February 23, 2018

New Report Notes Erosion of Pentagon’s Technological Advantage (Source: Defense One)
The U.S.’s latest national security documents aren’t alone in warning that many of the technical military advantages America and its allies have taken for granted the last two decades are eroding. More evidence is marshalled in the latest edition of The Military Balance, an annual quantitative assessment of the world’s armed forces by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a British think tank.

“The second thing that comes out of the data in The Military Balance is that the great powers are getting ready for great-power wars,” said IISS Deputy Director-General Kori Schake. “That too, is a recent phenomenon, and one that I think we’re still limbering up our minds about.” With that in mind, here are four things — some threats to the West’s military supremacy, others possible solutions to those threats — to watch in 2018 and the coming years. Click here. (2/22)

UCF-Led Consortium to Manage Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico (Source: UCF)
The largest fully operational radio telescope on the planet – the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico – will soon be under new management. A consortium led by the University of Central Florida will start formal transition activities to take on the management of the National Science Foundation’s Observatory. NSF is negotiating the operations and management award with UCF. (2/21)

Australia’s Future in Space (Source: ASPI)
Australia is about to get much more serious about its future role on the high frontier of space. Following last year’s announcement of the formation of an Australian space agency, there’s gathering momentum across government and industry to think more seriously about having an Australian sovereign space capability that’s more than just ground stations and regulatory frameworks.

Developing a sovereign space capability for Australia is the focus of a new ASPI Strategy report, Australia’s future in space, released today. It explores the case for exploiting innovative ‘Space 2.0’ technologies such as small satellites and ‘CubeSats’, as well as responsive space launch capabilities, to reduce Australia’s dependency on others and enable it to play a greater role in space alongside key allies. (2/22)

Space Startup Wants to Catapult Payloads Into Space (Sources: Tech Crunch, Popular Mechanics)
SpinLaunch was founded in secrecy in 2014 by Jonathan Yancey, who sold a solar-powered drone startup to Google. SpinLaunch now hopes of find big investors for its plan to use a centrifuge that would spin at high speed inside a vacuum. The momentum from the centrifuge would then be transferred into a catapult that would send the payload hurtling toward space at around 3,000 MPH. This could provide either all or some of the power needed to launch a payload into space.

All this would be in service of replacing traditional rocket boosters, which are some of the most expensive parts of rocketry. Even reusable boosters like those powering the SpaceX Falcon 9 require fuel and continual maintenance. Yancey says that a SpinLaunch could reduce the price of a space launch to under $500,000.

During the last three years, the core technology has been developed, prototyped, tested and most of the tech risk retired,” Yaney proclaims. “The remaining challenges are in the construction and associated areas that all very large hardware development and construction projects face.” Touching the heavens isn’t cheap, so SpinLaunch is talking to big institutional VC firms that could afford to fund successive rounds. (2/22)

Hawaii Offers Incentive Investment for SpinLaunch (Sources: TechCrunch, Hawaii Tribune Herald)
Last month, a bill was proposed in the Hawaii state senate to issue $25 million in bonds to assist SpinLaunch with “constructing a portion of its electrical small satellite launch system.” Hawaii hopes to gain construction contracts and jobs, and meet government goals for expanding space accessibility, by helping SpinLaunch.

“It’s like a big water tank with an arm on the end,” Wakai said. “The arm is like the rocket. It spins up to 5,000 miles per hour and launches out of a chute into space.” While SpinLaunch hasn’t put anything into orbit, and the concept has yet to be proven, Wakai said he thinks it is “very doable.”

The legislation, which has a companion bill in the House, describes the technology as an “electrically powered, kinetic launch system.” It says it would reduce the cost for accessing space and use “abundant, infinite, renewable energy resources — solar energy and regenerative braking — to provide electrical loading.” On the economic side, the bill says the facility would generate millions of dollars in construction and create long-term technical jobs. (2/18)

Commerce Secretary Becomes Point Man For Promoting Commercial Space Projects (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Responding to industry complaints that federal rules increasingly hamper private ventures in space, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has emerged as the deregulation czar of the heavens. A senior White House policy group on Wednesday agreed to tap his agency to be the prime catalyst for loosening federal controls over activities ranging from rocket launches to satellite licensing to asteroid mining. (2/21)

Space Station Robotic Tech is Finding New Markets (Source: NASA)
Robotic technology originally developed for the International Space Station is finding a new home in the operating room. Drive is an automated robotic arm that tracks the movement of a surgeon’s tools and helps to expedite brain and spinal surgeries. Click here. (2/22)

Florida Space Tourism: New Star-Wars Hotel at Disney World (Source: WESH)
Disney on Thursday shared a sneak peek of the new Star-Wars themed hotel planned for Walt Disney World. The immerse experience offered at this hotel will stand out among all of our resorts around the globe. As you can see, families visiting this resort will board a starship alive with characters and stories that unfold all around them during their voyage through the galaxy – and every window has a view of space, Disney officials said in a blog post. (2/22)

Made In Space Takes New Guinness World Record for Longest 3D Printed Part (Source: 3Dprint.com)
In 2016, a new Guinness World Record was set for the largest object to be 3D printed in one piece. The ABS/carbon fiber composite tool was 3D printed in 30 hours, and measured 17.5 feet long, 5.5 feet wide, and 1.5 feet tall. It was about as long as an average sport utility vehicle. The part was inarguably an impressive accomplishment – but that long length cannot compare to what Made In Space just 3D printed.

Made In Space is known for some pretty impressive accomplishments already. The company was responsible for the first 3D printer to be launched into space, and has since created a full Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) on the International Space station. Plenty of “firsts” have been set by the AMF as 3D printed tools, medical supplies, art and more have been 3D printed in space, the first of their kind. Now Made In Space has claimed the Guinness World Record for longest non-assembled 3D printed object, and it’s a lot longer than an SUV – it’s 37.7 meters, or 123 feet, 8.5 inches long. (2/22)

The Small-Rocket Revolution (Source: Bloomberg)
When SpaceX's 230-foot Falcon Heavy blasted off on Feb. 6, it became a global sensation. But a much quieter launch three days earlier may turn out to be more important. That's when a 31-foot rocket known as the SS-520-5 took off from Japan's Uchinoura Space Center. It's the smallest rocket ever to place an object into Earth orbit -- and it could be a harbinger of big changes to come.

For decades, getting anything into space has been risky, expensive and time-consuming. Even SpaceX commonly faces delays and accidents, and its reusable rockets can take months to press back into service. In the past few years, though, dozens of other companies have been trying to develop diminutive rockets that could reduce the cost and risk of satellite launches. If they succeed, they just might transform the space business. Click here. (2/21)

Vector Planning First Orbital Launch This Summer at Alaska Spaceport (Source: Space News)
Vector, one of a growing number of companies developing small launch vehicles, plans to carry out its first orbital launch this summer from Alaska. The Arizona-based company announced its launch plans in a Feb. 14 press release announcing that a customer had placed a reservation of five launches of the company’s Vector-R small launch vehicle. The statement said only the company’s first orbital launch was planned for July. The launch location and any customers for that mission were still to be determined.

Jim Cantrell, co-founder and chief executive of Vector, later disclosed that the inaugural Vector-R orbital launch would take place from “Kodiak,” a reference to the Pacific Spaceport Complex-Alaska, formerly known as the Kodiak Launch Complex on Alaska’s Kodiak Island. (2/22)

Women Go Into Science Careers More Often in Countries Without Gender Equality (Source: Ars Technica)
A large number of social factors have discouraged women from pursuing careers in science and technology. But in a number of countries, an increasingly egalitarian view of gender differences has been associated with rising math and science scores for girls. However, that change hasn't been followed by increased participation in science and tech careers; in fact, the frequency of women pursuing degrees in these areas is often higher in societies that are far from egalitarian.

Two researchers, Gijsbert Stoet of the UK and David Geary in the US, decided to explore this paradoxical trend. Their analysis suggests that the situation may be the product of a complex mixture of relative talents, general confidence, and social factors. The results drive home that, if we want to attract and retain some of the best talent in the sciences, it's going to take more than simply ensuring they have equal access to advanced degrees. (2/19)

Cecil Spaceport Plans First Commercial Launch (Source: Jax Daily Record)
The Cecil Spaceport has been a space center in name only since it was authorized in 2010, but that could change a year from now. The Westside facility is gearing up for a possible first commercial space launch in December, although it will more likely happen next year, said Todd Lindner, director of Cecil Spaceport.

“In all likelihood, the launch will come in the spring of ’19” Lindner said Tuesday at a JAX Chamber forum on technology and automation in the transportation industry. The spaceport has been working with  Generation Orbit, based in Atlanta. Cecil Spaceport is one of six U.S. facilities authorized to launch vehicles into space horizontally. Linder said the first payloads would likely be small satellites.

Although he didn’t say if it is possible at Cecil, Linder also said space tourism is drawing closer to reality, with paying customers reaching an altitude of 320,000 to 330,000 feet and achieving weightlessness for about 20 minutes. He said the projected cost of those trips has dropped from about $250,000 to $120,000-$130,000. (2/21)

Humans Can Reach Mars But Unknown Radiation May be Lethal, Russian Scientist Warns (Source: Tass)
The current level of science and engineering as it is, humans can reach Mars in principle, but no means exist at the moment of protecting them from radiation there, the chief of the space plasma physics section at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Space Research Institute, Anatoly Petrukovich, told TASS.

"As far as the technical possibility of flying to Mars is concerned, it does exist. For instance, we may launch Proton rockets [with space vehicle components] several times, then assemble them in orbit the way the railway engine and cars are coupled on the ground and then push the spacecraft towards Mars somehow. The odds are it will reach its destination and may even deliver some crew there. The question is what the chances of getting back will be, bearing in mind the level of radiation," Petrukovich said. (2/22)

Florida Students’ Satellite Launch Nearing Launch (Source: Palm Beach Post)
NASA will launch a tiny satellite designed by Palm Beach Gardens middle school students to study whether bacteria can survive in melting ice while in orbit. WeissSat-1 satellite likely will launch from Florida or California by the end of the year, Weiss School science teacher Kevin Simmons said. The satellite is primarily for education, but the students’ findings could have implications for whether life can survive anywhere other than earth.

The private school is exclusively for gifted students in Pre-K through eighth grade. NASA chose 34 of the educational satellites, known as CubeSats, to send into space out of more than 100 proposals. Weiss School students had the only proposal from a middle school to make the cut, Simmons said. Universities submitted 31 of the successful proposals, he said. (2/21)

SpaceX Just Launched the First Set of its Internet-Beaming Starlink Satellites (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX's communications ambitions officially took flight Thursday when a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a test set of its internet-beaming satellites vaulted off a California launch pad and into the dark morning sky. The two mini-fridge-sized prototype spacecraft, named Microsat-2a and Microsat-2b in federal filings, weren't the primary payloads for the liftoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base – that honor belonged to PAZ, an Earth observation satellite, for Spain-based Hisdesat.

"These are meant to gather data in advance of deploying and operating a satellite constellation that will provide internet service," said Tom Praderio, a SpaceX firmware engineer, during the company's live webcast of the launch. "However, even if these satellites work as planned, we still have considerable technical work ahead of us to design and deploy a low-Earth orbit satellite constellation."

The Starlink constellation of 12,000 satellites would "provide people in low-to-moderate population densities around the world with affordable, high-speed internet access" was a rare confirmation by the company hoping to take a slice of the communications industry. SpaceX has typically referred to its Federal Communications Commission filings as statements and sources of information on Starlink. (2/22)

Plan to Modernize Air and Space Systems Takes Air Force Out of its Comfort Zone (Source: Space News)
In the budget request that was submitted to Congress last week, the U.S. Air Force made investment decisions that just a few years ago would have been jaw-dropping. A $7 billion surveillance aircraft program is being jettisoned in favor of an information network that connects sensors from across the battlefield and in outer space. And billion-dollar satellites known to be engineering marvels are being replaced by simpler, less costly platforms.

These are tradeoffs that the Pentagon typically would avoid because they require stepping into unfamiliar territory. But the changes are necessary for the military to ensure air and space supremacy in the future, Air Force leaders said. The budget proposal would take money from hardware and shift it to software. And it would disrupt traditional satellite procurements in favor of faster, more commercial-like approaches to building space systems. (2/21)