May 25, 2018

Rocket Lab's Hawke's New Zealand Launch Site to Eexpand Launch Options (Source: NZ Herald)
Rocket Lab's launch site at Mahia now has the widest range of launch angles in the world, after a change to New Zealand's space regulations. The U.S.-based orbital launch provider is due to launch its first all-commercial satellite from the East Coast's Onenui Station, and company founder and chief executive New Zealander Peter Beck said changes to environmental regulations that manage New Zealand's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf would further the launch facility's capabilities.

"Under the new regulations, which commenced last month, Rocket Lab will be able to reach the widest range of launch azimuths of any launch site in the world," said Beck. Azimuths refer to launch angles. Space vehicle launches are expected to result in the deposit of material on the seabed in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and extended continental shelf. (5/25)

Rocket Lab Reschedules Next Electron Launch (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab announced May 25 it has rescheduled the next launch of its Electron small rocket for late June after correcting a problem that delayed an April launch attempt. That launch, dubbed “It’s Business Time” by the company because this is the first commercial Electron launch after two test flights, is now scheduled for no earlier than June 22 (U.S. time) from the company’s New Zealand launch site. Four-hour launch windows, opening at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, are available daily through July 5. (5/25)

Theoretical Physicist's Thoughts on DOD's Warp Drive Study (Source: Business Insider)
Sometime after August 2008, the US Department of Defense contracted dozens of researchers to look into some very, very out-there aerospace technologies, including never-before-seen methods of propulsion, lift, and stealth. Two researchers came back with a 34-page report for the propulsion category, titled "Warp Drive, Dark Energy, and the Manipulation of Extra Dimensions." The document is dated April 2, 2010, though it was only recently released by the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The authors suggest we may not be too far away from cracking the mysteries of higher, unseen dimensions and negative or "dark energy," a repulsive force that physicists believe is pushing the universe apart at ever-faster speeds. However, Sean Carroll, a theoretical physicist at Caltech who studies and follows the topics covered by the report, had a lot of cold water to pour on the report's optimism.

"It's bits and pieces of theoretical physics dressed up as if it has something to do with potentially real-world applications, which it doesn't," Carroll said. "This is not crackpot. This is not the Maharishi saying we're going to use spirit energy to fly off the ground — this is real physics. But this is not something that's going to connect with engineering anytime soon, probably anytime ever." (5/25)

Will Streamlined Rules Add Thrust to Commerce and Maintain Safety? (Source: USA Today)
The commercialization of outer space is starting to take off. President Trump signed a memorandum Thursday that aims to streamline federal regulations governing the growing and economically important activity private firms are conducting in Earth's lower orbit. The goal is to treat space like other platforms — such as the internet, highways and American air space — where strict government control has slowly given way to looser oversight that encourages private innovation while still maintaining rigorous safety standards.

The directive, which grew out of the council's February meeting at Kennedy Space Center in Florida: a) Requires the Department of Transportation to "reform the regulatory system" for launch and reentry; b) Mandates the Department of Commerce update rules governing satellite imagery; c) Creates  a "one-stop shop" at the Commerce for commercial space companies; and d) Calls for a Space Council review of licensing rules pertaining to commercial spaceflight activity to determine whether further streamlining should occur.

The head of a trade group representing space firms such as SpaceX, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin welcomed Trump's directive Thursday, saying it could shorten launch approvals from six months to as little as two weeks. Space companies "would rather hire engineers than lawyers," said Eric Stallmer, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, referring to the time it takes to comply with the current slate of "arcane, outdated" regulations. (5/24)

New Policy Directive Implements Commercial Space Regulatory Reforms (Source: Space News)
President Trump signed a new space policy directive Thursday to reform commercial space regulations. Space Policy Directive 2 implements a series of recommendations approved by the National Space Council at its February meeting. They cover launch licensing and commercial remote-sensing regulatory reforms, creation of a "one-stop shop" for commercial space issues in the Commerce Department, and reviews of spectrum and export control issues. The reforms will take some months to implement through the rulemaking process, and in some cases may require legislation. Industry hailed the new policy as a step towards reducing red tape for companies. (5/25)

Virgin Orbit's Digitized Factory Reduces Costs for Air Launch System (Source: Space News)
Virgin Orbit is using advanced manufacturing software to develop its air-launch system. The company is using a digital manufacturing software system to reduce paperwork and create a digital thread, tracing rockets and components from requirements and design through manufacturing, testing and launch. That approach, the company said, is designed to reduce costs while increasing efficiency. (5/25)

Johns Hopkins Engineers Helping NASA Restore Links to Long-Lost 'Zombie' Satellite (Source: Baltimore Sun)
When aerospace engineers launch a satellite, they don’t expect it to last forever. So when the NASA orbiter known as IMAGE disappeared from view after five years in orbit, few were alarmed. What did stun the field came last January, when an amateur satellite watcher spotted IMAGE in the skies again after a dozen years — and realized that it was still trying to talk to Earth.

“I’ve been in this field since the late 1980s, and it almost never happens that a lost spacecraft is found again, especially after so long,” said J.E. Hayes. “IMAGE is this zombie that came back to life.” Now space scientists across the United States are working on the long-lost spacecraft again, trying to help NASA keep steady contact and assert control. Among them is a team at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel.

It was Bill Dove, an engineer who manages the Hopkins lab’s Satellite Communications Facility, and his colleague Tony Garcia, lead engineer in APL’s Space Exploration Sector, who led the way in locking down communication with the $150 million craft, first launched in 2000. They’ve spent months downloading its signals and feeding them to NASA. (5/24)

How Birds May Have Escaped the Dino-Killing Asteroid Impact (Source: Science News)
Nothing against trees. But maybe it’s better not to get too dependent on them if you want to survive a big flaming space object crashing into Earth. The asteroid impact that caused a mass extinction 66 million years probably also triggered the collapse of forests worldwide, a new investigation of the plant fossil record concludes. Needing trees and extensive plant cover for nesting or food could have been a fatal drawback for winged dinosaurs, including some ancient birds.

Reconstructing the ecology of ancient birds suggests that modern fowl descended from species that survived because they could live on the ground, an international research team proposes in the June 4 Current Biology. “You probably would have died anyway regardless of habitat,” says study coauthor Daniel Field. “But if you could get along on the ground, you at least had a shot at surviving across this devastated landscape.” (5/24)

ICEYE Raises a Cool $34 Million for Radar Satellites (Source: Space News)
ICEYE raised $34 million in a Series B investment round, bringing the Finnish commercial radar satellite operator’s total funding to $53 million. With the Series B money, ICEYE plans to further develop its Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology, pay for additional satellite launches and enhance analytics services for its customers. “From my perspective, [the funding] allows us to go back to our customers and say, ‘The constellation we’ve been talking about is a reality. We’ve got money to build satellites. We’ve got money to buy rockets. Now, let’s plan what you would like to observe and how frequently,'” said Rafal Modrzewski. (5/24)

Coolant Problems Found on GOES 17 Satellite (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
NOAA has found a performance problem with the cooling system on the GOES-17 spacecraft. It is unclear at this time, how this might impact the satellite’s launch, planned for 2019. The issue was discovered during the commissioning of the spacecraft’s Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) instrument. When engineers were conducting the on-orbit checkout phase of these tests – the ABI did not start up properly. The cooling element, which NOAA has described as an “integral part” of the system, will now be studied so as to find the cause of the issue by a team from NOAA, NASA, as well as the ABI contractor. (5/24)

UK Seeks MilSpace Resiliency with Small Satellites (Source: Space News)
The British military is interested in using small satellites to improve resiliency. At a conference this week, Air Chief Marshall Sir Stephen Hillier emphasized "resilience, efficiency and rapid capability development and deployment of new space capabilities." He said being able to quickly deploy constellations of smallsats is "hugely exciting" in terms of maintain space capabilities in a conflict. (5/24)

Intelsat Beats Eutelsat to Gain FCC Satellite Approval (Source: Space News)
The FCC has rejected a Eutelsat application for a communications satellite, saying Intelsat has priority. The FCC said Intelsat's application for Galaxy-15R, to provide Ka- and Ku-band services at 133 degrees west, was submitted earlier and thus had priority over a proposed Eutelsat satellite near the same location. Eutelsat said that it has priority for the location with the International Telecommunication Union and will "work to defend our interests and our rights at this position." (5/24)

Cygnus Arrives at ISS with 3,300 kg of Cargo (Source: NASA)
A Cygnus cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station this morning. The station's robotic arm grappled the Cygnus spacecraft, named S.S. J.R. Thompson, at 5:26 a.m. Eastern, and will berth it to the station this morning. The cargo spacecraft, launched Monday, is carrying more than 3,300 kilograms of experiments, hardware, and supplies to the station and will remain at the station until July. (5/23)

Satellite Servicing Consortium Meets to Form Best Practices (Source: Space News)
A new consortium devoted to developing best practices for satellite servicing has held its first meeting. The Consortium for Execution of Rendezvous and Servicing operations, or Confers, met Monday in California. David Barnhart, director of the University of Southern California's Space Engineering Research Center, said at Space Tech Expo Wednesday that Confers, established by DARPA, will work to develop voluntary consensus-driven standards for rendezvous and proximity operations as well as on-orbit servicing. (5/24)

UK Set to Demand EU Repayment in Brexit Satellite Row (Source: Space Daily)
Britain ramped up a Brexit space row with the EU on Thursday, saying it will demand repayment if it is excluded from the Galileo satellite navigation project. Newspaper reports suggested London could seek 1 billion pounds ($1.34 billion, 1.14 billion euros) in compensation for its investment in the program. Brussels has said it will deny London access to Galileo's encrypted signals after Brexit, citing legal issues about sharing sensitive security information with a non-member state. (5/24)

Sierra Nevada Corp. Releases Video for Lunar Orbital Platform Concept (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The race to land one of NASA’s biggest contracts surges forth as Sierra Nevada Corporation rolled out video of its vision for the Lunar Orbital Platform. It’s one of six companies vying to build the the habitable portion of what was once called the Deep Space Gateway as part of NASA’s Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 prorgam. The other five are Bigelow Aerospace LLC, Orbital ATK, Boeing, Lockheed and NanoRacks.

The outpost that would be located near the moon is not meant for continuous human presence, but would be capable of supporting four astronauts for 30 to 60 days. The habitat element of the gateway is not its first part in play, although Sierra Nevada Corp. is also vying for that contract as well. That first part is a power and propulsion element, which is actually part of the initial NextSTEP program with NASA. Click here. (5/18)

IAP Worldwide Services Tapped for Satellite Systems (Source: Space Daily)
Cape Canaveral-based IAP Worldwide Services Inc. was awarded a contract for satellite systems. The contract award from U.S. Army Contracting Command enables the company to provide "Satellite Baseband Systems satellite communications infrastructure" under a contract modification valued at more than $31.9 million, the Department of Defense announced on Thursday.

Satellite Baseband Systems satellite communications infrastructure provides the military with greater command and control over tactical and intelligence operations by improving significantly the communications between combatant commanders, ground forces and air assets. Work on the contract will occur in Cape Canaveral, Florida. (5/18)

Mars Society Launches Kickstarter to Create MarsVR Crew Training Program (Source: Space Daily)
The Mars Society, the world's largest space advocacy group dedicated to the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to help raise $27,500 for a new open-source virtual reality platform called MarsVR, which will be used for serious research to support the goal of sending humans to the Red Planet.

The MarsVR program will be a unique multi-phase effort designed to pioneer the emerging field of CrowdExploration, which we define as the partnership between the first astronauts on Mars and VR experts and enthusiasts back on Earth. The Mars Society aims to develop a special VR platform to assist with the initial human exploration of Martian landing sites. (5/22)

Bridenstine, Once Doubtful, Confirms He Believes Humans are the Leading Cause of Climate Change (Source: Washinton Post)
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, who previously questioned whether humans are primarily responsible for climate change, left no doubt Wednesday that his position has changed. Signifying a striking conversion, he confirmed that he now accepts that humans are, in fact, the leading cause.

During testimony before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, science and related agencies, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) asked Bridenstine whether he believes greenhouse gases are the primary cause of climate change. Bridenstine quickly replied in the affirmative.

“The National Climate Assessment, that includes NASA, and it includes the Department of Energy, and it includes NOAA, has clearly stated it is extremely likely, [that] is the language they use, that human activity is the dominant cause of global warming, and I have no reason to doubt the science that comes from that,” Bridenstine said. Schatz followed up by asking, “Is it fair to call this an evolution of your views?” (5/23)