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The Space Race

September 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment

I have to thank my friend and relation Chris Benson for putting this unique package of videos together. I just quote from what he sent me:

“I just watched a 2005 BBC documentary on the Space Race. I thought it was superb – I thought I knew all of that stuff, but I didn’t – such as a Soviet probe at the same time as the Apollo 11 moon landing. Even the bits I did know were incomplete, like the simultaneity of Alan Shepherd’s and Yuri Gagarin’s training.

Here they are in four one-hour episodes on YouTube:

Space Race: Episode 1: Race for Rockets (1944-1949)

Space Race: Episode 2: Race for Satellites (1953-1958)

Space Race: Episode 3: Race for Survival (1959-1961)

Space Race: Episode 4: Race for the Moon (1964-1969)

The series was made in cooperation with an American and a Russian television company. But if you are asking “What about Blue Streak?” or “What about Woomera?”, then you need this 2004 BBC documentary:

The British Space Race Part 1

The British Space Race Part 2

”

So many thanks indeed to Chris. Keep up the good work!

Filed Under: Launches, Missiles, Satellites, Space Programmes

Loss of the OTS 1 Satellite

September 13, 2012 by 10 Comments
OTS In Orbit - Artist's Impression

The OTS Satellite In Orbit – Artist’s Impression

This is a sorry tale of how four years’ work was destroyed in 54 seconds. Some say that the number thirteen is unlucky and on 13th September 1977, exactly 35 years ago today, this proved to be the case for me and the whole team that developed the OTS satellite. Here’s how things played out.

The European Space Agency’s Orbital Test Satellite (OTS) was one of the very first geostationary, 3-axis-stabilised Ku-Band communications satellites. It was developed as a test bed for a host of new European technologies and transmission techniques aimed at bringing regional TV and trunk telephony services to Europe. It was the forerunner of the highly successful ECS satellites which were subsequently operated and managed by EUTELSAT.

I spent four years working on different aspects of the OTS satellite, the communications transmission design and on the ground segment earth stations. For any interested readers with a technical bent you can check out details on the EXPERIENCE and PUBLICATIONS pages of this site.

In March 1977 I took on the role of designing, planning and implementing the in-orbit testing (IOT) of OTS. This was to be carried out from Telespazio’s Fucino earth station complex in the mountains east of Rome, Italy, and you can check out the Fucino earth station complex with the interactive Google Map on my related blog post [Read more…]

Filed Under: Communication Satellites, Earth Station Locations, Launch Vehicles, Launches, Organisations

Vega Launch – Europe’s Newest Satellite Launcher

February 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment
 
Tomorrow, 13th February 2012 will see the launch of Europe’s newest satellite launch vehicle, Vega, from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Spaceport at Kourou, weather permitting. This first test flight Vega launch will carry 9 payloads – seven Cubesat satellites plus two Italian Space Agency satellites.

The video above provides an extremely interesting overview of the Vega programme. The project is controlled and managed from ESA’s ESRIN Centre for Earth Observation at Frascati, just south of Rome. An idyllic location, given it is at the heart of some of Italy’s finest vineyards. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Launch Sites, Launch Vehicles, Organisations