Washington, DC – Dec 30, 1997 – When the history of the Space Age is
recounted, 1997 is likely to be remembered for two main events: one millions of miles away on the ancient Martian riverbeds, the other 200 klicks overhead in low Earth orbit.
One – the triumph of a smallsat named Mars Pathfinder and its robust Rover Sojourner – rallied humanity to the final frontier like nothing in space since that small step out on to the Sea of Tranquility; the other a crisis aboard the MIR space station as an unmanned Progress tanker gave the orbiting facility its gravest hours since launch in 1986, and a reminder that space flight still has its risks as well as its rewards.
But for those whose financial fortunes lie in space commerce, the year was
nothing short of dazzling, with the triumphant launches of the Iridium
system opening the door to a decade of satellite commerce and bold new
endeavors in space transportation, set to gain strength in the year ahead.
The year began with what turned out to be an anomaly. A January lift-off of
a Delta II rocket carrying a new Global Positioning System 2R satellite
ended seconds into the launch with the first mid-air explosion at Cape
Canaveral in more than a decade. The accident grounded the popular
workhorse Delta for nearly six months while an accident investigation team
looked at the rocket debris and launch photography to determine what went
wrong.
The team drew almost as much attention as the rocket's failure itself. Industry awaiting release of the Deltas chafed at Air Force security restrictions and lack of communications as the investigation dragged on. Eventually, the rocket's strap-on GEM motors were fingered as the cause, with improved assembly and quality inspections identified as improvements needed to avoid another, similar failure. But the controversy over the team and its lengthy investigation lead the Air Force at year's end to overhaul its investigation procedures.
The remaining launches of 1997 went nearly flawlessly. Since its return to flight in late summer, ten DeltaIIs have been launched during the remainder of the year, all without any incident. Orbital Sciences Corp. lofted five Pegasus XL's during the year, all successfully. Lockheed Martin's LMLV-1, renamed at midyear the Athena, sped aloft from Vandenberg with the Lewis satellite aboard, marking the rocket's comeback from a 1996 explosion and the first successful launch ever from Space Launch Complex 6.
Lockheed Martin also lofted seven Atlas rockets during the year, with
payloads ranging from the military's DSCS-III to commercial communication
spacecraft. France's Arianespace sent 14 Ariane 4's into space in 1997, and
in September sent the second -and first successful – Ariane 5 test booster
into space on a return-to-flight that bolstered the commercial rocketeers.
India was also successful in 1997 with launches of their PSLV booster
sending Indian remote sensing spacecraft into Earth orbits. But Brazil
wasn't so lucky. Its long awaited VLS finally lifted from the Spaceport at
Alcantara Brazil, only to explode in midair seconds after take-off. The
setback may cause years of delay with the Brazilian rocket program. China,
however, has begun to recover from its string of launch failures in the mid-90s, with a trio of successful Long March 2 and 3 variant launches returning that nation to commercial space competitionin 1997.
At the Paris Air Show in June, Lockheed Martin announced a new, commercial
version of the Proton rocket, the Proton M, using the Breeze upper stage
and set for a 1998 inaugural. It marked the first upgrade of the Proton in
more than 20 years.
In reusable space technology, the X-33 program passed major milestones in 1997. The craft went through its Critical Design Reviews still overweight, but a Lockmart "tiger team" put the radical new craft on a design diet and trimmed its MACH 15 speed targets to MACH 13. Construction was underway in 1997 for the X-33 and the X-34 as well, with completion set for both vehicles next year. Kistler Aerospace also remains on target for a late 1998 launch of their K1 unmanned space truck. The program remains on budget at $550 million for research and developement of two test vehicles and testing through to early 1990.
The Air Force made a major change to its Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle
(EELV) program, deciding not to select a single rocket but instead to fund
the development of both the Delta IV and Atlas IIAR follow-on vehicle
families. The decision means that both Boeing and Lockheed will remain in
the commercial launch business. Pratt and Whitney completed major test
firings of the RD-180 engine system in 1997, and Rocketdyne planned final
construction of the competing RS-68 in December, headed towards a 1998 test
program.
But the most spectacular commercial space story of 1997 was the flawless
assembly of the Iridium small mobile satellite constellation. Some 46
Iridium satellites were orbited during the year on a wide variety of
boosters. Beginning on May 5th and continuing on June 18, July 9, Aug. 20,
Sept. 13, Sept. 26, Nov. 8, Dec. 8 and with a finale for the year on Dec.
17th, the launches in groups of two, five, and seven satellites sent the
company firmly towards operational status next year. The lockstep launch
sequence, using Delta, Proton, and Long March boosters, gave commercial
space planners of other small sat "Little Leo" and "Big Leo" mobile
satellite systems confidence that, following the Iridium example, it could
be done.
With more than 40 commercial launches set for 1998, and with 46 satellites
on the manifest order books for Arianespace, space transportation seems to
be a strong, healthy segment of the space business. As 1997 ended, the
Aerospace Industries Association projected that commercial space would see
a stunning 18% growth next year, leading the U.S. aerospace industry out of
its 1980's slump and firmly on the path to new profits – with the exception
being government and military purchases of aerospace hardware. That segment
will continue to decline, as the commercial part soars, as evidenced by the
remarkable flight record of 1997.
And there was yet one other commercial space development in 1997. On June
2nd
, the first commercial news service on the Internet devoted to space
news and written and edited by professional journalists began webcasting.
It's name? SpaceCast. See you in 1998.
