November 28, 2017

Russia Loses Satellite After Second Vostochny Launch (Sources: Space News, Interfax, NasaSpaceFlight)
Controllers have been unable to establish contact with a weather satellite hours after its launch on a Soyuz overnight. The Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifted off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome at 12:41 a.m. Eastern Tuesday carrying the Meteor-M No.2-1 polar-orbiting weather satellite and 18 smallsat secondary payloads. While the launch initially appeared to go according to plan, Roscosmos announced several hours later that it was unable to contact the Meteor-M satellite "due to its absence in the target orbit." That has raised concerns of a malfunction of the rocket's Fregat upper stage. The status of the smallsats, including the first prototype satellite for Telesat's proposed LEO broadband constellation, is unknown.

The Fregat-M upper stage fired in the wrong orientation sending the satellites into the ocean, not orbit. This may have been a human-error issue. Prior to news of the launch anomaly, Russian officials were playing up the importance of the Vostochny launch site. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin congratulated workers there for what, at the time, appeared to be a successful launch, the second from the site in Russia's Far East. Rogozin said work would start soon on a second launch pad at Vostochny for the Angara-5 rocket, part of an effort to reduce dependence on the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (11/28)

18 Secondary Payloads Lost with Russian Weather Satellite (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
A new Russian weather observatory and the first prototype for Telesat’s planned network of 100-plus broadband communications satellites in low Earth orbit were among 19 spacecraft feared lost after a Fregat rocket stage ran into trouble soon after liftoff aboard a Soyuz booster Tuesday. The Fregat rocket pack was supposed to place the 19 satellites into four different orbits Tuesday in a four-hour flight sequence following launch on a Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, a new spaceport in the Amur region of Russia’s Far East.

Seven Fregat engine burns were planned, first to place the upper stage and its multi-satellite payload stack into a preliminary orbit, then to maneuver to different altitudes for separation of Russia’s Meteor M2-1 weather satellite and 18 co-passengers, and finally to de-orbit the rocket to fall back into Earth’s atmosphere. But Russian officials said they were unable to establish contact with the Meteor M2-1 satellite after it was supposed to separate from the Fregat upper stage. (11/28)

Air Force Looks to Combine Space, Air and Cyber Data for Warfighters (Source: Space News)
Air Force leaders are expected this week to hear details about a project to combine data from space assets with air and cyber sources. The "multi-domain command and control," or MDC2, project is a priority for Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, who believes it will provide combatant commanders better situational awareness. Maj. Gen. Kimberly Crider, the first chief data officer for the Air Force, said in an interview that space assets, in particular "data analytics" derived from them, will play a major role in that project. (11/27)

UN Plans to Study Rocket Launch Emissions (Source: Space.com)
An upcoming U.N. study will examine the effect emissions from rocket launches have on the ozone layer. A section of the United Nations 2018 Quadrennial Global Ozone Assessment will be the first such report that includes a detailed examination of the role played by launches on any decrease in ozone concentrations. The report will also look at chemicals deposited in the atmosphere by reentering satellites and debris. (11/28)

Jim Lovell Finally Gets a Moonwalk (Source: Yonhap)
An electronics company has given an Apollo astronaut an opportunity to experience what he missed out on doing on a famous mission. LG Electronics said it used a VR headset, coupled with one of the company's phones, to provide Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell an experience of walking on the moon. Lovell was unable to walk on the moon when an explosion in the spacecraft's service module forced NASA to cancel the planned landing and instead use the lunar module as a lifeboat to help return the crew to Earth. The report didn't indicate what Lovell thought of the virtual moonwalking experience. (11/28)

China Lays Out its Roadmap for Space Transportation System (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
China has revealed a roadmap for its space transportation system outlining its goal to become a world-leading space power by 2045. The program, announced by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), envisions several milestones in the nation’s space industry within the next three decades, including the development of reusable launch vehicles and a nuclear-powered space shuttle. Click here. (11/28)

Study: Exploration of Special Regions Needed to Find Life on Mars (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
An international team of researchers has conducted a study endorsing the exploration of the so-called Special Regions on Mars. They call for the relaxation of the planetary protection policy in order to allow sending robotic explorers to the restricted areas that could potentially host microbial life.

The Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) defines “Special Regions” as zones within which terrestrial organisms are likely to propagate, or, in the case of the Red Planet, areas having a high potential for the existence of extant Martian life forms. However, planetary protection policy puts strict constraints on the exploration of these zones with the aim of protecting the Red Planet from terrestrial biological contamination – in this case, those coming from Earth. (11/28)

India and Japan are Joining Forces to Beat China in the Asian Space Race (Source: Quartz)
India and Japan took their deepening natural partnership into outer space when the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) divulged that they may jointly carry out a sample-return mission to the moon. There is a sound rationale for this even though the two countries have independent plans to go to the moon: ISRO’s Chandrayaan-2 orbiter-lander-rover mission is proposed for launch in 2018 and JAXA’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) mission in 2019.

They have had success in the past, too: since 2007-08, JAXA’s Selene orbiter and ISRO’s first orbiter-impactor, Chandrayaan-1, have found water on the moon, discovered lunar volcanic tubes, which could serve as sites for human habitation, and mapped the eternally dark Shackleton crater, among others. Their concern is the wide techno-economic gap with Beijing, which is playing an efficient game of catch-up with Washington. (11/27)

3D-Printed Satellite Component Presents a Lesson in Rethinking Design (Source: Altair)
RUAG Space, one of the leading European suppliers to the space industry, designs, manufactures and tests structures for satellites and instruments. As part of a pilot project, specialists at RUAG Space designed and built an antenna support using additive manufacturing (AM) for an Earth observation satellite. RUAG had previously supplied the European Space Agency (ESA) with a similar support for its Sentinel-1A radar satellite, although that support for ESA was manufactured using conventional methods.

Designers chose AM for several reasons: its high level of customization for minimal additional costs, the possibility to implement last-minute changes at a quick turnaround and the potential to significantly reduce the weight of the part. Weight reduction is a decisive factor in the space industry because the lighter a satellite is, the less it costs to send into space.

Collaborating with experts from Altair, RUAG engineers went through an iterative process and completely redesigned the support to optimize it for 3D printing, another term for AM. Altair simulation software made it possible to exploit AM’s freedom of design by optimizing the topology of the component to use only as much material as necessary. (11/26)

SpaceX Could See Its Valuation Soar to $50 Billion (Source: Wall Street Pit)
Elon Musk, the 46-year-old CEO of Tesla and aerospace service provider SpaceX and co-founder of OpenAI has seen his $20 billion fortune rise on the back of massive growth from his core companies which continually draw attention for their projects in everything from an eventual mission of colonizing Mars to self-driving cars and artificial intelligence (AI).

But as Musk’s great achievements as an industrialist continue to defy expectations, and this whether it is by creating the first attractive luxury electric cars or lowering the cost of space transportation, his companies, mainly Tesla and SpaceX, remain the darling of Silicon Valley and Wall Street. Earlier this year, shares of Tesla put the company’s market cap at nearly $53 billion, above GM and Ford’s $50 billion and $48 billion, respectively, thus making the company the most valuable US car manufacturer on the market.

SpaceX, thanks to its disruptive innovations that have forever transformed the rocket launch industry seems to be in a Tesla-like value growth trajectory. The interesting part of that claim is that one doesn’t have to make a hard sell on the name given the numbers back the argument up. Only recently Musk’s space exploration outfit raised another $350 million – bringing the company’s value to $21 billion, a figure that puts SpaceX globally among a very exclusive small group of companies that have hit the $20 billion mark. (11/26)

Air Force Space Launch Plan Multiplies Risks But Won't Meet Military Requirements (Source: Forbes)
What's wrong with this picture? The head of U.S. Strategic Command said earlier this month that he will no longer support the development of exquisite, billion-dollar satellites -- satellites he described as "big, fat, juicy targets." Meanwhile, the Air Force agency charged with developing military space systems is racing ahead with a "launch service agreement" that requires prospective launch providers to spend big bucks developing a new heavy-lift rocket so they can loft exquisite, billion-dollar satellites into orbit.

What's wrong with the picture is that one part of the Air Force's space community doesn't seem to know what the other part is doing. General John Hyten, the head of Strategic Command, previously ran Air Force Space Command. He presided over the formulation of a new "space enterprise vision" that would make the military's orbital assets more resilient as space is increasingly contested by America's enemies. A big part of that vision involves buying smaller, cheaper satellites in greater numbers so military use of space isn't easily compromised.

But nobody at the service's launch directorate seems to have heard about the new vision, so it is pursuing future capabilities that are out of sync with likely needs. This is just one of several defects in the pending launch service agreement that collectively will make assured access to space less likely even if enemies never attack. The most perverse feature of this situation is that the Pentagon already has assured access to all the orbits it needs to reach, but the launch agreement risks destroying that in order to pursue competing goals that probably aren't achievable. (11/27)

NASA Drone Race: Human Pilot Emerges Faster Than Artificial Intelligence (Source: Economic Times)
An expert human pilot was successfully able to beat flying drones controlled by artificial intelligence (AI) systems in a race organised by NASA. However, the AI-driven drones were more consistent in their performance, scientists said. Drone racing is a high-speed sport demanding instinctive reflexes. Researchers at NASA JPL put their work to the test recently.

Timing laps through a twisting obstacle course, they raced drones controlled by AI against world-class drone pilot Ken Loo. The team built three custom drones and developed the complex algorithms the drones needed to fly at high speeds while avoiding obstacles. The drones were built to racing specifications and could easily go as fast as 129 kilometers per hour in a straight line.

"You can actually see that the AI flies the drone smoothly around the course, whereas human pilots tend to accelerate aggressively, so their path is jerkier," Reid said. Compared to Loo, the drones flew more cautiously but consistently. Their algorithms are still a work in progress. Loo attained higher speeds and was able to perform impressive aerial corkscrews. However, he was limited by exhaustion, something the AI-piloted drones did not have to deal with. (11/23)

Boeing Starliner Trio Preparing for Test Flights (Source: NASASpaceFlight.com)
Boeing is progressing through various stages of assembling the first three CST-100 Starliner spacecraft – the latter of which will launch a NASA crew on a test flight to the International Space Station (ISS). A number of major milestones are upcoming, including a Design Certification Review (DCR) for trips to the orbital outpost.

The major components underwent separate outfitting operations in the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF) where wiring lines, avionics and other systems were installed and tested before the pieces were connected to form a complete Starliner. Inside C3PF, Starliner Spacecraft 1 was outfitted with electrical and fluid systems before engineers attached the outer thermal protection shielding and the base heat shield that will eventually protect crewmembers during re-entry.

This Starliner will be used in the pad abort test to validate the launch abort system. The test is currently scheduled to take place in the second quarter of next year. Boeing is also continuing with assembly on the Spacecraft-2 and Spacecraft-3 Crew Module Upper Domes. These two spacecraft are destined to be tested in space. An uncrewed test mission to the ISS will be launched by ULA’s Atlas V (AV-080) which is already being prepared for the mission. (11/27)

Aerospace Companies Planning a Squad of Space-Repair Robots (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Hundreds of millions of dollars can go into the school-bus-size satellites that orbit Earth and provide services like broadband internet, broadcasting and military surveillance. But if a part breaks or a satellite runs out of fuel, there's no way to send help. Commercial industry and government agencies believe they're getting close to an answer: robot repairs. The idea is to extend the lives of satellites with in-orbit satellite servicing, with robotic spacecraft traveling from satellite to satellite to refuel them and fix problems.

One of the first such commercial robot technicians is expected to launch next year, but analysts say a mature market is still at least 10 years away. Not only do the spacecraft and capabilities still need to be fine-tuned, but the space industry, which is relatively conservative, will also want to see several demonstrations before signing on. Click here. (11/22)

Physicists Design $100 Handheld Muon Detector (Source: MIT News)
At any given moment, the Earth’s atmosphere is showered with high-energy cosmic rays that have been blasted from supernovae and other astrophysical phenomena far beyond the Solar System. When cosmic rays collide with the Earth’s atmosphere, they decay into muons — charged particles that are slightly heavier than an electron. Muons last only fractions of a second, and during their fleeting lifespan they can be found through every layer of the Earth’s atmosphere, circulating in the air around us and raining onto the surface at a rate similar to a light drizzle.

A small fraction of muons can even penetrate the Earth’s surface and travel several kilometers through rock and ice. Now physicists working in MIT's Laboratory for Nuclear Science have designed a pocket-sized cosmic ray muon detector to track these ghostly particles. The detector can be made with common electrical parts, and when turned on, it lights up and counts each time a muon passes through. The relatively simple device costs just $100 to build, making it the most affordable muon detector available today. (11/20)