March 2005 Space News

RUSSIA TO HELP DEVELOP NUCLEAR-POWERED SPACECRAFT RIA Novosti 29 Mar 2005 -- Russia that has developed state-of-the-art rocket engines is ready to use them within the framework of the international space program. Consequently, Russia is quite eager to explore deep space with the rest of the world.
Pakistan to launch its own satellite: report IRNA 27 Mar 2005 -- Pakistan has decided to manufacture and launch its own advanced satellite and President Pervez Musharraf has given a green signal, reports said on Sunday.
RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN SET TO ORBIT SATELLITES FROM MIG-31 FIGHTER RIA Novosti 25 Mar 2005 -- Russia and Kazakhstan have pondered the project of launching small satellites into space from the Russian fighter MiG-31, the spokesman for Roskosmos (Russian Space Agency) has told RIA Novosti on Friday.
NO GUARANTEE OF WEAPONS-FREE OUTER SPACE RIA Novosti 24 Mar 2005 -- The participants of the International Conference on Safeguarding Space Security in Geneva have admitted that existing norms do not guard against weapons emplacement in outer space, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated in a press release.
PLANETARY LIGHT DISCOVERY VOA 22 Mar 2005 -- Astronomers have announced that for the first time, they've detected the light of two planets hundreds of light years away. The scientists say the development paves the way for the discovery of earth-like planets outside our solar system.
KEEP ARMS RACE OFF SPACE, CALL RUSSIA & CHINA RIA Novosti 22 Mar 2005 -- Russia and China appeal to the world to prevent space-based arms race and make a respective treaty.
MND ACCENTUATES NEED TO PROCURE PATRIOT PAC III CNA 21 Mar 2005 -- Vice Minister of National Defense Huo Shou-yeh accentuated Monday the need for Taiwan to procure the U.S.-made Patriot PAC III anti-missile system, saying if the procurement plan is dropped, Taiwan will be unable to defend itself from China's missile attacks.
U.S. OFFERS CHEAPER PRICE FOR PATRIOT PAC III: MND REPORT CNA 20 Mar 2005 -- The United States has offered a cheaper price for the Patriot PAC III anti-missile system to be sold to Taiwan, according to a Ministry of National Defense (MND) report sent to the Legislative Yuan Sunday.
NATO and Russia to conduct joint Theatre Missile Defence Exercise NATO 09 Mar 2005 -- Under the aegis of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), the Theatre Missile Defence Ad Hoc Working Group will conduct the second in a series of joint NATO-Russia TMD Command Post Exercises - 'Collaborative Arrow 05' - from 14-23 March 2005 at Airbase De Peel, the Netherlands.
SPACE TRAINING CENTER SHOULD REMAIN MILITARY INSTITUTION - RUSSIAN COSMONAUT RIA Novosti 18 Mar 2005 -- Alexei Leonov, the world's first man to walk out into the outer space, told a Friday news conference gathered at the 40th anniversary of his space flight onboard the Vostok-2 space vehicle that he was firmly against making the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center a civilian institution.
DoD Seeks Billions for Missile Defense Program AFPS 17 Mar 2005 -- Pentagon leaders charged with protecting the country against a ballistic missile attack asked Congress March 15 for $7.8 billion to sustain development of the nation’s first missile defense system through fiscal 2006.
Launch of NATO’s Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) Programme NATO 16 Mar 2005 -- NATO’s Theatre Missile Defence (TMD) Programme has reached a key milestone in Alliance efforts to field an Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) capability by 2010.
COMMAND-STAFF EXERCISE OF RUSSIA AND NATO ON ANTI-MISSILE DEFENCE TO BEGIN RIA Novosti 14 Mar 2005 -- The second command-staff exercise on the theatre of operations (TVD) anti-ballistic missile defence (ABM), Collaborative Arrow 2005, will be held at the De Peel air base in the Netherlands under the aegis of the Russia-NATO Council from March 14 to 23.
SATAN MISSILE BECOMES PEACEFUL AND PROFITABLE RIA Novosti 14 Mar 2005 -- The Russian Space Forces have started preparations for launching a Dnepr carrier rocket, a civilian version of the heavy R-36M2 Voyevoda intercontinental ballistic missile, or the SS-18 Satan in NATO classification. The launch is scheduled for the second quarter of this year.
President Bush To Nominate New NASA Administrator Washington File 11 Mar 2005 -- President Bush announced March 11 that he would nominate Michael Griffin, head of the Space Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland, to head the U.S. space agency
Teets tells Congress lasers-based communications coming AFPN 11 Mar 2005 -- The military's senior adviser on space testified before Congress on March 8.
IS RUSSIA PREPARING A MISSILE SHIELD? RIA Novosti 10 Mar 2005 -- It was reported yesterday that in January Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov had discussed Russia's withdrawal from the Soviet-US Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty with his American counterpart, Vedomosti writes.
U.N. Outer Space Subcommittee Concludes 42nd Session in Vienna Washington File 08 Mar 2005 -- Space-based disaster-management support was a key topic during the 42nd session of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Scientific and Technical Subcommittee, held February 21-March 4 in Vienna, Austria.
UN outer space panel mulls space-based disaster-management and virtual doctors UN News Centre 08 Mar 2005 -- Satellite-based disaster-management, virtual space doctors and the potential threat of an asteroid or meteor crashing into Earth were among key agenda items of the latest session of a United Nations panel on outer space.
Transcript: Air Force Press Conference on Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program 04 Mar 2005 -- Acting Secretary of the Air Force Peter B. Teets
Air Force lifts Boeing suspension AFPN 04 Mar 2005 -- Air Force officials removed the suspension of three Boeing Co. units associated with its rocket business March 4.
U.S./Canada: Analysts Say Trade, Not Missile Defense, At Heart Of Rift RFE/RL 03 Mar 2005 -- Canada and the United States are neighbors with much in common. They share similar cultures, they trade vigorously, and have been staunch allies for decades. Yet today relations are strained, as illustrated by Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin's decision last week not to take part in President George W. Bush's missile-defense program. Then U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice canceled a visit to the Canadian capital of Ottawa next month, although Washington attributes it to what it calls a "scheduling conflict."
RUSSIA CAN DO A SHARE IN UNFOLDING EUROPEAN MISSILE DEFENSE RIA Novosti 02 Mar 2005 -- Russia can propose operating systems for the creation of the European antimissile defense, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told a briefing in Berlin. He is on a working visit in Berlin.