General Dynamics‘ C4 Systems business unit has finished updating ground systems for three NASA tracking and data relay satellites that transmit signals from Earth-orbiting spacecraft to the ground. The TDRS satellites also connect White Sands ground station to the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station, the company says. Modifications and technology updates to [...]
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SpaceX will launch an unmanned capsule into orbit to carry supplies and cargo to the International Space Station under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, according to Channel News Asia. The dragon capsule will take off on March 1, 2013 in Cape Canaveral, Florida, to transport about 544 kilograms of supplies to the ISS, including grapple [...]
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ATK Delivers Abort Motor for NASA’s Orion Crew Vehicle; Charlie Precourt Comments
March 1, 2013 No Comment
ATK recently supplied NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida with a launch abort motor for the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle, which is slated to fly in 2014, according to a Space Travel article. The abort motor will be used for NASA’s exploration flight test of the Orion vehicle. “Our launch abort motor is critical to [...]
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Exelis Providing NASA Software For Earth Monitoring Satellite; Jaye Lampe Comments
February 14, 2013 No Comment
An ITT Exelis subsidiary is providing software to NASA for a satellite launched Monday to conduct research into agriculture, mapping, geology, forestry, regional planning, surveillance and education. Exelis Visual Information Solutions has provided the ENVI software for all previous Landsat program missions and has updated the program to extract metadata from files for radiometric calibration [...]
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ATK Hardware Helps Lift Rocket, Mapping Satellite; David Shanahan Comments
February 13, 2013 No Comment
ATK provided hardware to both a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture for a Monday rocket launch and for a satellite the rocket carried into space. The United Launch Alliance‘s Atlas V rocket carried an ATK composite heat shield and propellant tank and the Landsat Data Continuity Mission satellite carries ATK hardware as well, ATK said Tuesday. [...]
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Ball Providing NASA, Geological Survey Space-Based Earth Imager; David Taylor Comments
February 12, 2013 No Comment
A Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. land imaging instrument launched into space Monday for a NASA-U.S. Geological Survey satellite program to observe spectral data in infrared bands. United Launch Alliance, a 50-50 joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, launched the eighth Landsat Data Continuity Mission on an Atlas V rocket from Vandenberg Air Force [...]
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Lockheed Entering Mars Spacecraft Environmental Testing Phase; Guy Beutelschies Comments
February 11, 2013 No Comment
Lockheed Martin has assembled and integrated its spacecraft for NASA and is now preparing for environmental testing ahead of its scheduled November launch for a Mars mission. That testing phase for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft will occur for six months at Lockheed facilities near Denver, the company said Friday. After testing, the [...]
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ATK Team Evaluates NASA Space Launch System Avionics, Control; Fred Brasfield Comments
February 5, 2013 No CommentATK (NYSE: ATK) addressed complexity and cost issues in its latest avionics and control test for a NASA program aimed at sending astronauts and cargo beyond Earth’s orbit. Flight Control Test 2, the second in a series of development tests for the Space Launch System, occurred Jan. 30 at ATK’s testing laboratory in Promontory, Utah, [...]
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Northrop Grumman is providing NASA a set of satellites for transmitting images and data from space to Earth, with at least two out of six still operating beyond their planned 10-year lifespan. According to Northrop, Tracking and Data Relay Satellites three and five are respectively in year 24 and year 21 of their service life [...]
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