March 18, 2018

Fuel Farm Coming to Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Runway (Source: Florida Today)
A $500,000 fuel farm aims to drive more air traffic to Kennedy Space Center’s former space shuttle runway, now managed by the state. Space Florida’s board this week approved installing a 20,000-gallon jet fuel tank on the apron at the former Shuttle Landing Facility. That capacity could later be doubled. The tank will allow the runway to comply with Defense Logistics Agency standards.

“Having this certification significantly expands the market for the Launch/Landing Facility, in addition to reducing overall cost of providing the fuel,” said Howard Haug. Haug estimated the project would break even within four years. The state eventually hopes to attract companies involved in "horizontal launch" of space missions. Potential examples include Virgin Orbit or Stratolaunch Systems.

Space Florida already had approval to buy up to 100,000 gallons of jet fuel, delivered as needed by tankers. Haug said the agency determined it was time for a longer-term solution. “Demand has not only exceeded our predictions, the use of and services provided at the Launch/Landing Facility appears to be growing at an accelerated rate,” he said. The fuel farm will be located at the former site of NASA’s Mate/Demate Device — a gantry that was used to lift orbiters on or off the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft during ferry flights.The gantry was torn down in 2014. (3/19)

SpaceX Indicates it Will Manufacture the BFR Rrocket in Los Angeles (Source: Ars Technica)
Anyone who has visited SpaceX's rocket factory in Hawthorne, California, knows that the company has filled up its facilities with Falcon 9 first stages, payload fairings, and Dragon capsules. In the coming years, as the company transitions into manufacturing the Big Falcon Rocket, or BFR vehicle, it will need a lot more capacity.

The company has not explicitly stated where it will build the BFR, expected to measure 106 meters tall and nine meters wide. However, it needs to do so near water, because such a large vehicle cannot be transported to the launch pad or test sites via a highway, the means currently used to move the Falcon 9 rocket.

A new document from the Port of Los Angeles indicates that the company is moving ahead with plans to build a "state-of-the-art" industrial manufacturing facility near Long Beach, about 20 miles south of its headquarters. The document summarizes an environmental study of the site for the port, on behalf of a proposed tenant—WW Marine Composites, LLC. This appears to be a subsidiary company of SpaceX. (3/19)

The Key to Cheaper US Rocket Launches May Sit in Brazil’s Jungle (Source: CNBC)
There's an unearthly market blooming in the Brazilian jungle. Aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin, along with small-rocket builder Vector, have expressed interest in launching from an old rocket complex on Brazil's Atlantic coast. The Alcantara base sits about 140 miles south of the Earth's equator, making it a prime location for launching satellites, a $260 billion business. From this spot, certain satellites can be launched more efficiently than from spaceports in the U.S.

The dormant military base "makes total sense" to be used "for launching large satellites with big rockets into geosynchronous orbits," said Jonathan McDowell. Launching satellites from Alcantara would save as much as 20 percent more fuel compared with a location such as Florida, McDowell estimated. Vector, on the other hand, wants to use its small rockets to tap a new equatorial LEO market by launching dozens of small satellites.

Reopening Alcantara would allow U.S. companies to equal the playing field against European competitors. But the Brazilian site isn't ready for rocket launches just yet. Alcantara has been little used since August 2003, when a rocket with two satellites onboard exploded on the launchpad, killing 21 people and damaging the launchpad's infrastructure. Click here. (3/19)

China's Growing Fleet of Small Launchers Could Push Prices Down (Source: Space News)
A wave of Chinese small launch vehicles could drive down smallsat launch prices. At a panel discussion last week, industry officials said they expect Chinese vehicles to drive down launch costs significantly, enough for some to worry about unfair competition. While U.S. companies can't export their satellites to China for launch, a number of companies elsewhere, including in Canada and Europe, are taking advantage of Chinese vehicles. (3/19)

Interagency Group Looking at Space Tech Collaboration (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon has been working with an interagency group to assess the health of the space industrial base. That group, which includes NASA, the FAA and the NRO, is looking at how agencies could share technology and, more broadly, how the government buys technology from the private sector, a Defense Department official said last week. That assessment is part of a broader review of the defense industrial base requested by President Trump last July and due in April. (3/19)

Virgin Galactic Saving a Seat for Hawking (Source: The Sun)
Virgin Galactic will reportedly leave a seat empty on the first commercial flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle in memory of Stephen Hawking. An unnamed source said that Sir Richard Branson decided shortly after Hakwing's death last week to honor him by leaving the seat empty. Branson had offered Hawking a free ticket on SpaceShipTwo, the only free ticket Virgin Galactic has offered to date. (3/19)

Orbital ATK to Bring Defense Giant Into Space Coast Rocket Race (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
A new powerhouse is taking shape in the world of Cape Canaveral rocket launches. Virginia-based Orbital ATK is set to become a stronger player on Florida's Space Coast when it becomes part of defense giant Northrop Grumman. The marriage adds more fuel to Orbital ATK's plans to launch a new heavy-lift rocket from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport starting in 2021, sparking more commercial competition and helping Florida get a bigger share of the $330 billion space industry.

Orbital ATK plans to use NASA's iconic Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) for its NGL rocket. And that rocket assembly work may create opportunities for local specialty contractors, manufacturers and parts suppliers. (3/16)

Orbital ATK: NGL Reusability Not a Fit for EELV (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
Orbital ATK isn't following the crowd with its new NGL rocket. NGL is not in the reusable rockets business, with competitors SpaceX and ULA both using or planning reusable systems for their Falcon and Vulcan rockets. Mike Laidley said Orbital has been there and done that. "As a company that practiced reusability for 30 years on the Space Shuttle, we know what it takes. The flight rates for the Shuttle never made it economical and our analysis suggests reusability will not fit with the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle market." (3/16)

A Changing Shade of Blue (Source: Space Review)
Blue Origin has grown significantly in the last few years as it tests its New Shepard suborbital vehicle and prepares to build its New Glenn orbital rocket. Jeff Foust reports on that shift from development and operations, and how the company is seeking to maintain its ability to develop new technologies at the same time. Click here. (3/19)
 
Bombs in Orbit? Verification and Violation Under the Outer Space Treaty (Source: Space Review)
When does a nuclear weapon in space become a violation of the Outer Space Treaty? Taunton Paine discusses how that was debated a half-century ago and how that issue that may be newly relevant today. Click here. (3/19)
 
A Space Renaissance (Source: Space Review)
New policies, technologies, and companies all promise to open a new era of human spaceflight and space exploration. Madhu Thangavelu explains why he believes we’re at the beginning of a renaissance in spaceflight that will ultimately change how we view the Earth. Click here. (3/19)

In Pursuit of the Perfect Spacesuit (Source: Air & Space)
Twenty thousand feet above Ottawa, Shawna Pandya floats gently out of her seat and executes a graceful midair swoop. Our Falcon 20 jet is halfway through a series of parabolas, which produce brief periods of microgravity. But Pandya, a 32-year-old physician and astronaut wannabe, is not here for fun. She is testing an advanced spacesuit from Final Frontier Design, a startup co-founded by a designer who previously crafted costumes for Victoria’s Secret fashion shows. Click here. (3/19)

NASA Courts Commercial Options for Lunar Landers (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
As NASA refocuses – once again – on returning to the Lunar surface, the agency has published a Request For Information (RFI) that will be used to gauge interest from the private/commercial space sector in building domestic lunar landers. The request points to an evolution of concept, with small-scale cargo landers being used to prove the technology before feeding into the development of human-rated vehicles.

The RFI is related to the political direction – known as President’s Space Policy Directive-1 – that calls for American bootprints on the surface of the Moon for the first time since the 1970s. The request outlines NASA’s aim to better determine the state-of-art and maturity of lander capability in the private sector and mature its own requirements for a human-class lander.

NASA was in the process of building its own human-rated lander during the Constellation Program (CxP) era. Called Altair, the lander was to be launched on the Ares V, a rocket that has since morphed into the Space Launch System (SLS). When CxP was canceled, the baseline “Moon, Mars and Beyond” approach was refocused several times, with only Mars remaining as the primary long-term goal. An interim step to visit Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) has also since fallen by the wayside. Click here. (3/19)

In Collaboration with ISRO, New Park to Give Wings to State’s Space-Tech Dreams (Source: New Indian Express)
Kerala is all set to make another mark in the satellite/space technology sector by starting a ‘space park’, which will incubate and promote startups in the sector. Currently in its nascent stage, the park will be set up with the technical support of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

A top officer with the Kerala IT department said startups in space technology, like in software, are growing fast, but the space park will be the first of its kind in the country. “There’re a number of space technology startups in India, most of them based in Bengaluru. If government support is provided, they can flourish into major business establishments in the future. CM Pinarayi Vijayan had discussed starting a space park in Kerala with the ISRO and they’ve promised to provide technical support to the project,” the officer told Express. (3/19)

Astrobotic Wins NASA Award to Produce Small Lunar Rover (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
Astrobotic, in partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, has been selected by NASA to receive a Phase II SBIR award to develop a small lunar rover capable of carrying on small scale science and exploration on the Moon and other planetary surfaces. Astrobotic’s CubeRover should weigh in at approximately 4.4 lbs (2 kg). It is designed to utilize its lunar payload delivery service to provide NASA and potential other customers accessibility to the lunar surface at a very low cost. (3/19)

UNH Researchers Find Space Radiation is Increasingly More Hazardous (Source: UNH)
It might sound like something from a science fiction plot – astronauts traveling into deep space being bombarded by cosmic rays – but radiation exposure is science fact. As future missions look to travel back to the moon or even to Mars, new research from the University of New Hampshire’s Space Science Center cautions that the exposure to radiation is much higher than previously thought and could have serious implications on both astronauts and satellite technology.

“The radiation dose rates from measurements obtained over the last four years exceeded trends from previous solar cycles by at least 30 percent, showing that the radiation environment is getting far more intense,” said Nathan Schwadron, professor of physics and lead author of the study. “These particle radiation conditions present important environmental factors for space travel and space weather, and must be carefully studied and accounted for in the planning and design of future missions to the moon, Mars, asteroids and beyond.” (3/15)

We Already Have a Space Force (Source: Daily Beast)
But America already has a space force. It's called the Air Force. The flying branch has, over a period of decades, gradually assumed control of most of the military's orbital operations. "The Air Force is the main space force," Brian Laslie, an historian and author of The Air Force Way of War, told The Daily Beast. "And this makes perfect sense."
 
The Air Force's evolution into a de facto air and space force occurred in parallel with the introduction of intercontinental ballistic missiles and higher- and higher-flying bombers and spy planes. For a period in the 1960s, the Air Force combined ICBMs (which travel through space) and bombers (which can climb to 50,000 feet or higher) in the same units, which it called "aerospace wings."
 
Today the Air Force develops, launches, operates and protects most of the country's roughly 300 military satellites and other spacecraft. In exchange, it has received most of the roughly $11 billion the Defense Department annually has spent on space programs in recent years. (3/16)