11 February 2007
Satcoms
Anaren Announces
Contract in Excess of US$ 8.0 Million from Alcatel-Alenia Space
MSV Technology Advancement Further Aids Internet
Access in a Hybrid Satellite-Terrestrial Network
Broadcast
EchoStar and Home Box Office Reach Long-Term
Agreement
RRSat Signs Additional
Agreement with Fashion TV for Distribution Of F-Man TV Channel to
Asia
Turner Broadcasting System and
EchoStar Sign Carriage Agreement for Court TV
Earth Observation
Preparing to Monitor Coniferous Forests with
Sentinel-2
Military
Space
New Missile Warning Satellite Built by Lockheed
Martin Completes Key Environmental Test Phase
NGC Delivers Payload Module for First Advanced EHF
Military Communications Satellite
Northrop Grumman Successfully Checks Out Sensors
On New Air Force Weather Satellite
Raytheon Completes Delivery of Early
Missile-Warning Sensors for US Space Tracking & Surveillance System
Program
Raytheon Successfully
Demonstrates Satellite Communications Alternative
Astrophysics
Introducing the 'Coolest'
Spacecraft in the Universe - UK Involvement in ESA's Planck
Mission
Astronomy
Manufacturing Milestone Achieved for James Webb
Space Telescope
NASA Awards Sofia
Development, Engineering To L-3 Communications
NASA's Largest Space Telescope Mirror Will See
Deeper Into Space
Quasars
Distant Quasars Live in Massive Dark Matter
Halos
Supernova
Astrophysicists Explain Differences In Brightness
of Supernova Explosions
Sun
NASA-European Spacecraft Swoops Under Sun's
Pole
Ulysses Scores a
Hat-trick
Earth
Ancient Rocks Show How Young Earth Avoided
Becoming Giant Snowball
Cluster - New
Insights into the Electric Circuits of Polar Lights
Mars
New Success for Thales Space
Laser
Spacecraft Set To Reach
Milestone, Reports Technical Glitches
Jupiter
New Horizons' SWAP Instrument Observes Solar Wind
Interactions Before Jupiter Encounter
Saturn
Enceladus, A Moon Of Saturn, Is A 'Cosmic
Graffiti Artist,' Astronomers Discover
Manned Space
International Space Station Status Report:
SS07-06
International Space Station
Status Report: SS07-07
NASA Deputy
Administrator Shana Dale's Statement on Lisa Nowak
NASA's Shuttle Atlantis Rolls to Vehicle Assembly
Building
Space
Tourism
Civilian Space Travel Winner Gets Second Shot at
Space
Technology
X Prize Opens Registration for Northrop Grumman
Lunar Lander Challenge
Launch
Services
Insat 4B "Reaches Out" at the Spaceport
NASA Solicits Ideas for Constellation Ground
Work
Odyssey Launch Platform En Route
to Home Port
In
Orbit
Integral Systems Announces a CCS-C Contract
Modification to Support the U.S. Air Force's WGS Satellite
Program
Business
GeoEye Makes Final Debt Payment for the Purchase
of Space Imaging
Spacehab Subsidiary
Vying for New Contract at Vandenberg Location
Products and Services
ND SatCom Launches
MPT1000
Events
Space-System-Based Disaster Management and
International Heliophysical Year 2007 to be Discussed at UN
Conference
Satcoms
Anaren Announces
Contract in Excess of US$ 8.0 Million from Alcatel-Alenia Space
(7
February 2007) Anaren, Inc. has been selected to receive a contract valued in
excess of US$ 8.0 million from Alcatel-Alenia Space (France) for development
and production of integrated beamforming assemblies that will be deployed on
the Globalstar-2 satellite payload.
MSV
Technology Advancement Further Aids Internet Access in a Hybrid
Satellite-Terrestrial Network
(7 February 2007) Mobile Satellite
Ventures (MSV) announced today that it has been awarded U.S. Patent No.
7,174,127 (the "'127 Patent") by the United States Patent and Trademark
Office.
Broadcast
EchoStar and Home Box Office Reach Long-Term
Agreement
(5 February 2007) EchoStar Communications Corporation and
Home Box Office today announced that they have entered into a long-term
agreement that provides for the distribution of HBO and Cinemax television
services on EchoStar's DISH Network.
RRSat Signs Additional Agreement with Fashion TV
for Distribution Of F-Man TV Channel to Asia
(7 February 2007) RRSat
Global Communications Network Ltd., a rapidly growing provider of comprehensive
content management and global distribution services to the television and radio
broadcasting industries, announced today that Fashion TV has selected RRSat for
distribution of its new F-Man TV channel to Asia, in addition to the
distribution of the channel to Europe and the Middle East.
Turner Broadcasting System and EchoStar Sign
Carriage Agreement for Court TV
(9 February 2007) Turner
Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc.) and EchoStar Communications Corporation's
DISH Network today announced that they have signed an affiliation agreement
that allows for the restored distribution of Court TV.
Earth Observation
Preparing to Monitor
Coniferous Forests with Sentinel-2
(9 February 2007) Within the
Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) framework, sustainable
management of forests is recognised as an important challenge - one objective
that will be addressed with the planned Sentinel-2 mission.
Military Space
New Missile Warning Satellite
Built by Lockheed Martin Completes Key Environmental Test Phase
(5
February 2007) Lockheed Martin announced today that the first Space-Based
Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous orbit (GEO) spacecraft bus has
successfully completed engineering thermal vacuum testing at its facilities in
Sunnyvale, Calif.
NGC Delivers Payload
Module for First Advanced EHF Military Communications Satellite
(6
February 2007) Northrop Grumman Corporation has delivered the payload module
for the first Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) military communications
satellite ahead of schedule to the Sunnyvale, Calif., facilities of Lockheed
Martin, prime contractor for the Advanced EHF program.
Northrop Grumman Successfully Checks Out Sensors
On New Air Force Weather Satellite
(8 February 2007) Five weather
and space environmental sensors onboard the recently launched Defense
Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite, F-17, have been switched on
and are operating successfully, according to Northrop Grumman Corporation, the
Air Force's DMSP sensor management contractor.
Raytheon Completes Delivery of Early
Missile-Warning Sensors for US Space Tracking & Surveillance System
Program
(9 February 2007) Raytheon Company successfully delivered
the second of two advanced infrared sensor payloads to Northrop Grumman Space
Technology for the missile-warning Space Tracking & Surveillance System
Block 6 program.
Raytheon Successfully
Demonstrates Satellite Communications Alternative
(9 February 2007)
During an exercise with the I Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton,
Calif., Raytheon Company successfully demonstrated that a traditional,
transportable satellite communications terminal could be field configured to
communicate without acquiring a satellite connection.
Astrophysics
Introducing the 'Coolest'
Spacecraft in the Universe - UK Involvement in ESA's Planck
Mission
(9 February 2007) The European Space Agency's (ESA) Planck
mission, which will study the conditions present in our Universe shortly after
the Big Bang, is reaching an important milestone with the integration of
instruments into the satellite at Alcatel Alenia Space in Cannes,
France.
Astronomy
Manufacturing Milestone Achieved for James Webb
Space Telescope
(7 February 2007) The final segment of the flight
primary mirror for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has completed
manufacturing and been delivered for grinding and polishing, a major milestone
achieved by Ball Aerospace & Technologies, Corp. and its
subcontractors.
NASA Awards Sofia
Development, Engineering To L-3 Communications
(8 February 2007)
NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center has awarded a contract to L-3
Communications Integrated Systems, L.P., of Waco, Texas, for continued
developmental and engineering work on the Stratospheric Observatory for
Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).
NASA's
Largest Space Telescope Mirror Will See Deeper Into Space
(7
February 2007) When scientists are looking into space, the more they can see,
the easier it is to piece together the puzzle of the
cosmos.
Quasars
Distant Quasars Live in Massive Dark Matter
Halos
(9 February 2007) Using a map of more than 4,000 luminous
quasars in the distant universe, scientists from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
(SDSS-II) have shown that these brilliant beacons are strongly clumped, with
huge quasar superclusters separated by vast stretches of empty
space.
Supernova
Astrophysicists Explain Differences In Brightness
of Supernova Explosions
(9 February 2007) Supernovae stand out in
the sky like cosmic lighthouses. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for
Astrophysics and at the National Astronomical Institute of Italy have now found
a way to use these cosmic beacons to measure distances in space more
accurately.
Sun
NASA-European Spacecraft Swoops Under Sun's
Pole
(7 February 2007) The 16-year-old Ulysses spacecraft reaches
what could be considered a low point in its mission observing the sun today -
and solar scientists could not be happier.
Ulysses Scores a Hat-trick
(7 February
2007) Today the joint ESA-NASA Ulysses mission has marked another high point in
its mission. For the third time in a long and highly successful career, Ulysses
has reached its maximum south solar latitude of 80 degrees as it flies over the
Sun's southern polar cap.
Earth
Ancient Rocks Show How Young Earth Avoided
Becoming Giant Snowball
(7 February 2007) Carbon dioxide may have
acted as planet's 'thermostat' since earliest times
Cluster - New Insights into the Electric Circuits
of Polar Lights
(9 February 2007) Giant electrical circuits power
the magical open-air light show of the auroras, forming arcs in high-latitude
regions like Scandinavia
Mars
New Success for Thales Space Laser
(8
February 2007) Thales's space laser programme has achieved a new milestone with
the successful completion of shock-resistance tests at over 2,000 g in all
three axes.
Spacecraft Set To Reach
Milestone, Reports Technical Glitches
(7 February 2007) NASA's Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft this month is set to surpass the record for
the most science data returned by any Mars spacecraft.
Jupiter
New Horizons' SWAP Instrument Observes Solar Wind
Interactions Before Jupiter Encounter
(7 February 2007) A little
over a year since launch, with its sights firmly on Jupiter, the New Horizons
spacecraft is testing its science payload and making observations as it rounds
the planet for a gravity-assist that will speed its journey to the edge of the
solar system.
Saturn
Enceladus, A Moon Of Saturn, Is A 'Cosmic
Graffiti Artist,' Astronomers Discover
(9 February 2007) Astronomers
from the University of Virginia and other institutions have found that
Enceladus, the sixth-largest moon of Saturn, is a "cosmic graffiti artist,"
pelting the surfaces of at least 11 other moons of Saturn with ice particles
sprayed from its spewing surface geysers.
Manned Space
International Space Station Status Report:
SS07-06
(4 February 2007) For the second time in four days, two
residents of the International Space Station stepped outside for a spacewalk to
complete connecting cooling loops from a temporary to a permanent system. This
time the excursion lasted just over seven hours.
International Space Station Status Report:
SS07-07
(8 February 2007) With all scheduled tasks accomplished,
International Space Station Commander Mike Lopez-Alegria and Flight Engineer
Sunita Williams ended a nearly seven hour spacewalk at 2:06 p.m. CST
Thursday.
NASA Deputy Administrator
Shana Dale's Statement on Lisa Nowak
(7 February 2007) We are very
concerned about the tragic situation involving astronaut Lisa Nowak and are
deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of Lisa, Air Force Captain
Colleen Shipman, and Astronaut Bill Oefelein. This is, of course, a personal
and legal matter - and NASA is, therefore, limited in its involvement and
ability to discuss many of the details.
NASA's Shuttle Atlantis Rolls to Vehicle Assembly
Building
(7 February 2007) NASA's space shuttle Atlantis completed a
milestone to move it one step closer to a targeted March
launch.
Space
Tourism
Civilian Space Travel Winner Gets Second Shot at
Space
(7 February 2007) Benson Space Company announced today it
would provide a tax-free ride to space enthusiast Brian Emmett, making him the
first "test passenger" and fulfilling his lifelong desire to go to
space.
Technology
X Prize Opens Registration for
Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge
(6 February 2007) X Prize
today announced registration dates and rules changes for the US$ 2 million
Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, which will require a vehicle to
simulate trips between the moon's surface and lunar orbit.
Launch Services
Insat 4B "Reaches Out" at the
Spaceport
(7 February 2007) Preparations for Insat 4B's upcoming
launch on Ariane 5 included deployment tests for the Indian telecommunication
satellite's antennas at Europe's Spaceport this week.
NASA Solicits Ideas for Constellation Ground
Work
(8 February 2007) NASA has issued a request for information
soliciting ideas on ground processing services for its Constellation Program
and the next generation of space vehicles.
Odyssey Launch Platform En Route to Home
Port
(8 February 2007) The Odyssey Launch Platform and the Sea
Launch Commander have left the launch site at the Equator and are returning to
Sea Launch Home Port in Long Beach, California, following the unsuccessful
launch on January 30.
In
Orbit
Integral Systems Announces a CCS-C Contract
Modification to Support the U.S. Air Force's WGS Satellite
Program
(5 February 2007) Integral Systems, Inc., today announced
the award by the U.S. Air Force of a US$ 4.5 million cost plus award fee
modification to the CCS-C (Command and Control System-Consolidated) effort to
support the WGS [Wideband Global SATCOM (Satellite Communications)]
Program.
Business
GeoEye Makes Final Debt Payment for the Purchase
of Space Imaging
(5 February 2007) GeoEye, the world's largest
operator of commercial imaging satellites, announced today the final payment on
the US$ 50 million credit facility that it drew down in January 2006 to fund
the acquisition of the assets of Colorado-based Space Imaging.
Spacehab Subsidiary Vying for New Contract at
Vandenberg Location
(2 February 2007) Spacehab, Incorporated, a
leading provider of commercial space services, announced today that its
Astrotech Space Operations (ASO) subsidiary is responding to a NASA Request for
Proposal (RFP) soliciting payload processing capabilities for expendable launch
vehicles from the Western Range in California.
Products and Services
ND SatCom Launches
MPT1000
(7 February 2007) ND SatCom, an SES Astra company and a
leading global supplier of satellite-based broadband VSAT, broadcast,
government and defence communication network solutions, will be introducing a
new, light-weight yet powerful and extremely easily deployable portable
military terminal to support transmission of voice, data and
video.
Events
Space-System-Based
Disaster Management and International Heliophysical Year 2007 to be Discussed
at UN Conference
(9 February 2007) The newly established
space-system-based disaster management programme, a safety framework for
nuclear power sources in outer space, mitigation guidelines for space debris
and International Heliophysical Year 2007 will be the key agenda items at the
44th session of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations
Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), which will take place
in Vienna, Austria, from 12 to 23 February.
