August 15, 1997
                                               Vol. 1 - No. 11
                ==============================
                  THE ORBITAL REPORT ON-LINE
                ==============================
             Space Executive's Weekly News Digest
        (Published fortnightly during summer holidays)
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 ===
* The SOYUZ TM26 spacecraft was successfully launched to the MIR
space station on August 5 and docked with the station two days later.
The two-man crew (Solovyov and Vinogradov), the 24th to take over
permanent occupation of MI, will be in charge of performing an intra-
vehicular activity (IVA) inside the depressurized SPEKTR module on
August 20 to reconnect electric supply cables to restore 70% of the
station's electrical power. An extravehicular activity (EVA) is
planned on September 3 to examine the exterior of the damaged Spektr
module. Possible repair of the breach in the module's hull will be
assessed after this EVA but will most probably be performed by Mir's
25th crew. The 23rd crew (Tsibliyev and Lazutkin) safely returned to
Earth on August 14. NASA's Space Shuttle ATLANTIS will be launched to
MIR on September 27. She will carry a replacement US crewmember
(David Wolf) and logistics.
* Space Shuttle DISCOVERY lifted-off from Kennedy Space Center (KSC),
Florida, on August 7 for the 11-day STS-85 mission. The shuttle
released the 3.5-t US/German CRISTA-SPAS 2 platform to study the
atmosphere 7h48 into flight. The mission also allowed to test the
Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD) robotic arm demonstrator
developed by Japan's National Space Development Agency (NASDA) for
use on the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) of the International
Space Station (ISS)
* An Orbital Sciences PEGASUS XL air-launched vehicle successfully
lofted the ORBVIEW 2 ocean color observation satellite on August 1
for ORBITAL IMAGING CORP. (ORBIMAGE), of Dulles, Virginia. This OSC-
built satellite is equipped with a single instrument, the Sea-
viewing Wide Field Sensor (SeaWIFS) and will provide data to NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) under a US$43.5-million contract
signed in 1991.
* An ARIANE 44P vehicle (V98) has launched the twice-delayed Space
Systems/Loral-built PAS-6 communications satellite (36Ku) for
PANAMSAT CORP., of Greenwich, Connecticut. The satellite will be
operational at 43°W to provide direct broadcasting services to South
America.
=== BUSINESS ===
* MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS INC. (MCHI), of Washington, DC, has
awarded a contract worth more than US$400 million to ORBITAL
SCIENCES CORP. (OSC), of Dulles, Virginia, to design, develop,
manufacture and test MCHI's 17 ELLIPSO mobile telephony satellites
to be launched in 2000. The ELLIPSO satellites were initially
planned to be built by FAIRCHILD SPACE, of Germantown, Maryland,
which was acquired by OSC in 1994.
* ORBITAL IMAGING CORP. (ORBIMAGE), of Dulles, Virginia, was awarded
a US$41.5-million contract by the US Air Force for technology and
services from the future ORBVIEW 3 satellite due for launch next
year. ORBVIEW 3 will provide hyperspectral imagery data for
Warfighter-1 advanced technology demonstration program during three
years.
* CD RADIO, INC., of Washington, DC, has exercized an option on its
contract with SPACE SYSTEMS/LORAL, of Palo Alto, California, for the
procurement of a third CD RADIO direct audio radio service satellite.
Total value of the contract now exceeds US$350 million. CD RADIO 1
and 2 are currently manifested on Ariane 5 in 1999. The third
satellite will serve as a ground spare.
* ITT INDUSTRIES' AEROSPACE/COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION (ITT A/CD) was
awarded two contracts totalling US$35.7 million to support the
transition from the current US Air Force DEFENSE METEOROLOGICAL
SATELLITE PROGRAM (DMSP) and its civilian counterpart from the
NATIONAL OCEANIC & ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION (NOAA), to the joint
NATIONAL POLAR-ORBITING OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE SYSTEM
(NPOESS) in 2007.
* HUGHES SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS (HSC) was awarded a three-year
contract worth US$32 million to develop the conical scanning micro-
wave imager/sounder (CMIS) due to fly on the future joint US Air
Force/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NATIONAL
POLAR-ORBITING OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE SYSTEM (NPOESS)
which will take over the current DMSP and NOAA satellites in 2007.
* MAGELLAN SYSTEMS CORP., of San Dimas, California, a subsidiary of
ORBITAL SCIENCES CORP., has acquired the vehicle navigation business
of ROCKWELL INTERNATIONAL's COLLINS AVIONICS & COMMUNICATIONS
DIVISION, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for US$9 million.
* HUGHES SPACE & COMMUNICATIONS (HSC) has signed a US$0.5-million
contract with CONSTRUCCIONES AERONAUTICAS SA (CASA), of Madrid,
Spain, which will provide satellite panels to be used on the 12 ICO
global mobile telephony satellites (HS601 bus) to be launched in
1998 and 1999.
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=== MARKETS ===
* IRIDIUM LLC, of Washington, DC, announced it has successfully
conducted the first communication tests with its low Earth orbit
satellites using customer handsets in early July. Seventeen IRIDIUM
satellites have been launched since May 5, one of which was been
declared lost on July 9. The full 66-satellite constellation is
planned to be operational on September 1998.
=== TECHNOLOGIES ===
* NASA has selected the US$25-million Cosmic Origins Spectrograph
(COS) to be installed onboard the HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE (HST) during
the fourth servicing mission in late 2002. The COS, designed in
cooperation with the University of Arizona and built by BALL AEROSPACE,
will replace the COSTAR correction instrument installed in 1993.
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=== PREVIEW ===
* August 16  China Great Wall's CZ-3B ('LONG MARCH 3B') vehicle is due
             to perform its second flight. The payload is the AGILA 2
             (Formerly MABUHAY 1) communications satellite built by
             Space Systems/Loral for MABUHAY PHILIPPINES SATELLITE CORP.
* August 17  A Boeing DELTA 2-7920 vehicle will loft a cluster of five
             IRIDIUM mobile telephony satellites from Vandenberg AFB,
             California.
* August 21  An International Launch Services PROTON K vehicle is
             planned to loft the PAS-5 communications satellite from
             Baykonur, Kazakhstan, for PANAMSAT CORP., of Greenwich,
             California.
* August 21  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.
* August 25  A Boeing DELTA 2-7925 vehicle is due to loft the
             ADVANCED COMPOSITION EXPLORER (ACE), the last of NASA's
             large Explorer satellites, from Cape Canaveral Air Station,
             Florida.
* August 27  A Lockheed Martin ATLAS 2AS is scheduled to launch the GE-3
             communications satellite for GE AMERICOM, of Princeton, New
             Jersey, from Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida.
   The Orbital Report On-Line is published 3 to 4 times per month
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                  Chief Editor: Stefan Barensky
               Technical Contributor: Samuel Szdat
               © Takyon International - August 1997
               Takyon International also publishes
                   The Orbital Launcher Report,
            a monthly space transportation newsletter.
------------------- End of issue Vol.1, No.11 ----------------------

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