Space Adventures Working on Contracts to Circumnavigate the Moon
Genesis II News Roundup
National Space Society To Co-Host Participatory Exploration Summit with NASA Ames Research Center
National Space Society To Co-Host Participatory Exploration Summit with NASA Ames Research Center
June 26, 2007, Moffett Field, CA – The National Space Society, in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is co-hosting the Participatory Exploration Summit at Ames Research Center today.
SpaceDev Signs Space Act Agreement with NASA
SpaceDev, Inc. (OTC BB:SPDV.OB) has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA to facilitate its development of reliable, safe and affordable transportation of passengers and cargo to and from Earth orbit. Under the Agreement, NASA will provide information about the agency’s projected commercial demand for crew and cargo services to the International Space Station (ISS) [...]
The Russian Computers are Crashing
After the installation of the new solar panels on the ISS, the Russians computer lost their mind (forgive the technical software terms ;-). Astronauts and Cosmonauts are attempting a reboot. If they can’t fix it NASA says it may abandon the ISS.
These are the systems that control thrusters are also used to control the oxygen-production [...]
TGV Rockets Completes Test Firing
TGV Rockets has completed a successful test firing of their engine technology. They hope to dramatically decrease the cost of military suborbital missions and quick satellite-like views of a theatre.
China Drafts Space Law
China is working on a draft space law. This is likely a political move aimed at the US and Europe. The law is supposed to “effectively protect the space environment, reduce or eradicate fragments in space and expand international cooperation.”
US Increases Military Space Budget
After China’s January ASAT Test, the US Congress has plans to increase military space funding. The House bill increases the Pentagon’s 2008 budget request by 1/3 for the Operationally Responsive Space program.
ORS’s mission is to develop a system that can quickly launch low cost satellites to replace damaged satellites or to quickly increase US [...]
Virgin Galactic Appoints First “Space Agent”
Virgin Galactic has appointed their first travel agent for space, or space agent. British luxury tour operators, Elegant Resorts, is now the only agent in the world able to book sub-orbital flights on board Virgin Galactic.
XCOR Receives money from Boston Angles
The Boston Harbor Angels, a group of 36 angel investors, has invested in XCOR Aerospace. According to Aleksandar Mollov, the groups managing director, XCOR impressed them by:
XCOR’s development strategy, which focuses on going after government contracts that move the company closer to creating its own commercial space vehicle. XCOR has worked on methane-powered rocket technology [...]
Creation of ICAO Like Organization
The International Civil Aviation Organisation is a new UN directorate to handle commercial spaceflight up to the geostationary orbit. It should take a few years for the ICAO to finished formation. The creation was cased by the interest and progress in space tourism and other private space ventures.
[Update: June 8, 2007] I misunderstood the [...]
Quantum Communications
Researchers have sent a cryptographic key 144km (~90 miles) using spooky interaction between entangled quantum particles. This could enable instantaneous communications across the vastness of space.
NASA Releases their Exploration Framework
NASA has released The Global Exploration Strategy: The Framework for Coordination (pdf). This document is meant to create ways for space agencies to exchange information on exploration plans. Basically, it allows the space agencies of the Earth to cooperate to fill each other’s gaps as we go out into the solar system.
It does outline NASA’s [...]
