spacetoday.net: News briefs: October 15

Posted: Tue, Oct 16, 2001, 10:28 AM ET (1428 GMT)
Police are investigating whether a white powder found in a letter mailed to Arianespace's French headquarters contains anthrax, SPACE.com reported Monday. The headquarters of Arianespace and the neighboring offices of the French space agency CNES were evacuated after the discovery. The report comes on the heels of discoveries of anthrax in letters mailed to news organizations in the United States and the office of one US Senator... SPACEHAB reported Monday that it recorded a net loss of $12.8 million in fiscal year 2001, which ended June 30. The company blamed the loss on a number of issues, including shuttle launch delays that have postponed revenue from its cargo carriers and shuttle modules as well as startup expenses associated with its Space Media subsidiary. Ernst and Young, SPACEHAB's external auditors, did express concern about the company's ability to stay in business, but company executives said a number of new deals as well as efforts to focus on key businesses should provide sufficient liquidity to keep the company operating... Investment analysts believe that Sirius Satellite Radio may delay the launch of its commercial satellite radio service from late this year to early next year, according to Reuters. Analysts are concerned that a chipset critical for the radio receivers may not be ready in time to start selling the radios by the end of the year. Meanwhile, a key shareholder in Sirius rival XM Satellite Radio, Motient, announced Monday it was selling 5 million XM shares to Rare Medium, a Dallas web development company Motient recently decided not to merge with. Motient also announced that its subsidiary Mobile Satellite Ventures will spin off as a separate company and take possession of Motient's satellite assets.