NewSpace Focus: SpaceX, Rocket Racing League, WhiteKnightTwo

This week will feature increased NewSpace activity, with several major enterprises hoping for successful debuts. Elon Musk's firm SpaceX is set for the 3rd launch of its Falcon 1 rocket (BR) from Omelek Island in the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX is looking to successfully place its first payload into space. The rocket is slated to carry the US Department of Defense Jumpstart mission, as well as a solar sail for NASA, NanoSail-D. Also this week, the Rocket Racing League, brainchild of X Prize founder Peter Diamandis, will showcase its new X-Racers (BL) at the 1st RRL exhibition race at the '2008 AirVenture' air show in Oshkosh WI. Six teams are currently registered with the league, which will feature rocket-powered aircraft racing through an aerial course. XCOR Aerospace has been contracted to design and build the first generation of X-Racers, which are based on XCOR's EZ-Rocket. Virgin Galactic and Scaled Composites are expected to rollout WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) on Monday, most likely in Mojave CA. The aircraft will carry SpaceShipTwo (SS2) as it launches on commercial suborbital flights in the next couple of years. The craft are the second generation being built by Burt Rutan and Scaled Composites after winning the US$10M Ansari X Prize in 2004 with SpaceShipOne and WhiteKnightOne. Virgin Galactic has contracted Scaled to build WK2 and SS2, which will carry paying customers into space as early as 2009. (Credit: VG, RRL, SpaceX)

ILEWG, LEAG, SRR Team Up For 10th International Lunar Conference

Three prominent lunar science groups are coming together in Cape Canaveral FL to discuss ways to integrate scientific, engineering, international and commercial interests into a sustainable Moon program. The '10th International Lunar Conference' on Oct 28-31 will be a joint meeting of the International Lunar Exploration Working Group (ILEWG), the Lunar Exploration Analysis Group (LEAG), and the Space Resources Roundtable (SRR). The conference will have 3 primary themes: Sustainable Moon, International Moon and Productive Moon, and will be led by LEAG Chair Clive Neal (TL), ILEWG Executive Director Bernard Foing (CL) and SRR President Leslie Gertsch. Participants will hear updates on current and upcoming lunar missions, including Japan's Kaguya, China's Chang'e-1, India's Chandrayaan-1 and USA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), as well as engage in discussions on lunar resources, lunar base infrastructure, space law, commercial-government interaction and new technologies. The meeting was scheduled to coincide with the original launch date of LRO, which is now expected in Q1 2009. The conference will be preceded by a series of outreach events hosted by the Young Lunar Explorers at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne FL. Abstract submissions for the '10th International Lunar Conference' are due on Jul 31. (Credit: UND, ESA, MST, NASA)