Russian Sanctions Have
Killed Canadian Satellite Launch (Source: Ottawa Citizen)
The Conservative government’s hard line on sanctions against Russia has
scuttled the launch of a key Canadian military satellite that was to be
put into orbit by a Russian rocket. Officials with the Canadian Space
Agency and the spacecraft’s builder, Com Dev, are now trying to find
another country or private company willing to send the surveillance
satellite into space.
The move to cancel the June 19 launch of the satellite comes as the
Canadian government continues with sanctions against Russia over the
situation in Ukraine. Canada has imposed economic penalties on a number
of Russian companies and individuals and cancelled a planned military
exercise with the Russian air force. It also expelled an attaché from
the embassy in Ottawa. (4/24)
Why Not GPS for Falcon-9?
(Source: SPACErePORT)
A
couple weeks ago I suggested that the Air Force should consider
assigning GPS launches to SpaceX... "Remember Delta-2 and its stellar
record of successful launches? This record was built on a steady stream
of nearly identical GPS launch missions, which allowed McDonnell
Douglas to perfect its vehicle processing operations. This would be a
good low-risk approach to getting the Falcon-9 going for military
missions."
At ~3,600 lbs, GPS satellites are relatively small
and lightweight, undersized for EELV rockets. Putting them on Delta-4
or Atlas-5 rockets allowed phase-out of the smaller (and cheaper)
Delta-2 while shoring-up the EELV manifest. They are also lower-risk
payloads, often launched to replace on-orbit spares that are integrated
into the 24-32 satellite GPS constellation. So, they are low-risk
payloads that can fly more cheaply on smaller Falcon-9 rockets,
allowing SpaceX to gain Air Force launch experience and perfect their
processing and launch operations procedures. (4/26)
Military's Bold Phoenix
Satellite-Recycling Project Enters New Phase (Source:
Space.com)
An ambitious Pentagon effort to repair and recycle satellites in Earth
orbit has moved one step closer to reality. DARPA awarded prime
contracts to eight companies earlier this month, advancing its Phoenix
satellite-servicing program to Phase 2 of development. "Phase 1 not
only showed the feasibility of our robotic tools and assembly
techniques, but also validated the concept that we could build new
satellites on orbit by physically aggregating satlets in space," DARPA
program manager David Barnhart said. (4/25)
Habitable Exoplanets are
Bad News for Humanity (Source: The Conversation)
Last week, scientists announced the discovery of Kepler-186f, a planet
492 light years away in the Cygnus constellation. Kepler-186f is
special because it marks the first planet almost exactly the same size
as Earth orbiting in the “habitable zone” – the distance from a star in
which we might expect liquid water, and perhaps life. What did not make
the news, however, is that this discovery also slightly increases how
much credence we give to the possibility of near-term human extinction.
This is because of a concept known as the Great Filter.
The Great Filter is an argument that attempts to resolve the Fermi
Paradox: why have we not found aliens, despite the existence of
hundreds of billions of solar systems in our galactic neighbourhood in
which life might evolve? This apparent absence of thriving
extraterrestrial civilisations suggests that at least one of the steps
from humble planet to interstellar civilization is exceedingly
unlikely. The absence could be caused because either intelligent life
is extremely rare or intelligent life has a tendency to go extinct.
(4/25)
Move Over Exoplanets,
Exomoons May Harbor Life Too (Source: The Conversation)
In the Star Wars universe, everyone’s favourite furry aliens, the
Ewoks, famously lived on the “forest moon of Endor”. In scientific
terms, the Ewok’s home world would be referred to as an exomoon, which
is simply a moon that orbits an exoplanet – any planet that orbits a
star other than our sun.
Although more than 1,000 exoplanets have been discovered since the
first one was found in 1995, only a handful of those are thought to be
habitable, at least by life as we know it. New research shows that
exomoons, too, could provide habitable environments. Although we are
yet to find exomoons, we have good reasons to believe that there should
be many, even more than exoplanets. (4/25)
A New Lifeform Takes Root
on the ISS (Source: NASA)
"We call it 'Veggie'," says Gioia Massa of the Kennedy Space Center.
"It's a plant growth chamber designed to make gardens thrive in
weightlessness." Massa, who leads the Veggie science team, has been
working on the project for years. Veggie's heritage traces
back decades to experiments with plants on board the Russian space
station Mir and NASA's space shuttle. In all that time, NASA
astronauts have never tasted home-grown food in space—but that could
soon change.
Veggie solves the problems of weightlessness using 'plant pillows.'
"Basically, these are bags of 'space dirt' and slow-release
fertilizer," explains Trent Smith, the project manager from KSC. "Wicks
inserted into the bags draw water into the soil where it cannot float
away." In addition to guiding water, the wicks act as a kind of
gardening stake. (4/25)
Canada to Pay for Ditched
Launch Contract, Misled Russia on Its Military Puropose
(Source: RIA Novosti)
Canada will have to pay – both in terms of money and reputation – for a
decision to ditch the launch of its satellite by a Russian rocket,
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said. Commenting on the
Canadian media reports that the government’s hard line on sanctions
against Russia has scuttled the launch of what was described to be a
“key Canadian military satellite,” Rogozin wrote in his Twitter that
Canada will “certainly” have to pay the forfeit.
In addition, the Canadian government exposed the true military purpose
of its satellite, claimed to be a civilian one, he said. “The Canadians
screwed things up. They refused to launch the satellite and admitted
that it was a military one, despite earlier assurances of its civilian
purpose,” Rogozin said. (4/25)
Camp Kennedy Space Center
Offers Day Camps for Inquisitive Kids (Source: KSCVC)
For
a summer camp experience that educates, entertains and engages children
ages 8 to 16, Camp Kennedy Space Center day camp provides young people
with an inspiring week of fun and enriching activities. Camp KSC runs
Monday through Friday for nine weeks beginning June 9. This year’s
theme – Space Shuttle Atlantis: From Sketch Pad to Launch Pad – focuses
on the orbiter and the global impact of its 33 missions into space.
Along
with many other activities, campers will experience the new home of
Space Shuttle AtlantisSM, participate in a simulated Space Shuttle
Mission, engage in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
activities, learn hands-on about the science of space travel, and hear
real-life stories from a shuttle astronaut. For the first time,
programs have been added for students entering 10th and 11th grades.
(4/25)
Girls Design Experiment
for Space Station (Source: Washington Post)
“Awesome.” That was the word I heard most often from four eighth-grade
girls at St. Peter’s School as they talked about their microgravity
experiment that will be conducted on the International Space Station.
“Our experiment is actually going into space!” team member Maureen Egan
told me. Awesome it is to hear girls talk about a science project with
the enthusiasm and understanding that these four do. They’re excited
that their experiment, “Oxidation in Space,” is the first to win from
the state of Missouri as part of Student Spaceflight Experiments
Program (SSEP) Mission 5.
The girls, members of Team Defying Microgravity, had to design an
experiment that could be done in a Fluid Mixings Enclosure, or FME, a
slender 6.7-inch long silicone tube with clamps to keep any solids or
liquids separate until the apparatus is aboard the space station. The
15 experiments selected from 1,344 proposals will be ferried to the
space station as part of Payload Charlie Brown on the Antares rocket
with an Orb-2 Cygnus vehicle. The girls hope to see the rocket’s June 9
launch from Wallops Island, Va. but their latest challenge is finding
money for airfare and lodging. (4/25)
Falcon-9 Barge Landing?
Maybe Not Without Paying Blue Origin First (Source:
SPACErePORT)
Alert reader M. Cyzio points out that any plans for SpaceX to land a
Falcon-9 stage on an ocean barge may require a payment to Blue Origin,
which in 2011 filed for a patent on the idea. At the time, critics
complained that Blue Origin was attempting to unfairly capture ideas
that have 'prior art' (having been documented before as ideas, but
without efforts to patent). Here's
a copy of the patent information. (4/25)
California Space Industry
tax Break Heads to Gov. Jerry Brown (Source: Sacramento
Bee)
With no debate, the California Assembly on Thursday voted 70-2 to send
Gov. Jerry Brown a bill offering a ten-year property tax break to
private space firms. Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi has promoted the bill as
ensuring California can become a hub for the burgeoning private space
industry, led by firms like Hawthorne-based SpaceX. Reviving southern
California's once-mighty aerospace industry has been a recurring theme
for Muratuschi, who has also touted the potential of unmanned aerial
vehicles, or drones. (4/24)
SpaceX Names Texas as
Site of its Commercial Launch Facility (Source: Ars
Technica)
Elon Musk let slip that SpaceX has chosen southern Texas as the
location where it will build its own launch facility. Musk made the
spaceport location announcement near the end of the news conference in
response to a question from the audience. SpaceX has been searching for
a location to build its own spaceport for some time and had narrowed
the search down to Florida, Georgia, or Texas. Musk said SpaceX is
still waiting on "an environmental clearance from the FAA," and that
the company expects to have the spaceport up and running "in a couple
of years." (4/25)
North Dakota Department
of Commerce Ready to Start Testing (Source: FAA)
The FAA announced that the first of six test sites chosen to perform
unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) research is operational more than
two-and-a -half months ahead of the deadline specified for the program
by Congress. The FAA today granted the North Dakota Department of
Commerce team a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) to begin
using a Draganflyer X4ES small UAS at itsNorthern Plains Unmanned
Aircraft Systems Test Site. The COA is effective for two years. The
team plans to begin flight operations during the week of May 5. (4/21)
Why Elon Musk is Throwing
his Biggest Potential Customer Under the Bus (Source:
Washington Post)
Elon Musk wants a bigger piece of the space market, and he's willing to
sue his biggest potential customer to get it. The space entrepreneur
says he will file a protest against the U.S. Air Force on Monday so
that his company, SpaceX, can compete for federal space launch
contracts. The protest carries the weight of a lawsuit. Speaking to
reporters Friday, Musk took aim at the Pentagon, including lambasting
its continued reliance on Russian made rocket engines that may be a
violation of U.S. sanctions.
Editor's
Note: Filing a procurement protest is not 'throwing the
customer under the bus.' It is an often-used tool by players like
Lockheed Martin and Boeing too to challenge the outcome of hotly
contested contract awards. (4/25)
Musk: Eastern Range
"Really Helpful" Supporting Stage Flyback Planning
(Source: ShitElonSays.com)
"Yeah, we've actually worked with Air Force Range Safety to identify
several locations at Cape Canaveral where we can land the stage.
They've actually been really helpful. At first we were concerned that
range safety might be obstructionist but they've actually been more
than supportive, and there's several places where we can land. It kinda
depends on how tightly we can control the landing point and I think if
we can demonstrate tight control there is a lot of places at the Cape
where we can land." (4/25)
Elon Musk's Comments on
Launch Pad Locations (Source: ShitElonSays.com)
"Our primary location is Florida at Cape Canaveral. We've got our pad
40 on the Cape Canaveral side and then pad 39A on the NASA side and
we're actually building out 39A with the ability to do the Falcon
Heavy. So, probably the first Falcon Heavy launch will be out of the
39A pad... For the future we expect most launch activity to go out of
the [Cape Canaveral Spaceport]. We're also developing a launch pad on
the south coast of Texas... We're waiting on the final environmental
approvals for that. We're expecting to get those soon, and we'll
probably have that site active in a couple of years. Then, of course,
we've got our site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for polar
launches." (4/25)
Let Us Clarify: SpaceX
Spaceport "Probably" Will Come to Texas (Source: Houston
Press)
On Friday SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that SpaceX is definitely
totally coming to Texas to build a launch pad. Kind of. That's what the
Houston Chronicle reported as breaking news with a headline that came
off like the spaceport in Texas is a done deal. However, an offhand
answer to a question at the end of a press conference isn't the same as
an actual announcement of clear-stated definitely-going-to-happen
intentions.
It's true that SpaceX has been buying up property near Brownsville in
south Texas and it's true that Musk has been asking for perks from both
the folks of Brownsville and the state legislature. But here's the
thing: land can be bought and incentives can be secured, but until the
launch pad that will send SpaceX's Falcon 9 and the Falcon 9 heavy to
orbit is actually built, Musk can change his mind and plans can change.
(4/25)
McCain Wants
Investigation of Air Force EELV Contract (Source: Space
Policy Online)
Following on the heels of SpaceX's announcement earlier today that it
is filing suit against the Air Force for its block buy contract of
satellite launches from the United Launch Alliance (ULA), Senator John
McCain (R-AZ) sent two letters to the Department of Defense (DOD)
asking questions about that contract. One letter is to Secretary of the
Air Force Deborah Lee James and the other to DOD's Inspector General
(IG).
The letter to James asks about what McCain says is the "apparently
incomplete and incorrect nature" of her testimony to the Senate Armed
Services Committee regarding the Dec. 2013 award of a sole source block
buy contract of 36 core vehicles from ULA. SpaceX is filing suit
against the Air Force for awarding that contract without competition.
McCain says that James's testimony about the contract appears to be
"specious" because she said that it was for "heavier launches" that no
new entrant -- e.g., SpaceX -- has been qualified to meet.
The separate letter to DOD's Inspector General asks for an
investigation into four issues related to DOD's decision to
significantly reduce the number of national security space launches
available for competition above the 36 core vehicles in the Dec. 2013
contract. Initially there were to be 14 launches in FY2015-2017 set
aside for competition with "new entrants" like Space X, but the number
recently was reduced by half. McCain questions the rationale and
whether DOD is aggressively pursuing competition in procuring launch
services as promised. (4/25)
Watch NASA's Morpheus Fly
and Make a Smooth Landing at KSC (Source: Endagadget)
NASA's Morpheus lander has gone a long way since it crashed and burned
in 2012. The agency's vertical landing and takeoff test vehicle now has
a number of successful flights under its belt, including one that's
just concluded at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. On this most recent
flight, the lander easily traversed 1,300 feet at a speed of 36mph for
98 seconds, proving that it has a future in delivering cargo to space.
Click here.
(4/25)
ViaSat Awarded $283M in
Lawsuit Against Loral (Source: ViaSat)
A federal court jury has awarded ViaSat $283 million in damages in its
patent infringement and breach of contract case against Space
Systems/Loral (SS/L). The jury found SS/L infringed three ViaSat
patents relating to its ViaSat-1 high-capacity satellite system and
breached the non-disclosure agreements and manufacturing contract
between the parties. During trial, SS/L dropped its counterclaim
alleging ViaSat had infringed an SS/L patent.
ViaSat has requested that the court enter a permanent injunction
prohibiting SS/L from manufacturing or selling infringing satellites or
satellite components, including the continued manufacturing of
infringing satellites currently under construction. Additional issues
remain for the court to rule upon that could ultimately impact the
amount of the award, and any final ruling and award in the case is
subject to appeal. (4/25)
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