Space Business News and Space Technology News 03-JUL-09 en-us Moorestown NJ (SPX) Jul 03, 2009 - The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $30 million contract to begin concept development for Space Fence, a system of land-based S-Band radars and supporting operations centers that will detect and report on objects and debris orbiting the Earth. Lockheed Martin was one of three industry teams to receive contracts.]]> Jakarta (AFP) July 2, 2009 - Indonesia successfully launched a home-grown rocket into space on Thursday as part of plans to send a satellite into orbit by 2014, officials said.]]> New Delhi, India (PTI) Jul 03, 2009 - How do you assess cooperation of India and Russia in space?
ISRO has had a long standing and successful co-operation with the erstwhile USSR in Space with the active participation of USSR in setting up the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in early Sixties, Joint meteorological studies using more than 1000 meteorological sounding rockets launched from Thumba supplied from USSR and launching for India's Aryabhata, Bhaskara-I and 2 and for IRS-1A, 1B and IRS-1C in addition to the Tracking support for several Indian satellites.]]> Paris, France (ESA) Jul 03, 2009 - Astronomers using ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory have discovered a black hole weighing more than 500 solar masses, a missing link between lighter stellar-mass and heavier supermassive black holes, in a distant galaxy. This discovery is the best detection to date of a new class that has long been searched for: intermediate mass black holes.]]> Palo Alto CA (SPX) Jul 03, 2009 - Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) has announced that the satellite it built for TerreStar Networks is successfully performing post-launch maneuvers. The world's largest commercial satellite deployed its solar arrays Wednesday evening, following its launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.]]> Bozeman MT (SPX) Jul 03, 2009 - Three Montana State University instructors who want to help future scientists and engineers develop experiments for space recently launched experiments of their own.]]> Riverside CA (SPX) Jul 03, 2009 - An international team of researchers led by a UC Riverside astronomer has completed the largest ever survey designed to find very distant clusters of galaxies.]]> Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 03, 2009 - NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has transmitted its first images since reaching lunar orbit June 23. The spacecraft has two cameras - a low resolution Wide Angle Camera and a high resolution Narrow Angle Camera. Collectively known as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, they were activated June 30.]]> Houston TX (SPX) Jul 03, 2009 - As America celebrates its 233rd birthday this holiday weekend, there will be an extra light in the sky along with the fireworks. Across the country, Americans will be treated to spectacular views of the International Space Station as it orbits 220 miles above Earth.]]> Washington DC (SPX) Jul 03, 2009 - As the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) reaches its six-month milestone, over a million people have already looked at the sky through a telescope for the first time, and even more have newly engaged in astronomy. This is just one of many achievements, as countless ongoing projects and planned initiatives indicate that the IYA2009 is well on the way towards achieving many of its goals.]]> Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 03, 2009 - The first International Space University (ISU) Opening Ceremony held at a NASA center drew more than 500 guests for a multimedia celebration of exploration at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts on Monday, June 29, 2009.]]> Mississauga, Canada (SPX) Jul 03, 2009 - Microsat Systems Canada is delighted to announce the sixth birthday of the MOST Microsatellite - Canada's First Space Telescope. The MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars) microsatellite was launched June 30, 2003 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome with a 12-month mission to study the vibration of distant stars and draw inferences about their hidden composition - a technique called asteroseismology.]]> Huntington Beach CA (SPX) Jul 03, 2009 - An industry team led by Boeing has received a contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for work on Phase 2 of the Fast Access Spacecraft Testbed (FAST) program. The $15.5 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract is currently funded to $13.8 million.]]>