Satellite News

Alliant Techsystems said it recently demonstrated a critical capability of its liquid oxygen (LOX)/Methane rocket engine by igniting it in a vacuum chamber. The successful ignition test was designed to demonstrate the viability of a LOX/Methane rocket engine for a lunar ascent mission.

XCOR Aerospace, Inc. announced that it has successfully completed its first series of tests on a new 250-N (56 lbf) thrust rocket engine.

United Launch Alliance has declared yesterday’s Atlas V launch for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) a success. It was the fourth Atlas V EELV mission this year and the 12th ULA mission in 2007.

Northrop Grumman Corporation will help the U.S. Air Force develop and demonstrate technologies critical to a future “aircraft-like” reusable launch vehicle under a contract awarded by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Dayton, Ohio.

Ad Astra Rocket Company and NASA have signed an Umbrella Space Act Agreement relating to the space agency’s potential interest in the VASIMR engine, a new space propulsion technology currently under development by Ad Astra.

Rocket: Atlas V 401; Payload: NROL-24; Date: 10 December 2007, 2205 UTC; Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The rocket lifted without any apparent problems, however the results of this launch for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) were not publicly known at the time of writing.

Space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-122 mission to the International Space Station will be delayed until early next year because of ongoing problems with a fuel sensor system.

Rocket: Delta II 7420-10; Payload: COSMO SkyMed-2; Date: 9 December, 0231 UTC; Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, USA. The rocket deployed the COSMO-SkyMed spacecraft to low-Earth orbit approximately 58 minutes after lift-off.