October 20, 2017

Interplanetary Players: a Who’s Who of Space Mining (Source: Financial Times)
Mineral extraction is going to be crucial for the survival of colonies on Mars or the moon, dreamt up and financed by the likes of entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.

But such is the prohibitive fuel economy of space travel that it is unclear when, if ever, bringing resources such as iron and platinum back to Earth will be commercially viable.
 Click here. (10/19)

Who Owns Space? (Source: Axios)
We're standing at the starting line of a new space race, one that could trigger a gold rush-like hunt for resources. Companies are lining up to launch space mining missions, and countries are passing laws to allow them. There's just one problem: Under some interpretations of the 50-year-old Outer Space Treaty, which was signed by almost 100 countries, none of this is legal.

The bottom line: In the past, the answer to the question "who owns space?" was easy: everyone and no one. Soon, that might not be true. Goldman Sachs thinks we should prospect asteroids for platinum. Companies like Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries hope to launch space mining missions before 2030. Luxembourg passed a law legalizing such operations this past summer, as did the United States in 2015. Click here. (10/19)

Survey: Americans Support Entrepreneurs in Space But Want Improvements on Earth (Source: Brodeur Partners)
Americans want private companies to seize opportunities in space –but they want that to translate into better life on Earth. That's the upshot of the Brodeur Space Entrepreneur 2017 Survey. The new poll of more than 600 Americans' attitudes toward business in space was conducted earlier this month by the Brodeur Partners' Space Group. The new survey found that Americans:

Still see national security as the top space activity; At the same time, they support private sector activity in space; However, they want some degree of government regulation, especially privacy protection; They expect space development to directly benefit Earth; And Think the U.S. is a leader, if not the leader, in space technology. Click here. (10/19)

World View Flight Tests Groundbreaking Altitude Control Technology (Source: SpaceRef)
Long-duration stratospheric research missions could allow scientists to collect vast amounts of data continuously for their payloads. Such missions could benefit NASA by maturing future space technology as well as allowing for Earth observations, such as storm monitoring and forest fire tracking.

Previously, technological challenges have limited the duration of balloon flights in the stratosphere due to the lack of trajectory control necessary for longer flights. Now, a system developed by World View Enterprises promises the capability to perform large altitude changes to achieve meaningful trajectory control of balloon flights in the stratosphere.

World View's novel altitude control technology was selected to receive funding through NASA's Research Announcement: Space Technology - Research, Development, Demonstration, and Infusion (REDDI) 2016 solicitation. This summer, the company performed flight tests that demonstrated this system's capability, which put World View one step closer to shifting the status quo of lack of altitude control. (10/19)

Russia Plans to Increase Launches from Baikonur in 2018 (Source: Tass)
The Roscosmos state corporation plans more launches from the Baikoinur Cosmodrome in 2018, Roscosmos Deputy Director General Sergey Savelyev said at the international forum dubbed "Kazakhstan’s path to space: realities and prospects - 2017."

"The Baikonur Cosmodrome is one of the world’s most actively operating cosmodromes. Eleven space rockets were launched in 2017 [there,] and three more are to be launched before the end of the year. There are plans to increase the number of launches starting the next year," Savelyev reported. (10/19)

Dream Chaser Gets Popular Science Accolade (Source: SNC)
Popular Science magazine has selected Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser spacecraft for the 2017 “Best of What’s New” award. This recognition from the world’s largest science and technology magazine celebrates technologies that will “change our world.”

“We're certainly proud to be recognized like this," said Eren Ozmen, SNC's owner and president. "And we're even more excited about the future of Dream Chaser. This is America's spaceplane -- it has the best engineering and technology and represents our national pioneering spirit,” added Ozmen.

The Dream Chaser is a re-usable and versatile spacecraft that will go the International Space Station starting in 2020 to resupply critical items for NASA. The spacecraft has the capability to carry more than 12,000 lbs of food and water, science experiments, supplies, or satellites to low-Earth orbit, and can fulfill a variety of missions for organizations around the world. (10/18)

Vector Space Plans Three Orbital Launches from Virginia's Spaceport (Source: CNBC)
Rocket company Vector will conduct three commercial missions from Virginia Space's mid-Atlantic regional spaceport at NASA's Wallops launch center. This is the first orbital contract with a spaceport for Vector, the next major step toward the company's goal of launching more than 100 times per year, chief executive Jim Cantrell said. "These will go all the way into orbit with satellites onboard," Cantrell said. "We need to break the classic handcuffs on the costs of launching, and that requires people thinking differently."

The Vector-R vehicle is a low-cost rocket intended to meet the growing demand from the microsatellite sector, which is expected to become a $7.5 billion industry in five years. At less than $3 million per launch, Vector is aiming for a 20th the cost of a SpaceX Falcon 9. An additional advantage for Vector, Cantrell said, is its mobility. Vector requires minimal infrastructure to launch its rockets — as little as a concrete pad. Vector is targeting its first Wallops launch for July, with two or three more in the second half of the year. The contract includes an option for five more launches.

The only issue with the spaceport, both leaders noted, is the difficulty of using it to launch vehicles into polar orbits, which are necessary for some satellites. Cantrell said Vector would likely consider other locations, like Alaska Aerospace's on Kodiak Island. Cantrell called the next three launch vehicles "prototypes," meaning that they will be built by hand. (10/19)

NASA Wallops Preps for ISS Resupply Mission (Source: WMDT)
NASA Wallops is again gearing up another launch, this time to resupply the International Space Station. NASA and Orbital ATK officials showed off the Cygnus spacecraft that astronauts at the space station are relying on to keep them supplied. The spacecraft will be taking astronauts food, supplies, and experiments so they can continue their research.

With 3 weeks left until the scheduled launch date, NASA and Orbital ATK have a series of tests to do before take off. "We run our final system tests where we trick the rocket and the spacecraft into flying the sequence that we are going to run , so  a lot of double checks an re-checking," says Eberly. (10/19)

NASA Selects ULA's Reliable Atlas V Rocket to Launch Landsat 9 (Source: SpaceRef)
NASA's Launch Services Program announced today that it selected United Launch Alliance's (ULA's) proven Atlas V vehicle to launch the Landsat 9 mission, the ninth in the satellite program providing the longest continuous global record of Earth's surface. This award resulted from a competitive Launch Service Task Order evaluation under the NASA Launch Services II contract. (10/19)

Iridium Opts for Pre-Flown Falcon 9s to Preserve Schedule (Source: Space News)
Mobile satellite services provider Iridium will use previously flown Falcon 9 first stages for its next two launches in order not to miss its mid-2018 goal for completing the Iridium Next constellation.

The first Iridium mission with a previously flown Falcon 9 first stage will take place Dec. 22 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, according to an Iridium statement. That launch, its fourth with SpaceX overall, will be followed by the second pre-flown mission early next year.

That will leave just three launches for Iridium and SpaceX to complete by the middle of next year. In an Oct. 19 tweet, Iridium chief executive Matt Desch said using previously flown boosters brings “more schedule certainty to complete 5 more launches over next 8 months.” (10/19)

Blue Origin Fires Up New Engine for New Glenn, Vulcan Rockets (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin conducted the first successful test of its BE-4 engine, a major milestone for both the company’s launch vehicle plans as well as for ULA. The BE-4 is an engine that uses liquid oxygen and liquefied natural gas propellants and is capable of generating 550,000 pounds-force of thrust. The engine was developed in-house at Blue Origin primarily with its own funding, with some support from ULA.

Blue Origin plans to use the BE-4 on its New Glenn vehicle that the company announced last year. The first stage of the rocket will use seven BE-4 engines, with the second stage using a single BE-4. That rocket will be able to place up to 45 tons into low Earth orbit and 13 tons into geostationary transfer orbit. The BE-4 is also under consideration by ULA for its next-generation Vulcan rocket. (10/19)

NASA Fires Up Old Engine for SLS Rockets (Source: NasaSpaceFlight)
The RS-25 test team at Stennis Space Center hot-fired an untested flight engine on the A-1 Test Stand Thursday to help complete certification of design changes to fly on the Space Launch System (SLS). The test is another step toward the flagship test firing of all four engines on the B-2 Test Stand. Engine 2063 was assembled at Stennis from the hardware inventory inherited from the Space Shuttle Program. (10/19)

Snelling Helped Finance Commercial Spaceport at VAFB California (Source: Santa Maria Times)
Alaska senator Ted Stevens had put $10 million into the 1994 Air Force budget to encourage the development of commercial space programs. Our team won a $2.35 million grant to start our spaceport at Vandenberg. But we had to have $450,000 in our possession to receive this award.

Bill said he would lend us that from his bank under certain conditions, and the Air Force office agreed that it would satisfy their requirements for private investment - so for two minutes I had a check for $450,000 in my hands and then sent that amount to my subsidiary, the for-profit California Commercial Spaceport Inc. development company to be headed by Earl Severo. Click here. (10/18)

Google Says a Third of C-Band Dishes Registered with the FCC Aren’t Used (Source: Space News)
Earth-observation data shows that one in three C-band satellite dishes registered with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission either don’t exist or aren’t in use, a spectrum official at Google said last week.

The number of unregistered C-band dishes dwarfs that of registered dishes, according to fleet operator Intelsat, but the paucity of hard data on how heavily C-band is truly used is a recognized irritation to the FCC and other telecom regulatory agencies.

Presenting information that could factor heavily into the commission’s decision-making on how to expand the use of C-band, Andrew Clegg, spectrum engineering lead at Google, said Oct. 13 that the company found numerous dishes were absent at database-listed coordinates, either having been removed or having never existed in the first place. (10/19)

With Commercial Satellite Imagery, Computer Learns to Quickly Find Missile Sites in China (Source: Space News)
According to a new study, there is one area where deep machine learning algorithms can definitely help the government, and that is to analyze satellite imagery. Officials from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency have called on the private sector to bring forth machine learning tools to automate repetitive and time-consuming image analysis tasks.

They want to free up skilled analysts to spend more time on hard intelligence problems that can’t be turned over to a computer.

Researchers from the Center for Geospatial Intelligence used a deep learning neural network to assist human analysts in visual searches for surface-to-air missile sites over a large area in southeastern China. The results showed that the computer performed an average search time of only 42 minutes for an area of approximately 90,000 square kilometers. By comparison, North Korea is about 120,000 square kilometers. (10/19)

Space Gardening May Treat Astronauts' Blues (Source: Space.com)
Many people step into their home gardens for a bit of DIY therapy. A new study suggests that astronauts could also reap the psychological benefits of gardening. In short, space missions are stressful. In addition to suffering the physical effects of living in microgravity, astronauts spend long periods of time in close quarters to one another and isolated from the rest of the world.

The weightless environment turns common activities — like eating, sleeping and using the restroom — into perpetual challenges. Meanwhile, extended periods of inactivity can lead to flat-out boredom. These factors will be even more pronounced for astronauts on extended missions beyond low Earth orbit, where the International Space Station is located.

Numerous studies and reviews have borne out the psychological benefits of gardening. Master's student Raymond Odeh and horticulture professor Charles Guy at the University of Florida, Gainesville, reviewed the literature of plant-human interactions and concluded that gardening could bring astronauts the same peace of mind on long space missions that it does back on Earth. (10/19)

Space Science Could Get Private-Funding Boost (Source: Space.com)
First, NASA needs to say in a steady stream of messaging that the agency desires private investment in space science missions. This message has been trumpeted for human spaceflight and space technology development, but for space science is generally an afterthought, sometimes mentioned as part of Q&A responses during advisory committee meetings, or is missing altogether in agency presentations.

The NASA budget blueprint released in March 2017 boldly states in the very first sentence that the proposed budget "supports and expands public-private partnerships as the foundation of future U.S. civilian space efforts." That would seem to include space science, but it is difficult to see how the space science portfolio is making such a transition. (10/19)

America Is Finally Starting to Take Space Seriously (Could It Lead to Star Wars?) (Source: National Interest)
Sustainment of US space capability implies a number of key developments. First, the US needs not only to protect existing space capabilities, but also to be able to rapidly reconstitute lost capabilities. That demands an effective launch capability, and an ability to exploit new ‘Space 2.0’ technologies as a surge capacity for launching replacement satellites quickly in a crisis.

The commercial space launch sector, with players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin using innovative reusable rocket technology, is well placed to contribute. SpaceX recently launched the US Air Force’s X-37B on its latest highly classified mission. The emphasis on space control—the use of offensive and defensive counter-space capabilities—continues a trend begun under Obama in response to Chinese and Russian anti-satellite (ASAT) activities, including testing of ASATs and delivery systems in 2007 and 2014.

Obama initially adopted a policy of strategic restraint on space weapons, instead relying on legal norms and dissuasion through space situational awareness to prevent the weaponisation of space. It kept offensive space control in its back pocket in case softer methods failed to work. Well, they didn’t work, and the Trump administration must now wrestle with this issue. Click here. (10/19)

Space: Marketing's Final Frontier (Source: Ad Age)
Hollywood has long tapped into the world's interest in space, but now, industries from beauty and fashion to design and music are following suit, opening up massive opportunities for ad agencies and brands, according to a new Sparks & Honey culture report.

Through the research, Sparks & Honey found that 36 percent of Americans are more likely to buy a product if it was inspired or created by technology developed for outer space exploration. A combined $4.2 billion in venture capital investment has poured into Space 2.0 ventures in the last two years and astronaut applications are up three times this year compared to NASA's last call for new hires in 2011, the report states. Click here. (10/19)

US and Luxembourg Frame Laws for New Space Race (Source: Financial Times)
The moon rocks collected by the Apollo missions more than 40 years ago were brought back to Earth without much controversy. Several are on display in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

Had they been gathered now, they would probably have provoked much more debate. Over recent decades, moon rocks have come to symbolise something altogether different: space mining and a potential multibillion dollar market. For years, companies investing in technology to extract water, precious rocks and metals in space have operated in a regulatory grey zone under the aegis of a treaty written in the cold war, which makes no mention of property rights.

But when former US president Barack Obama fired the starting gun on regulatory changes in 2015, by guaranteeing private companies rights to own, sell and profit from resources extracted from asteroids and other “celestial bodies”, other countries scrambled to follow suit. Click here. (10/19)