Proponents of civil space exploration are likely to be disappointed by the details of the NASA fiscal 2013 budget plan to be released Feb. 13, particularly when it comes to Mars. It is already known from previous plans that NASA’s overall budget will be flat and tight, with no major new initiates and a lot of backfill from previous spending shortfalls.

NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program is looking for “green” alternatives to toxic hydrazine as a storable propellant for spacecraft, offering contracts worth as much as $50 million each to researchers with promising ideas.

The U.S. Transportation Department wants to develop new spectrum interference standards to protect GPS signals from transmissions in adjacent bands as the battle between broadband-wireless hopeful LightSquared and the GPS industry enters a new phase.

PARIS — U.S.-based Space Systems/Loral has been chosen to supply two high-powered, Ka-band satellites and ground equipment for Australia’s National Broadband Network (NBN), a $2 billion initiative over 15 years that aims to bridge the digital divide between urban and regional communities.

Mergers and acquisitions activity in the aerospace and defense industry reached a record $43.7 billion in 2011, edging out the previous high from 2007 as consolidation in the commercial supply chain gained steam and underperforming defense units were spun off. A PwC study scheduled for release Feb. 7 tallied 341 acquisitions, mergers or spin-offs worth $50 million or more announced during the year.

BEIJING — China is firming up figures on the performance of two members of its forthcoming modular rocket family, with suggestions that at least one of the launchers might be a little better than expected. The figures remain patchy, however. The Long March 6, a light rocket designed for prompt launches, will be able to deliver “not less than 1 metric ton” to a Sun-synchronous orbit of 700 km (435 mi.) altitude, says Yu Menglun, a member of the general-design section at CALT, China’s main rocket builder.

HOUSTON — Applications for a small number of openings in NASA’s astronaut corps soared to 6,372 during the last solicitation period, the second highest total ever. This is despite the fact that the U.S. is an estimated five years away from having a commercial follow-on to the retired space shuttle and nearly a decade from piloted test flights of the agency’s deep space-capable Space Launch System/Multi-Purpose Crew Launch Vehicle.

PARIS — Pushing the limits of a six-day launch window, the European Space Agency (ESA) has shifted the debut of its new Vega rocket to Feb. 13 from Feb. 9, allowing ample time to prepare the flight-qualification campaign. ESA says Vega’s flight-readiness review board met Feb. 2 to evaluate mission-preparation status and plans for the final days of the campaign. The Vega will lift off from Europe’s Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.