Mar 25 1985
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Brig. Gen. Donald Kutyna, director of Air Force space systems and C3, told the Senate Armed Services Committee the previous week that two-thirds of the FY 86 space budget was earmarked for the military, Defense Daily reported. The Air Force would receive about 48% of the national space budget, NASA 33%, and other Defense Department activities (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [[[DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY|DARPA]]], Navy, and Army) the remaining 18%. Kutyna added that Air Force space activities represented about three-quarters of the total Defense Department space program, with the Defense agencies, mainly DARPA, coming in second. He noted the Air Force budget for FY 86 was $10.95 billion, with "no change percentage-wise" from FY 85 and "very little change among the elements." Maj. Gen. Carl Beer, deputy chief of staff for plans for the Air Force Space Command, reported to the same committee approval of the Air Force space plan, which was divided into support and operational missions, including the launch, orbit transfer, and on-orbit control of spacecraft and payloads, and the operations necessary "to secure free passage in space and deny the enemy the use of space" when necessary.
Beer confirmed that the requirement for a space-based radar system was established for the Air Force and Navy and the two would meet in the near future to get an R&D program underway (D/D, Mar 25/85, 129)
Brig. Gen. Donald Kutyna, director of Air Force space systems and C3, told the Senate Armed Services Committee the previous week that two-thirds of the FY 86 space budget was earmarked for the military, Defense Daily reported. The Air Force would receive about 48% of the national space budget, NASA 33%, and other Defense Department activities (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency [[[DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY|DARPA]]], Navy, and Army) the remaining 18%. Kutyna added that Air Force space activities represented about three-quarters of the total Defense Department space program, with the Defense agencies, mainly DARPA, coming in second. He noted the Air Force budget for FY 86 was $10.95 billion, with "no change percentage-wise" from FY 85 and "very little change among the elements." Maj. Gen. Carl Beer, deputy chief of staff for plans for the Air Force Space Command, reported to the same committee approval of the Air Force space plan, which was divided into support and operational missions, including the launch, orbit transfer, and on-orbit control of spacecraft and payloads, and the operations necessary "to secure free passage in space and deny the enemy the use of space" when necessary.
Beer confirmed that the requirement for a space-based radar system was established for the Air Force and Navy and the two would meet in the near future to get an R&D program underway (D/D, Mar 25/85, 129)
The Arab League's Arabsat 1 telecommunications satellite, launched February 8 by an Ariane 3 from Kourou, French Guiana, experienced control problems during initial in-orbit checkout, but was reported stabilized with all systems functioning normally, Aviation Week reported. Anomalies in the spacecraft's gyro package caused the problems, detected March 16 by operators at Arabsat's Dihrab, Saudi Arabia, ground station when the satellite was at its final on-station location at 19° E longitude. Investigators were attempting to pinpoint the problem.
An electrostatic discharge may have caused one of the gyro package anomalies. Although the gyros provided pitch, roll, and yaw information, "we never lost control of the satellite," said Michel Duigot, Aerospatiale's Space and Ballistic Systems Division communications satellite system manager. "There is redundancy in the satellite because we have two packages of three gyros each," he pointed out.
The satellite experienced solar array deployment difficulties soon after launch, but the arrays eventually extended successfully. Program officials said the two problems were unrelated.
The solar array deployment problems had resulted in minor modifications to the solar panels on the No. 2 Arabsat, originally scheduled for launch by NASA from KSC in May, but rescheduled for June.
The 22-member Arab Satellite Communications Organization would use the Arabsat 1 for national and regional communications and TV broadcast requirements. The schedule called for an operational satellite by the end of April, and program officials believed this might still be possible. (Av Wk, Mar 25.85, 22)
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