Apr 10 1978
From The Space Library
NASA announced plans to launch orbital test satellite OTS-B, forerunner of an operational system, for ESA from Cape Canaveral no earlier than Apr. 27. This new comsat was 1 of 2 experimental models built by ESA to test satellite performance in orbit, with its operational descendants expected to provide satellite links in the 1980s for routing portions of intra-European telephone, telegraph, and telex traffic and providing TV relay services for Western Europe. Under an agreement between the U.S. and ESA, ESA would reimburse NASA for Delta launch vehicle, launch services, and other administrative costs totaling $17 million. NASA had launched Ots 1 Sept. 13, 1977, on a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral; the Delta first stage exploded 55sec. after liftoff. A burn-through of one of the solid-propellant strap-on Castor IV motors, subsequently modified, had caused the explosion. (NASA Release 78-53)
KSC announced award to the International Hydrodynamics Co., Vancouver, British Columbia, of a contract for systems to recover expended Space Shuttle solid-fuel rocket-booster (SRB) casings. The $1 million contract would cover fabrication, testing, and delivery of the recovery systems with associated equipment and hardware. Recovery of SRB casings would mean sizeable savings to the Shuttle program; estimating 19 reuses of a casing, the savings realized by reuse (including cost of retrieval and refurbishment) would be $47 million. (KSC Release 37-78)
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