61st International Astronautical Congress

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http://www.spaceref.com : Space Generation Congress 2010 Achieves Record Success

By Farnaz Ghadaki

Posted Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Space Generation Congress participants and organizers.

The 9th Annual Space Generation Congress (SGC) hosted by the Space Generation Advisory Counsel (SGAC) was held in Prague, Czech Republic, from September 23 - 25, 2010. Being a complimentary event preceding the the 61st International Astronautical Congress, this congress started with a record high of 200 top and carefully chosen delegates gathered together to discuss the latest issues in the space industry. With five concurrent workshops at its core, in conjunction with talks by distinguished members of the space industry, SGC 2010 was very successful in reaching its goal of creating a forum to bring together and facilitate the voice of innovative, creative, and passionate students and young professionals on space issues, particularly at the international level.

Over 220 students and young professionals from around the globe applied to participate in SGC2010. One hundred delegates were chosen from 40 countries, 28 of whom received grants and scholarships to attend the congress, and an additional 10 who received the IAF grant. Setting a record high for SGAC, this was a significant increase in numbers from 2009, which saw a participation of 75 delegates representing 32 countries, 21 of whom were granted scholarships. As with previous years, the delegates brought knowledge and experience from many fields, from engineering, law, policy, marketing, business development, journalism, to astrophysics, biology, geology, education, and many more. They were divided into five working groups where they discussed, analyzed, and made recommendations on key space topics of: Agency, Climate, Exploration, Industry, and Outreach.

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Right to Left, SGAC Chair Agnieszka Lukaszczyk, NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden, and SGAC Executive Director Ariane Cornell.

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The Space Generation Congress concluded with a special Gala Dinner event on Saturday, September 25, 2010, held at the beautiful Charles University in Prague, and was attended by SGC delegates and prominent international leaders of the space sector. Guest of honor, NASA Administrator, Charles F. Bolden, addressed the audience and stressed the importance of youth for the future of space exploration. "If exploration is your passion no one will stop you. You will make a difference, and I look forward to hearing your voices," Administrator Bolden stated. His presence amplified the enthusiasm that the students and young professionals already felt about space, making a superb and unforgettable ending to the 9th annual Space Generation Congress.

 

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www.spaceflightnow.com : Analysis of Hayabusa samples will wait until 2011

BY STEPHEN CLARK

Posted: September 29, 2010

PRAGUE -- Scientists won't know whether Japan's Hayabusa probe actually returned asteroid dust until at least February or March, when researchers finish extracting microscopic particles from the craft's return capsule and complete an exhaustive analysis to verify their origin.

An image of one particle inside Hayabusa's sample canister. Credit: JAXA

In a presentation at the 61st International Astronautical Congress here, Hayabusa's project manager said he is optimistic the hard-luck $200 million mission returned at least some traces of asteroid material from the surface of Itokawa, the potato-shaped rubble pile object the probe visited in late 2005.

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"Many of the particles are probably Earth particles," Kawaguchi said Wednesday. "However, some of the particles were probably captured at the asteroid."

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JAXA's curation facility in Sagamihara, Japan. Credit: JAXA

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"We will transmit any scientific update when it's available," Kawaguchi said.

Scientists still have not opened Chamber B, which likely holds more dust and asteroid residue than the container officials are already examining.

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The opening of Chamber B is scheduled for October, Kawaguchi told Spaceflight Now.

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Kawaguchi, who guarded his optimism before Hayabusa landed, now openly says he believes scientists will ultimately prove the mission returned pieces of an asteroid.

"Even a micron-sized particle can be sliced into bits and pieces and analyzed," Kawaguchi said.

 

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http://www.federalspace.ru : New Advanced Propulsion Systems to Make Mission to Mars in 2-3 Months Feasible – Anatoly Perminov

:: 30.09.2010

The attempts to improve parameters of the existing rocket propulsion systems are unreasonable, Roscosmos Head Anatoly Perminov stated, questioned by news media during the International Astronautical Congress in Prague..
«No matter, how many experts in the world, and no matter how much they work, they would provide maximum improvement of any existing propulsion which is measured in a fraction of percent only. The most has been made of the available propulsions – liquid or solid-propellant. Any attempt to improve the thrust or momentum is hopeless», the Head of the Russian Federal Space Agency said.
On the other hand, he believes, nuclear propulsion is able to improve these parameters significantly:
«To make an example of a mission to Mars. With the current propulsion it takes 1.5-2 years, with the nuclear one it would be 2-4 months».
According to Perminov, an alternative option may appear in the future, but the current technologies do not provide it.
He added that nuclear propulsion systems are considered for large-scale human missions, not for small spacecraft which could use other type of propulsion – ionic engines or solar wind energy.
Roscosmos Head reminded that heavy and super-heavy-lift launchers were being developed in Russia. These are to fly from new space port Vostochny.
«Development and evolution of the new space port in the Far East imply several milestones. The first one covers development of the Rus-M rocket to be used to launch spacecraft, cargo supply and possibly human space vehicles. This milestone to last from 2015 to 2020, is to include launches as well”, Perminov explained.
He added the 50-60-t launcher of heavy class would appear in 2020s, and the superheavy (150t)- in around 2030.
Perminov said that the new launchers might be tested in flight from Baikonur first.
«Baikonur is located at the territory of Kazakhstan, which is under renting by Russia till 2050. I am sure that we will continue using this port for Soyuz, Zenith, Proton launches until this date. We will continue using this systems, and building the new space port in parallel», Roscosmos Head stated.

Roscosmos PAO

http://www.federalspace.ru : Roscosmos Head is not Against China’s Becoming an ISS Partner

:: 30.09.2010

China would not be in position to become one of the partners in the International Space Station program, Roscosmos Head Anatoly Perminov stated, questioned by news media during the International Astronautical Congress in Prague.
«I’m not against China’s involvement in the ISS program a partner», Roscosmos Head stated. «However in the view of their economical evolution, and their ambitions in the human space exploration, I don’t think that China would do it”.
Possible participation of the other partners in the ISS – India or China - was also discussed during the Heads of the Agencies plenary at the Congress. NASA’s Head Charles Bolden expressed his opinion by explaining that the ISS partnership was established a long time ago, so involving one more partner today would be extremely difficult. On the other hand, Bolden said, any party which provides components or products for the station can be involved in the project through an ISS partner.
To remind, 5 main parties of the ISS comprise space agencies of Russia, the USA, Europe, Japan and Canada.
Currently, only two of them posses human space vehicles to bring the crews to and from the ISS. However after shuttle retirement in 2011, Russia remains the only partner to carry on crew rotations with their Soyuzes.
«Russian party have done everything to maintain 4 human space launches by Soyuzes per year. Last year we extended ISS crew to 6, and the crew rotations are supported by our vehicles», Perminov commented the situation.
He also added that Soyuz production line currently undergoes deep modification:
«This is not only Roscosmos’ concern, this goes to the state level. Chairman of the Russian Government Vladimir Putin visited RSC-Energia recently to revise the modification of the line himself. In other words, Russia’s approach to meeting its international obligations is serious; the partners shall not doubt it».
Roscosmos Head also noted that advanced human space vehicle is under development in Russia.
«RSC-Energia commenced draft design of the advanced crew vehicle to be commissioned in 2015, and flown in 2018», Perminov concluded.

Roscosmos PAO

 

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www.spacenews.com : Common Exploration Plan will be Slow in the Making

By Peter B. de Selding

Thu, 30 September, 2010

PRAGUE, Czech Republic — The world’s principal space-faring nations, which have spent the past three years talking about a common exploration strategy, are committed to producing, by June, a document setting out specific measures to enable an international program to take shape, space agency representatives said Sept. 30.

Addressing the 61st International Astronautical Congress here, members of the 14-agency International Space Exploration Coordinating Group (ISECG) reported little concrete results from their three years’ labors.

They stressed that the mere fact the space agencies of the United States, China, Russia, India, Europe, Japan, South Korea and others are able to talk about exploration strategy with a view to coordinating efforts should be seen as a signal achievement.

In one of the few specific examples of what the group’s work could do, a Canadian official said the ISECG roadmap for a lunar-exploration program was used to shape the Canadian government’s recent decision to invest some $100 million over three years with a focus on robotic technologies.

Gilles Leclerc, director-general for space exploration at the Canadian Space Agency, said the ISECG work on lunar exploration has helped Canada to position itself as “a niche player” in future space exploration missions.

Other examples of the ISECG work’s effects on member agencies’ plans were not forthcoming.

One official said that while the group’s Global Exploration Strategy was published, with considerable fanfare, in May 2007, it was not until June of this year that a meeting of senior-level officials of the member agencies was held. A second meeting is scheduled for November.

A Global Exploration Roadmap scheduled for publication next June should include specific steps to guide future exploration efforts without reducing each nation’s autonomy, officials said. The roadmap should include elements such as common interfaces for equipment so that joint missions are made easier.

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Yoshiyuki Hasegawa, managing director for lunar and planetary exploration at Japan’s space agency, JAXA, recalled that it took years for the current space station partnership to find its footing. “It took five or six years to sort out ideas,” Hasegawa said, adding that the ISECG thus far should be viewed as “a soft contact ... still at a conceptual phase, that offers a good chance to reduce misunderstanding” among nations planning their own space exploration efforts.

Eun-sup Sim, director of space applications and future technologies at the Korean Aerospace Research Institute, which is South Korea’s space agency, urged the group to think small as well as big so that nations without multibillion-dollar space budgets can find their place in whatever plans are approved.

“It would be more useful to have smaller-scale efforts incorporated into the plan,” he said.

 

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Updated report by Anatoly Zak :

www.russianspaceweb.com : Hopes and fears of space program: view from Prague

Russian space officials outlined an ambitious vision for the future of the nation’s space program. Speaking at the International Astronautics Congress, IAC, held this week in Prague, representatives of the Russian space agency and the industry described a wide array of long-term projects for the manned spacecraft, including nuclear-powered spacecraft, a family of heavy-lifting launch vehicles, the new launch center and the next-generation manned spaceship. Speaking at the opening of the IAC on Monday, the director of the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, Anatoly Perminov confirmed a previous commitment of the Russian government to develop a space tug powered by a large nuclear reactor. The vehicle’s primary goal would be to support expeditions to the Moon and human landings on Mars. “The current capabilities of traditional chemical rockets have reached their limits, while nuclear technology would enable us to advance our capabilities in space by orders of magnitude,” Perminov told delegates. The Russian government officially endorsed the project a year ago.

Speaking later to a group of reporters in Prague, Perminov said that the development of the nuclear powered space tug for operations in deep space would be conducted in parallel with the work on a new family of rockets, which could support such missions. According to Perminov, the development of these new launch vehicles would take place in three phases. The Rus-M rocket, capable of delivering up to 23 tons into the low-Earth orbit, should be ready by 2015, followed by a heavy-lifting vehicle with the payload of 50-60 tons after 2020. By 2030, a super-heavy rocket with the payload up to 150 tons would be developed, Perminov promised. All these rockets would be based at the yet-to-be built launch site in Vostochny, in the Russian Far East. The development of the center was officially approved in 2007. Roskosmos deputy director, Sergei Saveliev told the editor of this web site that military construction workers would break ground for the new center next year. “All the money and technical designs for Vostochny are ready,” Saveliev said, “We have two billions dollars allocated for the project and this is enough to conduct the construction.”

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In Prague, Russian officials advertised projects that fell along the lines of a strategy developed during 2006-2009 and the statements they made at the forum confirmed one more time that all major components of this long-term vision have remained in place. However, despite its sheer scale and possibly because of it, the Russian manned space strategy faced plenty of critics behind the scene. Skeptics pointed out that oversized ambitions of the agency and extremely short deadlines would be difficult if not impossible to match by financial realities of the day. Most large-scale projects within the Russian manned space flight exist only on paper and it would take some time to prove whether these preliminary studies could be followed by real hardware. Recent advances of the Russian space program, although notable after a decade of stagnation, still remained modest and often years behind schedule. Russia’s major effort to develop the Angara launch vehicle, which started almost two decades ago, has been perpetually two or three years away from the first launch and it is still unclear, if it would fly in 2012, as presently promised.

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Russia’s bullish view on the future of its space program contrasted sharply with tempered if not outright gloomy outlook rendered in Prague by US and even more so, by European officials. In his opening statement to the Congress, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden expressed the need for the US space program to find new goals and destinations in space, however he did not endorse any particular strategy or technology for the long-term future, beyond continuous support of the International Space Station and the development of the new-generation manned spacecraft. With the retirement of the Space Shuttle next year, Russia would become the only country in the world capable of sending humans to the International Space Station, Despite China’s emerging manned space program and continuous speculations in the popular press about the possibility for this country to join the partnership, a highly militarized and restrictive nature of the Chinese space program currently prevents any hope for such venture, American, Russian and European space officials said.

However the most pessimistic future, the manned space flight was facing in Europe. At the opening of the Congress, Jean-Jacques Dordain, the director of the European Space Agency, ESA, said that his organization was not convinced that any manned exploration program would require a parallel development of the heavy-lifting launch vehicle in Europe. The statement was a clear response to European advocates of manned space flight, who hoped for the development on the continent of the new-generation rocket that could support deep-space missions. This attitude was inevitably echoed in industry documents outlining the future work on European rockets, presented in Prague. Even the most remote plans proposed by Arianespace engineers, who operate Europe’s workhorse Ariane-5 rocket, envisioned only relatively modest upgrades to the vehicle. No future development of the heavy-lifting rocket was expected in a foreseeable future, Arianespace officials said.

A similar picture has emerged in Prague in regards of the future European manned spacecraft. Although ESA did recently order a Bremen division of the aerospace giant EADS Astrium to conduct low-level preliminary studies of manned vehicles and this work did attract some media attention in Prague, sources familiar with the matter dismissed the effort as a “background noise.” Without a radical boost in ESA budget and major shift in European space policy, the continent’s astronauts would never get a spacecraft of their own, sources said.

 

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http://www.planetary.org : Bill Nye Connects with Space People at IAC

Sep. 30, 2010 | 10:23 PDT | 17:23 UTC

by Susan Lendroth

The 61st International Astronautical Congress (IAC) is being held in Prague in the Czech Republic, and Bill Nye is attending on behalf of the Planetary Society. The IAC is organized by the International Astronautical Federation which sports on its website the motto "Connecting Space People." That has certainly held true for Bill, who reports meeting dozens of the world's best rocket scientists just by standing in one spot for a few minutes there! He sent us these photos on Monday. Bill said, "Lightsail-1 was a big hit today in Prague. People are very impressed by how little overhead and bureaucracy we need to fly this happy little craft. Thanks for your support. Your contributions are helping us innovate and lead the world in this new type of spacecraft, the first ever in Earth orbit."

Bill Nye and Tom Svitek present at IAC
Tom Svitek and Bill Nye presented Lightsail-1 at the International Astronautical Congress in Prague on September 27, 2010. Credit: Bill Nye

 

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www.spacenews.com : Germany First European Nation To Commit to Space Station Extension

Thu, 30 September, 2010

By Peter B. de Selding

PRAGUE, Czech Republic — Germany has committed to paying a 38 percent share of an estimated 3.8 billion euros ($5.2 billion) that European governments will need to continue their work on the international space station (ISS) in the next 10 years, the head of Germany’s space agency said Sept. 29.

Johann-Dietrich Woerner, chairman of the board of the German Aerospace Center, DLR, said DLR is now waiting for Europe’s other space station participants, led by France and Italy, to state their commitments to the station’s five-year extension, to 2020.

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The 18-nation European Space Agency (ESA) remains the only space station partner not to have signaled its agreement to the proposed five-year station life extension. ESA officials have said they want the agreement to come together with financial promises as well for the 10-year period.

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Speaking with reporters, di Pippo said ESA has a range of 10-year station operations cost estimates tied to various levels of station use. Confirming that DLR has informed ESA of its commitment through 2020, she said the German estimate of 3.8 billion euros assumes no development of an upgraded version of ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) to permit it to return station cargo to Earth.

The vehicle as designed burns up on entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. ESA estimates that the upgraded vehicle would cost some 1.4 billion euros, including its first mission around 2018.

Woerner said Germany is not necessarily opposed to the upgraded vehicle, but that it would have to be part of an overall space station budget. France and Italy, which currently pay about 27 percent and 19 percent of Europe’s space station costs, respectively, have likewise not come out in favor of the new vehicle.

“We are ready to discuss” an Advanced Return Vehicle, Woerner said, noting that German government backing of it enabled a study program to start in 2008. “But only after other station operations financing issues are resolved.” He said some European nations appear to believe the work could be done for less than 3.8 billion euros without cutting into the utilization program. “If that is the case, we would be happy to see those numbers,” Woerner said.

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Di Pippo said the agency has begun talks with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency to determine whether Japan’s plans to upgrade its current throwaway H-TV space station freighter could be merged with ESA’s vehicle into a single program to develop a vehicle with payload-return capabilities.

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Di Pippo said that with the other station partners — the United States, Russia, Japan and Canada — all having signaled their endorsement of the extension to 2020, Europe’s continued debate over the issue risked becoming an embarrassment.

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[EarthlingX]

www.iafastro.org : 61st International Astronautical Congress

The 61st International Astronautical Congress concludes today.

Page includes various summaries, videos, documents ..

 

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www.federalspace.ru : Meeting of the International Space Debris Committee Took Place at IAC-2010

:: 01.10.2010

An annual meeting of the International Space Debris Committee took place at the International Astronautical Congress-2010 in Prague.
Russia is represented in the Committee by Yury Makarov, Head of Roscosmos Division.
«The International Committee which meets annually comprises 4 working groups. Each group also hold their meetings to discuss different relevant topics, including debris monitoring, avoidance, prediction of hazardous situations, etc. Then, the groups report to the Control Board of the Committee», Makarov explains.
According to him, the agenda of the meeting covers 15 topics, including review of several documents.
«The Committee is established to achieve consolidated efforts to reduce industrial space debris threat. Full agreement is the main principle of the Committee. This means- no voting, any decision is made with full consent of each member. After that, the decision is to be implemented by the countries involved in the Committee”, Roscosmos representative said.
He added that some important issues had been discussed, including results of the deorbiting tests for the third stage of Russian rocket Vostok.
The meeting of the International Space Debris Committee was attended by representatives of Russia, the USA, UK, Italy, France, China, Germany, Japan, Ukraine and countries of the European Space Agencies.
«The more vehicles is launched by a country, the more debris it puts into orbit. Still, you have to keep in mind that that not only launchers provide debris, but the spacecraft as well. The orbital debris belong not only to Russia and US; China’s portion is currently growing», Makarov noted.
He stated that any country which starts active space exploration, becomes a potential space debris supplier.
«Unfortunately, more debris appeared in LEO within last year», Roscosmos representative concluded.

Roscosmos PAO

 

[EarthlingX]

www.spaceref.com : The Influence Of Film On Human Space Exploration

By Farnaz Ghadaki

Posted Friday, October 1, 2010

Robert K. Weiss of the X-Prize Foundation gave an illuminating presentation about space and the film industry, as part of the 21st Symposium On Space Activity and Society at the 61st International Astronautical Congress in Prague. His talk, "Days of Future Past: Film Visions of Space Exploration, Commercialization and Tourism", and co-authored by film expert Andy Cochrane, provided a compelling case of how rocketry and art of film grew together to entertain and inspire the public.

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[EarthlingX]

Related to previous post :

http://www.esa.int : ESA Euronews: Science and science fiction - two worlds meet

1 October 2010

Jules Vernes, Arthur C. Clarke and many others imagined fantasy worlds, futuristic machines and journeys into space. Much of what used to be science fiction has now become reality. Science meets science fiction in this episode of Space.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcDbNOOqRi0[/youtube]

 

[EarthlingX]

www.spaceref.com : Surrey Satellite New High-Resolution Always-on Constellation to Image the Earth Every Five Days

By Marc Boucher

Posted Friday, October 1, 2010

Image credit SSTL.


Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) has made a name for itself by delivering quality innovative products over the course of its 25 year history. So much so that entrepreneur Elon Musk, who created his own series of innovative companies like SpaceX, once owned at 10% stake in SSTL. In January 2009 EADS Astrium was so impressed with the company that it acquired it and in a show of faith in the company kept the UK company independent allowing management to continue building its brand while providing additional resources to help its growth.

At the 61st International Astronautical Congress in Prague this week SSTL announced it will launch it's own three satellite earth observation constellation with the ability to see details down to the sub-meter level.

According to Steve Young, Head of Business Development the constellation is a "way of giving other customers the opportunity to lease capacity in a constellation, so rather than having to buy a single spacecraft they're able to get a benefit of a constellation." Young said it's a big step forward for SSTL. He said it's "an innovation in terms of the commercial model, so it's a business model innovation combined with a technology innovation in that we are now putting meter class imaging systems on these sort of size satellites."

SSTL will lease capacity to international customer who would not otherwise be able to afford their own satellites to recoup its investment and to turn a profit. The 300 kilogram satellites use cheaper commercial off-the-shelf components such as those found in laptops thus reducing the cost of building the satellites. Images from the satellites can be used for many applications including disaster management, resource development and environmental monitoring.

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[EarthlingX]

www.esa.int : International partners update launch manifest

1 October 2010



ESA PR 22-2010 NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) on Friday agreed to update the International Space Station launch schedule. The target launch dates for the last planned space shuttle flight, STS-134 on Endeavour, will be Feb. 27 and the Automated Transfer Vehicle-2 (ATV-2) will be Feb. 15.

Roscosmos will continue to look at Soyuz launch and landing options to provide manifest robustness.

The agencies agreed to the changes during discussions at the International Astronautical Conference in Prague. Arianespace, whose Ariane 5 rocket will launch ATV-2 into orbit from French Guiana, has confirmed its commitment to launch ATV-2 on February 15.

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[EarthlingX]

http://www.spaceref.com : The 61st International Astronautical Congress Photograph Slideshow

By Marc Boucher

Posted Monday, October 4, 2010

A selection of photographs from the 61st International Astronautical Congress in Prague between September 27th through October 1st. You can view the slideshow with captions here.

You will have to check the article for the slideshow - forum sw doesn't support that.

 

[EarthlingX]

www.jaxa.jp : Inter-agency Cooperation Agreement with Italian, Norwegian, and French Space Agencies

September 30, 2010 (JST)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) signed an inter-agency cooperation agreement with the Italian space agency, Agency Spaziale Italiana (ASI), the Norwegian Space Center (NSC) and the French space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatial (CNES), respectively.

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Details in the article, all during IAC2010.

 

[EarthlingX]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com : NASA expects a gap in commercial crew funding

BY STEPHEN CLARK

Posted: October 11, 2010

PRAGUE -- Some companies could see a gap in funding between the first and second rounds of NASA's procurement to help develop commercial crew transportation services for low Earth orbit, according to the agency's top exploration official.

SpaceX is preparing a Dragon capsule for an unmanned test flight in November. Credit: Michael Rooks/SpaceX

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Doug Cooke, the associate administrator for NASA's exploration directorate, said payments to the firms under the current CCDev procurement cycle are based on milestones. That means money from the last fiscal year, which concluded Sept. 30, will remain available through December, when the final milestones are scheduled, according to Cooke.

But the Oct. 1 notice of a second CCDev contest indicates the next awards will not come until March 2011. Proposals will be due approximately 45 days after the solicitation, according to NASA.

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Only companies receiving awards in both rounds of CCDev funding would see a gap. The new competition will be open to all companies, not just firms already collecting money from NASA.

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Musk forecasts expenditures between $800 million and $1 billion to outfit SpaceX's Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rockets for human flights. Some of that money could be deferred beyond 2013, the planning horizon in the current NASA bills.

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In a media teleconference Sept. 15, Boeing officials said they were hoping for fresh funding by Nov. 1 to keep the CST-100 design team in place. Without such money, Boeing's target to begin operational flights of the capsule by 2015 could be in jeopardy, according to John Elbon, the vice president and program manager of the company's commercial crew transportation system.

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Edmund Memi, a Boeing spokesperson, last week said the company is "assessing whether we can fund internally during this gap, but we have not made the final decision at this point to do so."

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[EarthlingX]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJQxw25EL3Y[/youtube]

tvroscosmos | October 09, 2010

 

[EarthlingX]

www.esa.int : International Astronautical Federation elects Dordain new Vice-President

11 October 2010


Opening Ceremony of the exhibition at IAC 2010

On 1 October the General Assembly of the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) elected ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain Vice-President on a two-year mandate.

The 200 IAF member organisations represented at the General Assembly gathered in Prague to attend the 61st International Astronautical Congress (IAC), the yearly meeting of space professionals, and elected Dordain to represent Europe alongside other VPs from a number of spacefaring countries such as the US, Russia, Japan, India and China.

Developing stronger relationships with the heads of space agencies around the world will be the main priority for Dordain, who was recently appointed for a third mandate at the helm of the European Space Agency that will extend his term until June 2015.

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[EarthlingX]

spaceref.ca : An Overview of the Canadian Space Agency Exploration Core Program

By Marc Boucher

Posted October 20, 2010 12:08 PM

IAC 2010

At the recent 61st International Astronautical Congress in Prague, Jean-Claude Piedboeuf, Head of Exploration Planning at the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), provided an overview of Canada's preparatory exploration activities. While Canada has been involved in exploration activities for 25 years with its contributions in robotics, science and astronaut core, it wasn't until 2007 that the CSA created the Exploration Core Program to unify the activities within the agency.

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The CSA ExoMars prototype.

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The Next Generation Canadarm testbeds.

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ExDOC in use for the February, 2010 Hawaii deployment.

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The CSA prototype rovers in use in Hawaii.

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