France in Space #223
** 1: NEW SUCCES FOR ARIANE 4 AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF INQUIRY ON ARIANE 5
Arianespace successfully orbited the NSS-6 satellite for global operator New
Skies Satellites N.V. Less than a week after Ariane 5 ” 10 ton ” ‘s Flight
157, the flawless orbital injection of NSS-6 fully demonstrated
Arianespace’s capability to ensure launch service continuity for its
customers. An inquiry board has been appointed and will submit its final
report by January 6, in order to determine whether last week’s failure will
have an impact on Ariane 5G and G+. The upcoming January Ariane 5 flight
will launch the European deep space probe, Rosetta. It is to meet a comet,
which will not wait around.
[Arianespace Press Release 12/17/2002]
** 2: FRANCO-AMERICAN COOPERATION ON JASON : A SUCCESSFUL TEAM
Since its December 7, 2001 launch, JASON-1, the Franco-American satellite
(CNES/NASA), has taken over the TOPEIX/POSEIDON’s mission, in orbit since
1992. The testing phase now successfully completed, recent test results are
showing better than expected performances. Jason-1 assesses the oceans’
topography with exceptional precision, i.e. to the centimeter, flying over
the same landmark every 10 days. The CNES’ teams, in collaboration with
NASA, EUMETSAT and NOAA, are already working on the next phase of the Jason
program. Jason-2 is scheduled to be launched in 2006.
[CNES Press Release 12/19/2002]
** 3: SPACE TECHNOLOGY TO HELP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST BLACK TIDES
The three-dimensional study and forecasts of the ocean (temperature,
currents, salinity) are playing a highly strategic role in the oil tanker
Prestige’s tragic sinking. It is used in observing the oil in motion and
anticipating its direction towards the coastlines threatened by its
pollution. French forecasters from MERCATOR OCEAN (
http://www.mercator.com.fr/en ) rank amongst the best on the international
scene. Located in Toulouse, France, they use new and innovative operational
oceanographic systems, based on 3-D models of the oceans, in which they
enter ground and space data, particularly those gathered by JASON-1.
[CNES Press Release 12/19/2002]
** 4: KEO, FIRST TIME-TRAVELER
In early 2005, the small passive satellite KEO is due to carry thousands of
messages for a 5 thousand-year travel in space before its return to Earth.
Until December 31, 2003, you may send your messages for free to your distant
descendants ( http://www.keo.org ). This initiative is the brainchild of
artist Jean-Marc Philippe.
[Le Figaro 12/21/02]
** 5: GALILEO DELAYED BY GERMANY AND ITALY
Germany and Italy have failed in a fresh attempt to settle their dispute
over who will take the lead in building the European Union’s Galileo
satellite navigation system. The German government blamed Italy for the
breakdown in talks after it refused to accept a German compromise proposal.
But an ESA Press release stated that it was Germany and Spain who failed to
accept compromise. Antonio Rodotà summed up the situation when he declared,
“This is a hard blow for Europe. The entire space industry in Europe will
badly suffer from this break in the negotiations.” Scheduled to be
operational by 2008, Galileo will offer the citizens of Europe and the world
an accurate and secure satellite positioning capability. It is also the
first big test of European cooperation on a highly strategic issue.
[AFP Press release 12/23/02 and ESA Press release 12/23/02]
** 6: IN BRIEF
The Republic of Korea selects Alcatel Space as a successful bidder to build
Koreasat 5 satellite. [Alcatel Press release 12/19/02]
Alcatel Space announced that it has delivered to Astrium the first flight
model of the Helios II High-Resolution (HR) instrument for integration on
the Helios IIA satellite in Toulouse, slated for launch in late 2004.
[Alcatel Press release 12/18/02]
On December 14th, the remote sensing satellite ADEOS II was successfully put
into orbit by the Japanese launcher H-IIA. Two CNES-built instruments are
installed on the bus: Polder 2 and Argos-Next. [CNES Press release 12/18/02]
[From AFP Press Release, Alcatel Space Press Release, Arianespace Press
Release, CNES Press Release, ESA Press Release, Le Figaro ]
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France In Space is a weekly synthesis of French space activities based on
French press. Its content does not reflect an official position of the
French Government or CNES. It is provided by the CNES office in Washington
D.C
Editors: Vincent Sabathier, Thibaut Girard – Translator: Virginie Thibaud.
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http://www.france-science.org/france-in-space
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