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Two International Space Station crew members conducted a 7-hour 41-minute spacewalk on Monday, July 23, 2007. It included removal and jettison of a refrigerator-size ammonia reservoir.

The work outside the station lasted around one hour longer then originally planned, concluding at 2:06 p.m. EST Monday. The crew completed all its tasks during the spacewalk, plus some of the optional “get-ahead” work, NASA said.

The scheduled 6.5-hour spacewalk from the Quest Airlock began at 6:24 a.m. EDT Monday, July 23, 2007.

Astronaut Clay Anderson was the lead spacewalker, EV1, wearing the spacesuit with red stripes. Fyodor Yurchikhin, the cosmonaut and station commander, wearing the all-white suit, was EV2. Cosmonaut Oleg Kotov was in the U.S. laboratory Destiny to operate the Canadarm2.

After the spacewalk, a docked Progress M-60 cargo craft was to fire its thrusters raising the International Space Station’s orbit. This reboost, along with a reboost performed on July 20, 2007, provides the proper phasing for an upcoming Progress M-61 launch and docking. The July 23 Progress firing also clears the station after the Early Ammonia Servicer is jettisoned and provides flight day three rendezvous opportunities when space shuttle Endeavour arrives on mission STS-118.

The Progress M-59 cargo craft will undock from the Pirs docking compartment on Aug. 1, 2007, and burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere. Progress 26 is scheduled for launch on Aug. 2 and will reach the station on Aug. 5. Two days later on Aug. 7, space shuttle Endeavour is targeted for launch with a station rendezvous and docking planned for Aug. 9, 2007.

Hardly two years after a controversial change of management at the helm of Russia’s leading space firm, there was a deja vu of sorts at the RKK Energia Corporation. On Friday, June 22, 2007, Board of Directors of the Korolev-based company ousted its popular President Nikolai Sevastyanov, who was himself appointed to the post upon dismissal of his former boss Yuri Semenov in May 2005.

Among managers and engineers at RKK Energia Sevastyanov earned a reputation of an energetic and competent leader. However he did advocate ambitious long-term goals in space, which critics saw as technically controversial and financially unrealistic. Nevertheless, a positive public opinion about Sevastyanov was unmistakable. While in 2005, few had questioned government’s decision to send the aging president of RKK Energia to retirement; this time, messages on online space related forums overwhelmingly supported Sevastyanov and fiercely criticized Roskosmos’ handling of the dismissal, along with the agency’s ability to lead Russian space program.
Vitaliy Lapota, the head of St Petersburg-based TsNII RTK is considered to be the main candidate to succeed Sevastyanov. A former director of the Russian space agency Yuri Koptev was previously believed to be among candidates. According to the Russian press, a new president of RKK Energia could be formally appointed during general shareholders meeting scheduled for July 14, 2007. In the meantime, Aleksander Strekalov, the head of RKK Energia’s production plant, is expected to lead the company.

russianspaceweb.com

Russian rocket lifted a communications satellite for the American satellite TV provider.

The Proton-M vehicle with Briz-M upper stage lifted off from Cosmodrome Baikonur’s Pad 39 at Site 200 on July 7, 2007, at 05:16 Moscow Time, carrying the DIRECTV 10 communications satellite. According to the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, the Briz upper stage with its payload successfully separated from the third stage of the launch vehicle in the initial parking orbit at 05:25 Moscow Time.

After several engine firings, the DIRECTV 10 spacecraft was expected to separate from the upper stage at 14:24 Moscow Time on July 7.

The 5,893-kilogram DIRECTV 10 spacecraft is based on Boeing’s 702 platform and designed for broadcasting high-definition TV signals over the continental United States, Alaska and Hawaii. Its “dry” mass (without propellant and consumables) is 3,715 kilograms. The satellite was expected to operate for 15 years in the geostationary orbit in the point 102.8 degrees and 99.2 degrees West, over the Equator. The spacecraft carries total 131 Ku-band transponders for national and spot beams and solar panels spanning 48 meters.

This was a 16th flight of the Proton-M/Briz-M rocket and the 326th launch in the Proton family of rockets. The mission was delayed from June 20, 2007, on the request from the payload owner.

Proton/Briz modifications

Specifically for the DIRECTV 10 mission, the Proton-M was upgraded to carry heavier payload. On the first stage, the engines were modified to enable 112 percent increase in thrust, while propellant tanks were made thinner than standard. On the second stage, a composite structure replaced a standard stringer and beam body of the avionics bay. The structures forming the propellant tanks were also modified to reduce weight. On the third stage, composite materials also replaced traditional structures forming the tail section. Finally, the entire launch vehicle lacked its usual white paint, as a weight-saving measure.

The Briz-M upper stage for the DIRECTV 10 mission was also modified. The number of pressurization tanks located inside the avionics section and supplying the attitude control system was reduced from to six to two with the increased volume of 80 liters. The set of flight control avionics was moved to the center of the stage to reduce the impact during the separation of the external tank. The external tank’s structure was modified. Small vernier thrusters were also modified for higher performance.

The second satellite in the SAR-Lupe system has been placed successfully in orbit. The Russian Cosmos 3M launch vehicle lifted off last night from the Russian Plesetsk space center, south of Archangelsk, on schedule at 21:38:41 hours CEST. Roughly half an hour later, it released the radar satellite into its low-earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 500 km.The first sign of life from the satellite was picked up by the ground station Kerguelen in the Southern Indian Ocean at 22:41 hours, with direct contact established between the control center and the satellite as planned 92 min. after launch. Preliminary testing indicates that SAR-Lupe 2 is working perfectly in its orbit. Accordingly, work commenced last night on putting the satellite in operation. In a preliminary highlight, the antenna boom was deployed.

Satellite control is currently in the hands of the German Space Agency DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen. The ground station of the German Armed Forces in Gelsdorf is tracking the satellite at the same time and will assume operative responsibility for it at the end of July, at which point in time it will start collecting SAR radar images.
The German Armed Forces are already able to use the system. With the second launch and ensuing ramp-up of the satellite, the German Federal Armed Forces will have an operational reconnaissance system as of autumn 2007.
The first SAR-Lupe satellite has been in orbit since December 2006. It is supplying superb high-resolution images and is operating very successfully and reliably.

The remaining three satellites will be launched in intervals of around four months, with the entire system to be completed in 2008.

Background

SAR-Lupe system
OHB-System is the primary contractor for SAR-Lupe, Germany’s first satellite-based radar reconnaissance system. It comprises five satellites and a corresponding ground segment for controlling the satellites and receiving, processing and evaluating image data. The system works day and night regardless of the weather and supplies immediate and highly detailed radar images of virtually any area of the earth.

COSMOS 3M launch vehicle
OHB-System AG has been working very successfully with Russian space travel company POLYOT, Omsk, since the beginning of the nineties. Developed by POLYOT back in the sixties, the COSMOS launch vehicles have proven themselves in over 770 missions. With a success rate of over 97%, it is one of the world’s most reliable launch systems. The COSMOS launch vehicle is ideal for transporting small satellites to low-orbit positions.

SAR-Lupe a part of the European Reconnaissance System
SAR-Lupe will be forming part of the European Reconnaissance System. Under the ESGA project (German acronym for “Europeanization of Satellite-Based Reconnaissance”), OHB-System is creating the technical basis for allowing Franc

MOSCOW, 1th July. RIA NEWS. The launch of Russian carrier “Cosmos-3M” with German satellite SAR-Lupe has been delayed for one day and night due to upper level wind conditions. Until 2009 it has been planed to get to the orbit 5 German satellites SAR-Lupe.

Moscow, 29 june – RIA News. The Russian carrier rocket “Zenith-M” with military satellite has been successfully launched from Baikonur at 14.00 (Moscow time). The military satellite extends of group “Cosmos”of Russian satellites.

The construction of rocket is similar to “Zenith-3SL” of sea landing. It has two stages with new modified liquid engines.