Space Port Indiana News

Change in direction for NASA will mean millions for Indiana and Space Ports over next few years.

February 15th~~Lori Garver, Deputy Administrator at NASA made it clear that President Obama's budget changes will mean a bigger role for commercial space flight and private industry over the next few years. In a conference held in Washington DC last week, Garver spelled out the plan that included new crew carrying vehicles and ISS re-supply ships that will come from the private sector. SPI's President Brian Tanner and Advisory Board Chairman Tim Morris met with Garver and other NASA officials to talk about its role in commercial space flight. "Clearly NASA will be working with Space Ports around the country and other small and large businesses to meet the goals of the US space agency" Tanner said. The cancellation of the Constellation program will re-direct nearly 25 Billion in federal dollars to commercial companies. NASA Dryden will now be tasked to test private space craft to insure the safety and reliability of the platforms. NASA will be paying for seats on the new vehicles in order to get their Astronauts into space. NASA has already purchased seats on the Russian Soyuz space craft in order to get back to ISS after the remaining shuttle launches have been completed. The schedule right now has only 4 shuttle missions remaining before retirement, ending its program at the close of 2010.

Tanner and Morris also briefed NASA and the FAA on the new Air Space Management System (ASMS). The ASMS will allow tracking and deconfliction in national air space (NAS) and at satellite level. The FAA AST-100 Commercial Space Flight Office will visit Indiana to see a demonstration of ASMS. The system is designed to help support NEXGEN which is the FAA's program to improve the airspace used by the commercial airline industry and private pilots. SPI and Raytheon have been working on the program for about 12 months and the result has been remarkable according to Tanner. "What we can see, and how we can react to conflicts and potential dangers has been multiplied almost exponentially with this new system." ASMS offiers a number of data mining and predictive modeling capabilities that just doesn't exsist in the air traffic management system right now. We can even look at all of the debris in space around our planet and avoid catastrophic events for our crews and equipment. This is a huge step in the right direction for safety and job creation within our industry. Tanner added~~"It has another special characteristic, it's Made in the USA and with so many countries now involved in the space industry, we can hold our ground on this piece.

Space Port Indiana™, Inc. Joins Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's FAA Centre of Excellence

 Space Port Indiana™ has joined as a partner in the FAA Centre of Excellence att Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) established a Center of Excellence (COE) for general aviation in 2001, choosing Embry-Riddle as the lead institution. Other member schools are Florida A&M University, University of Alaska, Wichita State University, and the University of North Dakota.

The STRDI at Embry-Riddle is focused on space transportation and is a research consortium of the Center of Excellence schools, industry, and government that addresses the needs of general aviation. Embry-Riddle, as the lead university, handles the management of the organization, but, all of the universities are viewed as equal contributors to research activities.

Space Port Indiana™ has an interest in these activities because of its development of an Air Space Management System (ASMS) that will help new space craft and space systems like satellites interact with current national air space (NAS) activities. The ASMS developed for this application by Raytheon and SPI, will help support and further develop the NEXGEN system that the FAA wants in place over the next decade. Because of the increased activity in space by private industry, a new system that promotes safety and shared use is essential.

 An Exciting Year for Space Port Indiana and the State Of Indiana's Space Program 

How many times is Space Port Indiana™ mentioned in national media? As SPI grows and begins to make its mark on the space industry, there is a growing number of publications and internet sites that bring attention to our work and the Hoosier State. In fact, in 2009, SPI was mentioned every week in a publication or online blog related to the space industry. It has been an amazing 2009 for SPI and we look for 2010 to be even more exciting and make an even bigger impact in the fields of science and exploration. What's on the agenda for 2010? More launches, new equipment, more partnerships, new legislation...it really adds up to an incredible year for SPI!

One of the biggest accomplishments of 2009 is the partnership with Purdue University to create the National Centre for Future Space Exploration in Columbus Indiana. This will prove to be a great opportunity for Hoosiers students (and those in the region) to get hands on skills and open the door to work in the space industry that now includes personal space flight and space ports. Although SPI and Purdue are the general partners in this endeavor, all universities and colleges are welcome to participate and will be sure to find great collaboration potential. Industry can engage with us as well and gain valuable help with new technologies.

New relationships in 2010 will take us beyond Indiana with partnerships in New Mexico, Florida and a host of international locations like Sweden, Japan and Holland. Stay tuned in 2010 and don't miss your opportunity to get involved. Whether its an INSpace Camp™ or working with us to create products for your business, you're chance to get into the space business...is here!

 Space Port Indiana™ and Raytheon Make Great Team to Help FAA and NASA

Over the past several months Raytheon Net Centric Systems in Ft Wayne, Indiana has partnered with Space Port Indiana on the development of a new Air Space Management System (ASMS) that will help the National Space Port Network manage the air space safety requirements as set out by the FAA. NEXGEN has been a project that the FAA has put in place to digitize the air traffic control system in the United States. ASMS will help modernize the system and incorporate more exact tracking of commercial and private aircraft and now space vehicles.

The twist is that with the advent of space commercialization and civilian astronauts, we now need to consider more types of vehicles that will use the airspace in the future. Virgin Galactic, Space X, Armadillo Aerospace and many others will soon have new space ships taking passengers and payloads into space. By 2014, space tourism will be a regular activity and place more demands on an already fragile transportation system and antiquated equipment. Right now, the only way a commercial pilot can know what is around him/her is to see it or be told about it by an air traffic controller. The current system does not put technology in the cockpit for use by pilots.

ASMS is designed to accomodate 4D awareness of the airspace so that users can make intelligent decisions about air space use and deconfliction. Moreover, we need to know how that airspace is being used from the ground all the way up to low earth orbit. Situational awareness is key to a successful system and all participants should have access to the same data. This includes military use of airspace. Right now, when an MOA (Military Operating Area) is in use it means a very large area of airspace becomes restricted. With more accurate technologies, we can turn on and off areas of an MOA based on where an aircraft is now and will be in a few seconds. This could save owners and operators millions of dollars by allowing more effective use of airpsace and more direct routes to destinations.

Raytheon and Space Port Indiana will begin with installing the technology at the Space Port facility in 2010. Once in place, there will be many simulations and training excersizes to understand the full capability of the system and to train operators on the system. As Space Port Indiana launches rockets and balloons, it will use the system and demonstrate its effectiveness for other space ports around the world.