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Following two consecutive launch failures of the H-2, the predecessor of the H-2A, in February 1998 and November 1999, Hughes cancelled its contract at no cost in July 2000 and recovered the US$36 million it had already paid. SS/L got a US$7.5-million refund in December 2000 when it cancelled two of its ten launch reservations.

The inaugural flight of Boeing‘s new Delta 4 launch vehicle has been postponed from July 15 to August 31, apparently to give more time to prepare the launcher. Effects of this delay on the following Delta 4 flights is not known yet.
Editor’s note: The flight was initially due in January 2001 but was postponed to April and November 2001 and eventually re-set for April 30, 2002, as the program experienced technical hurdles. Earlier this year, it was moved to July 15, officially upon request by Eutelsat who is expected to fly its W5 satellite atop the new vehicle.

Editor’s note: Despite numerous press reports, no firm payload has been announced yet for the first flight of the Delta 4. Eutelsat’s W5 satellite (the refurbished W1) is often considered as the best candidate but Eutelsat refused to confirm any launch commitment.

Thailand’s Shin Satellite has selected Arianespace for the launch of its iPStar multimedia satellite. This 40-Gbps satellite, built by Space Systems/Loral, will fly atop an Ariane 5 vehicle in late 2003. Shin will pay less than US$90 million for the launch. The total budget for the iPSTAR program is US$350 million.
Editor’s note: Arianespace launched all three previous Shin satellites: Thaicom 1 in 1993, Thaicom 2 in 1994 and Thaicom 3 in 1997.

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The U.S. Air Force Space & Missile Systems Center has decided to postpone the launch of its next Lockheed Martin Titan 4B vehicle due to an unspecified problem with its classified payload for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, presumably a geostationary signal intelligence satellite. The launch was due on June 3 and could slip for more than a few days. The Titan 4B vehicle, in a 401B configuration with a Centaur cryogenic upper stage, is sitting on its pad at Cape Canaveral‘s SLC-40 launch complex.

The Indian cabinet has approved the development of the GSLV Mk3 launcher by the Indian Space Research Organisation. The Rs 24.98-billion (US$510-million) program will lead to the development of a launcher able to loft 4,400-kg satellites to geostationary transfer orbit by 2007/2008 with a growth potential toward a 6,000 kg payload capability through minor improvements. The GSLV Mk3 will feature a L100 core stage powered by two improved Vikas engines and two S200 boosters loaded with 200 tons of solid propellant each. Its C25 cryogenic upper stage will carry 25 tons of liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. A 25% part of the budget will be spared for "foreign exchange components" in order to ensure a launch rate of two flights per year according to Indian press reports.
Editor’s note: The GSLV Mk1 is the current version of India’s geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle derived from the previous PSLV with a Russian 12KRB cryogenic upper stage provided by GKNPTs Khrunichev. It flew once, on April 18, 2001. The GSLV Mk2 will be an improved version featuring an indigenously-developed C12.5 cryogenic upper stage. Its maiden flight is due in late 2003.

  
Delta 4 and Atlas 5
(Boeing/LMA)

Under the current schedule, the first EELV mission for Lockheed Martin’s Atlas 5 is due in 2005.

The U.S. Air Force Space & Missile Systems Center has decided to postpone the launch of a Navstar Global Positioning System satellite from May 8 to June 8 at the earliest due to concerns with the new Automatic Destruct System (ADS) on its Boeing Delta 2/7925 carrier vehicle. The decision was made just after a U.S. Air Force inspection of the installation procedures for this upgraded flight termination system on the first Delta 2H vehicle, due for launch in January 2003. The inspection showed that the ADS could become inactive in one failure scenario involving premature separation of the payload fairing and the fairing clamshells damaging the self-destruct system on the second stage. This failure scenario was not covered by the previous flight termination system either.

Titan 23G
(LMA)

The 2022 version will fly in 2003 to launch the MT-Sat 1R meteorology and air-traffic control satellite for Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transport (MoLIT). A 212 version with a large Liquid Rocket Booster (actually a first stage with two LE-7A engines) is also under study to increase the payload capability to 7,500 kg to geoastationary transfer orbit but it could be replaced by an evolution of the 204 version with a widebody first stage (see April 6 for detail). A formal decision between the two concepts is expected in June.

Titan 4B
(LMA)

  
H-2A widebody concept and
H-2A/212 (NASDA)

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The U.S. Defense Advanced Projects Agency confirms the award of six nine-month study contracts for the Responsive Access, Small Cargo & Affordable Launch (Rascal) system. The objective of the Rascal study is to design a two-stage vehicle able to loft 75-kg payloads to a 500-km-altitude orbit for US$750,000 with a capability to launch from a conventional runway 24 hours after the arrival of the payload. The concepts must be based on a Reusable Launch Vehicle as booster stage and an Expendable Rocket Vehicle as upper stage. Northrop Grumman was awarded a US$1.9-million contract for a feasibility study on its proposed concept, based on low-cost RLVs and ERVs with high-powered, short-cycle propulsion systems. The study also includes evaluation of the technologies required to stage the ERV and control the RLV in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Orbital Sciences Corp. will be in charge of the ERV development. Spath Engineering will also be part of the team. Delta Velocity was also awarded a contract, worth US$1.25 million, to study its own version of Rascal, with a modified fighter aircraft as the RLV and a two-stage ERV. Delta Velocity’s team includes Allied Aerospace Industries Inc. (A2I2), ATK Tactical Systems, Athena Technologies, CSA Engineering, Advanced Project Research Inc. (APRI) and NASA‘s Dryden Flight Research Center. The other awardees are Coleman Aerospace (with Vela Technology Development , Pan Aero and XCOR Aerospace), Pioneer Rocketplane (with Scaled Composites, Microcosm, Orbitec and HMX), Space Access (with APRI, Honeywell and Microcosm) and Space Launch Corp. (with Scaled Composites). Each received a contract worth US$1-2 million. Following the initial feasibility study, two teams will be downselected in early 2003 for a 12-month definition study and a single contractor will be picked in early 2004 for actual development and test flight.
Editor’s note: A US$70-million budget is considered to build and fly two demonstrators by 2006. The use of a modified fighter aircraft (a Convair F-106 "Delta Dart") as a reusable first stage was proposed in 1996 by Kelly Space & Technology for its Eclipse Sprint and Eclipse Express launch system.

Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) announces that its subsidiary Galaxy Express Corp., in charge of development, marketing and operations of Japan’s new GX medium-lift launcher, has increased its capital to J¥384 million (US$2.9 million) by late March. Further increases are due in the future and new investors might join in, such as Lockheed Martin of the United States. Maiden flight of the GX vehicle is due in March 2006.
Editor’s note: Full development of the GX is estimated at J´57-63 billion (US$430-475 million), of which the Japanese government will provide one-third through the National Space Development Agency, the Ministries of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). IHI’s partners in the Galaxy Express venture are Kokusai Sohko Kakubishi, IHI Aerospace (the former Nissan Aerospace), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, and Fuji Heavy Industries. Lockheed Martin Astronautics will provide the vehicle’s first stage.

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Minuteman 3
(U.S. Air Force)

An Orbital Sciences Corp. Storm 2 ballistic missile target was launched from White Sands Missile Range as part of a theater missile defense test. The Lockheed Martin Patriot Advanced Capability 3 (PAC-3) intended to intercept it failed to launch. The operation was part of a dual interception test conducted on behalf of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and U.S. Army’s Space & Missile Defense Command. A second PAC-3 successfully intercepted a Raytheon PAC-2 missile. Another interception test is due in May.
Editor’s note: Introduced in 1997, the Storm 2 single-stage vehicle is based on a decommissioned SR19 Minuteman 2 second stage and the reentry vehicle from a decommissioned Pershing 2 missile.

Trident 2 (D5)
(LMM&S)

India will set up a Strategic Nuclear Command by June to take over control of the country’s nuclear arsenal, including new missile units created within Indian Army to operate the Agni ballistic missiles which will be placed under the newly formed Army Strategic Rocket Command.

QRLV-2
(U.S. Air Force)

QRLV vehicles are designed from single- or two-stage combinations of several available rocket motors: GenCorp Aerojet‘s M56 and SR19 (2nd stage of Minuteman 2 and 3), Alliant Techsystems‘ M57 (3rd stage of Minuteman 1 and 2) and ATK Thiokol‘s Castor 4B. Two-stage QRLV designs for have been flown under U.S. Air Force’s previous Atmospheric Interceptor Technology (ait) program, also from Kodiak, with the ait-1 (SR19/M57A1) and ait-2 (Castor 4B/M57A1) missions in November 5, 1998, and September 15, 1999. One QRLV launch is planned each year through 2008.

TRW was awarded a five-year, US$29-million contract by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to develop and test fly a liquid-fuelled booster stage which could be used as a representative target for theater missile defense and later national missile defense systems. The booster, fuelled by non-toxic propellants (hydrogen peroxide and kerosene), will simulate “Scud” types of missiles.
Editor’s note: TRW was selected for this contract on September 26, 2001, under the second phase of its Liquid Booster Development Program, then on behalf of U.S. Army’s Space & Missile Defense Command (SMDC). TRW will compete with Orbital Sciences Corp., also selected by SMDC, for a following production contract, expected to be worth US$100-million over 6 years. Current Hera target vehicles are based on solid-fuelled stages from the Minuteman ballistic missile series. Several Scuds have also been acquired by the SMDC to serve as targets.

U.S. Air Force’s Ogden Air Logistics Center awarded a US$65-million contract to TRW Space & Missile Systems to extend the life of the Rapid Execution & Combat Targeting Service onboard the Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The U.S. Department of Defense has formed a National Industry Team (NIT) to consolidate all research and development activities for its missile defense programs. The NIT is led by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, as the two lead contractors, and also includes TRW, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and various smaller industrial contractors, national laboratories and universities. The objective is to integrate a large number of missile defense platforms and sensors into a layered defense system to intercept incoming missiles during boost, midcourse and terminal phases of flight. A tight schedule has been set as an initial capability is planned in 2004-2006. According to DoD estimates, the previously separate Airborne Laser (ABL), Navy Area Theater Ballistic Missile Defense, National Missile Defense, Navy Theater Wide, Space-Based Infrared System Low (SBIRS-Low), and Theater High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) programs would have cost a total of US$59.1 billion to complete. Now the consolidated Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS) would cost "only" US$47.2 billion.
Editor’s note: Since Germany and Italy are involved in some theater missile defense systems like the Medium Extended Area Defense (MEADS), based on Lockheed Martin’s PAC-3 missile, the NIT could later integrate some European contractors.

The U.S. Department of Defense is considering the possibility to mount nuclear weapons on missile defense interceptors in case the current hit-to-kill system cannot meet its required capabilty to discriminate warheads from decoys, according to the Washington Post. The nuclear interceptors are also considered more efficient to ensure the destruction of warheads carrying biological or chemical warfare. The viability of this concept will be investigated by the Defense Science Board once it has completed its current review of the missile defense programs during the third quarter.
Editor’s note: A missile defense system based on interceptors carrying nuclear weapons was developed in the 1950s and 1960s with the Spartan and Sprint programs. These two systems were fielded in 1976 to protect Minuteman launch sites in North Dakota and withdrawn 4 months later. Nuclear interceptions could result in ionized clouds and electromagnetic shock waves eventually blinding ground-based radar systems and scrambling electronic equipment. Moreover, very large nuclear warheads would be needed to eradicate chemical/biological agents in the atmosphere and nuclear explosions could instead further disseminate the spores and contaminated particles.

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Northrop Grumman air-launched concepts
(Northrop Grumman)

NASA‘s Marshall Space Flight Center has completed the first milestone review of its US$4.8-billion Space Launch Initiative and downselected 15 promising architectures for future reusable launch systems. This Initial Architecture Technology Review analyzed and evaluated competing 2nd-generation reusable space transportation architectures and technologies proposed by Boeing, Lockheed Martin and a Northrop Grumman/Orbital Sciences Corp. team against NASA and commercial mission requirements, as well as safety and cost goals. The selected architectures are mostly two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) systems powered by liquid oxygen/kerosene or cryogenic engines or a combination of both.

Orbital Sciences
Space Taxi concept on Delta 4H
(OSC)

Russia’s NPO Molniya has initiated work on the metallic thermal protection systems for its proposed MAKS reusable, air-launched spaceplane. A 60% scale mock-up of the MAKS has been completed and NPO Energomash is still developing the vehicle’s RD-701 tripropellant engine. The MAKS will be air-launched from the back of an Antonov An-225 "Mriya" carrier aircraft. A maiden flight is tentatively planned by 2008, if funding can be completed.
Editor’s note: In March 2000, the Russian government was reportedly providing 37% of the program’s budget with a first launch planned in 2006.

NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center is testing the Smart Umbilical Mating System which could serve as a next-generation umbilical system for future vehicles developed under the Space Launch Initiative. The automated SMUS, under development by Rohwetter Systems since 1999, incorporates connectors with a mate, demate and remate capability to reduce pre-launch processing time and enhance flexibility.

NASA‘s Marshall Space Flight Center plans to contract with Nielsen Engineering & Research (NEAR) to conduct engineering studies regarding the separation of rocket stages from aircraft in flight. These studies will include simulation of the dynamics and separation path of the rocket stage relative to the aircraft and development of conceptual design of separation systems and separation trade studies such as varying wing loading for the rocket stages and varying flight conditions at separation.

Startup space transportation company XCOR Aerospace has acquired selected assets of Rotary Rocket, including full and exclusive rights to all technologies it developed as well as patents for various reusable launch vehicle systems. XCOR plans to use some of the Rotary Rocket technology in its own vehicle and engine designs and may also license technology to clients for other projects. Among claimed technological innovations developed by Rotary Rocket and acquired by XCOR are high-performance liquid oxygen/kerosene rocket engine designs, composite liquid oxygen tank technology, and rocket engine injector technology.
Editor’s note: From 1997 to January 2001, Rotary Rocket raised and spent about US$30 million to develop a manned, reusable, single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicle, dubbed Roton 9C. The company claimed to be able to build and operate a fleet of Roton vehicles, for a mere US$150 million. Only little preliminary development on a propulsion system due to boost the 180-t vehicle to orbit was reported in 1997/98. Most of the company’s public efforts were focused on demonstrating the feasibility of a rotor-powered vertical landing design through three test flights of the US$5-million Roton Atmospheric Test Vehicle demonstrator in July, September and October of 1999. XCOR Aerospace is designing a reusable suborbital launch system which could be turned into a suborbital space tourism vehicle or a microsatellite launch system. Since July 2001, under the EZ-Rocket demonstration project, it has been conducting nine test flights of two 1.8-kN XR-4A3 engines mounted on a modified EZ aircraft.

NASA officials announce that the X-38 Crew Return Vehicle program is officially being shut down. The reentry test flight of the X-38 Vehicle 201 demonstrator onboard a Space Shuttle had recently been delayed to 2005, precluding any operational use of a X-38-derived CRV before 2008. According to NASA officials statements, the technologies developed for the X-38 will be applied to a future vehicle, probably a multi-purpose Crew Transport Vehicle (CTV). New options to operate the International Space Station with a crew of 6/7 without any available CRV are under review, including the purchase of additional Soyuz TMA vehicles from Russia. A report is expected by late May.
Editor’s note: NASA invested US$185 million in the X-38 development and the European Space Agency contributed for €82 million, including €27 million in components for the V201 demonstrator, all of which have reportedly been delivered, some through Germany’s own Technology for Future Space Transportation Systems (Tetra) managed by DLR aerospace research agency. RKK Energiya reportedly asks for a US$65-million fee per additional Soyuz.

NASA‘s Glenn Research Center is consulting the industry to define specifications for advanced avionics technologies to support the Space Launch Initiative. GRC has issued a request for information regarding the feasibility of three main elements: an advanced modular avionics Line Replaceable Unit (LRU) that could serve as a building block for the control and data handling system onboard a 2nd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle and would be adaptable to any vehicle avionics architecture, a high-speed data bus with deterministic protocol, and advanced real-time software techniques with associated verification processes.

China’s third prototype Shenzhou manned spaceship successfully reentered and landed in Inner Mongolia at 08:51Z, after 108 orbits. The service module was jettisoned after deorbiting and destroyed during reentry. The autonomous orbital module was released in orbit. It is expected to perform several maneuvers and remain in operations for six to nine months. Shenzhou 3 was launched by a CZ-2F vehicle on March 25.
Editor’s note: Pictures of the Shenzhou 3 capsule were released shortly after landing as they were for Shenzhou 1 in 1999. The absence of pictures from the Shenzhou 2 capsule in January 2001, suggests a failure.

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NASA‘s Marshall Space Flight Center plans to hire B.G. Smith & Associates for engineering support to the Fission Propulsion Project. This support will encompass the definition of technologies required for nuclear electric propulsion as well as for the definition of a flight demonstrator plan.

Editor’s note: EnergoMash is currently under contract with Lockheed Martin to deliver up to 101 engines for the Atlas 3 and 5 vehicles. Initially, under the EELV procurement, Lockheed Martin had to provide a 100%-U.S. production capability for the Atlas 5 vehicle as soon as the very first flight. Over the years, this capability has been regularly postponed as the cost of a U.S.-built RD-180 appeared to be several times that of a Russian built engine. In 2000, the domestic production capability was announced in 2003. Recently, it was not planned before 2008/2010. The RD-180 is not the only part of the Atlas 5 to be built outside the United States. The 5.4-m-diameter payload fairings are supplied by Contraves Space in Switzerland and interstage adapters are built by EADS CASA Espacio in Spain.

GenCorp Aerojet has successfully validated its design for a tri-fluid injector to be used on the non-toxic Advanced Reusable Rocket Engine (ARRE) it develops for U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate. Tests were conducted in February and March on a subscale version of the injector using two different injector patterns. Both performed successfully, and one will be chosen for the full-scale tri-fluid injector. The ARRE, which will burn kerosene with hydrogen peroxide, is planned for initial hot firing tests in late third quarter. It is later planned to power U.S. Air Force‘s proposed Space Maneuver Vehicles. The tri-fluid injector enables a closed-cycle engine design by allowing the decomposed peroxide, used to drive the turbopump, to ignite the hydrogen peroxide and kerosene in the thrust chamber.
Editor’s note: Aerojet was awarded a US$10.4-million in May 2001 to develop the ARRE through November 2002. The contract includes options which could increase its value to US$29 million through April 2005. The SMV would be an operational military derivative of the Boeing X-37 orbital spaceplane under development for NASA. The main propulsion system of the X-37 is planned to be a 31-kN Boeing Rocketdyne AR2/3 non-toxic propellant engine also fed with kerosene and hydrogen peroxide.

NASA‘s Marshall Space Flight Center plans to contract with GPS Solutions for a risk identification study on future nuclear electric propulsion space vehicles. In its proposed FY2003 budget, NASA plans to initiate a US$950-million, five-year effort on space nuclear reactors, with an initial budget of US$125 million, in order to provide electrical power for ion propulsion systems on future deep space probes.

New Jersey-based Hubert Astronautics was awarded a US$128,000 contract by NASA‘s Kennedy Space Center for a study on the "nutation behavior of spinning space vehicles with on-board liquid propellant" based on available flight and ground-testing data.
Editor’s note: The topic of propellant sloshing affecting satellite stability will also be studied by European Space Agency‘s Sloshsat-Flevo spacecraft, to be released in low-Earth orbit by Space Shuttle Atlantis in April 2003 on the STS-115 mission to the International Space Station.

NASA‘s Marshall Space Flight Center has begun a series of firing tests on a new Reaction Control Engine (RCE) developed by TRW under the Space Launch Initiative. The RCE uses non-toxic propellants (liquid oxygen with either liquid hydrogen or ethanol) and can provide two levels of thrust – either 110 N or 4.4 kN – for orbital maneuvers such as docking and deorbiting. A total of 30 hot firing tests are planned with the RCE, using liquid oxygen and hydrogen as propellant.

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A technology safeguard agreement signed by the Brazilian government with the U.S. administration in April 2000 could be ratified by the Brazilian parliament before a May 2002 deadline. A report in favor of the ratification was approved by the parliament’s Science & Technology Commission and will now be reviewed by the Justice & Constitution Commission. The agreement is required to allow the launch of U.S.-built satellites and launch vehicles from Brazil’s Alcântara Launch Center (CLA) in the Maranhão Province.
Editor’s note: In 2001, an influent group of Brazilian congressmen tried to convince the government to step down from the agreement, considering that it includes provisions which may harm the country’s aerospace industry, such as one preventing Brazil to invest money raised from the launch activity into its own space program.

Tsyklon 4
(Yuzhnoye)

The Angara launchers are specifically designed to replace most of the older Russian satellite launchers such as the Kosmos and the Proton. The Soyuz vehicle and its derivatives can be launched from Plesetsk, as well as Ukraine’s Tsyklon. Both launchers are also considered for launches from equatorial launch sites.

Detention Center Threatens Christmas Spaceport Project

Plans by the Australian government to build a detention center for asylum seekers in Christmas Island might endanger Asia Pacific Space Center‘s project to build a US$400-million commercial spaceport on the island. Russian partners in the project reportedly fear that the center would cause security and safety issues for the launch complex. The Australian government denies any concern.
Editor’s note: Australia is currently detaining asylum seekers in a center located within the Woomera Restricted Area, next to the Woomera Rocket Range. On April 20, riots broke out and 14 guards were wounded when trying to resist more than 100 rioters.

The Indonesian government has expressed its concerns regarding the international project to build a commercial spaceport on Australia’s Christmas Island in Northeastern Indian Ocean. As the Asia Pacific Space Center spaceport would be located only 360 km south of Java, Indonesia’s most populated island, the government considers that, in case of launch failure, debris could fall on Indonesian territory. No official objection has been issued yet to the Australian government. According to an Indonesian Aerospace Agency (LAPAN) official, geostationary missions from Christmas could lead to flights over Java, Bali and Lombok islands.
Editor’s note: Most of these concerned are unjustified as flight trajectories from Christmas island would avoid Indonesian territory for geostationary as well as polar launches. Since 1985, Indonesia has been unsuccessfully promoting a national spaceport project for indigenous rockets as well as commercial launch vehicles from China or Ukraine. Potential sites were selected near the Equator in Biak and Waigeo islands, North of Western Papua; Halmahera island in Northern Moluccas; in Northern Sulawesi (Celebes); and Bintan island, less than 50 km from Singapore.

The French ministry of Research and the European Space Agency have signed a 5-year agreement extending French government’s guarantee of ESA’s access to CNES facilities and resources in the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, for its programs such as the Ariane launch system. ESA member countries have agreed to invest €423.2 million in Kourou in 2002-2006 to cover fixed costs. The previous agreement had expired at the end of 2001.
Editor’s note: The Guiana Space Center is one of the operational centers of France’s CNES. ESA owns most of the Ariane launch facilities which are operated by Arianespace, its operational, industrial and commercial agent. CNES is responsible for all safety aspects of the launch activities.

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Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space will implement a workforce reduction of about 400 employees, primarily in its Sunnyvale, California, site in order to streamline its operations. LMM&S employs a little less than 7,000 people in the San Francisco area.

Sweden’s Saab Ericsson Space will cut 60 jobs in its Göteborg plant due to a decreasing international telecommunications market and a shrinking Swedish space budget. Of Saab Ericsson Space’s 680 employees, 490 work in Göteborg.

EADS plans to merge all its space activities, including Astrium, into a single entity, tentatively dubbed "Space Co." instead of creating two poles around its space transportation and satellite businesses. This restructuring was approved by its partner, BAe Systems, which owns 25% of Astrium.
Editor’s note: The previously proposed "Launcher Integrated Company", a.k.a. LiCo, would have been formed from the existing EADS Launch Vehicles subsidiary and space transportation activities from Astrium in Toulouse (equipment bays), Stevenage (dual launch adapters), Bremen (upper stages and manned systems) and Ottobrunn (space propulsion).

Volvo Aero confirms previously announced cut of 303 job positions at its component plant in Trollhattan, Sweden, The job cuts were first announced in late 2001 was due to a severe downturn in the aerospace industry. The actual layoffs will be limited to 168 workers with 67 pension settlements and no replacement for 68 retirements or resignations.
Editor’s note: Volvo Aero delivered its last components for Ariane 4‘s Viking engines earlier this year.

Lockheed Martin Michoud Space Systems will cut its workforce by 325 positions as a result of NASA‘s plans to reduce the number of Space Shuttle missions in the coming years. LMMSS currently employs 2,100 workers in New Orleans, Louisiana, and another 90 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, to build and process the space shuttle External Tank. The slow-down in shuttle missions will force to reduce the ET production from 8 to 6 per year.
Editor’s note: In March 2001, LMMSS had already announced 250 layoffs due to the ET production cutback and the cancellation of the X-33 single-stage-to-orbit demonstrator program. The layoffs were eventually limited to 100.

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The Mars Society, together with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Washington and the University of Queensland, Australia, are developing the Translife Mars Gravity Biosatellite, a privately-funded US$10-million mission for biological studies on mice under a simulated Mars gravity generated by the spin of the spacecraft. Launch is planned in mid-2005 with a recovery after 52 days. and then return the crew safely to Earth. The team is considering a number of launch vehicle options. The recovery capsule will be developed by the University of Queensland’s Centre for Hypersonics.

India’s Department of Space (DOS) plans to launch seven new Insat communication satellites before 2007. Insat 4A to 4H will be provided by the Indian Space Research Organisation to improve the space communication capacity over India. Insat 4D will be a spare.
Editor’s note: DOS and ISRO still have three Insat 3 satellites waiting for launch. Insat 3A and 3E are planned to fly Arianespace Ariane 5 vehicles in 2002 and 2003 while Insat 3D should be the payload for the first operational GSLV flight (GSLV-C1) in 2004.

U.S. Air Force’s Space & Missile Systems Center has awarded a US$665-million contract to TRW to engage the design and development of the Space-Based Infrared Systems Low (SBIRS-Low) Program. The low-Earth orbit constellation will have to be able to detect missile launches and track their warheads during the midcourse phase of their ballistic flight. The system will provide a discrimination capability to enable the interception of incoming missiles in all phases of flight as part of the U.S. missile defense system.
Editor’s note: SBIRS-Low satellites will presumably be deployed by Boeing Delta 4 vehicles since Lockheed Martin‘s Atlas 5 has no polar launch capability from Vandenberg AFB.

NASA‘s Office of Space Science has selected four proposals for the next round of Mid-sized Explorer (Midex) missions. Two of these proposals will be selected in March 2003 for full development and launch in 2007 and 2008. The current selection was done from 42 proposals received in October 2001. Each will receive US$450,000 for a four-month feasibility study.
• The Astrobiology Explorer (ABE) is a US$180-million cryogenic infrared telescope proposed by NASA’s Ames Research Center to detect organic compounds among interstellar matter. The 600-kg ABE spacecraft, built by Ball Aerospace & Technology, would be launched in the second quarter of 2007 onto a drifting heliocentric orbit by a Boeing Delta 2/7425-9.5 vehicle.
• The Next Generation Sky Survey (NGSS) is a new US$180-million highly sensitive infrared telescope proposed by the University of California in Los Angeles and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The 580-kg satellite would be built by Ball Aerospace & Technology too and launched by an Orbital Sciences Taurus 2210 into a Sun-synchronous orbit.
• The Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) mission would involve five microsatellites to probe different regions of the magnetosphere and observe storms. This US$150-million mission is proposed by the University of California in Berkeley. Launches of the Swales Aerospace-built probes onto highly elliptical orbits would be conducted on a Delta 2/7425-10 vehicle in mid-2006.
• The Advanced Spectroscopic and Coronagraphic Explorer (ASCE) would carry three highly sensitive solar telescopes to study Sun’s outer atmosphere. This US$177-million mission is proposed by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Launch of the Orbital Sciences-built spacecraft is proposed atop a Taurus 2210 toward a 600 km orbit with a 28.5° inclination in December 2006.
Editor’s note: Previous Midex missions include the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Explorer (Image), launched in March 2000, the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP), launched in June 2001and the Swift Gamma-ray Burst Explorer to be launched in September 2003. All three launches were or will be conducted on Boeing Delta 2 vehicles.

AEB, the Brazilian space agency, and INPE, Brazil’s national space research institute are revising the country’s national satellite program and consider the possibility of developing a US$100-million multipurpose radar remote sensing satellite, MapSAR, with Germany’s DLR aerospace research center.
Editor’s note: INPE’s first optical remote sensing satellite, SSR-1, initially due for launch in 1994, then 1998 and 2002, is now planned to fly in 2005, presumably atop a Brazilian VLS-1 launcher.

Belgian aerospace insurer Aviabel has decided to stop underwriting any new space risks insurance policies. Aviabel explains its decision by "the extreme volatility of the loss ratio, due to the insufficient number of insured spacecraft," resulting in "a disproportionate need of capital resources or intensive relying on a reinsurance market characterised by an ever-decreasing capacity." Moreover Aviabel points out that space industry is using mostly unproven state-of-the-art technologies making risk assessment almost impossible. Aviabel will fulfil all its liabilities related to previous contracts.
Editor’s note: Aviabel’s insurance capacity amounted to US$22 million per launch in 2000, representing some 2.5% of the worldwide space insurance capacity. Aviabel created its space insurance department in 1983. Since last year, the space insurance capacity has shrunk by about 30%.

The U.S. National Reconnaissance Office has been asked to study low-cost alternative solutions to the geostationary segment of the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS-High) for early missile defense warning. The SBIRS-High, whose cost has skyrocketed from an initial US$1.8 billion to more than US$4.5 billion, is undergoing a congressional review. A decision whether to cancel it or not is due on May 5.
Editor’s note: The SBIRS-High program has already undergone several adjustments to reduce its costs. Four satelites are to be built by Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space based on its A2100 bus to replace aging Defense Support Program satellites built by TRW. The first launch has slipped from 2002 to 2006 at the earliest and could even be postponed to 2008. Two launches are tentatively manifested on Lockheed Martin‘s Atlas 5 and one on a Boeing Delta 4.

Germany’s DLR aerospace research center and Astrium have signed a public/private partnership (PPP) agreement to jointly develop the TerraSAR-X X-band synthetic aperture radar observation satellite. DLR will invest €102 million in the project and Astrium €28 million. DLR will be in charge of science operations while commercial operations will be taken over by Astrium’s InfoTerra GmbH subsidiary. The 1,023-kg satellite will be built by Astrium, using its new AstroBus platform, and launched in mid-2005 atop a Russian launch vehicle.
Editor’s note: TerraSAR-X baseline launch system is a MKK Kosmotras Dnepr booster. A larger L-band satellite, TerraSAR-L, is proposed under European Space Agency‘s Earth Watch program but failed to get the necessary funding during last ESA ministerial council in November 2001. Its launch is tentatively due in 2007. The AstroBus platform merges elements developed for Matra Marconi Space’s Leostar and Dornier Satellitensysteme’s FlexBus platforms.

The Indian Space Research Organisation has reportedly begun work on a satellite system dedicated to telemedicine services and tele-education for paramedics. The so-called "Health Satellite" would carry 12-14 transponders and could be ready for launch in 2005.

Hellas Sat Consortium Ltd., the new satellite operator for Greece and Cyprus, is considering the lease of Deutsche Telekom‘s aging Kopernikus 3 communications satellite to provide services from the 39° East slot in geostationary orbit before its license for this orbital position expires in September 2002. Hellas Sat also plans to acquire a new satellite from Astrium, for a launch in 2003. This new satellite could actually be the former Intelsat APR-3 which has been in storage at Astrium’s facilities in Toulouse since 1999.
Editor’s note: The Hellas Sat Consortium Ltd. is owned by AvacomNet, the Cyprus Development Bank, OTE Telecom, Hellenic Aerospace Industry and Telesat Canada. Its initial plans included the purchase of two BSS-376-type satellites from Boeing Satellite Systems and their launch atop Arianespace Ariane vehicles in August 2002 and March 2004 for an estimated US$250 million. Kopernikus 3, which was launched in October 1992 by a McDonnell-Douglas Delta 2/7925 vehicle, will be replaced by leased capacity onboard SES Astra‘s Astra 3A satellite which was launched by an Ariane 4 on March 29.
Backgrounder: The Intelsat APR-3 satellite had first been contracted by Intelsat in January 1997 from Matra Marconi Space as Intelsat K-TV. In May 1998, the contract was transferred to New Skies Satellites, Intelsat’s commercial spinoff, and the satellite was renamed NSS-6. It was shipped to Kourou for launch on an Arianespace Ariane 4 vehicle in March 1999 and repatriated to Europe after a defect was detected on its solar arrays. New Skies then cancelled the procurement as its prospected Asia/Pacific market had collapsed while the satellite was being delayed. In February 2001, Intelsat bought the stored satellite again but required a Chinese launch as part of a deal involving Chinese operator Sino Satellite Communications Co. Ltd. (Sinosat). The contract was cancelled in August 2001 after Astrium failed to get the necessary export licenses from the U.S. State Department.

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ASI and Rosaviakosmos, the Italian and Russian space agencies, have signed a MoU regarding future cooperation in the space transportation and propulsion domains. The agreement covers possible joint efforts regarding development of liquid propulsion systems (in particular liquid oxygen/kerosene engines), small and medium launch vehicles, solid propulsion systems, electrical propulsion and advanced propulsion systems for for future launchers, as well as R&T on reusable launch systems and the use of existing Russian launch vehicles to loft Italian micro and small satellites. A cooperation on aeronautical engines is included as well.
Editor’s note: According to Russian press reports, the agreement would give Italy access to Russian technology in exchange for its support to the implementation of a launch pad for Soyuz vehicles in Kourou, French Guiana.

There is an old tradition in French aerospace publications to insert fake news in the first issue to be published in April. The stories are usually almost credible but they are easily identified as they include numerous references to fishes (in French, an April fool’s trick is called a “Poisson d’avril”, litterally an “April fish”).

We followed that tradition by inserting the story below on April 1st. Please note that in French, "Eurothon" would mean "Euro-tuna" and that the Beluga is a fish too. Of course, there’s no FISH program at ESA.

We know that at least a few people took this seriously, we apologize for any inconvenience that may have resulted from this joke… and watch out for April 1st, 2003!

Read our previous April Fools News.

Roton C-9
(Rotary Rocket)

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