February 1981:space activities report

SECOND SPACELAB

NASA has signed a $183,960,000 contract with the European Space Agency for a second Spacelab to be delivered in 1984.

The ERNO facility in Bremen, prime contractor to ESA for Spacelab 1, will be the manufacturer. Twenty-six subcontractors in Germany, France, United Kingdom,Italy.Spain, Belgium,The Netherlands,Switzerland,Austria,Denmark and the United States will produce components and subassemblies.

ESA is completing Spacelab 1 in time for an early operational flight of the Space Shuttle, now expected in 1982. ESA has invested about $850,000,000 in the first reusable scientific laboratory. In return for ESA's contribution of the initial unit,the United States agreed to buy a second and more if needed in the future.

Sized for Shuttle's large payload bay. Spacelab will be carried on missions lasting seven to 30 days. It can be adapted to specific experiments and will provide a shirt-sleeve environment similar to a jetliner for male and female experimenters. One to four payload specialists can be accommodated. Spacelab operations in flight will be managed by NASA's centre in Houston. Texas while the Huntsville, Alabama centre provides technical support in the development phase and administers the NASA-ESA contract.

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COST OF SHUTTLE DELAYS

NASA's technical problems with its reusable shuttle, running two years behind schedule, have prompted government and commercial users to pay higher prices for conventional launch vehicles.

The agency announced in late August that it will launch 21 Delta and Atlas Centaur vehicles from September 1980 until December 1982 to boost customers' spacecraft into geostationary orbits.

Nineteen of the missions involve communications satellites,two of which will be supplied by the U.S. Navy as part of a worldwide system. Three others are environmental-weather spacecraft flown for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

NASA did not list any of its own spacecraft in the schedule. It includes four launches in the closing months of 1980, 10 in 1981 and eight in 1982 when the shuttle is supposed to begin carrying cargo (September 1982).

Thirteen Deltas, built and launched by McDonnell Douglas,and eight Atlas Centaurs, the more powerful General Dynamics booster, will handle the customer-sponsored launches in the next two years.

Since NASA continues to quote $ 11 million as the base price for transporting a satellite into low Earth orbit, users must pay a premium for expendable rockets; $27 million for a Delta. $36 million for a Centaur.

Those figures do not tell the whole story. Shuttles will operate some 200 miles above Earth. Hence another upper stage must be available to boost a satellite from that altitude to the desired geostationary position some 22,300 miles above the Earth. Upper stages for that purpose are in development. Meanwhile an uprated Delta can deliver approximately one ton while Centaur can send two tons to a geostationary orbit.

NASA's published manifests disclosed that the International Satellite Consortium of 102 nations will be the major user in 1980-82 with five spacecraft boosted by Atlas Centaurs. Canada plans two Telesats in 1982 when India will launch its first combination weather-and-communications spacecraft.

Other users include Satellite Business Systems, a newcomer,two missions in 1980 and 1981; Communications SatelliteCorporation, one in 1981; RCA. two in 1981 and one in 1982:AT&T, one in 1982: and Hughes, one in 1982.

NASA’s commercial launch schedule runs as follows:

1980

GOES-D (NOAA) Delta Sep 9

SBS-A (Sat Bus Systems) Delta Oct 23

FLTSATCOM (Navy) Atlas Centaur Oct 28

Intelsat V F-2 (Consortium) Atlas Centaur Nov 20

1981

Comstar (Comm Sat Corp) Atlas Centaur Feb 26

Goes-E (NOAA) Delta Mar 12

Intelsat V F-1 (Consortium) Atlas Centaur Mar 19

SBS-B (Sat Bus Systems) Delta Apr 23

FLTSATCOM (Navy) Atlas Centaur Jun 2

RCA D (Radio Corp America) Delta Jun 18

Intelsat V F-3 (Consortium) Atlas Centaur Jun 25

Intelsat V F-4 (Consortium) Atlas Centaur Sep 17

RCA C Delta Oct 29

Intelsat V F-5 (Consortium) Atlas Centaur Dec 10

1982

Westar IV (AT&T) Delta Jan 7

INSAT 1-A (India) Delta Feb 18

Telesat-E (Canada) Delta May 13

Telesat-F (Canada) Delta Aug 5

GOES F (NOAA) Delta Sep 16

RCA-E (Radio Corp America) Delta Oct 28

HCI (Hughes) Delta Dec 9