AI
Wednesday, October 27, 2004 12:46:47 AM
Brazil reaches for the stars
There you have it, Brazil can launch ICBM’s and they are close to developing nuclear weapons, or ICBM’s with nuclear warheads.
Consider this: "Brazil is going to be the first ever nuclear weapon state (NWS) in the Southern Hemisphere by 2010." The fear of Theodore Taylor, an American physicist and expert on nuclear weapons during the 1970s would be true, if Brazil produces the bomb.
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-Am
Brazil reaches for the stars
Even with its winning rocket, Brazil may fall short in the commercial satellite space.
October 25, 2004
Brazil’s first successful rocket launch is being touted as the South American country’s initial foray into the commercial satellite industry.
However, the VSB-30 prototype tested on Saturday at the Alcantara Launch Center, located in the northeastern Amazonian jungle, has a payload capacity of 870 pounds and maximum altitude of 155 miles, leading some to question its commercial applications.
“Most of satellite radio and satellite TV is in a higher orbit level. At a lower orbit, there’s really no [commercial] market there,” said Camille Osborne, communications director at the U.S. Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA).
The event occurred a little over a year after a rocket launched from Alcantara exploded, leaving 21 people dead, marking the country’s third unsuccessful attempt to put a satellite into space.
This time around, Brazil’s space program wasn’t as ambitious, as it launched a less-powerful rocket for gravity research.
Paula Korn, media representative for satellite launching company Sea Launch, said national pride is probably a motivating factor in ensuring that the launch was successful.
“I know they’ve been trying to launch the rockets for a while. Congratulations for making this success. It’s a really excellent comeback in this short time after the catastrophe last year,” she said.
Indeed, after last year’s tragedy, many predicted that Brazil’s space program would take years to recover. Earlier attempts sought to place satellites into low orbit at 470 miles above the earth’s surface. Saturday’s experiment carried out gravity research at around a fourth of that altitude.
But the launch may bolster Brazil’s aim to sell 15 of the rockets to the European Space Agency.
Most commercial satellites used for telecommunications and media purposes are placed in geo-stationary orbits at altitudes of 22,300 miles and require rockets able to carry payloads of thousands of pounds.
In general, low-orbit satellites are not used for commercial purposes and are, instead, used for either military purposes, such as spy satellites, or meteorological or geological purposes, such as weather satellites and satellites to examine geological ground conditions.
Earlier this year, Brazil’s science and technology minister, Eduardo Campos, said in a statement that the new rockets would be used to launch Brazilian satellites into orbit to study Brazil’s agricultural and water resources, as well as environmental conditions.
Barron Beneski of Orbital Sciences, a company that launches lower-payload satellites into low-earth orbit, said one possible use for the rockets would be to launch ultra-small “nano-sats.” He said, though, that the cost of launching these could be “prohibitive,” adding that while small, low-earth-orbit satellites are used for government purposes, “commercial aspects are a little harder to figure out.”
Ideal locale
The successful launch also has been used to highlight the location of Brazil’s Alcantara space base, which is 2.3∞ south of the equator. Equatorial bases are seen as especially desirable as they allow rockets to “ride” the Earth’s centrifugal forces, enabling them to use less fuel and carry larger payloads.
“Being on the equator is prime property,” said Sea Launch’s Ms. Korn. Sea Launch specializes in providing sea-based satellite launches from the equator.
However, SBCA’s Ms. Osborne said that “it’s pretty typical in the industry to launch from the equator, so the impact that Brazil will have is pretty unknown since it’s already being done.”
In addition, Ms. Korn explained that launch ranges are generally designed to accommodate specific launch systems. As such, she said, if Brazil is looking to market the base as a “stand-alone” spaceport, the base will have to be reconfigured at an additional cost to accommodate those rockets.
According to Ms. Osborne, the launch is more likely Brazil “flexing [its] muscles.”
“It’s more a macho technology presence, not economically driven,” she said. As an example, she pointed to other tech-savvy countries that have launched satellites into space like the U.S., China, and India.
Ms. Osborne added that this is more significant when looked at in light of Brazil’s past failures. At the Alcantara site, “they’ve had some difficulties,” she said. “So it’s also kind of a good news story.”
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=10931&hed=Brazil+reaches+for+the+stars§or=Indus....
There you have it, Brazil can launch ICBM’s and they are close to developing nuclear weapons, or ICBM’s with nuclear warheads.
Consider this: "Brazil is going to be the first ever nuclear weapon state (NWS) in the Southern Hemisphere by 2010." The fear of Theodore Taylor, an American physicist and expert on nuclear weapons during the 1970s would be true, if Brazil produces the bomb.
#msg-2902539
#msg-2877652
#msg-4116984
-Am
Brazil reaches for the stars
Even with its winning rocket, Brazil may fall short in the commercial satellite space.
October 25, 2004
Brazil’s first successful rocket launch is being touted as the South American country’s initial foray into the commercial satellite industry.
However, the VSB-30 prototype tested on Saturday at the Alcantara Launch Center, located in the northeastern Amazonian jungle, has a payload capacity of 870 pounds and maximum altitude of 155 miles, leading some to question its commercial applications.
“Most of satellite radio and satellite TV is in a higher orbit level. At a lower orbit, there’s really no [commercial] market there,” said Camille Osborne, communications director at the U.S. Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA).
The event occurred a little over a year after a rocket launched from Alcantara exploded, leaving 21 people dead, marking the country’s third unsuccessful attempt to put a satellite into space.
This time around, Brazil’s space program wasn’t as ambitious, as it launched a less-powerful rocket for gravity research.
Paula Korn, media representative for satellite launching company Sea Launch, said national pride is probably a motivating factor in ensuring that the launch was successful.
“I know they’ve been trying to launch the rockets for a while. Congratulations for making this success. It’s a really excellent comeback in this short time after the catastrophe last year,” she said.
Indeed, after last year’s tragedy, many predicted that Brazil’s space program would take years to recover. Earlier attempts sought to place satellites into low orbit at 470 miles above the earth’s surface. Saturday’s experiment carried out gravity research at around a fourth of that altitude.
But the launch may bolster Brazil’s aim to sell 15 of the rockets to the European Space Agency.
Most commercial satellites used for telecommunications and media purposes are placed in geo-stationary orbits at altitudes of 22,300 miles and require rockets able to carry payloads of thousands of pounds.
In general, low-orbit satellites are not used for commercial purposes and are, instead, used for either military purposes, such as spy satellites, or meteorological or geological purposes, such as weather satellites and satellites to examine geological ground conditions.
Earlier this year, Brazil’s science and technology minister, Eduardo Campos, said in a statement that the new rockets would be used to launch Brazilian satellites into orbit to study Brazil’s agricultural and water resources, as well as environmental conditions.
Barron Beneski of Orbital Sciences, a company that launches lower-payload satellites into low-earth orbit, said one possible use for the rockets would be to launch ultra-small “nano-sats.” He said, though, that the cost of launching these could be “prohibitive,” adding that while small, low-earth-orbit satellites are used for government purposes, “commercial aspects are a little harder to figure out.”
Ideal locale
The successful launch also has been used to highlight the location of Brazil’s Alcantara space base, which is 2.3∞ south of the equator. Equatorial bases are seen as especially desirable as they allow rockets to “ride” the Earth’s centrifugal forces, enabling them to use less fuel and carry larger payloads.
“Being on the equator is prime property,” said Sea Launch’s Ms. Korn. Sea Launch specializes in providing sea-based satellite launches from the equator.
However, SBCA’s Ms. Osborne said that “it’s pretty typical in the industry to launch from the equator, so the impact that Brazil will have is pretty unknown since it’s already being done.”
In addition, Ms. Korn explained that launch ranges are generally designed to accommodate specific launch systems. As such, she said, if Brazil is looking to market the base as a “stand-alone” spaceport, the base will have to be reconfigured at an additional cost to accommodate those rockets.
According to Ms. Osborne, the launch is more likely Brazil “flexing [its] muscles.”
“It’s more a macho technology presence, not economically driven,” she said. As an example, she pointed to other tech-savvy countries that have launched satellites into space like the U.S., China, and India.
Ms. Osborne added that this is more significant when looked at in light of Brazil’s past failures. At the Alcantara site, “they’ve had some difficulties,” she said. “So it’s also kind of a good news story.”
http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=10931&hed=Brazil+reaches+for+the+stars§or=Indus....
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