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| The Aerospace board of trustees and corporate officers cut the ribbon on the corporation's new Greens III building in Chantilly, VA. |
Year in Review
2005 Highlights
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (12/23/05) --The Aerospace Corporation celebrated 45 years of support to national-security, civil and commercial space in 2005. The year was marked by a number of program successes, including a new record for consecutive successful launches for our military customers. Listed below are some of the year's highlights.
Nanotechnology and
Tiny
Glass Satellites
Aerospace scientists continued to explore the use of nanotechnology in satellites. Glass-ceramic satellites, one-one-hundredth the size of today’s satellites, can be mass-produced and customized to cut costs. And because they are made of ceramic glass, internal communication can be handled quite efficiently via photonics. A working demonstrator satellite was presented to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The experimental technology, an important new direction in science, was developed and patented by Aerospace scientists.
Final Atlas III Launch
Aerospace supported the launch of Atlas Centaur AC-206, carrying a National Reconnaissance Office payload, Feb. 3. This was the 75th consecutive successful Atlas mission and the last Atlas to launch from Space Launch Complex 36B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Memorandum of Understanding with NASA Ames Research Center
Aerospace and NASA Ames Research Center signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on the development of lightweight, low-cost reentry and miniature sensor systems. Aerospace will use these devices to gather reentry data to validate and calibrate models; NASA Ames will use the devices to test heat-shield materials.
Developing Materials for National Security Space Institute
The Aerospace Corporation's Aerospace Institute agreed to support the new National Security Space Institute as it develops and expands its curriculum. The Institute’s expertise in teaching space systems architecting and engineering will be used to train space professionals. Aerospace will help ensure that course content is rigorous, technically correct, and representative of current and future systems.
Delta IV Anomaly Identified
Aerosapce employees participated on a team of experts that identified the root cause of the premature main engine cut-off on a Delta IV Heavy-Lift vehicle demonstration mission, which launched Dec. 21, 2004. Ray Johnson, vice president or Space Launch Operations, said, “Our technical staff has been instrumental in identifying and validating the root cause through fluids analysis and component testing.” The work by Aerospace on this key project underscores the company’s expertise in launch quality assurance.
First Phase of Affordable Responsive Spacelift
The Air Force began work on the first phase of the Affordable Responsive Spacelift (ARES) launch system program based, in part, on analysis and studies performed by Aerospace. The ARES concept supports a wide range of payload classes and features a reusable booster with expendable upper stages.
The Concept Design Center Completes Its 100th Study
The Aerospace Corporation's Concept Design Center’s Space Segment Team celebrated the completion of its 100th design study. At one time or another this team has provided almost all of the corporation’s program offices with spacecraft concept designs in support of feasibility studies, design trades, and source selections.
Aerospace Shares Space Achievement Award
Aerospace and other Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) team members received the 2005 Space Achievement Award from the Space Foundation. The IUS team received the award for “distinguished performance of the IUS during its lifetime of success performing both national-security and NASA missions.”
Titan IV B-30 is 41st Successful Consecutive Launch
Aerospace supported the final Titan launched at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station April 29, 2005. A total of 168 Titans were launched from the Cape since 1959.
Atlas Medium Launch Vehicle Team Receives Program Recognition Award
The Atlas Medium Launch Vehicle team was recognized for its exemplary contributions to the launch of 15 Department of Defense satellites that achieved 100 percent mission success. The corporation's Program Recognition Award, established in 1982, is given annually for direct contributions that have a major impact on program success and the Aerospace mission.
Space Shuttle Return-to-Flight
With the successful launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery from Cape Canaveral July 26, Aerospace celebrated the nation’s return to space travel. Aerospace team members supported the shuttle’s mission management team at Kennedy Space Center’s fire control room, Johnson Space Center’s mission control center, and one of the radar sites that collected data during the launch. Aerospace has been a technical advisor to the space shuttle program since its inception in 1972. Under the company’s current contract with NASA, Aerospace provides the shuttle program office with systems engineering, safety and mission assurance, and technical analysis.
Delta II Launch Ties Success Record at 42
The Sept. 25 Delta II launch of the first modernized Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite, GPS IIR-14M, was significant for a couple of reasons. It was the 42nd successful consecutive operational launch for the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center, and it tied the record for the most successful launches by the Air Force. The new GPS satellites transmit navigational signals to both military and civilian users, increasing navigational accuracy and availability.
Titan IV B-26 Launch Sets SMC Record
Lift-off of Titan IV B-26 from Space Launch Complex–4 East at Vandenberg marked the 200th Titan mission from Vandenberg and the 43rd successful consecutive launch for the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC). Aerospace employees joined our SMC customers and contractors at a celebratory luncheon with exhibits. This launch marked the end of the Titan program, which Aerospace has been a part of since the 1960s.
Blue Force Used for Katrina Relief
In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, Aerospace technology was used to help track and control rescue and rebuilding efforts in New Orleans. The Blue Force tracking system can monitor any person or vehicle with a GPS device. Aerospace helped develop the software interface that integrated data across military, civil and police units.
Aerospace Redefines the Weather Forecast
Aerospace has developed a model for weather analysis with five-kilometer spatial resolution. This high-resolution model is particularly helpful in high-density urban areas, and could prove useful in predicting the path of a toxic release after a human accident or terrorist attack.
The Aerospace Corporation, with headquarters in El Segundo, Calif., is an independent, nonprofit company that provides objective technical analyses and assessments for national security space programs and selected civil and commercial space programs in the national interest.
