Ariane 5 Launcher Puts TerreStar-1 into Orbit

Europe's Ariane 5 ECA rocket on July 1 successfully placed the TerreStar-1 mobile communications satellite — the largest commercial spacecraft ever built — into geostationary transfer orbit from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana.

 

The 6,910-kilogram TerreStar-1, built by Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., is designed to provide mobile voice and data communications in North America to smartphone-size handsets using the 2-gigahertz, or S-band, portion of the radio spectrum. The system is designed to function with a network of ground-based signal amplifiers to permit service in areas the satellite cannot reach, such as urban canyons and areas outside the line-of-sight view of the spacecraft.

 

The launch was the third of a planned seven Ariane 5 ECA launches in 2009. Because of its size, TerreStar-1 was the sole payload on board the vehicle, which typically is used to place two telecommunications satellites at a time into geostationary transfer orbit.

 

In addition to its size, TerreStar-1 is distinguished by its 18-meter-diameter unfurlable S-band antenna, built by Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Fla. The antenna will be unfurled in the coming weeks, and the satellite is expected to be put through several months of ground tests before entering commercial service toward the end of the year, according to officials from Reston, Va.-based TerreStar Networks Inc. TerreStar-1 will operate from 111 degrees west longitude.

 

With its satellite now launched, TerreStar faces some of the same challenges that ICO Global, also of Reston, faced following the launch of its S-band mobile communications satellite in mid-2008: how to secure the remaining investment needed to deploy the network of ground repeaters, called the Ancillary Terrestrial Component, which are crucial to making the service work. It is an investment likely to total at least several hundred-million dollars. ICO has since filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it seeks to reorganize its debt.

 

 

Asia Broadcast Satellite Agrees To Buy KoreaSat-2

Satellite operator Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) of Hong Kong, which in June announced a joint agreement with SingTel Optus for the purchase of the new ABS-2 satellite, announced July 2 it was purchasing the aging Koreasat-2 satellite from South Korea's KT Corp. and moving it to ABS slot at 75 degrees east.

 

Pending regulatory approval of the deal, the satellite will be renamed ABS-1A, co-located at the same slot as the current ABS-1 and will be operated in inclined orbit — meaning without maintaining stability on its north-south axis — for between two and five years before its fuel is expected to run out, ABS said. ABS-2, under construction by Palo Alto, Calif.-based Space Systems/Loral, is scheduled for launch in 2012.

 

Koreasat-2 was launched in 1996. ABS said the satellite has sufficient power remaining to provide high-powered Ku-band capacity to ABS customers in the Middle East. KT Corp. will continue to perform ground control for the satellite, under contract to ABS.

 

KT Corp. Senior Vice President Sung Man Kim said the transaction should lead to a strong business relationship with ABS for future business opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

ABS currently operates only the ABS-1 satellite and the company reported revenue of about $33 million in 2008.  

 

 

Confirmation Hearing for NASA Chief Set for July 8

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee will hold a confirmation hearing July 8 for retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden and Lori Garver, the White House nominees for NASA administrator and NASA deputy administrator, respectively.  

 

Bolden is a former space shuttle commander and Garver is a former NASA associate administrator for policy and plans. The two were nominated as a pair May 23.

 

During the July 8 hearing, the committee also will consider President Barack Obama's picks to head the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Maritime Commission, and his nominee for a senior policy post at the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

 

 

ILS Proton Launches Sirius FM-5 Satellite 

An International Launch Services (ILS) Proton rocket on July 1 successfully placed Sirius XM Satellite Radio's Sirius FM-5 direct-broadcast radio satellite into geostationary transfer orbit, a satellite New York-based Sirius said will add backup capacity to the three existing Sirius satellites.

 

The Proton's Breeze upper stage placed the 5,280-kilogram Sirius FM-5 into orbit some nine hours and 14 minutes after liftoff from the Russian-run Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The satellite, which manufacturer Space Systems/Loral of Palo Alto, Calif., said is one of the most powerful commercial spacecraft ever built, is designed to provide more than 20 kilowatts of power at the end of its 15-year service life.

 

In addition to the four satellites now in orbit, Sirius has a ground spare satellite, called FM-4, already built.

 

The current Sirius satellite constellation consists of three spacecraft in highly elliptical orbits whose apogees are over North America. The FM-5 launched July 1 is Sirius' first geostationary-orbit spacecraft and will operate at 96 degrees west longitude to provide backup to the current fleet and improve radio-broadcast availability for some customers.

 

The satellite features a 9-meter-diameter deployable antenna built by Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Fla.

 

The launch was the third in 2009 for Reston, Va.-based ILS, which said its next launch, of the AsiaSat-5 satellite for AsiaSat of Hong Kong, will occur in early August.

 

 

Ares 1-X Official Sees Test Launch Slipping Past Sept.

The first test launch of the U.S. space agency's Ares 1 rocket program, scheduled for Aug. 30, is now expected to slip beyond September, according to NASA's Ares 1-X Mission Manager Bob Ess. In a July 2 interview with Space News, Ess attributed the anticipated delay to a combination of hardware assembly challenges and launch range availability. Although Aug. 30 remains the official date for launching the prototype rocket from a converted space shuttle pad at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Ess said the launch is likely to slip easily into the fall.

 

"This is the first time we've put this rocket together, it is taking longer than planned ... and we are seeing two or three weeks needed for more testing," he said.

 

Meanwhile, the on-pad assembly of the rocket's four solid-fueled booster segments and dummy fifth segment has been pushed from June 30 to no earlier than July 8. Ess said a decision to start stacking the Ares 1-X vehicle out on the pad awaits analysis of work done to the rocket's aft skirt and the thrust vector control system it houses. 

 

"We might hold off for a few days or another week, with no significant impact to the launch date," he said.

 

NASA also must bring Ares 1-X into compliance with range safety requirements imposed by the U.S. Air Force, which operates the Eastern Range. These include a need to ensure the rocket's flight termination system can withstand potentially intense vibrations long enough into the flight to blow up the rocket if it veers off course. Ess said the Ares 1-X team is working closely with the Air Force to resolve the Air Force's safety concerns.  

 

"We have a responsibility to justify why we believe our flight termination [system] is going to survive in the environment it needs to," Ess said. "It's not like we have a technical disagreement [with the Air Force]. The burden is on us to show that the flight termination system will perform its intended function. And we're just not done yet."

 

 

Pentagon Chief Names New DARPA Director

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has appointed Regina E. Dugan to be director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), according to a July 2 Defense Department announcement.

 

DARPA is a technology development arm of the Pentagon that focuses on high-risk, high-reward concept demonstrations and system developments. Dugan follows previous director Tony Tether, who resigned in February.

 

Dugan was most recently chief executive of RedXDefense LLC, a company that she co-founded in 2005 to develop defenses against explosive threats, the announcement said. Dugan previously served at DARPA from 1996 to 2000, during which she received the program manager of the year award for her leadership on the Dog's Nose Program for detecting the explosive content of land mines. Dugan's official biography identifies her as the sole inventor on a patent for refueling satellites in orbit, a task DARPA demonstrated in 2007 during the 120-day Orbital Express mission.