Разношерстные новости

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/launch/110708-arianespace-rethinking-dual-launch-strategy.html

Fri, 8 July, 2011
Arianespace Rethinking Dual-Launch Strategy

By Peter B. de Selding

 PARIS — Europe's Arianespace commercial launch consortium will encourage customers to seek financing from France's export-credit agency as a way of mitigating the effects of foreign exchange fluctuations and returning the company's financial accounts to break-even status, Arianespace says in its annual report.

 Arianespace also says, for perhaps the first time, that the company's business model of launching two satellites at a time aboard the heavy-lift Ariane 5 rocket may no longer be well adapted to the evolution of the global commercial launch market.

 The Evry, France-based company is already having trouble pairing two satellites for Ariane 5 liftoffs. Small increases in Ariane 5's liftoff power will make it easier to find two satellites that are ready to launch at the same time and can be fitted on board. But the bifurcation of the market into heavy and light spacecraft will continue to make finding suitable pairs a challenge, the report says.

 Even more troubling is the fact that heavy satellites, meaning those weighing more than 6,000 kilograms, are likely to outnumber smaller telecommunications satellites coming onto the market, according to Arianespace market forecasts.

 "This trend ... in the coming years could eventually imperil the dual-launch concept," according to the annual report, released the week of July 4.

 As has been the case for years, satellite owners and builders tend to build their heavier spacecraft to the maximum size that can be handled by at least two vehicles on the commercial market, thereby maintaining a minimal diversity in launch suppliers. In the past couple of years the market has been dominated by Arianespace and Reston, Va.-based International Launch Services (ILS), which markets Russia's Proton rocket.

 The Russian government and Proton prime contractor Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Moscow have made investments in Proton upgrades that have increased the rocket's power to where it can handle satellites weighing more than 6,400 kilograms.

 The Ariane 5 can carry satellites of that size, but Arianespace has difficulty finding smaller satellites that can fill the rest of the vehicle. In most cases, Ariane 5 is far more expensive than the Proton if the European rocket is limited to a single satellite per launch.

 Finding small spacecraft of around 3,200 kilograms in launch weight is therefore crucial to Arianespace, but it is this category of satellite that the company believes will be in decreasing demand in the coming years.

 The company blamed "passenger pairings that were not optimal" as one of the factors that contributed to Arianespace's reporting its second consecutive year of losses in 2010.

 Arianespace reported that 2010 revenue, at 897 million euros ($1.19 billion), was down 12.8 percent from 2009. Launch delays early in 2010 related to the Ariane 5 ground system reduced the launch rate to six liftoffs in 2010, compared to seven in 2011. This was the biggest factor in the revenue decline.

 Arianespace said its financial loss in 2010 totaled 83 million euros, compared to a loss of 71.2 million euros in 2009.

 The second loss-making year despite the fact that the Ariane 5 rocket has operated without a failure since 2003 is one reason why European governments insisted on an audit of the Ariane 5 launch system. The review included an outside assessment of the books of Arianespace and its principal contractors, who are also its principal shareholders.

 One result of the audit was an agreement by the 19-nation European Space Agency (ESA) to award Arianespace two years of price supports. In the annual report, Arianespace says these payments include 120 million euros in fixed payments over two years, plus up to 92 million euros in payments that will vary with the dollar-euro exchange rate and Arianespace's overall health.

 As a condition of winning this government backing, Arianespace's shareholders, including the French space agency, CNES, agreed to inject 127 million euros into the company, of which 80 million euros was in cash.

 ESA governments are scheduled to decide in late 2012 on a long-term system of financial support to Arianespace, now that a majority of these governments apparently agree that the company cannot survive on its own without a wholesale overhaul of its business. That overhaul would include replacing long-standing contractors with more-competitive ones, which ESA governments might find politically unacceptable.

 Another result of the audit is the agreement that three individual ESA governments would have seats at Arianespace shareholder meetings as a way of presenting greater financial and operational transparency.

 Arianespace has long said that ILS's aggressive pricing policy, aided by the fact that most of its costs are in Russian rubles, will make life difficult for Europe's launcher, whose costs are mostly in euros. In addition to coaxing more financial support from European governments, the company is encouraging customers to solicit France's Coface export-credit agency before selecting a launch-service provider.

  A low-interest Coface-backed loan may compensate for the higher face-value cost of an Arianespace launch, "consolidating a sales price in line with the objectives defined to ensure operational break-even," Arianespace says.

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/earth_observation/110708-bill-boost-funding-jpss.html

Fri, 8 July, 2011
U.S. House Bill Would Boost Funding for JPSS Program

By Turner Brinton

 WASHINGTON — A U.S. House of Representatives appropriations panel that oversees the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) approved a spending bill July 7 that would provide $812 million in 2012 for a cash-starved polar weather satellite program.

 Despite the $429.5 million funding increase recommended for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), the House Appropriations commerce, justice, science subcommittee would provide only $4.5 billion for NOAA next year, $1 billion short of the administration's request. In total, the panel slashed $7.4 billion from the White House's $57.7 billion request for all commerce-, justice- and science-related spending.

 The JPSS program was created last year after the White House in February 2010 dismantled the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) that was being jointly developed by NASA and the Defense Department. The program was beset by divergent mission requirements, funding squabbles and technical troubles, resulting in cost growth and a launch schedule that continually slipped to the right.

 The administration decided to revert to two separate weather satellite constellations, directing NOAA to develop polar-orbiting weather satellites for civil weather and climate forecasting, while the Air Force would pursue a weather constellation for dedicated military purposes, dubbed the Defense Weather Satellite System.

 NOAA had been responsible for funding half of NPOESS, and taking on JPSS by itself required an infusion of cash. Congress appropriated $382 million for NOAA's share of NPOESS in 2010, and the agency requested $1.06 billion for JPSS in 2011. Congress was unable to pass any of the 12 conventional federal spending bills for 2011, and instead funded the government with an all-in-one spending bill that generally held spending to 2010 levels.

 JPSS was left with a $678 million budget shortfall this year. As a result, launch of the first satellite slipped from late 2014 to 2016, making it highly likely that the nation would experience a gap in polar-orbiting weather satellite coverage, NOAA officials have said.

 The $812 million recommended by the House panel for JPSS in 2012 is $258 million less than the agency requested. The $4.5 billion that the bill would provide for NOAA is $103 million less than NOAA received last year, ensuring that other NOAA programs would be reduced or eliminated to increase spending on JPSS. The subcommittee noted that National Weather Service programs and operations would be fully funded but did not reveal funding levels for any other NOAA programs.

 Chairman Frank Wolf (R-Va.), lamented the deep cuts his subcommittee had to make but noted that the nation's growing debt cannot be tackled alone by cuts to so-called discretionary spending.

 "There are a number of areas in this bill that, under different circumstances, I would have preferred to fund at different levels," Wolf said in his opening statement. "However, the House-passed Budget Resolution established our allocation and accordingly this subcommittee produced a strong bill with strategic investments in national security, job creation and science, despite the limited allocation.

 "In the absence of a comprehensive plan to rein in entitlements and our crushing debt, we are forced to focus only on non-security discretionary spending to achieve savings — which is only 12 percent of the overall budget request. There is never a convenient time to make tough decisions, but the longer we put off fixing the problem, the worse the medicine will be," Wolf said.

 Rep. Norman Dicks (Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, criticized the subcommittee's allocation for JPSS.

 "Cutting the president's budget request yet again in fiscal year 2012 will only increase the delays and is expected to cause a significant gap in our forecasting capabilities, diminishing our abilities to anticipate hurricanes and other natural disasters," Dicks said. "It also increases the eventual costs of these critical investments."

  The full committee is scheduled to take up the bill July 13. Appropriators in the U.S. Senate have yet to introduce companion legislation.

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/earth_observation/110708-funding-germany-radar-sat.html

Fri, 8 July, 2011
Public Funding on the Table for Germany's Next Radar Satellite
By Peter B. de Selding

 LE BOURGET, France — The German government is willing to reconsider its position on whether the private sector is able to take over full financial responsibility for future civil German radar satellites in light of the slower-than-expected radar imagery revenue, the head of Germany's space agency said.

 Johann-Dietrich Woerner, executive chairman of the German Aerospace Center, DLR, said that while Germany is still pushing industry to assume an increasing share of the risk of building Earth observation satellites, it may be too soon to insist that industry go it alone.

 "A full private investment in the next-generation satellite, TerreSAR-X 2, was what we had said we wanted," Woerner said here June 23 during the Paris air show. "This was the basic idea, but we are now discussing whether this is feasible."

 TerreSAR-X was launched in June 2007 at a cost of some 185 million euros, or $260 million at current exchange rates, including launch charges. The German division of a company called Astrium Geo-Information Services paid 20 percent of that sum in return for exclusive rights to commercialize the radar data. DLR paid the remaining 80 percent.

 A twin satellite, called TanDEM-X, was launched in June 2010. Its 165 million euros in cost was paid 75 percent by DLR and 25 percent by Astrium Geo-Information Services.

 Both satellites are healthy in orbit and delivering imagery with a ground resolution of between 1 meter and 16 meters, depending on the desired observation mode and swath width. Since late 2010, they have been moved to within 350 meters of each other to operate in tandem to produce a stereo map of the Earth's entire land mass.

 Since the launch of TerreSAR-X, Astrium Geo-Information Services, which is part of Astrium Services and a subsidiary of Europe's EADS aerospace conglomerate, has been informed by the French government that future French Spot optical Earth observation satellites will be the sole responsibility of the private sector.

 Astrium Services is now spending around 300 million euros to build and launch the Spot 6 and Spot 7 satellites, which will succeed the larger Spot 5 satellite that is now in orbit and well past its contracted retirement date.

 While Astrium Services is one of EADS's most profitable businesses, the market for Earth observation imagery, and particularly radar data, has not grown as fast as expected.

 Eric Beranger, chief executive of Astrium Services, said many governments — which remain the majority market for Earth observation data of all kinds — have reduced their budget for Earth observation data as part of broader spending cutbacks.

 "This is mainly driven by short-term constraints and is not entirely unexpected," Beranger said. He said that to make radar data more easily usable by government agencies more accustomed to optical data, Astrium Geo-Information Services is introducing what it calls "Color-SAR," which he said is more appealing than conventional radar images, "which are mainly shown in shades of gray."

 The French government is financing the launch of two high-resolution Pleiades optical Earth observation satellites, each with a 70-centimeter imager, for commercial, civil government and military use. The first is set for launch on the second Europeanized version of Russia's Soyuz rocket, a launch that has been tentatively scheduled for mid-December.

 Astrium Geo-Information Services will have access to Pleiades data, but Beranger said neither the French nor any other government has committed to any purchases of Spot 6 and Spot 7 data. Astrium officials have said the French government's decision not to take part in the satellites' financing means French government agencies will be paying a lot more per Spot image than they have paid in the past.

 Woerner said Germany accepts that the commercial business of selling radar data has been far slower than predicted when TerreSAR-X and TanDEM-X were launched.

 "Our thinking was that fully recurrent satellites after TanDEM-X, which was the subject of a private-public partnership, should be paid for entirely by industry," Woerner said. "But now we see that seems to be not so easy. The prices for which the images can be sold are not as high as what was expected. In addition, in some countries you have open access to data, which makes the commercial business a little tricky."

 Woerner did not disclose how far Germany would go in helping industry with the purchase of a successor to TerreSAR-X, a decision that must be made within the next year if Germany wants to avoid a gap in data flow in the event TerreSAR-X fails soon after its contracted five-year service life.

  "It is a priority for us that we have continuity in X-band radar," Woerner said. "But we still expect industry to keep its word" about increasing the share of program risk it takes in future systems.

[Salo]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2213922.ece

ISRO mulls taking foreign satellite on rent[/size]

Faced with transponder capacity crunch, ISRO is exploring the possibilities of taking "on rent" a foreign satellite for a couple of years and acquiring more foreign transponders on lease.

Indian Space Research Organisation at present has 175 transponders in a mix of C, Extended—C, Ku and S bands and has taken on lease 86 and half foreign transponders but faced a huge order book position.

At the beginning of the 11th plan in April 2007, ISRO had 211 transponders and the goal then was to take it about 500 by March 2012 but a combination of unsuccessful missions, premature terminations and some satellites entering the end of their normal life led to it ending up way below the mark.

ISRO sources said the required demand now is about 200 transponders in all and it's scouting to meet that demand by acquiring more foreign transponders for a short period till its own new satellites are launched and become operational.

ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan said the Indian space agency is also exploring "if we could get a (in—orbit) foreign satellite moved into our (designated, orbital) slots for a short period.

"We have got several orbital slots. We could go up to 320 transponders," he told a press conference.

Sources said ISRO currently has a huge order from users such as DTH broadcasters, VSAT operators and there is also growing demand from applications such as disaster management support.

ISRO officials said the proposed steps to take on lease foreign transponders and possibly taking a foreign satellite on rent are "short—term arrangement" to tide over the crunch, and till India is able to meet the demand through its own transponders.

India is also stepping up efforts to put in orbit a greater number of transponders.

Mr. Radhakrishnan expects the "techno-commercial" process to acquire foreign transponder capacity to be completed in the next few weeks.

The idea to acquire foreign transponder capacity also stems from the fact that India wants to keep some transponder capacity standby. "Suppose something happens to the satellites or transponders, user should not get affected," he said.

Under the Satcom policy, users (customers in India) can't procure transponders from foreign satellite operators, and it is ISRO that has the mandate to take on the ."facilitating role".

[Salo]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/article2213805.ece

V.S. Hegde appointed Antrix Corporation chief[/size]
Staff Reporter

 
The Hindu ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan with V.S. Hegde (left), Scientific Secretary, ISRO during a media conference. File photo

For the first time in the 20 years since its inception, the Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial wing of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will have a chief who is not the ISRO Chairman.

V.S. Hegde, former Scientific Secretary, ISRO, will be the new Antrix Chairman and Managing Director, said ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan here on Saturday.

Following the media spotlight on the Antrix earlier this year over the preferential allocation of S-band spectrum to private firm Devas Multimedia, ISRO announced that it would restructure the company to allow greater transparency. One of the fundamental decisions was to change the tradition of the ISRO chief becoming the CMD of the Antrix head too.

Dr. Radhakrishnan told journalists that the Antrix would have a new board that would include experts from various fields, ISRO functionaries and private sector entities. Among the set of agendas before the new Antrix CMD is the setting up of a coordination management committee "to ensure the right kind of sharing and allocation of expertise."

Globally, the space industry business turnover was $160 billion, while at the Antrix it was $200 million, Dr. Hegde said, adding that there was "tremendous opportunity for the Antrix to exploit."

Antrix was established in 1992 to promote the commercial exploitation of space products, technical consultancy services and the transfer of technologies developed by ISRO. The company provides space products and services to international customers worldwide. Koteshwar Rao (former Director of Laboratory for Electro Optical Systems) will take over as ISRO Scientific Secretary.

[Pol]

http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=1173633049

 July 19, 2011

Department of Defense... Pumping Up Partnerships...

Civil and military space programs are now facing a time of transition...

The Defense Department is expanding partnerships with spacefaring companies and nations to maintain the strategic advantage it gains in space, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy said today. Speaking with reporters from the Defense Writers Group, Ambassador Gregory L. Schulte said NASA's final space shuttle flight this week represents "a time of transition" for the civil and military space programs. "Space," Schulte said, "is increasingly congested, contested and competitive."

The Omaha, Neb.-based U.S. Strategic Command, whose mission now includes warning companies and countries when space debris threatens their satellites, is tracking more than 22,000 objects in space, he said. A range of countries are developing counter-space capabilities, including satellite-damaging jammers and lasers, he added, and 11 countries now operate 22 launch sites.

"The United States is not the only player in space," Schulte said, "and space is certainly not our private domain. Space is ubiquitous in the defense establishment and in the conduct of military operations, he added, "and we're acting to maintain our strategic advantage in space." Space is critical to ground navigation, smart bomb precision, and to relay unmanned aerial vehicle feeds to troops, Schulte said. Space also is necessary for early warnings of missile launches and for keeping the president connected to U.S. nuclear forces. Space is a force multiplier, Schulte added. "Without space capabilities, we'd need a lot more bombs to put on a particular target and there would be a lot more casualties and collateral damage. Without space assets, we'd need a lot more troops on the ground doing counterinsurgency operations."

 To maintain the advantage, Schulte said, "we just launched [the] second in a series of GPS satellites that's going to give us more jam resistance and better civil capacity." The Defense Department recently launched a new space-based infrared satellite, the first in geosynchronous orbit, that will offer much better tactical intelligence for missile launches, Schulte said. DOD also is putting into orbit the first of four advanced extremely high frequency, or EHF, communications satellites, he said, and a new space-based surveillance satellite that will boost the ability to track objects in space.


Artistic rendition of the Wideband Global SATCOM

"Our military space program is going to have to provide us that strategic advantage in a tight budget environment," he added, "and the [DOD National Security Space Strategy] shows a way to do that." The strategy, issued by then-Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in January and affirmed by Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, "seeks to address ... new challenges by promoting norms of responsible behavior in space and sharing data to help promote spaceflight safety," Schulte said. The document also calls for partnerships with the commercial sector and with foreign partners to augment U.S. capabilities, he said, and to increase the resilience of U.S. satellite constellations against attack or disruption. International partnerships that show the way to the future, the ambassador said, involve the advanced EHF satellite, in which three other countries participate, and a Wideband Global SATCOM System, in which Australia participates. Such collaboration, Schulte said, "shares the burden, gives us enhanced coverage and helps provide some deterrence" to those who might consider using counter-space technologies against space assets.

"Another illustration of the way forward," Schulte said, "is a program that our Defense Information Systems Agency, DISA, has proposed to Congress." The program is called ASSIST, for Assured SATCOM Services in a Single Theater, which is the U.S. Central Command's area of operations. "DISA is proposing to commercially procure satellite services to support the warfighter, rather than just leasing the services year to year," the ambassador said. "In doing so," he added, "we can save significantly on annual leasing costs and we can also get access to satellites that have three times the capacity of the closest U.S. government-owned satellite."


Artistic rendition of the SES-2 satellite, hosting the CHIRP payload

The Defense Department also is beginning to work with commercial space companies to reduce the department's costs and to help energize the industrial base. "We're going to see space increasingly commercialized," the ambassador said. "The cost of entry into space is going to go down, and that has all sorts of implications for the Department of Defense, along with opportunities." Next month, for example, the U.S. Air Force will use the commercial space company Orbital to launch the CHIRP sensor — the Commercially Hosted Infrared Payload, Schulte said. "This is a sensor the Air Force purchased and will be launched on a commercial communications satellite to demonstrate an advanced infrared imaging capability," he said, at considerable savings. "CHIRP is costing us something like $65 million and we get 80 percent of the requirements," Schulte said. "If we had launched it as a free-flying satellite, it would have cost more like $500 million." Commercial space is part of the future, he added, "and we want to be part of that future."

The Defense Department is working with NASA, the White House and others to develop a new space transportation policy to update the 2004 presidential policy, he said. "The new policy will reflect the end of the shuttle program but also that there are potential new entrants into space launch, and that our ranges are not only used for national security missions, but also increasingly for commercial missions," Schulte said.

SpaceX is another space transportation company that works routinely with the Air Force range at Patrick Air Force Base at Cape Canaveral, Fla., he added. "Industry has read this strategy and has come to us with all sorts of ideas about innovative approaches to taking advantage of commercial capabilities and thinking differently about space," Schulte said. "And we welcome that." (Source: American Forces Press Service, Cheryl Pellerin)

[Pol]

Ответ Маску

http://www.satnews.com/cgi-bin/story.cgi?number=959179280

July 20, 2011

United Launch Alliance On... The Final Shuttle Flight...

ULA homepage linkOn behalf of the men and women of United Launch Alliance (ULA), we would like to recognize the outstanding contributions to mankind of NASA's Space Shuttle Program.

For more than 30 years, the Space Shuttle has launched American heroes into space, enabling scientific discovery, increasing our understanding of our planet and its changing climate, and facilitating assembly of the International Space Station – providing humanity's most extended presence in space.

Throughout the shuttle era, the U.S. space industry has been proud to work together as a team with NASA to build, launch, operate and land the world's first reusable space transportation system. Through triumphs and setbacks, the people of NASA and the Shuttle workforce have never lost sight of America's leadership in space and NASA's role in expanding the frontier. The space shuttle is a remarkable spacecraft with a rich legacy of accomplishments that stands as an icon of America's can-do spirit.

Although the space shuttle has completed its final mission, ULA is launching NASA into the future with five historic missions in just six months, delivering critical NASA payloads to orbit in support of the global science community. This campaign is unprecedented not only for its reach across the solar system, but also for its tempo and precision.
Last month, an ULA Delta II launched Aquarius, improving our understanding of Earth's climate. In August, an Atlas V will launch Juno on a five-year journey to Jupiter to unlock its inner secrets. In September, a Delta II will send GRAIL to map the Moon's quirky gravitational field. In October, a Delta II will launch the National Polar-Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Preparatory Project (NPP) into polar orbit, providing weather continuity and climate data. Finally, in November, an Atlas V will launch Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) with Curiosity, the largest ever Mars rover on a mission to the red planet.

In addition, under the Commercial Crew Program, ULA is proud to be the launch vehicle of choice for Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser and Blue Origin's Space Vehicle, and compete to support Boeing's CST-100 program. Working together with NASA, these established companies and entrepreneurs plan to usher in a bold new era of human spaceflight; not only transporting NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, but opening spaceflight to non-government passengers for the first time.

We at United Launch Alliance are honored to have been NASA's partners since the launch of John Glenn 50 years ago on an Atlas, and are proud to boldly launch NASA into the future.

[X]

В Египте волнения не прекращаются. Не дай Бог нашим гражданским спецам оказаться в такой-же ситуации, как в НДРЙ начала 80-ых (эмоции вызваны пересмотром фильма "Русский перевод" на телеканале "Звезда")

[Salo]

http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/110908-intelsat-buying-sats-lease-directv.html

Intelsat Buying Two Satellites for Lease to DirecTV[/size]
By Peter B. de Selding

    PARIS — Satellite fleet operator Intelsat is ordering two large satellites from Space Systems/Loral in a deal valued at more than $500 million as part of a 15-year, billion-dollar Intelsat transponder-lease agreement with DirecTV Latin America, industry officials said.

    Los Angeles-based DirecTV has reserved all 144 Ku-band transponders on the two satellites over their contracted 15-year life, Luxembourg- and Washington-based Intelsat said. Both spacecraft will be located at 95 degrees west longitude alongside Intelsat's Galaxy 3C spacecraft.

    For Loral, the agreement makes it more likely that the satellite builder will sufficiently fill its order book for 2011 to operate its newly expanded production capacity efficiently and avoid cutbacks.

    In addition to the Ku-band capacity, the two spacecraft, each capable of generating 20 kilowatts of power to its payload at the end of its operational life, will each carry 10 C-band transponders for Intelsat's own use for expanding its business in the growing Latin American market. The satellites will include spot beams for the Ku-band payloads to permit the reuse of Ku-band frequency in Latin America, officials said.

    Intelsat spokeswoman Dianne J. VanBeber on Sept. 8 declined to disclose the value of the contract with Loral, but said Intelsat has informed its investors that the two-satellite deal will increase Intelsat's planned capital spending by $300 million in 2012 and $200 million in 2013.

    VanBeber said Intelsat only provides investors with spending guidance through 2013.

    Given that the satellites are scheduled for launch in November 2014 and November 2015, the spending would cover most of the construction of the spacecraft and very little of the cost of the launch vehicles that Intelsat has yet to choose.

    VanBeber said the DirecTV contract does not include any replacement capacity for Intelsat satellites already used by DirecTV, which has long been a major Intelsat customer in addition to operating its own fleet of direct-broadcast television satellites.

[ZOOR]

На архипелаге Шпицберген создается российский пункт приема спутниковой информации[/size]

В поселке Баренцбург на архипелаге Шпицберген начата реализация проекта строительства выносного пункта приема спутниковой информации (ВППИ), который войдет в состав создаваемого в рамках ФЦП «Мировой океан» Российского научного центра на архипелаге Шпицберген (РНЦШ).
Размещение такого пункта на Шпицбергене в высшей степени оправдано по причине выгодного для приема спутниковой информации географического положения архипелага. Зона обзора ВППИ почти полностью охватит акваторию Северного Ледовитого океана. Кроме того, в пределах прямой радиовидимости ВППИ проходят все орбиты полярно-орбитальных космических аппаратов (КА). Это обеспечит прием
максимально возможного количество информации с каждого КА, что крайне важно, особенно для съемок оптического диапазона, так как позволяет «ловить» каждый просвет в сплошной облачности. Когда, в связи с планируемым развертыванием отечественной космической группировки, появится возможность приема информации с КА в режиме
запоминания информации, то сброс информации будет возможен на каждом витке, что существенно повысит оперативность ее получения. Задержка между съемкой и приемом информации по сравнению с режимом непосредственной передачи будет составлять всего десятки минут.
С момента ввода в рабочий режим ВППИ РНЦШ обеспечит сбор данных дистанционного зондирования Земли (ДЗЗ), на основе которых будут формироваться информационные ресурсы о состоянии Мирового океана и суши (морской ледяной покров, волнение морской поверхности, приводный ветер, температура поверхности моря, загрязнение водной поверхности и прибрежных территорий).
ВППИ обеспечит прием информации с ИСЗ, передаваемой по  радиоканалам с частотами: 1,693 - 1,710 ГГц и 7,5 - 8,4 ГГц.
В состав приемного пункта войдут три станции MEOS Polar Ground Station (станция L-диапазона, станция Х-диапазона и станция Х/L-диапазона) производства норвежской фирмы KONGSBERG SPACETEC AS, помещение модульного типа для технического обслуживания станций и коммутации силовых электрических и связных сетей.
Станция L-диапазона обеспечивает приём и обработку данных оптических съемок с пространственным разрешением около 1000 м, передаваемых ИСЗ METOP, NOAA, FY1, FY3, NPOESS, МСУ-МР ИСЗ «Метеор-М».
Станция X-диапазона обеспечивает приём и обработку данных оптических съемок с пространственным разрешением от 90 до 1000 м, передаваемых ИСЗ EOS-AM1 (TERRA)/MODIS, EOS-PM1 (AQUA)/MODIS, КМСС ИСЗ «Метеор-М».
Станция X/L-диапазона обеспечивает попеременный приём и обработку данных вышеперечисленных ИСЗ, в случае технической неисправности или технического обслуживания основных станций.
Кроме того, в ААНИИ (Санкт-Петербург) будет создан пункт удаленного
управления комплексом приемных станций на архипелаге Шпицберген и тематической обработки данных ДЗЗ.
Подсистема спутниковых наблюдений РНЦШ станет важным элементом сети пунктов приема и обработки спутниковой информации для Арктики, которая представляется как совокупность ВППИ, управляемых из единого аналитического центра.
Она обеспечит двойное покрытие Северного Ледовитого Океана (рис. 1).


Рис. 1 Схема расположения и зон прямой радиовидимости ВППИ

Принимаемая спутниковая информация и получаемые на ее основе информационные продукты в первую очередь будет использоваться для оперативного обеспечения морской деятельности Российской Федерации в Арктике.
Создание в ААНИИ пункта удаленного управления комплексом приемных станций на архипелаге Шпицберген должна начаться в IV квартале 2011 года. Окончание работ по созданию подсистемы спутниковых наблюдений РНЦШ (включая ВППИ) планируется в
2012 году.
2 сентября 2011, пресс-служба ААНИИ

[Salo]

http://armstass.su/?page=article&aid=98974&cid=125

Объем рынка спутников до 2020 года оценивается в 196 млрд долларов[/size]

ПАРИЖ, 19 сентября. (АРМС-ТАСС). Объем рынка спутников до 2020 года оценивается в 196 млрд долларов. Такие данные в своем очередном отчете опубликовала консалтинговая фирма "Евроконсалт" (Euroconsult), организовавшая в Париже с 12 по 16 сентября 15-ю конференцию по финансированию спутников, 9-й симпозиум по анализу перспектив рынка спутников и 3-й симпозиум по рынку спутников дистанционного зондирования Земли (ДЗЗ).

Как отмечают аналитики "Евроконсалт", до 2020 года на орбиту будет выведено 1145 спутников всех типов, что на 51 проц больше, чем указывалось в отчете, опубликованном 10 лет назад. Мировой оборот промышленности производства спутников и пусковых услуг по запуску спутников за предстоящий 10-летний период составит 196 млрд дол, причем 70 проц этой суммы придется на спутники, создаваемые по правительственным программам, а 30 проц - по коммерческим программам.

Правительственные агентства 50 стран запустили на околземные орбиты в предшествующие 10 лет 777 спутников, из которых 80 проц приходитсяя на ведущие космические державы мира (США, Россия, Европа, Япония, Китай, Индия).

Более двух третей правительственных спутников являются спутниками гражданского или двойного (гражданского и военного) назначения и только одна треть приходится на чисто военные спутники.

Более 200 правительственных спутников ДЗЗ должны быть построены в ближайшее 10-летие. В этот же период времени более 200 коммерческих спутников связи должны быть выведены на геостационарные орбиты и этот сегмент рынка спутников оценивается в 50 млрд дол. На низкие и средние околоземные орбиты должны быть запущены 165 коммерческих спутников. Три четверти этого количества придется на орбитальные группировки "Иридиум", "Глобалстар" и O3b. Около 40 спутников, которые должны будут запущены, будут коммерческими спутниками для получения оптических и радиолокационных изображений. Стоимость спутников, выводимых на низкие и средние околоземные орбиты, составит пятую часть от стоимости спутников связи на геостационарных орбитах.

[ZOOR]

30.08.2011 / Анализ поправок в Закон Российской Федерации «О космической деятельности»[/size]

[ZOOR]

У Латвии будет своя космическая программа[/size]

http://www.telegraf.lv/news/u-latvii-budet-svoya-kosmicheskaya-programma

На базе радиоастрономического центра в Ирбене будет создано новое исследовательское учреждение IKSA centrs. На эти цели из Европейского фонда регионального развития выделено 11 млн. латов

В центре, который будет заниматься коммуникационными технологиями и обработкой сигналов, соберут ведущих ученых страны в этой области, а два курземских телескопа ждут грандиозные перемены, пишет газета Neatkar+g
.

Все годы независимости радиоастрономический центр в Ирбене возглавлял  профессор Юрис Жагарс, и сохранился центр во многом только благодаря его энтузиазму. Телескопы в Ирбене сегодня используются в европейских проектах по поиску космического мусора, а вскоре Латвия запустит на орбиту свой собственный спутник Venta-1.

Модернизация и новое оборудование сделает центр в Ирбене технически равноценным другим евройпеским наблюдательным станциям.

Профессор Жагарс считает, что сарказм по поводу Латвии как космической державы неуместен. «Разумеется, мы никогда не сможем соревноваться с теми странами, которые вкладывают в свои космические программы миллиарды. Но это не означает, что мы не будет работать с космосом и в космосе», — сказал он. По словам ученого, отставание в этой отрасли означает, что Латвия всегда будет вынуждена покупать «космические» услуги у других стран.

[Pavel]

Вспомнил, где я этот центр видел!

Вот этот телевизионный сериал

http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2613543

5 серия. Baltic Summer. Там он показан достаточно подробно. Если честно, производит весьма удручающее впечатление  :?

[Salo]

http://cybersecurity.ru/space/133708.html

Еще один спутник упадет на поверхность Земли в начале ноября[/size]
(01:57) 29.09.2011

// CyberSecurity.ru // - Упавший несколько дней назад спутник НАСА UARS не станет единственным космическим аппаратом, который упал на поверхность планеты в ближайшее время. Специалисты ожидают падения еще одного выведенного из строя спутника. На сей раз летящими к Земле космическими обломками станет отработанный немецкий научный аппарат ROSAT (Roentgen Satellite), ранее представлявший собой спутник, работавший в рентгеновском спектре.  

 По расчетам Аэрокосмического центра Германии, аппарат ROSAT должен будет упасть на Землю в начале ноября. Сейчас 2,4-тонный спутник летает над экватором, "раскачиваясь" на орбите на 53 градуса к северу и югу от экватора. Технически ареал падения спутника очень велик- от юга Европы, до Австралии - в Восточном полушарии и от Канады до Южной Америки - в Западном.

 По последним расчетам специалистов, ROSAT сейчас представляет собой цельный аппарат, но когда он начнет входить в атмосферу, то развалится примерно на 30 крупных фрагментов, которые, скорее всего, не сгорят в атмосфере. Примерная масса обломков, которые могут долететь до Земли, составляет 1,6 тонн (у UARS масса обломков составляла примерно 500-600 кг).

 В 1998 году аппарат ROSAT, наблюдавший за звездами, перенес серьезный сбой, который произошел из-за того, что чувствительная камера была направлено прямо на Солнце. Это привело к невосстановимым повреждениям спутника и в феврале 1999 года он был признан вышедшим из строя. Сейчас немецкие специалисты говорят, что следят за отключенным спутником, однако говорить с высокой вероятностью о том, где именно аппарат упадет можно будет лишь часа за два до самого падения.

 "Сейчас невозможно точно предсказать, где именно ROSAT войдет в атмосферу и где именно его фрагменты упадут. Неизвестность снизится, когда аппарат начнет входить в атмосферу планеты и тогда мы значительно более точно сможем предсказать регион вероятного падения обломков", - говорит Хайнер Кланкрад, глава управления по мониторингу за космическими обломками при Европейском космическом агентстве.

 По его словам, сейчас специалисты могут лишь указать вероятные регионы, которые оказываются в зоне поражения. Примерно за сутки до падения аппарата можно будет указать регион с точностью до нескольких десятков тысяч километров.

 На сегодня ученые говорят, что до поверхности планеты почти наверняка долетит большое зеркало спутника, так как оно является температурно-устойчивым. В целом, сейчас баллистические службы прогнозируют, что к поверхности планеты прилетят примерно 40% спутника. "Обычно в атмосфере сгорает минимум 90% массы, но здесь ситуация иная - корпус у ROSAT устойчив к температурному воздействию", - говорит Клинкрад.

 По его прогнозам, во время фактического падения ROSAT диаметр разлета обломков будет составлять примерно 80 км, однако ввиду неуправляемости спутника этот параметр может быть гораздо большим.

[mefisto_x]

http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=584752&cid=7 Баллистическая ракета "Лайнер" прошла успешные испытания

[Salo]

http://www.itar-tass.com/c19/237522.html

03:53 01/10/2011
Возможность вывода на полярные орбиты двух спутников начало изучать Канадское космическое агентство[/size]

ОТТАВА, 1 октября. /Корр. ИТАР-ТАСС Игорь Борисенко/. Возможность вывода на полярные орбиты двух спутников для обеспечения связи и наблюдения за Арктикой начало рассматривать в минувшую пятницу Канадское космическое агентство. Оно намерено составить доклад о том, как проект "Спутники связи и метеонаблюдения на полярных орбитах" повлияет на развитие северных районов. На составление доклада потребуется от 6 до 8 месяцев.

"Спутники, обладающие возможностями для передачи больших объемов информации, позволили бы закрыть ныне существующую брешь в системе связи в Арктике, где коммуникационные возможности либо ограничены, либо не существуют вообще, - отмечается в уведомлении, распространенном космическим агентством. - Расширение возможностей Канады в этой области особенно важно, учитывая все более активное использование Арктики, необходимость защиты канадских природных ресурсов и укрепление канадского суверенитета на Севере в условиях, когда меняются политические, экономические и климатические условия".

Если проект "Спутники связи и метеонаблюдения на полярных орбитах" получит одобрение правительства, то два спутника общей стоимостью 600 млн долларов могут быть выведены на полярные орбиты в 2017 году.

[Salo]

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2011/10/04/brazil-japan-to-cooperate-on-micro-and-nanosats/

[color=orange:4d7dd8884a]Brazil, Japan to Cooperate on Micro- and Nanosats[/size]
Posted by Doug Messier on October 4, 2011, at 5:26 am in Brazilian

AEB PR – A Japanese delegation comprising representatives of the embassy, academia and research was received yesterday (21/09), the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB), the director of the Satellite, Applications and Development (Dsad) Thyrso Villela, and the chief Advisor for International Cooperation (ACI), Jos

[Salo]

http://www.parabolicarc.com/2011/10/05/surrey-satellite-to-offer-high-tech-low-cost-small-sats/#more-30588

[color=orange:408d7322ba]Surrey Satellite to Offer High Tech, Low Cost Micro Sats[/size]

Posted by Doug Messier on October 5, 2011, at 6:37 am in News

SSTL PR – Small satellite pioneer Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) plans to jump-start space innovation by combining state-of-the-art avionics with flight proven systems in a low cost 50kg class satellite platform – and for a price tag of around

[instml]

Роскосмос пересмотрел положения космической программы

МОСКВА, 7 окт - РИА Новости. Роскосмос пересмотрел основные положения федеральной космической программы для повышения коммерческой отдачи от ее реализации: главным приоритетом станет создание спутников дистанционного зондирования Земли, навигации, связи. Об этом заявил в пятницу, выступая в Госдуме, глава Роскосмоса Владимир Поповкин.

"К 2015 году планируем увеличить количество спутников дистанционного зондирования Земли с 5 до 20 космических аппаратов, навигационных спутников ГЛОНАСС - с 24 до 30, с 26 до 48 - спутников связи и системы КОСПАС-SARSAT", - сказал Поповкин.

По его словам, более 37% средств выделено на средства выведения и наземной инфраструктуры в рамках Федеральной космической программы до 2015 года.

Поповкин отметил, что в настоящее время Россия занимает всего 3% мирового космического рынка в плане предоставления коммерческих услуг. Вместе с тем, РФ продолжает занимать серьезные позиции по оказанию услуг космических запусков (40% от мировых пусков в год).

Сигнал российской навигационной спутниковой системы ГЛОНАСС должен стать доступным для приема без ограничений по всему миру примерно через месяц, который необходим для ввода в эксплуатацию спутника "Глонасс-М", выведенного на орбиту в начале октября. Этот спутник завершил формирование орбитальной группировки системы, рассчитанной на одновременную работу 24 космических аппаратов. Именно такое количество спутников, транслирующих навигационный сигнал, позволяет обеспечить непрерывную навигацию по всей территории земного шара.

Как сообщил ранее представитель Роскосмоса, сейчас орбитальная группировка ГЛОНАСС составляет 28 спутников, из них 23 используются по целевому назначению.

Российская глобальная навигационная спутниковая система ГЛОНАСС предназначена для оперативного глобального навигационно-временного обеспечения неограниченного числа потребителей наземного, морского, воздушного и космического базирования. Система была принята в эксплуатацию в 1993 году. Доступ к гражданским навигационным сигналам системы ГЛОНАСС предоставляется российским и иностранным потребителям в любой точке Земли на безвозмездной основе и без ограничений.

Система КОСПАС-SARSAT (КОСПАС - Космическая Система Поиска Аварийных Судов, SARSAT - Search And Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking), предназначена для поиска и спасения потерпевших аварию морских, воздушных и сухопутных объектов.

Система начала создаваться в 1982 году совместно Советским Союзом и западными странами

В системе КОСПАС-SARSAT используется несколько спутников, расположенных на круговых околополярных орбитах высотой 800-1000 километров и оснащенных радиоаппаратурой для обнаружения сигналов бедствия, передаваемых аварийными радиобуями, и ретрансляции их на наземные станции приема и обработки информации. В соответствии с межправительственным соглашением, как минимум два из нескольких спутников, находящихся на орбите, должны быть российскими.

http://ria.ru/science/20111007/451847044.html