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Untitled - Colorado Wing

9 April 2012
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Welcome to the NSSI Space News!
The NSSI Space News is a compilation of
published items and commentary concerning significant
defense-related issues for space professionals.
This newsletter is an internal management tool intended to serve the
informational needs of space professionals in the continuing
assessment of defense policies, programs, and actions. The views
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Table of Contents
MISSILE DEFENSE .......................................................................................................................................... 4
“Homework" Needed to Resolve U.S.-Russian Antimissile Differences: Official ...................................... 4
MEADS Missile Defense System Under Fire from U.S. Senators .............................................................. 5
U.S. Invites Russia to Monitor Aegis Missile Intercept Test...................................................................... 6
MISSILE WARNING ........................................................................................................................................ 8
SBIRS GEO-2 Closer to Launch .................................................................................................................. 8
FOREIGN MISSILE OPERATIONS .................................................................................................................... 9
India to Test Long-Range Missile in Two Weeks ....................................................................................... 9
FOREIGN SPACE........................................................................................................................................... 10
Russia plans to build nuclear space engine ............................................................................................ 10
OPERATIONALLY RESPONSIVE SPACE ......................................................................................................... 10
Minotaur Rocket Booked For Space-Based Range Demo ....................................................................... 10
ORS SpaceLoft-6 Launch to Test Reliability, Durability of Payloads in Suborbital Voyage ..................... 13
FOREIGN SPACE POLICY .............................................................................................................................. 14
Ambitions in Space: China Seeks To Expand Satellite Applications ........................................................ 14
INTERNATIONAL SPACE LAW ...................................................................................................................... 16
New Study Calls For Recognition of Private Property Claims in Space ................................................... 16
SPACE DEBRIS.............................................................................................................................................. 18
How Huffing and Puffing Could Remove Space Junk .............................................................................. 18
Review: Space Junk 3D ............................................................................................................................ 19
CYBERSPACE / CYBER WARFARE ................................................................................................................. 21
Cyber Defence Slow Due to Generation Gap: U.S. Official ..................................................................... 21
SATELLITE .................................................................................................................................................... 22
Air Force Secretary Calls DMSP Satellites 'Out of Date'.......................................................................... 22
SATELLITE NAVIGATION .............................................................................................................................. 22
LightSquared Decision Under Microscope .............................................................................................. 22
FOREIGN SATELLITE NAVIGATION............................................................................................................... 23
Galileo's Encrypted Signals Pass Verification Test .................................................................................. 23
FOREIGN SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS.................................................................................................... 24
Chinese Rocket Lifts Off With Communications Satellite ....................................................................... 24
INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, and RECONNAISSANCE ............................................................................. 26
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Delta 4 Rocket Successfully Lofts Surveillance Satellite ......................................................................... 26
FOREIGN LAUNCH ....................................................................................................................................... 28
India to Launch Astrium's Spot 6 Earth Observation Satellite ................................................................ 28
Pentagon: U.S. Takes Prospect of North Korea Launch Seriously .......................................................... 29
MISCELLANEOUS ......................................................................................................................................... 31
Space Foundation Events to Commemorate 30th Anniversary of Air Force Space Command .............. 31
CONFERENCES OF INTEREST ....................................................................................................................... 33
APRIL/MAY WORLDWIDE SPACE LAUNCH SCHEDULE ................................................................................ 34
MISSILE DEFENSE
“Homework" Needed to Resolve U.S.-Russian Antimissile
Differences: Official
Return to Top
Global Security Newswire, March 30, 2012
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/homework-required-resolve-us-russian-antimissile-differences-official-says/
The United States and Russia need to work out technical details before a dispute over a European
missile shield can be resolved, the Associated Press quoted acting U.S. Undersecretary of State Rose
Gottemoeller saying on Friday (see GSN, March 29).
The veteran arms control specialist addressed a budding controversy over comments President Obama
made this week to his Russian counterpart.
Obama, not knowing he was speaking in range of a live microphone, told President Dmitry Medvedev he
would have more "flexibility" to resolve the matter after November presidential and congressional
elections. Republican lawmakers have jumped on the remarks, suggesting Obama might be willing to
accept troubling compromises when he no does not have to worry about being elected again.
Gottemoeller, though, said Obama "wasn't talking about any secret deals or anything like that. He was
stating the political realities of 2012."
"In terms of big national initiatives, policy initiatives it's just the reality of the situation that in an
election year it's more difficult to accomplish that," she said. "But I see the possibility for homework, as I
call it, not only in missile defense cooperation, but in preparing the groundwork for new nuclear
reduction negotiations as well" (Vladimir Isachenkov, Associated Press/ABC News, March 30).
The Obama administration's "phased adaptive approach" calls for deploying increasingly advanced landand sea-based interceptors at several locations around the continent as a stated defense against ballistic
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missile threats from the Middle East, particularly Iran. It forms the core of a broader NATO initiative to
link and augment member nations' antimissile capabilities.
Moscow, though, has said it fears the weapons would be aimed at its long-range nuclear forces. It has
unsuccessfully called for a binding pledge that NATO has no such intention and has threatened an arms
buildup if the matter cannot be resolved.
Discussions between technological specialists would demonstrate the potential for U.S.-Russian
collaboration in establishing the shield and "that the technical capabilities of the system are simply not
those that would undermine Russian strategic offensive forces," Gottemoeller said in Moscow.
"The more we can be talking about that among technical experts, the greater predictability for the
Russian Federation, the greater confidence in what the system can and can't do," she said.
Meanwhile, NATO and Ukraine are discussing involving the former Soviet republic in the European
missile shield, Russia Today reported.
NATO leaders at the 2010 summit in Portugal, where they agreed to pursue the joined antimissile
system, supported participation by states outside the alliance, said Marchin Koziel, who leads the NATO
liaison office in Ukraine (Russia Today, March 30).
MEADS Missile Defense System Under Fire from U.S. Senators
Return to Top
Space News International, by Titus Ledbetter III, April 4, 2012
http://spacenews.com/policy/120404-meads-under-fire-senators.html
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is calling for the cancellation of a multinational air and missile
defense system, citing cost overruns and a tight budget environment.
Eight senators — including four Democrats and four Republicans — signed a March 21 letter calling on
the leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee to reject
the Defense Department’s request for $400 million in 2013 to continue work on NATO’s Medium
Extended Air Defense System (MEADS).
“Facing a serious fiscal crisis, we cannot afford to spend a single additional dollar on a weapons system
such as MEADS that our warfighters will never use,” the senators wrote.
Sen. John McCain, (R-Ariz.), the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, followed up
with a March 22 letter of his own to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reminding him that the 2012
National Defense Authorization Act directed the Pentagon to negotiate with Germany and Italy to either
terminate MEADS or restructure the program so that it can be completed within the $390 million
Congress appropriated for this year.
“I am disappointed that the Department has chosen to ignore current law and congressional direction by
requesting an additional $400 million for MEADS in fiscal year 2013 to continue the ‘proof of concept’
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that Congress instructed be completed utilizing no more funding than the level appropriated for fiscal
year 2012,” McCain wrote. “I am similarly concerned by your recent remarks promising to do
“everything possible” to obtain congressional support for these additional funds.”
Lockheed Martin, the lead U.S. contractor for MEADS, has not given up hope on seeing the embattled
program through to production. Marty Coyne, the company’s director of MEADS International, told
Space News April 3, Lockheed Martin is “cautiously optimistic” that the program will receive full funding
in 2013.
MEADS is intended to replace the U.S. Army’s aging Patriot air and missile defense system and has been
in development for more than a decade. MEADS is designed to use mobile trucks equipped with
interceptor missiles and omni-directional radars to defeat cruise missiles and short-range ballistic
missiles in the terminal phase of flight. The system is funded 58 percent by the United States, 25 percent
by Germany and 17 percent by Italy.
The group of eight U.S. senators urging the immediate cancellation of MEADS includes Sens. Scott
Brown (R-Mass) — whose state is home to Patriot prime contractor Raytheon Co. — and Jeanne
Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), whose New England state is home to at least one Raytheon
subcontractor.
“While the Pentagon has continued to waste tax dollars on MEADS, the Department of Defense has
failed to fully modernize its Patriot program,” the senators wrote.
In addition to Brown and New Hampshire’s two senators, the letter’s other signatories are: Mark Begich
(D-Alaska), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), David Vitter (R-La.) and Roger Wicker (RMiss.).
The 2012 National Defense Authorization Act called for fencing off all but 25 percent of the approved
$390 million in 2012 funding until the defense secretary submits a plan for using those funds for “final
obligations” for the MEADS program. That plan can outline scenarios for restructuring the program or
terminating the program contracts, according to budget documents. Coyne said that he expects that
plan to be delivered to Congress in a matter of days.
Coyne also said that the United States contacted Germany and Italy but those two countries do not want
to restructure the program. Lockheed Martin officials plan to conduct additional testing of MEADS in
2012, he said. The MEADS program has been on-schedule and within projected costs since 2008, Coyne
said.
U.S. Invites Russia to Monitor Aegis Missile Intercept Test
Space news, by Titus Ledbetter III, March 30, 2012
http://www.spacenews.com/military/120330-russia-monitor-aegis-test.html
Return to Top
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The U.S. government has invited Russia to observe an intercept test of its Aegis sea-based missile
defense system as part of an effort to ease Moscow’s concerns with plans for a European missile shield,
according to a U.S. State Department official.
The demonstration involving the Standard Missile (SM)-3 interceptor would give some transparency to
the NATO defense plan, which initially will rely on the U.S. Navy’s Aegis ships, Ellen Tauscher, State’s
special envoy for strategic stability and missile defense, said. The idea is to reassure Moscow that the
U.S blueprint for European missile defense poses no threat to Moscow’s strategic nuclear deterrent.
The U.S. government is not proposing to provide Russia with telemetry data, hit-to-kill missile defense
technology or any other classified information, Tauscher said March 26 during the 10th annual U.S.
Missile Defense Conference here sponsored jointly by the Missile Defense Agency and the American
Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics. “Rather, we are offering for them to operate in international
waters, giving them the time of launch of our target, which we provide to mariners and airmen as
normal course,” she said. “This will be a good first step in transparency measures with the Russian
Federation, allowing them to see for themselves, what we are saying about our system is accurate.”
U.S. President Barack Obama’s so-called Phased Adaptive Approach for European missile defense
initially calls for Aegis ships equipped with SM-3 interceptors and associated radar and fire-control
systems to patrol near Europe, such as in the Mediterranean. This would be followed by deployment of
an early warning radar and, eventually, SM-3 variants on European soil.
Administration officials say the system is intended to counter the growing missile threat from Middle
Eastern nations, primarily Iran.
Tauscher noted that the U.S. government has secured agreements from Turkey to host the radar,
Romania to host the initial land-based SM-3 site — Poland would host a subsequent site — and Spain to
provide a home port for Aegis destroyers.
“The next big demonstration of our progress will come at the NATO Summit in Chicago in May,”
Tauscher said. “We expect NATO to announce that it has achieved an interim capability. That basically
means that Allies will start operating under the same playbook.”
Tauscher said Russia is seeking a “legal guarantee” with a set of technical criteria that would limit the
ability of the United States to deploy future missile defense systems. Russia is also asking for data points
for when U.S. ships enter certain waters and when an interceptor gains a certain velocity, Tauscher said.
“We certainly cannot accept limitations on where we deploy our Aegis ships,” she said. “These are
multimission ships that are used for a variety of missions around the world, not just for missile defense.
We also will not accept limitations on the capabilities and numbers of our missile defense systems.”
The U.S. government would, however, be willing to accept a political agreement that U.S. missile
defenses are not aimed at Russia, Tauscher added.
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Tauscher’s remarks came amid a rising tide of Republican congressional criticism of the administration’s
engagement with Russia on missile defense matters.
Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said during the
conference he is “skeptical” of plans to share missile defense technology with nations that target
civilians. He said U.S. satellite data indicate that Russia used missiles against civilians in the Republic of
Chechnya in 1999 and in neighboring Georgia in 2008.
“That is why I’m opposed to any effort to provide guarantees about our missile defense to nations like
Russia,” McKeon said.
Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee, has
expressed concern that the administration might share classified information with Russia or agree to
limit U.S. missile defense capabilities.
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said missile defense
cooperation could help deal with the threat posed by Iran and deserves bipartisan support in Congress.
“Cooperation between the United States and Russia would help wake up Iran to the situation she faces
in the world and might help persuade Iran not to pursue long-range missiles and nuclear weapons,”
Levin said during the conference. “That would be a huge plus for our security, and for the world’s
security.”
Levin cited a report from an independent group dubbed the Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative that says
missile defense cooperation between the United States and Russia would benefit both countries. The
report called for the establishment of centers for the sharing of early warning radar and satellite data.
The Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative includes former senior U.S., European and Russian government
officials.
The United States will hold strategic talks with Russia in the coming months in an attempt to find areas
of cooperation, including missile defense.
MISSILE WARNING
SBIRS GEO-2 Closer to Launch
Return to Top
Air Force Magazine Online Daily Report, April 4, 2012
http://www.airforce-magazine.com/DRArchive/Pages/2012/April%202012/April%2004%202012/SBIRSGEO2ClosertoLaunch.aspx
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GEO-2, the second Space Based Infrared System geosynchronous satellite, successfully completed its
final integrated system test and is on schedule for launch into orbit from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., as
early as July, announced prime contractor Lockheed Martin. The FIST verified the satellite's performance
and functionality, said company officials. Lt. Col. Jonathon Whitney, the Air Force's GEO-2 space vehicle
integration and launch branch chief, said the lessons learned from GEO-1, the first SBIRS satellite, "have
allowed the joint government and industry team to perform the assembly, integration, and test of GEO2 in a more efficient manner." He added, "We are looking forward to delivering the satellite for launch."
SBIRS satellites are designed to provide missile warning and ancillary intelligence collection. GEO-1,
placed into orbit last May, already is exceeding expectations, announced Air Force Space Command
officials last month. The exact launch date for GEO-2 will depend on launch range and booster
availability, according to Lockheed Martin.
FOREIGN MISSILE OPERATIONS
India to Test Long-Range Missile in Two Weeks
Return to Top
Global Security Newswire, April 2, 2012
http://www.nti.org/gsn/article/india-test-long-range-missile-two-weeks-official/
India intends in two weeks to conduct the initial trial of its experimental Agni 5 ballistic missile, the head
of the country's Defense Research and Development Organization said on Saturday (see GSN, Feb. 16).
The missile -- designed to hit targets at distances greater than 3,100 miles -- includes components
nearly as sophisticated as systems used by the United States, the Times of India quoted V.K. Saraswat as
saying.
The 50-metric ton, solid-fuel weapon would be ready for entry into India's armed forces in 2014 or 2015,
according to the Times of India. The weapon could hit any point in China, the newspaper reported.
Separately, 'the K-15 [submarine-launched ballistic missile] is now getting ready for the final phase of
induction after its two recent tests (from submersible pontoons) were successful," Saraswat said (see
GSN, Feb. 17, 2010). "We have done over 10 flights of it so far.''
After equipping its submarines with the K-15 missile -- a weapon designed to reach destinations up to
466 miles away -- India intends to deploy its 2,175-mile-range K-4 missile on domestically produced
submarines. The INS Arihant is designed to to transport up to 12 K-15 missiles or four K-4 missiles (see
GSN, Dec. 5, 2011).
India plans before 2014 to finish preparing the initial stage of a dual-layered ballistic antimissile
framework, followed by the second stage before 2017, Saraswat said (see GSN, Feb. 10).
"We will test the exoatmospheric interceptor at [a 93-mile] altitude this year, which will be followed by
an endoatmospheric test at [a 19-mile] altitude," the official added (Rajat Pandit, Times of India, April 2).
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FOREIGN SPACE
Russia plans to build nuclear space engine
Return to Top
UPI.com, March 28, 2012
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2012/03/28/Russia-plans-to-build-nuclear-space-engine/UPI19841332980668/?spt=hs&or=sn
Russian space officials say the country is dedicated to the successful building of a nuclear engine for
spacecraft by 2017.
A megawatt-class nuclear propulsion system for long-range manned spacecraft is expected to be ready
by 2017, Denis Kovalevich of the Russian think tank Skolkovo Foundation said Wednesday.
"At present we are testing several types of fuel and later we will start drafting the design," Kovalevich
told RIA Novosti. "The first parts [of the nuclear engine] should be built in 2013, and the engine is
expected to be ready by 2017."
Russia's nuclear power agency Rosatom said the development and construction of a nuclear propulsion
system for spacecraft will cost more than $247 million.
The Russian government earmarked $16.7 million in 2010 to start a project to build a spacecraft with a
nuclear engine, while the overall investment in the project is estimated at over $580 million until 2019,
RIA Novosti reported.
NASA began a similar program to develop a nuclear propulsion system in 2003 and spent several
hundred million dollars on the project before funding was cut.
Related News:




Plutonium to Pluto: Russian nuclear space travel breakthrough, Space Travel (via RIA Novosti),
April 5, 2012
Russia to Build Nuclear Space Engine by 2017, RIA Novosti, March 28, 2012
Russia, U.S. to discuss nuke-powered spaceship project, RIA Novosti, April 4, 2011
Russia to start work on nuclear space engine next year, RIA Novosti, November 23, 2010
OPERATIONALLY RESPONSIVE SPACE
Minotaur Rocket Booked For Space-Based Range Demo
Return to Top
Spaceflight Now, by Stephen Clark, April 4, 2012
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1204/04minotaurors3/
The U.S. Air Force has purchased a Minotaur 1 rocket for a mission in 2013 to prove less-costly, nextgeneration range tracking, safety and communications systems to streamline future launch operations.
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The Operationally Responsive Space office, a Defense Department program conceived to demonstrate
space systems on leaner budgets and rapid schedules, is sponsoring the ORS 3 mission, which is
scheduled to launch in the summer of 2013 from Wallops Island, Va.
Orbital Sciences Corp., the Minotaur 1's prime contractor, announced the launch contract April 3.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The flight's primary objective is testing space-based rocket tracking technology and an autonomous
termination system smart enough to destroy the rocket if it flies off course.
"If you go down to one of the big launch ranges, we use radar tracking systems, we use a beacon, and
we use optical trackers to track the rocket through its flight path," said Peter Wegner, director of the
ORS office at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M. "And if it gets outside of the pre-approved window then we
send a flight termination command."
The Air Force is migrating toward using GPS receivers on rockets to avoid the overhead costs of legacy
radar trackers. The next step will be for launch vehicles to track themselves, comparing real-time GPS
positions to predicted values, and issuing a command to destroy itself if it veers too far from its planned
flight path.
Today, Air Force range safety officials monitor U.S. launches and would manually issue a destruct
command if necessary.
"We're working really hard on what we call space-based range systems," Wegner said. "The idea behind
space-based range is you literally take all that range infrastructure, which is time-consuming and costly,
try to streamline it and put it on the rocket."
"ORS 3 is a test of many of those technologies," Wegner said. "The reason I was really interested in
funding that mission is it takes us from flying these things on sounding rockets to putting them on a real
orbital rocket like a Minotaur 1."
A GPS metric tracking system flew aboard an Atlas 5 rocket for the first time Feb. 24 in a military satellite
launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Rocket launchings from Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force
Base, Calif., require multiple sources of real-time tracking data, including radar, optical and GPS, to
ensure the flight does not threaten populated areas.
Officials expect the ORS 3 launch to go forward despite the proposed closing of the Operationally
Responsive Space office in President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2013 budget request. The spending
plan, which needs the approval of Congress, would transfer the ORS initiative to the Space and Missile
Systems Center, which manages Air Force space procurement.
Wegner said the ORS 3 launch also offers capacity to launch up to 17 satellites for government and
university customers. The largest of the Minotaur's payloads will be STPSat 3, a host satellite for several
military experiments, according to Wegner.
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Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo., completed the build-up of the 396-pound
STPSat 3 spacecraft last year. The Air Force was considering commercial launch opportunities before
selecting the Minotaur 1's ORS 3 mission for a lift into orbit.
STPSat 3 will be the second flight of the Space Test Program-Standard Interface Vehicle, a common
spacecraft bus for small technology demonstration and military research missions.
"We've got a really neat stack of payloads going," Wegner said in an interview Wednesday.
The solid-fueled Minotaur 1 launcher will also haul 16 CubeSat payloads into orbit for government and
institutional customers.
According to Wegner, the Minotaur 1 launch will be conducted as a commercial flight.
"We're going after a commercial acquisition approach for a Minotaur," Wegner said. "We're trying to
push hard on different cost models from a business perspective."
The Federal Aviation Administration will license the launch commercially instead of through Defense
Department oversight.
"That's saving us quite a bit of money, maybe double-digit millions [of dollars] in cost savings," Wegner
said.
The ORS 3 mission will mark the 11th launch of a Minotaur 1 vehicle, a four-stage booster powered by
decommissioned Minuteman missile motors and heritage systems from the air-launched Pegasus
rocket.
It will be the fifth Minotaur 1 flight from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, a state-run launch facility
located at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore.
"We are very pleased to continue to provide cost-effective military space missions for the U.S. Air
Force," said Ron Grabe, Orbital's executive vice president and general manager of its launch systems
group. "For the past 15 years, the Minotaur program has provided highly reliable and affordable
launchers that combine government-owned propulsion systems with commercial rocket technology to
support Department of Defense and other U.S. government space missions."
An enhanced Minotaur 5 rocket, propelled by more powerful Peacekeeper missile motors, is also due
for launch in mid-2013 from Wallops with NASA's LADEE mission to probe the tenuous lunar
atmosphere.
The LADEE and ORS 3 launches can occur about 60 days apart, and officials have not formally decided
which mission will fly first.
Related News:

Orbital Receives Order for Minotaur I space launch vehicle from the U.S. Air Force, Reuters,
April 3, 2012
9 April 2012
ORS SpaceLoft-6 Launch to Test Reliability, Durability of
Payloads in Suborbital Voyage
P a g e | 13
Return to Top
Air Force Materiel Command, by Michael P. Kleiman, March 30, 2012
http://www.afmc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123296138
The SpaceLoft-6 sounding rocket will launch April 5, 2012, at Spaceport America, in Upham, N.M., with
seven payloads, crucial for future Operationally Responsive Space missions, demonstrating its
dependability and resilience during a 13-minute, 70-mile-high trek.
The ORS director explained the mission's significance.
"One of the ways we prove space-based range technologies of tracking the rocket through flight,
knowing where it is at all times in case the flight has to be terminated due to trajectory issues, is to get
multiple flights to validate that the systems work in flight. Orbital flights are rare and costly, so one of
the ways we are getting that flight heritage is by flying these technologies on small sounding rockets,
which is much more inexpensive and easier," said Dr. Peter Wegner.
ORS has contracted with UP Aerospace Inc. in Denver to employ its "SpaceLoft XL" rocket for the fourth
time, but the launch vehicle's sixth flight on April 5 will mark the first time it will carry strictly
Department of Defense-manifested payloads. Like the other three collaborations between ORS and UP
Aerospace, the SL-6 mission involves a standard six-month contract-to-launch time frame and uniform
integration processes for rapid, responsive and cost-efficient means to evaluate potential space
hardware.
"The upcoming flight, SL-6, is going to demonstrate a number of the key technologies ORS is developing.
One of the most important is the Global Positioning Metric Tracking System, also known as the "GPS
Beacon," designed by Florida Tech, which we hope will record the position of the rocket all the way
through its flight. We will also be demonstrating another GPS receiver, the Automatic Dependent
Surveillance-Broadcast, developed by the Federal Aviation Administration and the New Mexico Space
Grant Consortium, which will independently obtain GPS data and transfer it through the telemetry string
to the ground," Wegner said.
"The ORS-constructed Low-Cost Camera Demonstrator and NASA Ames Research Center's 'DroidSat,'
built off of Android phone technology, will allow us to record separation events on the rocket. This is
important to us because the ORS-3 mission scheduled for next year has 17 different payloads that will
separate off that rocket during its trajectory," he said.
Two other ORS-provided payloads, the Hard Mount and Isolated Data Logger Experiments, will measure
environmental conditions, such as vibration encountered by hardware during flight and recovery.
Finally, the University of Texas at Austin's Inertial Measurement Unit trial, using commercial, off-theshelf technology, will acquire data from liftoff through re-entry.
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"This suborbital launch allows us to explore the kind of approaches we would take for payload
integration testing and flight for other missions," said Steven Buckley, ORS launch director for the SL-6
mission. "It's a great opportunity for us. It's quick and efficient, as well as allows us to do a lot of things
in a less-costly environment before we go into a mission that might cost double-digit million dollars.
After reaching its near-space zenith, the SL-6 rocket will separate during its traverse back to Earth, and
the seven trials, housed in two different compartments, will land about 33 miles from the liftoff site in
the White Sands Missile Range.
Project staff will recover the reusable payloads, as well as retrieve and review acquired data from the
brief suborbital trip.
"The goal of ORS is to be able to go from call-up to launch of a space system in a matter of days. We
know the warfighters deployed around the world need access to imagery and communications capacity
that many times can only be provided by space systems," Wegner said.
"Our job is to figure out how to get those systems up there -- launched and delivered, placed on orbit,
checked out and providing those capabilities to the warfighters. All of these technology demonstrations
on the SL-6 mission are leading us to that end point."
FOREIGN SPACE POLICY
Ambitions in Space: China Seeks To Expand Satellite
Applications
Return to Top
Defense News, by Dean Cheng, April 1, 2012
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120401/DEFFEAT05/304010003/-1/7daysarchives/Ambitions-Space
At the end of 2011, China published its third space white paper, “China’s Space Activities in 2011.” Its
release coincides with the ongoing 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) and provides an indication of likely
Chinese space priorities between now and the middle of the decade.
As with the previous white papers, there is little mention of Chinese military space programs. Instead,
the report focuses on major objectives and goals, including key satellite programs. It notes several
times, for example, that China will develop a high-resolution observation satellite and create a
constellation of such satellites for all-weather, 24-hour, multispectral Earth monitoring — in short, a spy
satellite system.
One key new goal is developing the satellite applications industry. This is described as an essential step
toward other goals such as building China’s “comprehensive national strength,” promoting scientific and
technological development, and meeting the demands of economic development. Chinese decisionmakers, like their Western counterparts, appear to have concluded that satellite applications are a
lucrative area worth investment.
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The white paper singles out several types as particularly important: Earth observation, communications,
and navigation and positioning. Of these, communications is perhaps the most mature, as the Chinese
have actively invested in telemedicine and remote teaching systems to leverage investments in health
and education.
Meanwhile, the Beidou/Compass satellite navigation system continues to improve. It went into
operation in December with the launch of the 10th satellite. Beidou hopes to compete with the U.S. GPS
and European Galileo systems and is accessible for free.
To improve its participation in the satellite applications field, Beijing will need to significantly grow these
business areas. The white paper states that China will “make comprehensive plans and construct space
infrastructure; promote public sharing of satellite application resources; foster enterprise clusters,
industrial chains and market for satellite applications.”
These phrases have cropped up in other Chinese writings, suggesting these efforts have been codified in
the 2012 budget, recently rubber-stamped by the National People’s Congress. What the white paper
does not address is how much emphasis satellite applications will likely enjoy. Recent developments in
the satellite communications area, however, suggest it is likely to be a major priority.
In February, Wen Yunsong, the son of Premier Wen Jiabao, was appointed head of China Satellite
Communications Corp. (China Satcom), a state-owned enterprise. Any time a princeling (the offspring of
a senior military or Chinese Communist Party official) is appointed the head of a company, it suggests
high-level support.
But this appointment occurred even as Wen Jiabao, along with his boss Hu Jintao, is preparing to step
down at this fall’s Party Congress, giving way to Xi Jinping and company. The appointment of the
younger Wen signals continuity, i.e., the policies laid out in the 2011 white paper will be sustained
despite the leadership transition. It also underscores the attention senior Chinese leaders give to space
and telecommunications policies generally; appointing a princeling to this office was no accident.
Indeed, the appointment also provides an indication of Chinese industrial policy toward satellite
applications in general. Because space is seen as a strategic arena, like petrochemicals and
telecommunications, China’s space-industrial complex is wholly state-owned. The appointment suggests
satellite applications may be considered as strategic as satellite and launcher manufacturing.
Beijing, therefore, is likely to create “national champions” in satellite applications, much as it has in
other state-dominated industries. Hu Jintao’s policy of “indigenous innovation,” itself a variation on the
longstanding “two bombs, one satellite” program preferring domestic development where possible, will
likely be replicated in the area of satellite applications.
In the past, “indigenous innovation” has often meant requiring foreign investors and joint venture
partners to establish research and development campuses and institutions in China to help foster
domestic research capabilities. Consequently, foreign satellite applications companies such as Garmin or
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DigitalGlobe probably will be required to base portions of their operations in China, if they wish to have
access to Chinese customers.
Equally important, the combination of “indigenous innovation” and the intention to “foster enterprise
clusters [and] industrial chains” suggests that fledgling satellite applications firms can count on the
government’s full support.
Chinese state-owned enterprises usually enjoy preferential access to capital, as Chinese banks
(themselves state-owned) are often directed to give them loans regardless of profitability. Thus, satellite
applications companies, especially state-owned, are likely to be able to draw upon state funding lines.
For Western companies, China’s decision to push satellite applications presages significant competition.
As China orbits an expanding array of systems, Beijing will probably try to insulate the home market
from competition, even as it seeks foreign clients.
Dean Cheng, a research fellow in the Asian Studies Center at the Heritage Foundation, Washington.
Related Document:

China's Space Activities in 2011 [white paper, compiled and released for reference purposes
by SpaceRef], Information Office of the State Council, The People's Republic of China, December
2011
Related News:








China's space ambitions ally glory with pragmatism, Space News, January 5, 2012
Space Report Touts Tech, Tiptoes Around Military Uses, The Wall Street Journal [blog],
December 30, 2011
China Outlines Space Priorities, Including Debris Mitigation, New Launch Vehicles, Space News
International, December 29, 2011
China lays out five-year space plans, Space Daily, December 29, 2011
China Releases White Paper - China's Space Activities in 2011,SpaceRef, December 29, 2011
China issues white paper on space exploration, China.org.cn, December 29, 2011
China reveals its future plans in space: more spaceships, a space lab and studying black holes,
The Washington Post (via Associated Press), December 29, 2011
China to push forward human spaceflight projects in next five years: white paper, People's
Daily Online (via Xinhua), December 29, 2011
INTERNATIONAL SPACE LAW
New Study Calls For Recognition of Private Property Claims
in Space
Return to Top
Space Travel, April 3, 2012
http://www.spacetravel.com/reports/New_Study_Calls_For_Recognition_of_Private_Property_Claims_in_Space_999.html
9 April 2012
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150 years ago in 1862, amidst the bloodiest war in our nation's history, the Lincoln administration had
the foresight to pass two historic pieces of legislation: the Pacific Railway Act and the Homestead Act.
The first opened up the American West for potential settlers by encouraging railroads to build from
coast to coast.
The second offered title to 160 acres of land to anyone who was willing to homestead and farm it for
five years. Together, after the war, these acts resulted in an explosion of economic growth of the young
nation, and the opening of vast new resources for America and the world.
But half a century after the first human went into space, that new frontier remains barren, despite the
wealth of potential resources available. Current international policy actively discourages the settlement
of space.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute has released a new study by Adjunct Scholar Rand Simberg:
Homesteading the Final Frontier: A Practical Proposal for Securing Property Rights in Space. Simberg
argues that the U.S. should recognize transferable off-planet land claims under conditions such as those
outlined by the proposed Space Settlement Prize Act, which Simberg renames the Space Homesteading
Act.
A legal private property regime for real estate on the Moon, Mars, and asteroids could usher in a new
era of space exploration at little or no cost to the U.S. government. As the study explains, space is rich in
valuable resources. But without off-planet property rights, investors have little incentive to fund space
transportation or development.
Simberg proposes that the U.S. begin to recognize off-planet land claims of claimants who
A) establish human settlements on the Moon, Mars, or other bodies in the solar system;
B) provide affordable commercial transportation between the settlement and Earth; and
C) offer land for sale.
These claim rights would transform human perception of space. Currently, the international community
treats outer space as an off-limits scientific preserve instead of what it could be: a frontier of
possibilities for exploration, resource development, and human settlement.
Many legal scholars claim that both the 1967 Outer Space Treaty (OST) and the 1979 Moon Treaty
outlaw private property claims in space. Simberg argues that the Outer Space Treaty only precludes land
claims by sovereign nations - not by individuals or corporations. He also argues that the U.S. should
repudiate the Moon Treaty (to which it is not a signatory), which does explicitly outlaw such claims.
Advocates of the expansion of property rights off-planet have commended Simberg for releasing a study
that draws attention to the issue and provokes much-needed debate.
"Property rights are at the core of personal freedoms," said Gary C. Hudson, President of the Space
Studies Institute.
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"There's no reason to believe that they are any less important off the Earth than they are here on
Earth."
Robert Poole, Director of Transportation Policy at the Reason Foundation, said, "Ten or fifteen years
ago, private-enterprise space travel was still the stuff of science fiction, so property rights in space was a
non-issue. That is no longer the case, and we'd better start getting serious about such property rights if
we're serious about opening the space frontier."
Terry C. Savage, member of the Board of Directors of the National Space Society, said, "With his
proposal to solve the critical problem of establishing property rights in space, Rand Simberg has
produced an extensively researched...and entirely readable...explanation of the history and underlying
issues involved, followed by a simple, elegant solution. Anyone who understands the importance of
humanity leaving the Earth should read and support this proposal, as I do."
SPACE DEBRIS
How Huffing and Puffing Could Remove Space Junk
Return to Top
SPACE.com, by Leonard David, April 5, 2012
http://www.space.com/15178-space-junk-removal-spade.html
The problem of menacing space junk has spurred all sorts of ideas to deal with it, from garbage scows
and huge nets to laser blasts and debris-snagging Nerf balls.
Now scientists are considering a huff-and-puff approach to remove debris from orbit by firing focused
pulses of atmospheric gases into the path of targeted space trash.
That's the idea behind SpaDE, a Space Debris Elimination initiative put forward by Daniel Gregory of
Raytheon BBN Technologies in Virginia. Vertical bursts of air produced within Earth's atmosphere can
either be directed at orbiting riffraff to change its trajectory or cause drag on the clutter to hasten its reentry.
The concept is being fleshed out under the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, one of
many novel space initiatives that were briefed in Pasadena, Calif., in March at a NIAC symposium.
NIAC is under the wing of NASA's Office of the Chief Technologist, which is geared to foster technology
and innovation within the space agency.
Big chunks, small chunks
Several different methods are being reviewed to create the air bursts that would jet into space. A
balloon platform or a high-altitude plane could be tasked for the job, Gregory said.
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"Our preliminary results show that we can affect the orbits of low-Earth orbit debris. We think we have
a viable solution," Gregory said. Whether it's big or small chunks, there's no limitation in what SpaDE
could target, he said.
"We can affect many pieces of debris simultaneously, if they are all close together," Gregory added.
"Hopefully with less than a 3 percent change in velocity you can de-orbit most low-Earth debris."
An early estimate of how much fuel needs to be detonated to create the atmospheric pulse is roughly
equivalent to 500 gallons of gasoline, although the optimal fuel level is still under study.
Promising results
The air pulses themselves would fall back into the atmosphere, leaving no residual trace in orbit to
interfere with low-Earth orbit satellites. "In contrast to other proposed methods, SpaDE is fail-safe, in
that it places no solid material in orbit where a malfunction could create new debris," according to a
SpaDE fact sheet distributed at the meeting.
Raytheon BBN Technologies is partnered with the University of Michigan to assess SpaDE, Gregory said.
"We're just focusing on the viability of the solution. The results are promising," he said.
How much will SpaDE cost?
"We won't know that until we determine exactly how much energy is needed and which fuel is best
suited to produce it. Most of the total cost will lie in the cost of energy," Gregory reported.
To move the International Space Station, it does cost on the order of $2 million per burn, Gregory said.
"We think we can do this for a whole lot cheaper."
Review: Space Junk 3D
Return to Top
The Space Review, by Jeff Foust, April 2, 2012
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2053/1
A little over a week ago an alarm sounded—figuratively, if not literally—at mission control for the
International Space Station (ISS). Late Friday, March 23, NASA announced that a piece of orbital debris
would pass close to the station, within an area nicknamed the “pizza box”: a region of space 50
kilometers long and wide and 1.5 kilometers in altitude, with the station in the middle. With the debris
predicted to pass about 15 kilometers of the station early Saturday, there was no time to move the
station safely away from the debris. Instead, the six members of the station’s crew sheltered in the two
Soyuz spacecraft docked to the ISS, in the event the debris did strike the station early Saturday morning.
Fortunately, the debris did stay clear of the station, and the station’s crew exited the Soyuz capsules
shortly after the object’s closest approach. It wasn’t the first time that station crewmembers had to
shelter in their Soyuz vehicles because of orbital debris. In an incident last June, for example, an object
passed just 260 meters from the station. Ironically, the object that passed close to the station this time
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around was itself the result of a collision: it was debris from the February 2009 collision of the Iridium 33
communications satellite and the defunct Russian Cosmos 2251 satellite.
That collision, and the close calls experienced by the ISS, have raised awareness of the threat posed by
orbital debris, aka space junk. However, the topic is still somewhat abstract. After all, the debris objects
themselves are visible only to powerful radars and telescopes, and the actual collisions, like the IridiumCosmos event in 2009 or the Chinese ASAT test two years earlier, are not witnessed. A new short film,
Space Junk 3D, takes advantage of the state of the art in cinema technology to better communicate the
threat and potential ways of dealing with it.
Space Junk 3D, currently screening in a handful of theaters that are primarily associated with museums,
is intended to bring the issue of orbital debris to the very big screen. Designed for IMAX 3D theaters, the
film offers plenty of dramatic visuals, both real and animated, to describe the threat of orbital debris.
While narrated by British actor Tom Wilkinson, the central figure in the 40-minute film is Don Kessler,
the former NASA scientist who led some of the early studies of the subject, long before it appeared on
the public’s radar. (Kessler is perhaps best known for promulgating the concept known as the Kessler
Syndrome, where the density of debris in a particular orbit reaches the point where debris creates a selfsustaining cascade of impacts, effectively making that orbit unusable.) Kessler provides the expert voice
describing the growth of debris and ways to address, and perhaps eventually resolve, this problem.
The film at times makes good use of its giant three-dimensional canvas, primarily in the form of
computer animations that illustrate the growing population of debris and what the effects of debris
collisions can be. The film also tries to be forward-looking, displaying at the end some of the concepts
that researchers have proposed in recent years to capture debris or deorbit satellites at the end of their
lifetimes. The film does look perhaps too far ahead, envisioning a fleet of orbital tugs—effectively space
garbage trucks—gathering debris in their cargo holds and returning them to a giant space station,
something that is likely many decades down the line at a minimum.
Yet at other times Space Junk 3D seems to lose focus. At one point the film shows a computer animation
of the future collision of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, something that is visually stunning on
a giant 3-D screen, but has nothing to do with orbital debris beyond the fact that there are collisions in
nature as well. Some of the non-CGI footage also seems a bit contrived, such as when, early in the film,
Kessler is flown to the rim of Meteor Crater in a helicopter. Ostensibly it’s to illustrate that cosmic
collisions happen in nature, but it has little to do with orbital debris itself.
Those issues aside, Space Junk 3D, does a good job illustrating the problem of orbital debris that can
otherwise be difficult to visualize. In a discussion after a screening of the film at the Smithsonian’s
National Museum of Natural History in Washington in mid-March, producer Kimberly Rowe said she was
drawn to the topic precisely because of the lack of visuals. “It left you wanting to know more, and it’s
also incredibly visual, yet there were no visuals to really see with this,” she said of the subject of orbital
debris.
The screening in Washington was part of the DC Environmental Film Festival, a deliberate choice by the
filmmakers because of how their perceptions about the topic changed while making it. “When we
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started to make the film, it was a space film,” said director/producer Melissa Butts at the screening.
However, soon after starting work on it, she said, the environmental implications became clear and thus
emphasized more in the final product. While not a perfect film, Space Junk 3D, does offer audiences a
fascinating, and at times sobering, look at a problem that is only becoming more serious, as the crew of
the ISS is discovering.
CYBERSPACE / CYBER WARFARE
Cyber Defence Slow Due to Generation Gap: U.S. Official
Return to Top
Defense News (via Agence France-Presse), April 2, 2012
http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120402/DEFREG01/304020003/Cyber-Defence-Slow-Due-GenerationGap-U-S-Official?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
Sluggish moves to counter the rising threat of cyber-attacks can be blamed on a generation of
policymakers out of touch with rapid technological change, a senior U.S. official said April 2.
“The truth is there are a lot of senior officials in many countries who barely even know how to use an
email,” Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. acting undersecretary for arms control and international security, said
during a visit to Estonia.
“The change will come with the new generation,” she told the audience at a lecture delivered at the
Estonian IT College, in the Baltic state’s capital Tallinn.
Estonia is one of the world’s most wired nations, and its high-tech savvy has earned it the nickname “EStonia”.
Home to NATO’s cyber defense center, founded in 2008, the nation of 1.3 million has been at the
forefront of efforts to preempt cyber-attacks.
Estonia has bitter experience in the field.
A politically charged dispute with its Soviet-era master Moscow in 2007 was marked by a blistering
cyber-attack blamed on Russian hackers — though the Kremlin denied any involvement.
Gottemoeller also said governments should consider incorporating open-source IT and social networking
into arms control verification and monitoring.
“In order to pursue the goal of a world free from nuclear weapons, we are going to have to think bigger
and bolder,” she explained.
“New concepts are not invented overnight, and we don’t understand the full range of possibilities
inherent in the information age, but we would be remiss if we did not start thinking about whether new
technologies can augment over half a century of arms control negotiating expertise,” she added.
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SATELLITE
Air Force Secretary Calls DMSP Satellites 'Out of Date'
Return to Top
Space News International, by Titus Ledbetter III, April 5, 2012
http://spacenews.com/military/040512-air-force-secretary-calls-dmsp-satellites-out-date.html
The U.S. Air Force’s top civilian admitted that the technology in the two aging Defense Meteorological
Support Program (DMSP) military weather satellites that the service plans to launch is “out-of-date.”
The service will launch the two satellites anyway because they can still provide useful capability, Air
Force Secretary Michael Donley said during an April 5 Defense Writers Group breakfast here.
The Defense Department will continue to rely on the DMSP system, which dates back to the 1960s, after
the cancelation of the next generation Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS) in 2012.
The Air Force will refurbish two satellites, DMSP F19 and DMSP F20, in preparation for upcoming
launches, and has requested $89 million in 2013 for the effort. DMSP F19 is scheduled to launch
sometime between Oct. 1, 2013, and Sept. 30, 2014, with DMSP F20 to follow on an as-needed
schedule. The two satellites are in storage at prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems of
Denver.
The Air Force has identified problems with the suite of microwave and ultraviolet sensors that are on
the final two DMSP satellites but has a plan to fix them, according to budget documents.
The Air Force terminated DWSS in January at the direction of Congress, which also gave the service
$123.5 million for work on an unspecified follow-on system. Air Force officials have said they are not
sure how they will spend that money but is working with Congress to figure that out. Donley declined to
provide an update on plans for spending that money.
The DWSS program was hatched in 2010 when the White House terminated the civil-military National
Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), which was behind schedule and
well over its planned budget. The White House directed the civilian National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and the Pentagon to pursue separate systems. From the beginning, however, Congress
expressed strong reservations about DWSS, which like NPOESS was being led by prime contractor
Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems.
SATELLITE NAVIGATION
LightSquared Decision Under Microscope
Return to Top
Aviation Week, by Jen DiMascio, April 5, 2012
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=space&id=news/asd/2012/04/04/08.xml&h
eadline=LightSquared%20Decision%20Under%20Microscope
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Now armed with additional information, the Obama administration and Congress are revisiting whether
LightSquared should be able to build its 4G broadband communications network.
In February, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) put on hold a waiver that would allow
LightSquared to build its voice and data network because of tests that showed it would interfere with
GPS signals. Since then, the FCC has been collecting input on that decision, particularly from those
petitioning to overturn the suspension of LightSquared’s ability to proceed with the network.
During the past month alone, more than 1,500 comments have rolled in.
Weighing in on the high-stakes public policy debate are scores of individuals from across rural America,
where the company’s network would provide more stable and reliable mobile phone service.
LightSquared also has captured support from Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform
and a conservative political leader, while some in the communications industry argue that reversing the
FCC’s decision would send the wrong signal.
“Failure to allow LightSquared to move forward with its planned deployment will set a flawed precedent
for spectrum policy and create regulatory uncertainty, discouraging future investment in wireless
infrastructure and mobile broadband and likely reducing revenues from future spectrum auctions,” says
the Computer and Communications Industry Association.
“The Commission’s proposed actions constitute unsound policy, are fiscally unwise, and will needlessly
forego the significant public interest benefits of LightSquared’s planned network.”
GPS has its backers as well, including the Aerospace Industries Association, which attempts to get at a
path forward. “We support drafting new GPS spectrum interference standards that will help inform
future proposals for non-space, commercial uses in the bands adjacent to the GPS signals and ensure
that any such proposals are implemented without affecting existing and evolving uses of critical spacebased [positioning navigation timing] services,” AIA says in its letter.
“AIA and its members encourage the FCC to continue to examine innovative broadband solutions based
on the unique merits of each proposal. For example, the FCC should continue to examine how satellites
can be used as a means of providing or extending broadband access to hundreds of millions of
Americans, including those in underserved and unserved areas.”
FOREIGN SATELLITE NAVIGATION
Galileo's Encrypted Signals Pass Verification Test
Return to Top
Space News International, by Peter B. de Selding, April 3, 2012
http://spacenews.com/civil/120403-galileo-encrypted-signals-pass-test.html
The encrypted signals intended for use by European military and civil government authorities as part of
Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system have been validated aboard the first two orbiting Galileo
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satellites, the German-Italian joint venture company managing the constellation’s operations announced
April 2.
The Public Regulated Service (PRS) signals from the two Galileo test satellites launched in October 2011
were verified for their accuracy and stability by Spaceopal, a joint venture between Telespazio of Rome
and the German Aerospace Center, DLR.
In an April 2 statement, Spaceopal said the performance verification tests with the two satellites and the
control centers have now been completed. Two more Galileo In-Orbit Validation satellites, identical to
the first two, are scheduled for launch in 2012 aboard a European version of Russia’s Soyuz rocket. The
first two Galileo satellites were on board the inaugural launch of Soyuz from Europe’s Guiana Space
Center spaceport in French Guiana in October.
PRS signals are intended to be similar to the M-code service to be provided by the U.S. GPS
constellation. Like the M-Code, PRS will not be generally available to private-sector Galileo users, but
will be reserved for use by European military forces, civil-protection agencies and authorized security
organizations.
It remains unclear whether European Union users of PRS will need to pay a special fee to receive the
encrypted data or will have unlimited free access to it. PRS in the past was a controversial part of Galileo
as critics said its mere existence undermined the European system’s image as a nonmilitary network.
A prototype PRS receiver was developed earlier this year by Septentrio of Belgium and Qinetiq of Britain.
Stationed at Telespazio’s Fucino, Italy, facility, the receiver successfully demonstrated the reception of
PRS signals.
Galileo officials in the past have expressed concerns that China’s Beidou/Compass navigation
constellation, which is now being placed into orbit and will achieve operational status before Galileo,
operates a PRS-/Code-M-type signal on radio spectrum that partly overlays the PRS signal.
While this does not contravene any international radio frequency rules insofar as the two systems do
not interfere with each other, it does mean that it will be difficult to jam the Chinese service without
also jamming Galileo.
Spaceopal will operate the Galileo constellation from facilities in Fucino and at a DLR center in
Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany, under a contract valued at 194 million euros ($252 million) and signed in
October 2010.
FOREIGN SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS
Chinese Rocket Lifts Off With Communications Satellite
Spaceflight Now, by Stephen Clark, March 31, 2012
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n1203/31longmarch/
Return to Top
9 April 2012
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A Chinese Long March 3B rocket lifted a French-built communications payload into orbit Saturday to
broadcast television signals, Internet access and network data solutions across the Asia-Pacific and the
Middle East for a Hong Kong-based satellite operator.
The launch occurred at 1027 GMT (6:27 a.m. EDT) from the Xichang space base, a facility in Sichuan
province in southwest China. The blastoff was at 6:27 p.m. Beijing time.
The 180-foot-tall Long March 3B rocket, featuring an enhanced first stage and strap-on boosters to haul
heavier payloads into space, soared into a mostly cloudy sky and flew east from Xichang.
Two burns of the Long March 3B rocket's cryogenic third stage injected the Apstar 7 satellite into an
elliptical orbit with a high point of 31,145 miles, a low point of 148 miles, and an inclination of 27.4
degrees, according to U.S. military tracking data.
The third stage released the Apstar payload about 25 minutes, 42 seconds after liftoff.
Apstar 7 weighed 11,142 pounds at the time of launch. The satellite will use an on-board engine to
circularize its orbit 22,300 miles over the equator, where it will be positioned at 76.5 degrees east
longitude and enter service for APT Satellite Co. Ltd. of Hong Kong.
APT arranged the launch under a commercial agreement with China Great Wall Industry Corp., a stateowned launch services firm.
The satellite is outfitted with 28 C-band and 28 Ku-band transponders to serve China, the Middle East,
South Asia, Africa, Australia, and part of Europe. Apstar 7 will broadcast television programming,
facilitate corporate data networks, and serve Internet users during its 15-year design life.
Apstar 7 was built by Thales Alenia Space of France using an 'ITAR-free' version of the company's
Spacebus 4000 C2 satellite platform. Thales avoids U.S. government regulations by not using U.S.
satellite components in its ITAR-free satellites.
The International Traffic in Arms Regulations, or ITAR, classifies U.S. satellite parts as munitions,
preventing their launch on Chinese rockets.
Apstar 7 will replace the Apstar 2R spacecraft, which is near the end of its design life.
Saturday's mission marked the fourth Chinese space launch of the year.
Related News:


China launches French-made communication satellite, Space Travel, by Staff Writers, April 2,
2012
China Launches Telecom Satellite, RIA Novosti, March 31, 2012
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INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, and RECONNAISSANCE
Delta 4 Rocket Successfully Lofts Surveillance Satellite
Return to Top
Spaceflight Now, by Justin Ray, April 4, 2012
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d359/
A Delta 4 rocket made a thunderous departure from California on Tuesday afternoon, only to slip into a
news blackout minutes later while it climbed higher and faster to deploy a classified spy satellite, a
success-defining milestone that was confirmed by hobbyist observers.
The United Launch Alliance-made booster roared away from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 4:12:57 p.m.
local (7:12:57 p.m. EDT; 2312:57 GMT) on a southwesterly course to reach a retrograde orbit inclined
123 degrees relative to the equator.
A pair of strap-on solid boosters burned out 90 seconds later, then peeled away as the liquid hydrogenfueled main engine continued to accelerate the 21-story rocket over the open Pacific.
When the 47-foot-long nose cone was jettisoned three-and-a-half minutes into flight, the now-standard
veil of secrecy fell over the mission to halt any further live updates about staging or burns by the upper
stage engine to inject the satellite into space.
The hush-hush nature for the rest of flight is all part of launching covert payloads for the U.S. National
Reconnaissance Office, the secretive agency that operates the country's fleet of spy satellites. The NRO
does not disclose the purpose of its spacecraft being sent up on each launch, saying only that the flight
was called the NROL-25 mission.
But a band of precise satellite-tracking specialists linked together by their hobby and the Internet was
poised to look for the newest object in the sky, adding the spacecraft to their catalog.
Given the rocket's unusual trajectory to the southwest, analysts were certain the satellite was the
second in a new generation of radar-imaging surveillance craft used by the NRO. The first launch in the
series took the same path from Vandenberg aboard an Atlas 5 rocket in September 2010.
And right on cue, the new spacecraft flew overhead Tuesday night exactly where the observers expected
it to be.
"Today's successful launch is a tribute to the hard work and ingenuity of our government and contractor
team and I am very proud of them. After the six successful launches last year, our 50th anniversary year,
we proved tonight we can continue that hitting streak as we work to deliver superior vigilance from
above for the nation," said Col. James D. Fisher, director of the NRO's Office of Space Launch.
The NRO has three more launches slated for this year, including an Atlas 5 and Delta 4-Heavy from Cape
Canaveral in late June and another Atlas 5 from the West Coast in early August.
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This was the maiden mission for the Delta 4 Medium+ (5,2) configured rocket, the last of the family's
five members to take flight. It used previously-proven elements of the vehicle like the five-meter upper
stage and twin boosters to assemble this particular version to carry the given size and weight of the
payload.
"Congratulations to the NRO and to all the mission partners involved in this critical national security
launch," said ULA Missions Operations Vice President Jim Sponnick. "ULA is proud to have supported this
mission and delivered critical capabilities to the men and women defending our freedom throughout the
world."
Radar satellites offer all-weather, day-and-night imaging for reconnoitering global hotspots to inform
policy makers and warfighters. These newest, advanced spacecraft follow the heritage of five "Lacrosse"
radar birds put up by the space shuttle Atlantis and Titan 4 rockets between 1988 and 2005.
The updated satellite design is smaller and less massive, enabling the craft to fly aboard mid-sized Atlas
5 and Delta 4 rockets.
The intelligence-gathering craft probably use a synthetic aperture radar system to observe strategic
targets around the globe in both daylight and darkness. The eyes-in-the-sky can pierce clouds and even
reveal underground structures like military bunkers.
Lacrosse satellites orbit in normal, 420-mile-high perches, but this new generation fly retrograde, or
against the Earth's rotation, about 685 miles up. The rationale for the different type of orbit isn't known.
At the time of Tuesday's launch, the first satellite in the new generation was flying westward over the
southern tip of South America.
"The teamwork between the 30th Space Wing, the National Reconnaissance Office, United Launch
Alliance and numerous other agencies was seamless," said Col. Nina Armagno, 30th Space Wing
commander at Vandenberg. "It's this synergistic mindset and attention to detail that led to our amazing
launch today."
The liftoff begins a stretch of 8 flights by the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles -- the Delta
4 and Atlas 5 -- from Vandenberg over the next two-and-a-half years, according to Lt. Col. Brady
Hauboldt, commander of the 4th Space Launch Squadron that oversees the boosters' operations at the
California installation.
"We are about to kick off a very, very busy time in EELV operations at Vandenberg. Right after this
launch, we'll roll into our next mission -- an Atlas 5," said Hauboldt. "There is not much of a break."
That rocket is scheduled for delivery to Vandenberg from its manufacturing factory in Alabama this
month, and crew exercises to prepare for the launch also begin soon. Liftoff carrying another NRO
payload is slated for Aug. 2.
9 April 2012
P a g e | 28
A Delta 4-Heavy vehicle arrives at the base this fall for blastoff next August, perhaps sooner, to launch a
large NRO satellite. It will be second such flight by the mammoth vehicle from California.
"We love it! We love to be busy out here. It keeps us sharp...and puts a spotlight on Vandenberg's
contribution to national security," said Hauboldt.
Also on tap is NASA's first Atlas 5 launch from the West Coast, deploying the next Landsat spacecraft in
January, and a commercial Atlas 5 in March with the GeoEye 2 Earth imager.
Related News:


Delta 4 Lofts NRO Spy Satellite, Space News International, April 4, 2012
Spy Satellite Launch Tests Final Delta 4 Configuration, Space Safety Magazine, April 4, 2012
FOREIGN LAUNCH
India to Launch Astrium's Spot 6 Earth Observation Satellite
Return to Top
Space News International, by Peter B. de Selding, April 4, 2012
http://spacenews.com/launch/120404-india-launch-spot-sat.html
India’s PSLV rocket will launch the Spot 6 commercial Earth observation satellite for Astrium Services of
Europe late this year under a contract announced April 3 by the Indian Space Research Organisation
(ISRO).
The 800-kilogram satellite, intended to operate from a near-polar low Earth orbit at 694 kilometers in
altitude, will be accompanied on the launch by several other payloads that ISRO did not identify.
Astrium Services is building and launching the identical Spot 6 and 7 satellites using its own funds, with
no assistance — nor any guarantee of future image purchases — by the French government. Astrium
officials have said they expect to spend about 300 million euros ($400 million) to build and launch the
two spacecraft.
Spot 7 is scheduled for launch in 2014, with a launch vehicle yet to be announced.
Spot 6 and Spot 7 will replace the larger Spot 5 satellite, which was launched in 2002 and has been
operating beyond its contracted in-orbit service life since 2008. Spot 5 has been the principal revenue
generator for Astrium Geo-Information Services, the Astrium Services division that commercializes Earth
observation imagery.
Spot 6 and Spot 7 are expected to operate 180 degrees apart in low Earth orbit, much as the higherresolution Pleiades satellites, the first of which was launched in December. The French government
financed development of the two Pleiades satellites, and Astrium Geo-Information Services is
commercializing Pleiades imagery.
9 April 2012
P a g e | 29
Spot 6 and Spot 7 will be capable of distinguishing objects of 1.5 meters in diameter in black and white,
and 6 meters in color. The images will have a swath width of 60 kilometers, like the previous Spot
spacecraft, but will be more agile. The satellites will be able to move the imager up to 45 degrees off
nadir back and forth to capture views in front of and behind the satellite, and up to 35 degrees off nadir
from side to side.
ISRO said the agreement between Astrium and ISRO’s Antrix commercial arm is part of a long-term
cooperation agreement signed in September 2008. The same collaborative accord covered the
construction of the Hylas 1 Ka-band broadband satellite operated by Avanti Communications of London.
ISRO and Antrix built the Hylas 1 satellite structure, or bus, with Astrium providing the
telecommunications payload.
Pentagon: U.S. Takes Prospect of North Korea Launch
Seriously
Return to Top
American Forces Press Service, by Cheryl Pellerin, April 5, 2012
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=67846
The Defense Department is closely monitoring the prospect of a long-range rocket launch this month by
North Korea, a senior Pentagon official told reporters today.
“The North Koreans will be violating [United Nations] Security Council resolutions if they move ahead
with such a launch,” said George Little, acting assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, “and we
call on them, as other countries have, not to launch the missile.”
A spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology announced March 16 that North Korea
would launch a long-range Unha-3 rocket between April 12 and 16.
The rocket would carry a North Korean-made Kwangmyongsong-3 polar-orbiting observation satellite to
mark the 100th birthday of the late President Kim Il Sung on April 15.
“This is very serious business when North Korea does something like this,” Little said. “We’re monitoring
it closely. We understand the impact it could have on regional stability.”
North Korea tried to launch satellites into space in 1998 and in 2009, but the launches’ success has
never been confirmed.
“We’re working very closely with our Republic of Korea allies as well as our Japanese allies to monitor
what’s happening with respect to this missile launch,” Little said. “We hope it doesn’t happen. But if it
does, we’ll be ready to track it.”
If launched, the satellite would travel southward from the Sohae satellite launch station in North
Phyongan province’s Cholsan County, North Korean officials said in the statement.
9 April 2012
P a g e | 30
“A safe flight orbit has been chosen so that carrier rocket debris to be generated during the flight would
not have any impact on neighboring countries,” they added.
North Korean officials said they will “strictly abide by relevant international regulations and usage
concerning the launch of scientific and technological satellites for peaceful purposes.”
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said March 16 that U.N. Security Council Resolutions
1718 and 1874 “clearly and unequivocally prohibit North Korea from conducting launches that use
ballistic-missile technology.”
“Such a missile launch would pose a threat to regional security,” she added, “and would also be
inconsistent with North Korea’s recent undertaking to refrain from long-range missile launches.”
State Department officials are consulting closely with international partners on next steps, Nuland said.
At the Pentagon today, Little said the Defense Department is operating on the assumption that the
launch could happen. The North Koreans have indicated that they intend to launch the satellite, he
noted.
“They have done so in the past,” Little said, “so if history is any guide to the future, we would be remiss
if we didn’t take those North Korean announcements for what they are.”
In terms of U.S. allies in the region who could potentially be affected by the launch, Little said, “we have
an unwavering commitment to the security of both Japan and the Republic of South Korea.”
Such a launch is unacceptable to the United States and other nations, Little said.
“I believe we have what we need to track [the launch] and to also work closely with our allies in the
region to respond,” he added.
Related News:








U.S. Has Few Avenues For Responding to North Korean Rocket Launch, Global Security
Newswire, April 3, 2012
North Korea Rocket Launch May Offer Intel Boon, Global Security Newswire, April 5, 2012
North Korea Presses Closer to Rocket Firing, Global Security Newswire, April 2, 2012
Sat Spies North Korea Readying Rocket Launch, Wired (UK), April 2, 2012
Images reportedly show North Korea preparations for rocket launch are'extensive', FoxNews
(via Associated Press), April 2, 2012
Satellite reveals mobile radar trailer, empty fuel tanks at NKorea launchsite, The Washington
Post (via Associated Press), April 1, 2012
Japanese Missile Units Told to Fire on North Korean Rocket if Necessary, Global Security
Newswire, March 30, 2012
U.S. Calls Off Food Assistance to North Korea Ahead of Rocket Launch, Global Security
Newswire, March 29, 2012
9 April 2012
P a g e | 31
MISCELLANEOUS
Space Foundation Events to Commemorate 30th Anniversary
of Air Force Space Command
Return to Top
Space Foundation, April 3, 2012
http://www.spacefoundation.org/media/press-releases/space-foundation-events-commemorate-30th-anniversaryair-force-space-command
The Space Foundation plans to conduct two special events to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the
United States' Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) - one in Colorado Springs, Colo., which is the
headquarters city of both AFSPC and the Space Foundation, and one in Washington, D.C.
The first commemorative event, The Space Foundation Presents a 30th Anniversary Salute to Air Force
Space Command, will take place on Friday, Sept. 14, 2012, at The Broadmoor Hotel. The event will
celebrate the history and contributions of the command and its 30-year heritage in the Pikes Peak
community.
The second event, The Space Foundation Presents a Washington, D.C., Gala Salute to the 30th
Anniversary of Air Force Space Command, will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012, at the Army-Navy
Club in Washington, D.C. The black tie gala will reunite historic leaders who created and then led AFSPC
with senior military, government and industry leaders.
AFSPC's official anniversary is Sept. 1.
"Few events have transformed U.S. National Security as fundamentally as the formation of Air Force
Space Command," said Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham. "The organization is a
treasure for our Pikes Peak community and a powerful instrument of our national will. We at the Space
Foundation are honored to host these events in honor of all the men and women who have served and
fought for Air Force Space Command."
Details on the program for both events, as well as how to participate, will be released at a later date.
About Air Force Space Command
The Air Force established AFSPC in 1982, with space operations as its primary mission. During the Cold
War, space operations focused on missile warning, launch operations, satellite control, space
surveillance and command and control for national leadership. In 1991, Operation Desert Storm
validated the command's continuing focus on support to the warfighter. The Space Warfare Center, now
named the Space Innovation and Development Center, was created to ensure space capabilities reached
the warfighters who needed it. ICBM forces joined AFSPC in July 1993. In 2001, upon the
recommendation of the Space Commission, the Space and Missile Systems Center joined the command.
It previously belonged to Air Force Materiel Command. AFSPC is currently the only Air Force command
to have its acquisition arm within the command. In 2002, also on a recommendation from the Space
Commission, AFSPC was assigned its own four-star commander after previously sharing a commander
9 April 2012
P a g e | 32
with U.S. Space Command and NORAD. In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the president
directed military action against Afghanistan and Iraq. AFSPC provided extensive space-based support to
the U.S. Central Command commander in communications; positioning, navigation and timing;
meteorology; and warning. In 2005, the Air Force expanded its mission areas to include cyberspace. In
concert with this, the Air Staff assigned responsibility for conducting cyberspace operations to AFSPC
through Twenty-fourth Air Force, which was activated in August 2009. In order to reinvigorate the Air
Force's nuclear mission, Headquarters U.S. Air Force activated Air Force Global Strike Command to
consolidate all nuclear forces under one command. Along with this, AFSPC transferred its ICBM forces to
the new command in December 2009.
About the Space Foundation
The foremost advocate for all sectors of the space industry and an expert in all aspects of space, the
Space Foundation is a global, nonprofit leader in space awareness activities, educational programs that
bring space into the classroom and major industry events, including the National Space Symposium, all
in support of its mission "to advance space-related endeavors to inspire, enable and propel humanity."
The Space Foundation publishes The Space Report: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity and
provides three indexes that track daily performance of the space industry. Through its Space
Certification and Space Technology Hall of Fame® programs, the Space Foundation recognizes spacebased technologies and innovations that have been adapted to improve life on Earth. Founded in 1983
and headquartered in Colorado Springs, the Space Foundation conducts research and analysis and
government affairs activities from its Washington, D.C., office and has a field office in Houston, Texas.
For more information, visit www.SpaceFoundation.org. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter,
and read about the latest space news and Space Foundation activities in Space Watch.
9 April 2012
P a g e | 33
CONFERENCES OF INTEREST
Return to Top

16-19 April 2012: 28th National Space Symposium; The Broadmoor Hotel, Colorado Springs,
Colorado; http://www.nationalspacesymposium.org/

18-19 April 2012: ISR 2012, London, UK; http://www.smionline.co.uk/events/overview.asp?is=1&ref=3718

23-26 April 2012: ION/IEEE Position, Location, and Navigation Symposium (PLANS); Myrtle
Beach Marriott Resort & Spa; Myrtle Beach, S. Carolina; http://www.plansconference.org/

7-11 May 2012: Reinventing Space Conference 2012; LAX Westin Hotel; Los Angeles, Calif.;
http://www.responsivespace.com/Conferences/RS2012/RS2012.asp

9-10 May 2012: MilSatCom Asia 2012; Singapore Exhibition and Convention Bureau; Swissotel
Merchant Court, Singapore; http://www.smi-online.co.uk/events/overview.asp?is=1&ref=3707

15-17 May 2012: Joint Warfighting Conference 2012: "Joint Forces' Inflection Point: What to
Hold & What to Fold?"; Virginia Beach Convention Center, Va.;
http://www.afcea.org/email.cfm?email=!*EMAIL*!&campaign=JointWarfighting14thFeb2012&f
url=http%3A//www.jointwarfighting.org

23 May 2012: Air Force Industry Day: "USAF ISR - The Way Ahead"; TASC Heritage Conference
Center; Chantilly, Va.; http://www.afcea.org/events/afday/12/welcome.asp

12-15 June 2012: Joint Navigation Conference; Crowne Plaza Hotel, Colorado Springs, Colorado;
http://www.jointnavigation.org/?noRedirect=1 Date change info;
http://www.insidegnss.com/node/2947

30 Jul-3 Aug 2012: Army Space Cadre Symposium; Scitor Facility, Colorado Springs, Colorado;
https://www.us.army.mil/suite/page/343526

14-16 November 2012: SEASONS 2012: "Operating Through Solar Max," at JHU/APL in Laurel,
MD; https://secwww.jhuapl.edu/SEASONS/
9 April 2012
P a g e | 34
APRIL/MAY WORLDWIDE SPACE LAUNCH SCHEDULE
Return to Top
NET April 12 Unha 3 • Kwangmyongsong 3
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Tongchang-ri, North Korea
A North Korean Unha 3 rocket will launch from the Tongchang-ri launch base. North Korea claims the
rocket will carry the Kwangmyongsong 3 satellite into a polar orbit. [April 4]
April 20 Soyuz • Progress 47P
Launch time: 1250 GMT (8:50 a.m. EDT)
Launch site: Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
A Russian government Soyuz rocket will launch the 47th Progress cargo delivery ship to the International
Space Station. Moved up from April 25. [Feb. 16]
April 23 Proton • Yahsat 1B
Launch time: 2218 GMT (6:18 p.m. EDT)
An International Launch Services Proton rocket with a Breeze M upper stage will deploy the Yahsat 1B
satellite. Yahsat 1B will provide commercial and government services to the Middle East, Africa, Europe
and Southwest Asia for Al Yah Satellite Communications Co. of Abu Dhabi. Delayed from Feb. 17. [March
28]
April 26 PSLV • RISAT 1
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota, India
India's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) will launch the RISAT 1 Earth observation satellite. RISAT 1
carries a radar payload for all-weather, day-and-night observations for national security and
environmental applications. Delayed from January, March and April 20. [April 4]
April 30 Falcon 9 • Dragon C2
Launch site: SLC-40, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch the second Dragon spacecraft, called Dragon C2, to demonstrate
rendezvous and berthing with the International Space Station for cargo-delivery. The company is
9 April 2012
P a g e | 35
building the Dragon to fly on operational resupply missions to the orbiting lab. Delayed from June 6, Oct.
8, Nov. 30, Dec. 19, Jan. 7, Feb. 7 and March 20. See our Mission Status Center. [March 15]
May 5 Atlas 5 • AEHF 2
Launch window: 1838-2038 GMT (2:38-4:38 p.m. EDT)
Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket (AV-031) will launch the second Advanced Extremely High
Frequency (AEHF) satellite. Built by Lockheed Martin, this U.S. military spacecraft will provide highlysecure communications. The rocket will fly in the 531 vehicle configuration with a five-meter fairing,
three solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. Delayed from February 2011 due to
orbit-raising delays with AEHF 1. See our Mission Status Center. [April 4]
May 14/15 Soyuz • ISS 30S
Launch time: 0258 GMT on 15th (10:58 p.m. EDT on 14th)
A Russian government Soyuz rocket will launch the manned Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space
Station with members of the next Expedition crew. The capsule will remain at the station for about six
months, providing an escape pod for the crew. Delayed from March 30 replace descent module. [March
2]
May 15 Ariane 5 • JCSAT 13 & Vinasat 2
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: ELA-3, Kourou, French Guiana
Arianespace will use an Ariane 5 ECA rocket, designated VA206, to launch the JCSAT 13 and Vinasat 2
communications satellites. JCSAT 13 will provide communications and television broadcast services to
Japan. Vinasat 2 is Vietnam's second communications satellite. [March 23]
May Proton • Nimiq 6
Launch time: TBD
An International Launch Services Proton rocket with a Breeze M upper stage will deploy the Nimiq 6
satellite. Nimiq 6 will provide Ku-band HDTV and other video services across Canada for Telesat. [March
20]
May 17 H-2A • GCOM W1 & Kompsat 3
Launch window: 1639-1642 GMT (12:39-12:42 p.m. EDT)
Launch site: Tanegashima Space Center, Japan
9 April 2012
P a g e | 36
The Japanese H-2A rocket will launch the GCOM W1 and Kompsat 3 satellites. GCOM W1, nicknamed
Shizuku, is the first Global Change Observation Mission dedicated to tracking precipitation and the water
cycle around the world. Kompsat 3 is a South Korean Earth observation satellite. The rocket will fly in the
H-2A-202 configuration with two large solid rocket boosters. Delayed from February. [March 23]
May 19 Zenit 3SL • Intelsat 19
Launch time: TBD
Launch site: Odyssey platform, Pacific Ocean (154Â° West, 0Â° North)
A Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket will deliver the Intelsat 19 communications satellite into orbit. Intelsat 19
will provide C-band and Ku-band communications services to the Asia-Pacific region, reaching users from
Australia to the United States. [March 6]
May 23 Soyuz • MetOp B
A Starsem Soyuz rocket will launch the MetOp B weather satellite for the European Space Agency and
the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, or Eumetsat. The rocket will
fly in the Soyuz 2 configuration with a Fregat upper stage. Delayed from April. [March 5]

Untitled - Colorado Wing

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