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Copernical Team

Tuesday, 12 June 2012 13:10

HE Space Operations

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HE Space Operations is a privately-owned company, operating internationally withoffices in the Netherlands, Germany and the USA.  HE Space Operations is specialised in personnel recruitment with its focus exclusively on space agencies and the space industry. 

Monday, 11 June 2012 06:46

Hughes Space and Communication

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Hughes Space and Communications Company was formed as a subsidiary of Hughes Aircraft in 1961 following the merger of the company's Space and Communications Group and the Hughes Space Systems Division. 

This division built the world's first geosynchronous communications satellite, Syncom, in 1963 and followed it closely with the first geosynchronous weather satellite, ATS-1, in 1966. Later that year their Surveyor 1 made the first soft landing on the Moon as part of the lead-up to the moon landings in Project Apollo. Hughes also built Pioneer Venus in 1978, which performed the first extensive radar mapping of Venus, and the Galileo probe that flew to Jupiter in the 1990s. The company built nearly 40 percent of commercial satellites in service worldwide in 2000.

in 2000, Hughes Space and Communications Company became part of Boeing Satellite Systems.

Monday, 11 June 2012 06:24

XIPS - Xenon Ion Propulsion System

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XIPS is a commercial electron bombardment thruster (also known as an electrostatic ion thruster) – a form ion propulsion – that is a product of Hughes Space and Communications Company, which, in 2000, became part of Boeing Satellite Systems.

XIPS (pronounced "zips") employs the heavy inert gas xenon as a propellant. It was first used operationally aboard the PAS-5 (PanAmSat-5) communications satellite in 1997 and has since been fitted to many other geosynchronous satellites for use primarily in station-keepingIn a XIPS, xenon atoms are injected into an ionization chamber and ionized by electron bombardment. The propellant is then electrostatically accelerated through a series of biased grids.  Ions, ejected by XIPS, travel in a stream at a speed of 30 km/s (62,900 mph), nearly 10 times that of a conventional chemical thruster. The high efficiency of the system leads to a reduction in propellant mass of up to 90% for a satellite designed for 12–15 years operation.

For example on a XIPS equipped Boeing 702 satellite, four 25-cm thrusters provide economical station keeping, needing only 5 kg of fuel per year. Boeing asserts that this is "a fraction of what bipropellant or arcjet systems consume". Boeing further asserts, that a XIPS can be used for final orbit insertion and has orders( source: Wikipedia, Boeing_702 )  for spacecraft utilizing only ion thrusters. This conserves even more payload mass, as compared to using an on-board liquid apogee engine.

Sunday, 10 June 2012 20:12

Boeing 702 satellite

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The Boeing 702 satellite is a family of geostationnary satellites designed and manufactured by the company Boeing.

Its design requirements include lower cost and high reliability. It offers a broad spectrum of modularity. A primary example is payload/bus integration. After the payload is tailored to customer specifications, the payload module mounts to the common bus module at only four locations and with only six electrical connectors. This design simplicity confers advantages. First, nonrecurring program costs are reduced, because the bus does not need to be changed for every payload, and payloads can be freely tailored without affecting the bus. Second, the design permits faster parallel bus and payload processing. This leads to the third advantage: a short production schedule.

Further efficiency derives from the 702's advanced xenon ion propulsion system (XIPS), which was pioneered by Boeing. XIPS is 10 times more efficient than conventional liquid fuel systems. Four 25-cm thrusters provide economical stationkeeping, needing only 5 kg of fuel per year - a fraction of what bipropellant or arcjet systems consume. Using XIPS for final orbit insertion conserves more mass as compared to using an on-board liquid apogee engine. Customers can apply the weight savings to increase the revenue-generating payload, to prolong service life, or to change to a less expensive launch vehicle (when cost is based on satellite mass).

Monday, 11 June 2012 05:07

Tiangong 1

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Tiangong-1 is China's first space laboratory module, an experimental testbed to demonstrate the rendezvous and docking capabilities needed to support a space station complex. Launched unmanned aboard a Long March 2F/G rocket on 29 September 2011, it is part of the Tiangong program, which aims to place a larger, modular station into orbit by 2020. Tiangong-1 will be deorbited in 2013, and replaced over the following decade by the larger Tiangong-2 and Tiangong-3 modules.

Tiangong-1 will be visited by a series of Shenzhou spacecraft during its two-year operational lifetime. The first of these, the unmanned Shenzhou 8, successfully docked with the module in November 2011; the manned Shenzhou 9 mission is expected to launch to Tiangong-1 in June 2012.

Sunday, 10 June 2012 22:43

Boeing 601 satellite

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The  Boeing 601 satellite is a body-stabilized geostationary satellite. 

The Boeing 601 was introduced in 1987 to meet anticipated requirements for high-power, multiple-payload satellites for such applications as direct television broadcasting to small receiving antennas, very small aperture terminals for private business networks, and mobile communications. The basic configuration features as many as 48 transponders and offers up to 4,800 watts.

A more powerful version, the Boeing 601HP, made its debut in 1995. The HP versions can carry payloads twice as powerful as the classic Boeing 601 models, through such innovations as gallium arsenide solar cells, advanced battery technology, and an optional xenon ion propulsion system. The 601HP features as many as 60 transponders and provides up to 10,000 watts.

All Boeing 601 spacecraft use the same basic bus design, enabling Boeing to realize efficiencies gained by production volume, tooling investments and quantity buys.


Sunday, 10 June 2012 22:24

Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS)

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Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS) is an Operating Division of the Boeing Company responsible for defense and aerospace products and services. It was formerly known as Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). BDS combines manned and unmanned airborne capabilities, intelligence and security systems, communications architectures and extensive large-scale integration expertise across several diverse business areas.

BDS makes Boeing the third largest defense contractor in the world and is responsible for 51% of the company's income in 2008. BDS is based in Berkeley, Missouri, near the city of St. Louis. 

Saturday, 09 June 2012 22:14

National Space Society (NSS)

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The National Space Society (NSS) is an American independent, educational, grassroots, non-profit organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization.  Founded as the National Space Institute (1974) and L5 Society (1975), which merged to form NSS in 1987 (seemerger proclamation), NSS is widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen's voice on space. 

NSS has over 12 thousand members (and more supporters) and over 50 chapters in the United States and around the world.  The society also publishes Ad Astra magazine, an award-winning periodical chronicling the important developments in space.

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The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics is an American technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession.

AIAA’s mission is to address the professional needs and interests of the past, current, and future aerospace workforce and to advance the state of aerospace science, engineering, technology, operations, and policy to benefit our global society.

Founded in 1963, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics has now (2012) more than 35,000 individual members and 90 corporate members. AIAA is one of the world’s largest technical society dedicated to the global aerospace profession. Created by the merger of the two great aerospace societies of the day, the American Rocket Society (founded in 1930 as the American Interplanetary Society), and the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences (established in 1933 as the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences).

Saturday, 09 June 2012 20:45

SES TechCom Services

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SES TechCom Services provides operational services, technical consultancy and high-tech products as well as integrated solutions to the satellite industry around the world.

It is a 100%-owned SES company (May 2013).

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