December 6, 2017

NASA Seeks Proposals for Space Resources Technologies (Source: Space News)
NASA is seeking proposals for studies and technology development efforts related to the use of space resources, particularly as they apply to future human missions to the moon and Mars. NASA issued Dec. 4 an appendix to its Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships 2 (NextSTEP-2) program, calling for proposals on studies and technology development efforts related to what’s known as in situ resource utilization, or ISRU. While companies like Deep Space Industries and Planetary Resources are interested in extracting resources from asteroids, the NASA solicitation is focused on accessing lunar and Martian resources.

The program will cover both trade studies as well as development of key components and subsystems needed to extract water, carbon dioxide and other volatiles from the Martian atmosphere and the soils of Mars, the moon, and asteroids. Such resources can then be used for life support and as propellants, reducing the reliance future expeditions have on resources transported, at significant expense, from Earth. (12/6)

FAA Offers National Space Council Ideas for Launch Licensing Reforms (Source: Space News)
The Federal Aviation Administration submitted to the National Space Council a set of regulatory reforms that one official said would create a “21st century licensing process” for commercial spaceflight. The proposed changes, intended to streamline licensing of expendable and reusable launch vehicles, were submitted to the Council as one of the 45-day reports requested by its chairman, Vice President Mike Pence, at its first meeting Oct. 5.

Nield said his office had already been studying ways to improve its processes. “Nobody had to twist our arms on this,” he said. “We’ve been trying to decrease the regulatory burden on everybody, both the government and the industry.” That included regular discussions with the Commercial Spaceflight Federation industry group and reviewing white papers submitted by companies such as SpaceX. (12/6)

Pondering the Regulatory Future of Private Space (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Boundary-pushing companies seeking to mine asteroids or build moon bases could face a stubbornly terrestrial challenge: getting regulatory approval for activities that are more common in science fiction than traditional business plans. "What we're starting to see now is a lot of companies coming up with new ideas … moon bases, asteroid mining, lots of exciting ideas," George Nield, associate administrator for commercial space transportation at the FAA, said Tuesday. "But the question then becomes: Who in government is responsible to authorize and continuously supervise those kind of activities?"

He said he worries a U.S. failure to clarify its process could encourage domestic innovators in the burgeoning private space sector to move to countries with less regulatory uncertainty. "We want to be able to say 'Yes' to these companies rather than, 'Gee, I'm sorry. I don't know who is supposed to look at that, but we're not able to help you,' " Nield said. (12/6)

Exoplanet That Could Harbor Extraterrestrial Life Has a Neighbor Hiding Behind It (Source: Newsweek)
Astronomers have identified a distant exoplanet as a “super-Earth” that has the potential to harbor alien life. On top of this, the team also discovered that this planet—K2-18b—has another, similar world hiding behind it. A super-Earth is a planet with a mass higher than Earth but smaller than larger bodies like Uranus and Neptune.

The two new super-Earths orbit a red-dwarf star around 111 light years away. K2-18b, scientists say, could be in an excellent location for alien life to emerge—having perfect conditions for surface water, a fundamental ingredient for life, to exist. Scientists combed the skies with the European Southern Observatory’s planet-hunting HARPS device in Chile. They found the planets circling the red dwarf star K2-18, which is part of the constellation, Leo. (12/6)

Making Organs From Stem Cells in Space (Source: Financial Times)
Should humanity ever establish colonies in space, it will need the right equipment to survive away from Earth and its resources. The possibility of manufacturing beyond our planet has intrigued science-fiction writers and engineers since the dawn of the space age but serious efforts to create “factories in space” have been limited. This is beginning to change, as shown by a number of small-scale projects whose aims include building lunar bases and making artificial human organs.

“It’s definitely still early days,” says Andrew Rush, chief executive of Made in Space, a company founded in Silicon Valley in 2010. “The amount of activity in space manufacturing has grown significantly over the past five years and even over the past couple of years. On Earth, 3D bioprinting requires thick bio-inks containing chemicals and other materials to provide structural support, says Techshot. In space, however, tissues could be printed with finer print tips and lower viscosity bio-inks, containing only the biological materials needed to create a healthy organ. Click here. (10/19)

Relativity Space Aims to 3D Print Entire Launch Vehicles (Source: Space News)
There’s no question that additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has become an important technology in the aerospace industry. A growing number of companies are using the technology to make components for satellites and launch vehicles that are lighter or less expensive than if they were made with conventional techniques, if they could be made at all.

One company is taking that technology to an extreme — or, in its view, to a logical conclusion. Relativity Space, a startup based in Los Angeles that only recently emerged from stealth mode, plans to use 3D printing to produce entire launch vehicles, an approach it claims can be more cost effective than traditional manufacturing techniques.

“It was really just looking at what was the inevitable conclusion of that technology,” Tim Ellis said in a recent interview. “Looking further into the future, it became obvious to us. We view it as autonomous manufacturing.” By being able to manufacture a rocket with 3D printing, vehicles can be built faster and less expensively because far less human labor is needed. It also allows the company to revise vehicle designs quickly, without sunk costs in tooling tied to certain designs. (12/5)

Scientists Want In on Humanity's Next Big Space Station (Source: Nature)
As the world’s leading spacefaring nations plan for their next big outpost in space — a successor to the International Space Station — scientists are drafting a wish list of experiments for the most remote human laboratory ever built. NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) are hosting meetings to discuss the science plans, the first of which are taking place on 5–6 December in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

No nation has yet committed to fully funding the project, which does not yet have an estimated cost but is slated for the 2020s. But the space agencies are working on a plan to build an outpost in orbit around the Moon. Scientists are already jockeying for room on the platform. “I have been taken aback by the extent and the quality of proposals,” says James Carpenter, human and robotic exploration strategy officer at ESA in Noordwijk, who organized the event and had to double the capacity of the agency's event to 250 people, owing to the level of interest.

Known as the Deep Space Gateway, the platform is the “commonly accepted” next step once the International Space Station retires in the mid-2020s, says David Parker, director of human spaceflight and robotic exploration at ESA. The space agencies have made clear that its main purpose would be to test, from Earth’s backyard, the technology for deep-space exploration and long-duration missions — including, eventually, going to Mars. Editor's Note: My beef with this (and I'm not alone) is that such a station would be too expensive to coexist in the same budget as a lunar surface base (Moon Village). The time and expense required for this could actually delay human exploration of the moon and Mars. (12/5)

Harris CEO Lands Officer Position on Top Space Group (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A Melbourne-based Harris Corporation executive has been named to a top post of an organization that bills itself as the voice of the U.S. aerospace and defense industries. William Brown, who has been at the helm of Harris since 2011, will serve in 2018 as the Aerospace Industries Association’s Vice Chairman. Raytheon CEO Thomas Kennedy will serve as the association’s chairman next year. (12/5)

UAE Begins Astronaut Recruitment (Source: Arabian Business)
The UAE has started recruiting people for its astronaut program. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president of the UAE, announced Wednesday that the country was seeking young Emiratis to apply to the program. The country's space agency will later select four people for its first-ever astronaut corps, although when they will fly in space, and on what vehicles, remains to be determined. (12/5)

Draper Developing Tool to Guide At-Risk Spacewalkers (Source: The Verge)
A "take me home" button could guide astronauts experiencing problems on spacewalks. The technology, developed at Draper, involved hardware and software that would guide a spacewalking astronaut in distress back to the ISS or another spacecraft by simply pressing a button. Spacewalkers on the station today have a thruster system called SAFER that allows them to return to the station if they drift away, but it requires them to be able to operate the system manually. (12/5)

Should SpaceX and Tesla Merge? (Source: Bloomberg)
One investment analyst thinks it makes sense for SpaceX to merge with Elon Musk's other company, Tesla. In a research note Tuesday, Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley argued that investors expect Musk to devote more of his attention in the future to SpaceX versus Tesla, even as Tesla faces much stiffer competition in the automobile industry than SpaceX does in launch. A combination of the companies, Jonas argued, could address that concern and others, such a lack of a "natural buyer" for Tesla. Musk has previously dismissed such a merger, saying there's too little cooperation between the two companies. (12/5)

Japan's H-3 Engine Nears Testing (Source: Nikkei Asian Review)
Development of a new engine for Japan's H-3 rocket is entering a critical phase. Tests of the LE-9 engine are expected to begin soon to keep the program on track for a first launch of the H-3 in 2020. The engine offers 40 percent more thrust than the engine currently used on the core stage of the H-2 rocket, but with 20 percent fewer components. The engine is critical to the goal of reducing the H-3's launch costs by up to half of that of the H-2. (12/5)

PARC and Blue Origin to Promote R&D Opportunities (Source: Xerox)
PARC, a Xerox company, announced its partnership with Blue Origin to enhance awareness and interest in the vast possibilities made possible by conducting R&D in space. The partnership will leverage PARC’s expertise in technology innovation and Blue Origin’s reusable suborbital rocket, New Shepard, to push new frontiers in four areas of technology R&D: advanced manufacturing, energy systems, human-machine interaction, and predictive analytics. (12/5)

Space Florida Announces Partnership with NASA for Orion Testing (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida has solidified a partnership with NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) for use of Launch Complex 46 for the Orion spacecraft's Ascent Abort-2 test. LC-46, flight proven with the launch of the Orbital ATK Minotaur IV rocket in August of this year, is currently undergoing post-launch repairs and mission-specific modifications in preparation for Orion Ascent Abort -2 (AA-2) test beginning in Spring 2018.

The landmark Sub-License Agreement gives JSC priority use of the launch complex. The test will verify a key part of Orion's safety system during ascent to space before it begins missions with astronauts to deep space. Space Florida's SLC-46 is an extremely flexible and configurable launch facility that can be modified to support a variety of new and smaller launch vehicles, including suborbital vehicles requiring only a concrete pad surface for mounting a launcher. With minimal post launch refurbishment required, SLC-46 can support multiple launches per year. (12/5)

Northrop Buys Orbital ATK, and All of Space Launch Is Watching (Source: Motley Fool)
It's official now. Less than three months after Northrop Grumman announced that it will be buying Orbital ATK for $7.8 billion  in cash, Orbital ATK shareholders voted last week to approve the transaction. The result: Regulators permitting, this deal is headed for a closing in the first half of 2018, after which Orbital ATK will disappear, Northrop Grumman get bigger -- and a new space star will be born.

With operations in both the military munitions market and in space launch, Orbital ATK is sort of a strange beast. More than half the company's revenue, however, comes from its space business. Historically, Orbital ATK has targeted the mid-range market for rocket launches, operating two main families of rockets -- Minotaurs launching payloads ranging from less than 1 ton to just over 3 tons, and Antares rockets hoisting payloads up to 8 tons in mass.

With little competition from either the high end or the low end, Orbital ATK basically has a lock on the mid-range launch market here in the U.S., launching Minotaurs and whatnot, and collecting anywhere from $26-50 million per mission. Now, Northrop's arrival -- with Orbital's new generation of larger NGLS launchers in tow -- threatens to add even more price competition to the mix, and potentially spark a new price war that will hurt profits among all the major space players. Maybe by allying with Northrop Grumman, Orbital ATK will be able to sell its new NGLS line of rockets cheaply enough to compete in this marketplace -- but I wouldn't bet on it. (12/5)

Major Policy Issues in Evolving Global Space Operations (Source: Aerospacce Corp.)
The United States and the growing list of global space actors currently are participants in a fundamental reordering of many tenets and assumptions that have been long-standing attributes of US national space policy and international agreements.

The U.S. should lead by example. Part of this leadership is creating a path that does more than react to the technical evolution, programmatic developments, or perceived intentions of other countries. The path should serve US national interests by expanding capabilities that enhance security, the economy, and science. Click here. (12/5)

Japan Airlines Options Up to 20 Boom Supersonic Airliners (Source: Aviation Week)
Japan Airlines (JAL) has entered into a strategic partnership with Boom Supersonic, the Mach 2-plus airliner developer, and has placed purchase options for up to 20 aircraft. The Japanese flag carrier becomes the second airline after Virgin Atlantic to reveal its support of the Denver-based supersonic airliner project, which is targeting entry into service in the mid-2020s. Together with the 10 options announced by Virgin in mid-2017, the JAL commitment represents almost half of the 76 options received by Boom to date. Three additional operators for the remaining 46 aircraft remain unidentified. (12/5)

Musk Confirms SpaceX Postponements, Falling Short of Record Year (Source: Observer)
Though SpaceX still has two important launches left on their December manifest, they won’t be closing the New Year in quite as spectacular a fashion as they had hoped. Elon Musk’s ambitious plan to cap 2017 with 20 successful space launches, debut the world’s most capable active rocket and deliver a top-secret payload for the U.S. government appears to have fallen short.

The long anticipated liftoff of SpaceX’s most technologically impressive rocket, the Falcon Heavy, as well a captivatingly secretive mission contracted by the U.S. government, using only the callsign “Zuma,” have both been postponed until early next year.

Gwynne Shotwell, the president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, told Aviation Week that the Falcon Heavy launch will occur a few weeks after a series of preflight tests that are scheduled for December, likely pushing the rocket’s unveiling back to January. In a recent tweet Elon Musk, confirmed the schedule change. (12/5)

SpaceX Only Exists Because of Elon Musk’s Love of Inter-Planetary Publicity Stunts (Source: Quartz)
Mock Elon Musk’s plan to launch his personal Tesla roadster to Mars on a brand-new SpaceX rocket if you must, but it’s more than just ridiculous inter-planetary brand synergy: It’s bringing the technology mogul back to his roots. SpaceX itself emerged from a stunt that Musk cooked up to promote the idea of humans exploring the solar system. After leaving Pay-Pal, Musk decided that he wanted to use some of the money earned from selling his first start-up, Zip2, to launch a greenhouse habitat to Mars.

These plans foundered when the cost of buying rockets to launch them exceeded Musk’s multi-million dollar budget. But his research into the space industry convinced him that a better way to get humans to Mars would be building affordable vehicles to take them there. That led him to found SpaceX in 2002. (12/5)

Japan to Join Lunar Probe Project in Chance to Burnish Space Technology (Source: Yomiuri Shimbun)
Will this become a foothold with which Japanese astronauts can land on the moon? It has been decided that Japan will also aim to take part in the U.S.-planned scheme to build a space station to orbit the moon. The government’s Committee on National Space Policy has incorporated this objective into a revised time schedule of its basic plan on space policy.

Keeping a lunar mission by a Japanese astronaut in view as well, the revision schedule also makes clear that Japan “will aim at realizing moon-landing and lunar surface activities through international cooperation.”

This is a revision plan replete with potential. It could lead to fostering the next generation, who will take on the challenge of space development. As participation enables Japan to learn at close hand the current state of nations advanced in space technology, it could become a good opportunity for this country to enhance its basic technological strength. (12/5)

Investor Interest in Space Companies Remains Strong Despite No Big Deals (Source: Space News)
Despite a lack of “megadeals” involving space companies this year, investor interest in the industry remains strong thanks to several factors, according to one assessment. Carissa Christensen, chief executive of Bryce Space and Technology, said there’s been a consistent level of overall investment activity by venture capital firms into the industry this year. So far in 2017, she noted there has been no so-called “megadeals” involving emerging space companies unlike the previous two years.

In January 2015, Google and Fidelity led a $1 billion round in SpaceX. In December 2016, SoftBank led a $1.2 billion round in broadband satellite constellation company OneWeb. While 2015 and 2016 had similar total investment levels, she said the number of investors dropped in 2016, but with larger deals. “That may indicate a degree of maturity,” she said. “Instead of money going into early stage startups, there are more deals focusing on maturing companies that appear to be hitting their milestones and achieving success.” (12/5)

NASA Seeks Developer for Part of Mississippi Space Center (Source: Sun Herald)
NASA is looking for a developer to help create an industrial park aimed at luring commercial development to Mississippi's Stennis Space Center. The federal space agency on Monday asked interested groups to respond by Jan. 12. Stennis plans to later request formal proposals and negotiate with at least one developer on a long-term deal to run what NASA is calling Enterprise Park. That's 1,100 acres on the north side of Stennis near Picayune that could have sites inside and outside the security perimeter.

The idea is for companies involved in space exploration, commercial space transportation or technology development to locate at Stennis. NASA says it would also welcome businesses serving other Stennis tenants, including the U.S. Navy. Stennis has nearly 5,000 employees, who live in both Mississippi and Louisiana.

Editor's Note: Looks like they're trying to replicate Space Florida's Exploration Park, which was developed with state funding on Kennedy Space Center property at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Exploration Park featured the state-developed Space Life Sciences Lab as its anchor facility, but had to wait years for a viable commercial development. Blue Origin and OneWeb decided to locate their factories there with a mix of state incentives, workforce availability, and common-sense benefits of being as close as possible to the launch site. (12/5)

NASA and Lockheed Martin Invite Media to Visit Colorado Companies (Source: NASA)
Two Colorado companies designing, manufacturing and testing flight hardware for NASA's Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket in support of human missions near the Moon and into deep space will open their facilities to media Monday, Dec. 11.

EnerSys Advanced Systems (EnerSys) in Longmont, and SEAKR Engineering Inc. (SEAKR) in Centennial are among the thousands of businesses across the 50 United States and Puerto Rico that support NASA's deep-space exploration programs. Colorado is home to about 250 of these businesses.

Visits to key suppliers are an opportunity for leadership from NASA and Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin to share progress on flight hardware in production and recognize employees making significant contributions to human spaceflight. (12/5)

Secretive Aerospace Firm to Test Rocket Engines in Bremerton Washington (Source: Herald Net)
A Renton-based aerospace firm will begin testing rocket engines next year in a facility under construction at the Port of Bremerton. Radian Aerospace is involved in research and development of “aerospace hardware to serve a variety of customers,” according to a company representative. But beyond sharing some basic details, Radian officials are keeping a tight lid on the specifics of their project.

“We’re not in a position at this time to discuss the specific nature of the work we’re doing for reasons of confidentiality,” a Radian representative said in an email Wednesday. Radian is building the engine testing facility on a small parcel of land adjacent to an abandoned runway at the southeast corner of Bremerton National Airport. According to plans filed with the city of Bremerton, the site consists of control and instrumentation rooms, a generator, and a concrete pad with protective blast walls. (12/5)

Space Travel Attraction Launched in Indian City (Source: The Hindu)
Amusment park enthusiasts in the City can now have a simulated space flying experience as Wonderla Holidays Limited launched a new ride - mission interstellar - here on Monday. The ride which has a laser projector and 3,500 sq ft parabolic screen will simulate the weightless, no-gravity experience at 40 ft from the ground. The ride which was inaugurated on Monday is housed on the 50-acre campus of Wonderla.

The Wonderla-Hyderabad was inaugurated in April 2016. Other Wonderla amusement parks are located in Bangalore and Kochi. The company plans to make Hyderabad an important amusement location that brings in tourists from north Indian cities too. (12/5)

India Needs a Robust Space Law (Source: Daily O)
A long-awaited draft on Indian space law has finally been unveiled. It is called the Space Activities Bill, 2017, and its main objective is to “promote and regulate space activities in India.” The need for such a legislation has been felt for a long time since India, despite having made deep inroads into space sector over the years, did not have any legislation so far.

The absence of a regulatory or legal framework became more apparent in the past few years, with growing interest of private sector in space and growth of space start-ups in Bengaluru. The involvement of private sector in core space activities such as building and launching satellites is inevitable for any space agency for growth and wider utilization of space technologies. Such a multi-player space sector needs a full-fledged regulatory framework.

The draft made public by the Department of Space (DoS) allows private players to fabricate and launch satellites and participate in other space-related activities. This is a welcome move. Till now private companies have only been a supplier of components, fuel and other parts to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). (12/5)