 Endeavour's
Penultimate LaunchSpace Shuttle
Endeavour performed NASA's final nighttime Shuttle launch on February 8, 2010.
Endeavour, carrying the STS-130 crew and the 15 tonne, Italian-built Tranquility
module for International Space Station, lifted off from Kennedy Space Center Launch
Complex 39A at 09:14 UTC.
The liftoff was Endeavour's 24th of 25 planned. It
was also the 130th Shuttle program launch. Only four more flights remain before the
program ends later this year.
 White House
Cancels Constellation Program
President Obama's 2011 budget proposal, submitted to
Congress on February 1, 2010, cancels NASA's entire Constellation Program.
While NASA funding will be increased by $6 billion
spread over five years for a commercial crew launch program to reach International Space
Station, the Constellation Program will be terminated by the end of 2012.
Constellation, which includes Ares I/Orion, Ares
V/Altair, J-2X and five segment booster, was NASA's plan to return humans to the lunar
surface.
The proposed budget does not include funding for
developing a heavy lift launch vehicle. Instead, it includes only R&D funding
centered on basic propulsion research. The proposal almost certainly dismantles the
Shuttle infrastructure, ending consideration of "Shuttle-Derived" launch
architectures.
NASA will be directed to increase its robotic
exploration program, possibly sending exploration craft to Mars, the Moon, and to
asteroids.
In the new budget, International Space Station becomes
the centerpiece of NASA's human spaceflight program. It will be used until 2020
"and beyond", its NASA allotment growing to $3.2 billion annually.
The Space Shuttle program will not be extended.
Only five more Shuttle flights remain on the schedule to close out NASA's direct
management of human space launch programs. The final Shuttle flight, planned to
occur later this year, is the last launch currently slated from NASA's Kennedy Space
Center. The fate of the sprawling Apollo-era Launch Complex 39, with its massive
Vehicle Assembly Building, Orbiter Processing Facilities, and launch pads, is uncertain.
 Soyuz-U Launches
Progress Cargo Craft
A Soyuz-U launched Progress M-04M, carrying 2.686 tonnes
of cargo for the International Space Station, from Baikonur on February 3, 2010.
Liftoff from Area 1 Pad 5 occurred at 03:45 UTC. The 7.4 tonne spacecraft entered
low earth orbit nine minutes later.
It was the 1,753rd flight of an R-7 "Semyorka"
booster, and the 45th consecutive Soyuz-U success.
 Proton
Orbits Russian Milcomsat
A Proton M/Briz M boosted a Raduga 1M military
communications satellite into geosynchronous orbit from Baikonor Cosmodrome on January 28,
2009. Liftoff from Area 81 Pad 24 occurred at 00:18 UTC. The Briz M upper
stage flew a 9-hour muti-burn mission to lift the 2.3 tonne Raduga 1M satellite into its
final orbit.
The flight was the 352nd for Krunichev's Proton.
It was the 35th Proton M/Briz M launch and the 13th consecutive Proton M/Briz M success.
 China
Opens Launch Year
A Chang Zheng 3C orbited China's Compass G1 (Beidou 3)
navigation satellite from Xichang Satellite Launch Center at 16:12 UTC on January 16,
2010. The launch, performed by the third CZ-3C, occurred from Xichang's launch
complex no. 2. Compass G1 separated into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) China
is currently building a navsat constellation similar to the U.S. GPS system.
It was the first CZ-3 series launch since CZ-3B-12
suffered an upper stage failure while attempting to launch Palapa D1 on August 31, 2009.
CZ-3C consists of a three-stage CZ-3A core - two
hypergolic stages topped by a cryogenic LOX/LH2 upper stage - augmented by two hypergolic
liquid strap-on boosters. The rocket can lift about 3.7 tonnes to GTO.
 Proton Orbits
DirecTV-12
A Krunichev Proton M/Briz M successfully lofted
DirecTV-12 into geosynchronous transfer orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome on December 28,
2009. The nine hour mission began with a 00:22 liftoff from Area 200 Pad 39.
During the flight, the rocket's hypergolic Briz M upper stage performed five burns to
boost the 5,900 kg satellite toward a targeted 5,120 x 35,786 km x 20.7 deg transfer
orbit.
The launch, possibly the final orbital flight of the
year, was the 10th for Proton during 2009 and the 78th worldwide orbital attempt.
 Soyuz
Carries Three ISS Crew to Orbit
A Soyuz FG orbited Soyuz TMA-17 with three crew for the
International Space Station on December 20, 2009. The three-stage rocket lifted off
from Area 1 Pad 5 at 21:52 UTC. Soyuz TMA-17 entered a low earth orbit inclined
51.6 degrees to the equator nine minutes after liftoff.
It was the 13th R-7 launch, the fourth crewed Soyuz
flight, and the ninth crewed spaceflight worldwide in 2009.
 Ariane
Orbits French Spysat
The sixth Ariane 5GS, a "Generic" model with a
Vulcain 1 core engine, a 10-ton propellant EPS (storable propellant) upper stage, and a
set of improved E-class solid motors, orbited Helios 2B, a French optical reconnaissance
satellite, from Korou French Guiana on December 18, 2009. Liftoff from ELA 3 took
place at 16:26 UTC on a northbound azimuth. The upper stage performed a single 16.5
minute burn to fling the 4.2 tonne satellite toward a 680 km sun synchronous near polar
low earth orbit.
It was the year's seventh Ariane 5 launch.
 All-Liquid:
A Super Heavy Lift Alternative?
The recent Augustine Committee report evaluated a series of
Super-Heavy launch options for deep space human exploration, but it did not describe an
"all-liquid" approach for 100 tonne plus payload Super Heavy Lift (or, as NASA
calls it, Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLLV)). With a November 23, 2009 article,
Space Launch Report begins to examine the All Liquid Super Heavy
alternatives.
 Thunder
God: U.S. Space Launch Workhorse
A Continuing Review of Thor Family History
Part 1: Thor IRBM
Part 2: Thor, Able, and Star
Part 3: Thor Agena A & B,
Photospy Launchers
Part 4: Thor to Thorad:
Prolific Agena D Boosters
Part
5: Suborbital Thor: Big Shot to Fishbowl to 437
Part
6: Thor Burner: "Emily" to Orbit
Part 7: Thor-Delta Beginnings
Part 8: Delta, Improved
Part 9: Long Tank Thor-Delta
Part 10: Extended Long Tank
Delta
Part 11: Japan's
"Deltas"
Part 12: Delta Reborn (Delta 2)
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