS brought in NASA payload specialist David Wolf to replace Michael Foale, who was onboard Mir since May. The 7-astronaut crew is also due to transfer 3.5 t of goods and supplies to the station, including a new Salyut-5B computer. This is the seventh out of nine SHUTTLE/MIR MISSIONS for which NASA agreed to pay US$472 million to RKA, the Russian space agency. Two panels reviewing the safety and the opportunity of the flight with respect to Mir's recent mishaps gave their clearance for the mission only a few hours before launch. * An improved Indian POLAR SATELLITE LAUNCH VEHICLE (PSLV) lifted off from Sriharikota Range (SHAR), Andhra Pradesh, India, on September 29, carrying the fourth operational INDIAN REMOTE SENSING (IRS-1D) satellite into Sun-synchronous orbit. The 1,250-kg spacecraft, built and operated by the INDIAN SPACE RESEARCH ORGANISATION (ISRO), of Bangalore, India, features a 5.8-m resolution panchromatic camera. IRS data are distributed in the US through SPACE IMAGING EOSAT, of Thornton, Colorado. * A Boeing DELTA 2-7920 vehicle lofted a fourth cluster of five 690-kg IRIDIUM mobile telephony satellites from Vandenberg AFB, California, on September 26. After this 6th launch in the IRIDIUM program, 33 MOTOROLA-built satellites are now in orbit (a 34th was lost shortly after release), i.e. half of the planned 66-satellite full constellation. * The 100th ARIANE vehicle, an ARIANE 42L-3 with two liquid strap-on boosters, lifted off from Kourou, on September 23, carrying the 3,455-kg INTELSAT 803 communication satellite (38C/6Ku), a LM-7000 spacecraft built by LOCKHEED MARTIN TELECOMMUNICATIONS, of Sunnyvale, California, for INTELSAT, of Washington, DC. It will be located at 21.5°W to provide transatlantic communications links. * The 260th Samara Space Center MOLNIYA-M vehicle was launched from Plesetsk, Northern Russia, on September 25, lofting the MOLNIYA 1-90 Russian domestic communications satellite (1X) into a highly eccentric elliptical orbit. * An AKO Polyot KOSMOS 3M vehicle was launched from Plesetsk, Northern Russia, on September 23. It lofted two satellites in low Earth orbit. The 810-kg KOSMOS 2346 is a Tsikada civilian navigation satellite built by NPO PRIKLADNOY MEKHANIKI, of Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Launched piggyback was the 110-kg FAISAT 2V messaging satellite built and operated by FINAL ANALYSIS INC. (FAI), of Lanham, Maryland. This satellite apparently stopped transmitting shortly after release in orbit. FAI has an agreement with AKO POLYOT, of Omsk, Russia, to launch 26 such satellites. * ESA and CNES, have decided to put the ARIANE 502 launch campaign on hold for a fortnight in order to complete the qualification process of the flight software and to assess a possible excessive oil consumption in the main engine's thrust vector control system in some 'highly degraded' flight conditions. Integration of the second ARIANE 5 vehicle is complete. A launch could occur as soon as October 15 but is more likely between October 21 and 28. * NASA's US$64.8-million LEWIS experimental remote sensing reentered the atmosphere over the Atlantic ocean on September 28. TRW INC., of Redondo Beach, California, which built the satellite, has appointed a failure review board to investigate the loss. ********************************************************************* * 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 === * NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), in Merritt Island, Florida, has awarded a one-year contract with four yearly options, potentially worth more than US$160 million, to DYNACS ENGINEERING Co., Inc. of Clearwater, Florida, for engineering development support including high technology and research services as well as engineering design and technician support beginning on October 1, 1997. * LORAL SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS, of New York, has signed a contract with CHINA GREAT WALL INDUSTRY CORP. (CGWIC), of Beijing, China, for the launch of the CHINASAT 8 communications satellite (36C/17Ku) atop a CZ-3B vehicle in late 1998. * BF GOODRICH CO., of Akron, Ohio, a major aircraft systems and chemical provider, has announced its intention to acquire ROHR INC., of Chula Vista, California, for about US$1.3 billion in stock and assumption of debt. The merger should become effective late this year or in early 1998. ROHR provides thermal protection system to LOCKHEED MARTIN SKUNK WORKS, of Palmdale, California, for NASA's X-33 Advanced Technology Demonstrator. === MARKETS === * RASCOM, of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, is looking for financial partners to set up a US$1.2-billion regional communications satellite system. A RASCOM 1 geostationary satellite is tentatively planned for launch in late 2000 or early 2001. * GE AMERICAN COMMUNICATIONS (AMERICOM), of Princeton, New Jersey, has teamed with Megacable and Grupo Villacero to bid for the acquisition of a 60% stake in SATELITES MEXICANOS SA (SATMEX), the national satellite operator. The other bidders are LORAL SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS, of New York, teaming with Telefonica Autrey and ALCATEL, and PANAMSAT CORP., of Greenwhich, Connecticut, allied with Industrias Penoles. The US$700-million to 1-billion sale is due for November 7. * ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP. (OSC), of Dulles, Virginia, has applied for a license from the US FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC) to build and operate the ORBLINK seven-satellite broadband communication system in 9,000-km high circular orbits. This US$900-million Ka-band constellation is intended to provide a 15 Gbps total data rate capacity beginning in 2002. ORBLINK satellites (about 1.4 t each) will be based on OSC's STARBus design, to be introduced in November with the CAKRAWARTA 1 direct broadcasting satellite. * GLOBALSTAR CANADA, of Smiths Falls, Ontario, has begun the construction of the first of Canada's two GLOBALSTAR GATEWAY Earth stations. Thirty-five such gateway stations are planned around the world under a US$275-million investment. The first 4-satellite GLOBALSTAR cluster is due for launch on December 4 for a constellation initial operations capability in late 1998. Four gateway stations are already nearing completion in Aussaguel, France, Yeoju, South Korea, Dubbo, Australia, and Clifton, Texas. * COM DEV, of Cambridge, Ontario, and NEWBRIDGE XX, of Hull, Quebec, have formed a joint-venture, SPACEBRIDGE NETWORKS COMPANY, to develop broadband communications products for future high capacity satellite systems. In August, AEROSPATIALE has set up a new subsidiary with a similar focus: AEROSPATIALE MULTICOM SATELLITE NETWORK, based in Neuilly, France. * The US FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (FCC) has granted authority to DIRECT BROADCASTING SATELLITE CORPORATION (DBSC), now merged into ECHOSTAR SATELLITE CORP., of Englewood, Colorado, to operate its DBSC-1 (now ECHOSTAR 3) direct broadcasting satellite at the 61.5°W orbital slot. Launch is set for October 6. === TECHNOLOGIES === * ORBIMAGE's ORBVIEW 2 ocean color monitoring satellite entered operational service on September 23. The 309-kg satellite incorporates the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), built by HUGHES SANTA BARBARA REMOTE SENSING, of Goleta, California, and is due to provide multispectral ocean color data to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in Greenbelt, Maryland, on behalf of the MISSION TO PLANET EARTH (MTPE) under a US$43.5-million contract signed in March 1991. * Japan's NATIONAL SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (NASDA) successfully launched its TAKESAKI 6 suborbital microgravity payload atop a TR-1A (Test Rocket) vehicle on September 25 from Tanegashima Space Center, in Tanegashima Island. The 699-kg payload was recovered about 180 km downrange. ******************************************************************** * 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 30 A GKNPTs Khrunichev PROTON K/DM4 launcher is planned to loft the SKY 1 direct broadcasting satellite from Baykonur, Kazakhstan. * October 1 A US/Russian ExtraVehicular Activity (EVA) will be conducted by two astronauts from NASA's space shuttle ATLANTIS whilst it is docked to the MIR space station. * Early October 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. * 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. * October 8 A TsSKB Progress SOYUZ U vehicle is scheduled to launch the PROGRESS M36 automated cargo to space station MIR. * October 13 A Lockheed Martin TITAN 401B with a CENTAUR upper stage is planned to boost NASA's CASSINI space probe into a complex heliocentric trajectory toward SATURN which will be reached in 2004. CASSINI carries ESA's HUYGENS probe which is due to enter the atmosphere of TITAN, Saturn's largest moon. 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.14 ----------------------
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