November 20, 2017

Space Firms Focus on Potential Workforce Shortage (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Space industry officials say bolstering the industry’s future workforce to offset an expected wave of retirements must become a priority, or some firms will be left scrambling for workers. The talent pool has attracted newer companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, which creates informal hiring competition with legacy companies long established in Central Florida.

But the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast found last year that 61.9 percent of all engineers in Brevard were 45 or older, meaning a majority could retire in the next decade or two — and slow innovation. So building the future talent pipeline, a challenge that also applies to other STEM-related fields, remains a major obstacle. Some companies bet on early exposure to space-related curriculum and partnerships with schools to reach students as early as kindergarten. Click here. (11/20)

Space Coast Unemployment Down to 3.5 Percent: County Has More Than 7,200 Jobs From a Year Ago (Source: Florida Today)
Brevard County's unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent in October, basically the same as a month earlier. Year over year though, the Trinity of a positive job market continued on the Space Coast: a larger worker force; more people working; fewer unemployed. The state’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent, the lowest in more than a decade. (11/20)

SpaceX Plans to Send the First of its 4,425 Super-fFast Internet Satellites Into Space in 2019 (Source: CNBC)
SpaceX plans to start launching satellites into orbit in 2019 to provide high-speed internet to Earth. In November, the company outlined plans to put 4,425 satellites into space in a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) filing. But the document gave little detail on the timeline.

However on Wednesday, Patricia Cooper, SpaceX's vice president of satellite government affairs, said later this year, the company will start testing the satellites themselves, launch one prototype before the end of the year and another during the "early months" of 2018. Following that, SpaceX will begin its satellite launch campaign in 2019. (11/20)

Russia's Roscosmos May Take Part in Creation of 'Martian Town' in Dubai (Source: Space Daily)
The United Arab Emirates is planning to create "Mars Scientific City," an ambitious project that would simulate the conditions of life on Mars. Russia's space corporation Roscosmos will consult the UAE Space Agency in the implementation of the Martian town project in Dubai. It would occupy an area of some 1.8 million square feet and the construction would cost some $136 million. (11/16)

DynCorp Loses Protest Of $10B Counternarcotics Contract (Source: Law360)
A Federal Claims decision unsealed Thursday tossed DynCorp’s challenge to a $10 billion counternarcotics support services contract it lost to AAR Airlift, but the ruling, resting largely on deference to the U.S. Department of State, was not without hand-wringing by a judge who called the unclear bidding process “troubling.” Editor's Note: Much of this contracted activity is managed on Florida's Space Coast. (11/19)

Hyten: ‘I Will Not Support Buying Big Satellites That Make Juicy Targets’ (Source: Space News)
Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum Saturday, U.S. Air Force Gen. John Hyten said that fixing how the Pentagon procures satellites is a key aspect of improving U.S. space security in light of what he called growing threats from adversaries. He said the future is in constellations of smaller and cheaper satellites, a view he acknowledged is not necessarily shared by everyone in the Pentagon or in Congress. Asked to rate threats to U.S. military spacecraft on a 1-to-10 scale, Hyten said it was a "five but moving to 10 quickly." (11/20)

Can a Superconducting Magnetic Sail Slow Down an Interstellar Probe (Source: Space Daily)
With a miniaturised space probe capable of being accelerated to a quarter of the speed of light, we could reach Alpha Centauri, our nearest star, in 20 to 50 years. However, without a mechanism to slow it down, the space probe could only collect data from the star and its planets as it zoomed past.

Now researchers believe it would be possible to decelerate at least comparatively slow space probes with the help of magnetic sails. "Slow would mean in this case a travel velocity of 1,000 kilometres per second, which is only 0.3 percent of the speed of light but nevertheless about 50 times faster than the Voyager spacecraft," explains Claudius Gros. What is needed is a magnetic sail in order to transfer the spacecraft's momentum to the interstellar gas. The sail consists of a large, superconducting loop with a diameter of about 50 kilometers. (11/20)

Constellation Complete, Planet Shifts Focus to Imagery Analysis (Source: Space News)
With its constellation of Earth-imaging satellites complete, Planet is shifting its focus on how to best analyze the imagery they produce. The company recently announced that it has achieved "Mission 1" for the company, the ability to image the entire landmass of the Earth daily. The company is now focusing on developing machine learning capabilities in-house to automatically extract insights from those images, while continuing to partner with other companies on analytics. (11/20)

Iceye Constellation in Deal to Provide SAR Imagery to DOD (Source: Space News)
Finnish radar imaging company Iceye has a deal to provide data to a Defense Department agency. The company, which is developing a constellation of small synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites, will provide airborne SAR imagery to the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) via a U.S. subsidiary. The company sees both airborne and space-based SAR imaging as key means of providing data regardless of weather or lighting conditions. Iceye did not disclose the value of the contract. (11/20)

Boeing, CASIS Award Half Million Dollars for ISS Research (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Boeing and CASIS awarded $500,000 to three microgravity experiments to be performed aboard the International Space Station. Three startups – Cellino Biotech, Guardian Technologies, and MakerHealth – are receiving the money. The startup accelerator firm MassChallenge is awarding the money. Click here. (11/20)

Satellite Capacity Glut Pits Satellite Operators Against Some Customers (Source: Space News)
Network service providers are upset that satellite operators are selling capacity directly to customers, in competition with them. At a conference last week, more than half a dozen private network operators said they were worried that, in the current glut of satellite capacity, operators were moving into direct sales, putting them into competition with those service providers. They hope that the complexity of dealing in some markets, and the level of customer service they provide, will keep their customers from defecting to satellite operators. (11/20)

DARPA Studying "Rules of the Road" for Satellite Servicing (Source: Space News)
DARPA has awarded a contract to a team of researchers and contractors to study "rules of the road" for satellite servicing. Advanced Technology International received the DARPA contract to lead a team that includes the Secure World Foundation, the University of Southern California’s Space Engineering Research Center and the Space Infrastructure Foundation. Their work on the Consortium for Execution of Rendezvous and Servicing Operations (CONFERS) is desinged to set standards for safely servicing satellites in orbit. (11/20)

China Prepping for Next Crewed Spaceflight (Source: GB Times)
China is working on upgrades for the next crewed Shenzhou mission. Work being done on the spacecraft includes upgrades to its guidance, navigation and control system, including using systems tested on the Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft to allow it to dock with China's space station six hours after launch, rather than two days. That mission will likely launch around 2020, after the launch of the core module of the planned station. [gbtimes]

UK Hopes to Launch US Rockets (Source: Space News)
The United States and Great Britain are in talks to allow American rockets to launch from future British spaceports. Space was a "key item" during a meeting of American and British officials last week to discuss trade issues in advance of Britain's exit from the European Union. The discussions involved ways to ensure that any American rockets launched from Britain meet safety and environmental standards, and to address U.S. export control issues. (11/20)

China Plans for Nuclear-Powered iInterplanetary Capacity by 2040 (Source: Space Daily)
China is expected to achieve a "major breakthrough" in nuclear-powered space shuttles around 2040, according to a report issued by China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The achievement will be able to support large-scale exploration and development of space resources, and make mining on asteroids and space solar power plants possible, said the report, which outlines the development road map for China's space transportation system to 2045. (11/19)

India's Lunar XPrize Team Struggles to Raise Launch Funds (Source: ThePrint)
Team Indus is struggling to raise funding needed to complete and launch its lunar lander mission ahead of a looming deadline. Team Indus, one of five finalists in the Google Lunar X Prize, is reportedly $23 million short of the funds it needs to complete its spacecraft, and has missed payments to the Indian space agency ISRO for its launch. The team, and other finalists, have to complete their missions by the end of March 2018 or else the prize expires. The team is holding out hope of finding new sources of money or getting another extension, although prize officials have previously stated that they have no plans for another extension. (11/20)

New Mexico Officials Unfazed by ARCA Executive's Arrest (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
New Mexico officials said they believe the arrest of the CEO of a local aerospace company won't be a setback for the industry in general there. Dumitru Popescu was arrested earlier this month on charges of fraud and embezzlement. It's not clear if the the charges are linked to ARCA Space, the company he leads that moved to New Mexico in 2014 and is working on a small launch vehicle. One investor in ARCA said he was shocked by the news, and had heard nothing from the company in the last month. Local officials said they didn't believe this case would sour investor interest on the space industry in general in the state. (11/20)

With Harris Corp., Vector Considers Vandenberg to Establish Launch Operations (Source: Via Satellite)
Nanosatellite launch company Vector announced it will explore an arrangement with Harris Corporation to establish commercial launch operations of the Vector-R launch vehicle at Harris Spaceport Systems on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The initial steps of the pathfinding operations at Space Launch Complex 8 feature a demonstration of a full-scale engineering development version of the Vector-R and the associated Transporter-Erector-Launcher (TEL) that is a key element of Vector’s overall Concept of Operations (CONOPS).

Vector has demonstrated the enhanced efficiencies of a mobile TEL-based approach with its latest showcase of technical operations at Virginia Space’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) and recent flight test at Spaceport Camden in Georgia. These latest tests address requirements and issues specific to Space Launch Complex 8 and Vandenberg Air Force Base, while also refining timelines and transportation logistics, the company said.

“Harris’ site at Vandenberg Air Force Base has great potential to become a key part of our strategy for providing smallsat customers responsive and flexible dedicated access to orbit from multiple locations,” said John Garvey, Vector Chief Technical Officer (CTO) and co-founder. (11/17)