November 15, 2017

Apprenticeship Programs Needed to Meet Florida Aerospace Workforce Demand (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
The continued expansion of Florida's aerospace/defense industry is threatened by a chronic shortage of qualified technical and engineering workers. Companies are increasingly poaching workers from their competitors, driving up wages and highlighting our workforce problems to companies we are targeting for recruitment. Strategies to address these issues include investments in education and training programs, and efforts to attract talent from other states.

A regional partnership, including Brevard, Volusia and Flagler County stakeholders, is proposing a European-style apprenticeship program to train and certify technical workers in collaboration with local colleges and space, aviation and defense industry employers. They are seeking support from the state's new $85 million Job Growth Grant Fund. Click here. (11/15)

SSTL to build UrtheCast’s UrtheDaily Constellation (Source: SSTI)
A signed contract for the Earth Observation satellites for the UrtheDailyTM Constellation was announced today by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and UrtheCast of Canada. The UrtheDailyTM Constellation, planned for launch in 2020, will be capable of scientific-grade quality, multispectral imagery, high-resolution, targeted specifically at geoanalytics applications.
 
The UrtheDaily spacecraft are based on the SSTL-250 platform and will be built by SSTL at its facilities in Guildford UK.  The spacecraft will deliver high-resolution imagery using spectral bands, which have been specifically selected to match Landsat-8, Sentinel-2, RapidEye and Deimos-1 bands to ease cross-calibration with trusted references and to minimise the effects of atmospheric variations. (11/14)

SNC’s Dream Chaser Takes Step Forward to Commercial Cargo (Source: SpacePolicyOnline)
The vehicle used on Saturday was the same one used in a series of previous Dream Chase tests where it made captive carry or drop tests.  The company is still analyzing the data from the most recent test, but SNC Corporate Vice President for Space Systems Mark Sirangelo said today that everything is looking good and there are no plans to fly this vehicle again.

Sirangelo compared the tests with this vehicle to those flown by NASA in 1977 of the space shuttle orbiter Enterprise.  Enterprise also was not designed to fly in space, but only for atmospheric tests.  Like the Enterprise test flights, this one took place at Edwards Air Force Base, CA and Sirangelo expressed gratitude to NASA and the Air Force for their assistance. (11/13)

Japanese Space Industrial Policy in Transition (Source: The Space Journal)
The lost years of the Japanese economic slump exerted a heavy pressure on industry to become more competitive and profitable. Most Japanese space companies are branches of larger corporate entities and, for many years, commercial performance of the space branches were not overly scrutinised because revenue from the other branches subsidised space activities. However, the effects of the Japanese economic downturn of the 1990s and onwards were felt in every branch of these large corporate entities and they came under pressure to restructure.

Toshiba, one of the larger satellite manufacturers, sold its space branch to NEC Corporation, and other smaller companies followed suit. In this way, the private sector supported the political initiative of establishing the ‘Basic Space Law’ of 2008, paving the way for a more coordinated industrial policy for space. Japan has been shy of announcing its industrial space policy for many years. As a late starter, the initial objective for Japanese industry was to use public funding to develop technological capabilities to meet international standards.

However, the 1990 agreement between the United States and Japan for the procurement of commercial satellites, which prohibits Japanese industry to exclude competition with foreign competitors in the public procurement process, was regarded as an obstacle for winning contracts from the government. Since then, Japanese industry has focused on research and development satellite programmes instead, as these were not the focus of the US-Japan agreement. Click here. (11/15)

Space Launch Plans Tour the UK (Source: GOV.UK)
The UK Space Agency is touring the country with industry workshops and public open evenings on LaunchUK – the campaign to enable small satellite rocket launches and sub-orbital flights from UK spaceports. The Government wants to make the UK a world-leading destination for companies offering launch services. New legislation to regulate launch is currently before Parliament and in early 2018 the UK Space Agency will announce the outcome of its call for grant proposals to achieve low cost access to space.

In total 26 proposals were submitted to the call, and the UK Space Agency is currently considering grant applications to support the first launches from UK soil. These initial missions from the UK will pave the way for a commercial launch market, where multiple small satellite launch vehicles and sub-orbital spaceplanes could pursue rising global demand from a number of UK spaceports. (11/13)

'Harlech We Have a Problem...' Blow for Wales Spaceport Plans (Source: Daily Post)
Hopes that a North Wales site could be developed into the UK’s first spaceport took a blow today following the release of an influential report. The UK Space Agency study identified Shetland as the “ideal location” for satellite launches in Britain, potentially offering a huge injection of investment onto the island.

However Aerospace Wales, which produced a joint Space Strategy with the Welsh Government in 2015, said the report was not make or break and that the Llanbedr entry was pressing ahead. It was estimated that, if successful, the spaceport, which is close to Shell Island , would generate £4.2m of income and create around 170 jobs. (11/14)

Wier: Kenya A Great Site for Spaceport in 'Artemis' (Source: Business Insider)
Kenya isn't the first country you'd think of to locate a spaceport for launching people to and from the moon, but in "Artemis", a new sci-fi novel by "The Martian" author Andy Weir, that is precisely the case. Weir's tale takes place during the 2080s at Artemis — humanity's first and only lunar city.

"One of the biggest impediments to the commercial space industry right now isn't technology, its policy," Weir said. "I've listened to the things that commercial space companies have said ... and the consistent thing that pretty much everybody says is, it is such a pain in the ass to deal with the policies. That's always their biggest problem." Kenya, however, doesn't really have such rules — which could make it the perfect place to base an enormously expensive lunar-launch facility.

That's why in "Artemis", Weir routes all passengers and cargo to the moon through the fictional Kenya Space Corporation. "So what I thought was, there are market forces at play that people haven't tapped into yet, and reducing policy could bring a space industry to your country," Weir said. "And so that's what Kenya did [in my book] — Kenya said like, 'Hey we have two things that people want: we can set policy to be as friendly as possible for a space industry, and we're on the equator.'" (11/15)

China Plans to Reduce Launch Prices, India Says We Can Do That Too (Source: Hindustan Times)
China’s state-owned entity that develops and manufactures spacecraft is ready to provide cheaper and faster rocket launches, with costs in the range of $5,000 per kilogram. Reacting to China’s plans to drastically reduce launch costs, an ISRO official said not only is the Indian agency “competitive”, but it is working to reduce the cost of access to space through new technology. The effort is to bring down launch costs to “one-tenth” of what they are now, the official said. (11/14)

China Launches Fengyun-3D Weather Satellite and Private Maritime Microsatellite (Source: GB Times)
China successfully launched the Fengyun-3D weather satellite into a polar orbit on Tuesday, along with the first satellite for private Chinese company Head Aerospace. The Long March 4C rocket lifted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, sending the Fengyun-3D towards a circular Sun-synchronous orbit at an altitude of over 800 km. (11/14)

Alloy Holds Promise for Aerospace (Source: Aerospace America)
NiTiHf is among a class of shape-memory alloys, SMAs, that materials engineers think could give aircraft designers a slew of bold new options. Training is achieved by bending the tubes to specific angles under force, then heating and cooling them to train them to return to that angle at a specific temperature. Engineers from NASA and Boeing are teaching NiTiHf a new trick: To fold aircraft wingtips or sections of wings up and down in flight. (11/16)

See Just How Powerful NASA's New Rocket Will Be (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
NASA released an animated video of its Space Launch System, showing off the government agency's most powerful rocket that will return astronauts to the Moon and eventually Mars. The Space Launch System rocket, which will be equipped with four RS-25 engines creating 8 million pounds of thrust, will be NASA's workhorse vehicle for deep space exploration. And, it is creating plenty of business opportunities throughout Central Florida. Click here. (11/15)

Boat Encroaches Range Safety Zone, Delays Delta-2 Launch at California Spaceport (Source: Space.com)
Range and technical issues scrubbed the launch this morning of a weather satellite on a Delta 2. The countdown was stopped coming out of the planned hold at T-4 minutes because of boats in restricted waters off the coast from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, launch site, as well as an issue with the first stage of the rocket. NASA has rescheduled the launch for 4:47 a.m. Eastern Wednesday. The Delta 2 is carrying the first Joint Polar Satellite System weather satellite. (11/13)

Florida Today's Photo Team Honored for Chronicling Shuttle Era (Source: Florida Today)
Challenger’s smiling crew boarding the Astrovan before their disastrous 1986 launch. Discovery blasting off over packed beaches on Independence Day in 2006. Endeavour winding through downtown Los Angeles on its way to a museum retirement home in 2012.

The images are a sample of the powerful scenes FLORIDA TODAY photographers chronicled during NASA’s 30-year space shuttle program, journalism the National Space Club Florida Committee recognized Tuesday for its service to the Space Coast and beyond.

“A Florida Today photographer was there to document every significant moment that took place during those three decades of space shuttle operations,” said Jim Banke, a space club board member and former FLORIDA TODAY reporter, at a ceremony in Cape Canaveral. (11/14)

Building a Qualified Workforce a Top Concern for Florida Chamber (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
The Florida Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 14 unveiled its 2018 legislative agenda, with a focus on jobs, workforce development and competitiveness. There are 221,000 jobs looking for people and 383,000 people looking for jobs, according to the chamber's news release, which names building a qualified workforce as a top concern for job creators.

According to the 2018 agenda, the chamber will support efforts that strengthen Florida’s role in space exploration by supporting public and commercial space projects and investing in a skilled aerospace workforce; build on tourism, agriculture and construction; support small businesses and reforms that give them have access to resources and support; and strengthening Florida’s position as a global trade leader and increasing foreign direct investment. Click here. (11/14)

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