After Leaving Research Park Council,
Young Joins Wallops Alliance (Source: WIRA)
After resigning in April as chair of a Wallops Research Park Leadership
Council due to "the negative business environment created by the
Accomack County Board of Supervisors," former Martin Marietta President
Tom Young has joined the board of the Wallops Island Regional Alliance
(WIRA). Young will advise the group on Navy systems that could bring
hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars to the region. (5/13)
Eutelsat Revenue Dip Could be a Sign
of Things to Come for the Industry (Source: Space News)
Eutelsat's cut in expected revenues could be a warning to the broader
satellite industry. The company last week reduced its forecast for
revenue this year, citing a variety of factors, including a sharp
decrease in demand in Latin America and softening of its U.S.
government business as forces withdraw from Afghanistan. The company
plans to "substantially" reduce its capital expenditures, with details
to come in July. The factors hurting Eutelsat's revenue, some observers
note, could also affect other large satellite operators. (5/16)
Vostochny Spaceport Cost Tops $1.3
Billion So Far (Source: Tass)
Construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome has cost Russia $1.3 billion
so far. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin released the cost figure
Friday to address unspecified speculation about the spaceport's cost.
The facility in Russia's Far East hosted its first launch last month,
but its development was beset by delays and allegations of corruption.
(5/16)
Why DARPA is Pursuing a Reusable
Spaceplane (Source: Space News)
Here’s a phrase that’s not repeated everyday in the space community:
“You’ve heard Elon’s comments … we want to go beyond that,” Brad
Tousley, the head of the tactical technology office at DARPA, said May
15. Musk has said SpaceX would inspect the rockets with plans to later
re-fly most of them.
“We want to launch again in 24 hours,” Tousley said. Ideally, DARPA’s
XS-1 spaceplane would launch 10 times in 10 days and carry payloads
weighing as much as 1,360 kilograms into low earth orbit for $5
million. DARPA is finalizing a request for proposals for the second
phase of the XS-1 development program. The agency could release that
acquisition document as early as this month, DARPA officials have said.
A contract award, as part of a public-private partnership, could come
as early as 2017 with the first flight tests in 2020. (5/16)
Pentagon Chief Wants Secretive Space
Unit Involved in Fight Against Islamic State (Source: Washington
Post)
efense Secretary Ashton B. Carter sees a variety of missions for the
Pentagon’s new, secretive space center — and that includes fighting the
Islamic State.
The Pentagon chief said Thursday that the new Joint Interagency
Combined Space Operations Center established by the Defense Department
last fall has a role not only in preparing for potential conflicts
against rival countries, but in counterterrorism. The center was
created after a years-long debate to integrate space operations with
the workings of conventional military units and intelligence agencies.
Carter visited the center along with other senior defense officials and
praised its potential. Most public discussion about the center has
focused on the “war games” it carries out to prepare for conflict with
adversaries such as Russia and China, but the Pentagon chief said the
center is doing more than that. (5/16)
Effects of Changing Economics on Space
Architecture and Engineering (Source: Space Review)
Investment in government and commercial space systems have followed
similar trends for much of the Space Age. Gary Oleson explores those
trends and examines the possibilities offered by both very small and
very large space systems to change them. Click here.
(5/16)
That’ll Do, DONKEY, That’ll Do
(Source: Space Review)
While the Air Force’s Manned Orbiting Laboratory program was cancelled,
one payload intended to fly on the military space station did find an
alternative route to space. Dwayne Day examines the story of a signals
intelligence payload codenamed DONKEY. Click here.
(5/16)
When CubeSats Aare Too Big
(Source: Space Review)
As interest in CubeSats continues to grow, some are wondering what even
smaller spacecraft can do. Jeff Foust reports on one initiative to
develop satellites the fraction of the size of CubeSats that could
support education, technology development, and even science. Click here.
(5/16)
Are Space Traveling Mice Returning
With Liver Damage? (Source: Chromatography Today)
With a manned mission to Mars planned for some time in the 2030s — the
long term effects of micro gravity on the human body are something NASA
has to give serious consideration to. A recent study has looked at the
effects of space flight on one of the bodies main organ’s — the liver —
and found some potentially damaging effects. Take a look at the effects
of space travel on the body and how mice are helping in man’s quest to
visit Mars.
The mice spent 13 days aboard the last Shuttle mission before their
livers were analysed. The team found increased fat storage in the
livers and changes in the fat metabolism pathways — similar to early
indicators of fibrosis seen in humans, a type of liver disease. (5/16)
NASA Is Investing in Growable Habitats
and Sleep Chambers (Source: Motherboard)
Self-assembling space habitats and a deep sleep chamber for
long-duration space missions sound like ideas ripped right from the
pages of a science fiction novel, but these are some of the visionary
projects NASA is currently developing.
Through NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program (NIAC), the agency
invests in many seemingly impossible technologies. Known for taking
out-of-the-box concepts that seem like science fiction and turning them
into science fact, the program is changing the future of space travel.
(5/16)
ISRO Could Lose the Cost Race to SpaceX
(Source: Bagalore Mirror)
The low-cost commercial foreign satellite launch services of the Indian
Space Research Organization (ISRO) are poised to take a severe beating
at the hands of Elon Musk's SpaceX fly-back rockets, the Falcon 9
series. SpaceX has developed a technology of soft-landing its rocket's
first stage at a predetermined location after a satellite launch,
reassembling that with a second stage, refuelling and sending the
assembled rocket on a second launch mission into space within hours of
the previous one.
Conventional launches by the Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO and other
space agencies not only add to the cost of readying a new launcher, but
also the time taken for the next launch. India's PSLV launcher, which
has been a complete success, will continue to hold sway for at least
"some time to come" as SpaceX is yet to perfect its technologies. "But
I also feel ISRO is not utilising its global launch market properly.
They have to do more," Prof Roddam Narasimha said. (5/16)
The UK's Secret Procedure if Life is
Found on Another Planet (Source: The Sun)
Government officials have revealed what would happen if we were to
discover another life-supporting planet and boldly go where we’ve never
gone before. A series of Freedom of Information requests to the UK
Space Agency revealed some stark revelations, as the organization
admitted that, unsurprisingly, first priority would go to astronauts if
it came to colonizing another planet.
They also confirmed that the costs of traveling to another planet would
be enormous, meaning that a multi-national partnership would be needed
to bankroll the extra-terrestrial expedition. This means that, when it
comes to the big decisions about colonizing other planets, the United
Nations will be calling the shots. The space agency said: “The United
Nations have set out rules concerning visiting other bodies that may
sustain life. These are set out in the outer space treaty." (5/16)
China’s Satellite Launch Vehicle Surge
(Source: Parabolic Arc)
China is in the midst of an overhaul of its satellite launch
capabilities, with the introduction of five new launch vehicles in just
over two years. China will debut a new medium launch vehicle, the Long
March 7, in June. Three months later, it will launch its largest rocket
to date, the Long March 5, which will be capable of placing 25 metric
tons into low Earth orbit. Last September, the Long March 6 and Long
March 11 debuted to serve the small satellite launch market. A third
small launcher, Naga-L, is set to make its inaugurate flight by the end
of 2017. (5/16)
Accion Systems Receives $7.5 Million
(Source: Parabolic Arc)
Accion Systems has raised $7.5 million in Series A funding to expand
its development and production of innovative propulsion systems for
small satellites. The Series A round was led by Shasta Ventures with
partners Founder Collective, RRE Ventures and Slow Ventures, according
to CrunchBase. Accion says that its “modular, customizeable propulsion
systems are some of the first that can turn affordable satellites into
capable ones.
Non-volatile, non-explosive propellants mean systems qualify for shared
launches. Bolt-on modules simplify and shorten satellite development
and integration.” Accion Systems received $2 million in seed funding in
January 2015. The round was led by FF Science and Founders Fund with
seven other partners. The MIT-spinout also announced in June 2015 that
it has been awarded a $3 million Rapid Innovation Fund (RIF) contract
from the Department of Defense. (5/16)
World's Blackest Coating Material
Makes its Debut in Space (Source: WordSun)
The ultra-black Vantablack surface coating material has made its space
debut in an optical instrument on board the Kent Ridge 1 satellite. The
material’s ability to absorb virtually all incident light improves the
performance of the satellite's star tracker-based positioning control
system. Kent Ridge 1 is a low earth orbit (LEO) microsatellite
developed by Berlin Space Technology (BST) in conjunction with the
National University of Singapore. (5/16)
Embry-Riddle Team Successfully
Launches Rocket (Source: ERAU)
The launch was a trial run of the largest 3D printed part ever flown on
a rocket and took place in Aguila, Ariz., at the Eagle Eye launch site
of the Tripoli Phoenix chapter of the Tripoli Rocketry Association on
April 23. The launch was flawless, and the team's rocket reached a
computer-confirmed 7,396 feet in altitude and a top speed over 437 mph.
(5/16)
Space Foundation is Now Accepting
Nominations for Space Technology Hall of Fame (Source: SpaceRef)
The Space Foundation is now seeking nominations for induction into the
prestigious Space Technology Hall of Fame in 2017. This international
program honors innovations by organizations and individuals who
transform space technology into commercial products that improve life
on Earth.
The Space Technology Hall of Fame recognizes the life-changing
technologies emerging from global space programs; honors the
scientists, engineers and innovators responsible; and communicates to
the public the importance of these technologies as a return on
investment in space exploration. The deadline to submit a nomination is
Monday, Aug. 15, 2016. (5/16)
UK Space Agency Seeks Experiment Ideas
for Suborbital Flight (Source: BIS)
The UK Space Agency is seeking ideas for new science experiments using
commercial sub-orbital flights. This will help the Agency
understand potential future demand from the science community for such
platforms and scope the advantages, constraints, costs and other
factors. All information received will inform government
decisions regarding if and how to support work in this area.
The Agency will review submissions and consider inviting some to
conduct full industrial studies, to better understand the constraints,
feasibility and costs of building a full flight experiment. (5/16)
Updated Chart of International Orbital Launchers (Source: SPACErePORT)
The SPACErePORT's chart of international orbital launch vehicles has been updated to include China's Long March 7 rocket and the proposed new Vector U.S. microsatellite launch vehicle. Click here to check it out.
(5/16)
SpaceX Puts its Third Booster in a
Barn—and the Result is Dazzling (Source: Ars Technica)
SpaceX has now successfully landed three rockets from space—one by land
and two by sea. That has given the company quite a collection of
boosters in its Hangar 39A at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. This
weekend, the rocket company released some photos of the three boosters
together. This success led Musk to muse on Twitter: "May need to
increase size of rocket storage hangar."
Although landing three Falcon 9 first stages has unquestionably
garnered the most attention, SpaceX must now show that it can refurbish
these rockets and their engines quickly and cost effectively for new
flights. Initially, SpaceX plans to reduce the cost of a Falcon 9
rocket with a reused booster to $43 million per flight, a savings of 30
percent. The first flight of a flown booster could come some time this
summer.
Eventually, Musk wants to make nearly all of the Falcon 9 launch system
reusable, and he wants to make launches and landings routine. “Rapid
and complete reusability is really important to make a rocket cost
effective, like an airplane,” he said in April. “We've got to
ultimately get rockets to that point.” A Falcon 9 might fly as many as
100 times before retirement, he added. Click here.
(5/15)
Congress is Working Hard to Ground
NASA’s Mars Mission (Source: Fortune)
Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in space exploration,
in large part thanks to the idea of going to Mars. But a damning new
report by Ars Technica reveals that legislators who don’t share that
excitement have been working to defund NASA’s Space Technology Mission
Directorate, a program partly tasked with developing the technology
needed to get to the Red Planet.
Though skepticism of the trip to Mars is widespread among lawmakers,
Ars highlights the particular efforts of Alabama Republican Senator
Richard Shelby. Most recently, Shelby worked to redirect $30 million of
advanced research funding in the currently proposed budget back towards
projects for launching small satellites. The small-satellite market is
currently experiencing a private-sector boom, making help from NASA
less than urgent. Not only that, the earmark seems to be designed to
favor companies working in Shelby’s backyard.
Of the $687 million in currently proposed funding for the STMD, Ars
reports that $189 million is subject to similar earmarks. Those
earmarked funds would otherwise go to Mars-oriented projects such as
NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator, an experimental method for
landing large payloads on planetary surfaces. (5/15)
SpaceX Stuns the Cynics
(Source: Motley Fool)
First they said SpaceX couldn't land a rocketship. So SpaceX did it.
Then they said SpaceX couldn't land a rocketship on a boat. So SpaceX
did that, too. Finally, cynics accused SpaceX of making that last
landing too easy on itself. "Its rocket didn't go far enough," they
accused. It didn't reenter hot enough, or fast enough. Let's see SpaceX
try landing a rocket after launching to geostationary transfer orbit
(GTO), and not just low Earth orbit (LEO) -- it won't survive the
attempt!
Well, surprise, surprise -- last week, SpaceX did that too. After
launching a Japanese communications satellite into GTO roughly 22,300
miles above Earth, SpaceX landed its Falcon 9 launch vehicle aboard a
drone barge in the mid-Atlantic last Friday. This is something that no
one else has ever done -- not Boeing nor Lockheed Martin, the twin
titans of United Launch Alliance. Not Arianespace. Not even Blue Origin
has accomplished such a feat. Click here.
(5/14)
Forbes at NASA Langley to Push
Hypersonics Research (Source: Daily Press)
Nearly 60 years ago, America and the world watched as the Soviet Union
launched Sputnik into orbit, besting everyone else in artificial
satellite technology and ushering in the space age.
"Very few people really knew what a satellite was, or anything about a
satellite," U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes, R-Chesapeake, said in a phone
interview Thursday. "Then, all of the sudden, we see Sputnik going
across the sky. And America had this Kodak moment for a while, saying,
'Oh, my gosh, we are getting behind the Russians.' Click here.
(5/6)
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