August 30, 2018

Tiny Pressure Leak Discovered on International Space Station (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA is reporting that flight controllers at Mission Control in Houston and Moscow are working to fix a minute pressure leak on the International Space Station that was discovered at about 7 p.m. Wednesday. The six-member crew aboard the space station is in no danger, according to NASA, and was awakened this morning as part of their routine schedule. The leak appears to be on the Russian side of the space station, according to NASA. (8/30)

Canadian Company Seeks Small Launchers to Deploy Constellation (Source: Space News)
Kepler Communications is seeking bids to launch its satellite constellation, with a particular interest in using new small launch vehicles. The Canadian company says it is seeking proposals to launch its "Gen-1" constellation of 15 cubesats that will provide Internet of Things connectivity. The company's CEO said he's particularly interested in a new generation of small launch vehicles that could offer "lower launch costs that can really help the type of business that we are running," but also wants vehicles that will be able to launch the satellites by the third quarter of 2020. (8/30)

Lunar Scientist Passes Away (Source: Space News)
Paul Spudis, a lunar scientist and advocate for exploration of the moon, has passed away. Spudis was a senior staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston who was deputy leader of the science team for the Clementine mission to the moon in 1994 and was later involved with two instruments that flew on the Chandrayaan-1 and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter missions. Spudis was an outspoken supporter of robotic and human exploration of the moon, and served on the Augustine Commission in 2004 that examined NASA's Vision for Space Exploration. "He was a guy who lived his entire life really focused on why the moon is important to humanity," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said. (8/30)

Swarm Makes Up with FCC (Source: Bloomberg)
A smallsat startup that ran afoul of the FCC may be back in its good graces. Swarm Technologies launched four small satellites early this year despite lacking an FCC license for them, which the commission had denied because of concerns that the satellites would be too small to track. However, on Friday the FCC granted permission to Swarm to resume communications with them on a temporary, experimental basis. The company wants to deploy a constellation of 100 "SpaceBee" satellites for low-data-rate communications. Swarm has another license application at the FCC for a set of satellites it hopes to launch later this year, but still may face enforcement action for its earlier unauthorized launch. (8/30)

AI Offers Solution for GPS Jamming (Source: Space News)
Artificial intelligence could be used to overcome jamming of GPS and other satellite signals. A team of engineers from the Aerospace Corporation won a competition sponsored by the Army's Rapid Capabilities Office to identify a set of electronic signals. That technology could be used to suppress jamming of GPS and communications signals in the future by being able to isolate specific signals. (8/30)

Bridenstine Seeks More Funds for Suborbital Flight Opportunities (Source: Space News)
The head of NASA supports a funding increase for an agency program that flies experiments on commercial vehicles. Jim Bridenstine said he was in favor of increasing funding for the Flight Opportunities program, which arranges for flights of experiments on suborbital vehicles, high-altitude balloons and parabolic aircraft. The program received $15 million in 2018, but both the House and Senate versions of appropriations bills for 2019 offer $20 million for Flight Opportunities. "If Congress is ready to pull that trigger, we're ready to support it," he said this week. (8/30)

Florida Senate Race Touches on Space Again (Source: Florida Today)
Florida Governor Rick Scott, kicking off his campaign to unseat Sen. Bill Nelson, blamed the senator for job losses at the end of the shuttle program. Scott, who won the Republican nomination for the Senate Tuesday, said that Nelson, a Democrat, went along with plans to retire the shuttle program "because it was party politics." The decision to retire the shuttle, though, dates back to a 2004 announcement by President George W. Bush, a Republican. A spokesman for Nelson's campaign said the senator had been "one of the most important advocates for Florida's space industry." (8/30)

Indian Space Agency Plans Industry Collaboration for Small Launcher (Source: PTI)
India's space agency plans to involve the private sector in the development of a new small launch vehicle. K. Sivan, the head of ISRO, said that Indian companies will be involved from the beginning in the new Small Satellite Launch Vehicle, slated to make its first launch in mid-2019. ISRO is also planning to outsource production of its workhorse Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to industry. That, Sivan said, will allow ISRO to focus more on its new human spaceflight program. (8/30)

Maritime Launch Services Disappointed with Canadian Regulatory Rejection (Source: Guysborough Journal)
The head of a company seeking to develop a Canadian spaceport says he's disappointed the government rejected an environmental assessment of the site. Steve Matier, CEO of Maritime Launch Services, said he believed the company provided an "absolutely compliant" assessment of the environmental impact of the proposed launch site near Canso, Nova Scotia. The province's environmental minister announced earlier this month that the government wanted more information about the site, and Matier said he believed the company could quickly provide that information and still allow construction of the site to begin next spring. (8/30)

Progress Cargo Ship Departs ISS, Reenters Over Pacific (Source: TASS)
A Progress cargo spacecraft that undocked from the International Space Station last week has reentered. The Progress MS-08 reentered Wednesday night over the South Pacific, a week after undocking from the ISS. The spacecraft performed unspecified scientific experiments during its week of free flight after leaving the station. (8/30)

They Want Moon Landings to be a Commercial Reality — and That’s Just the Start (Source: TechInAsia)
"Boys, be ambitious." That was a parting advice given in 1867 by William S. Clark to the students of what would become Hokkaido University. While Clark is not widely known in his home country of the US, both he and his advice are legendary here in Japan. Yet, very few Japanese boys or girls are ambitious.

Of course, many of Japan’s most ambitious people are the very ones starting startups out there. With that, I’d like to introduce you to one ambitious Japanese startup. They are literally a moonshot company, raising over $90 million to pursue their dream. Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of iSpace, plans on landing commercial payloads on the moon in the next two years. We are trying to provide a commercial transportation service to the moon in the next few years. From there, we want to get into the mining business in space. Our vision is to expand the planet and the future. We want to create a world where human beings can live in space. (8/30)

USSTRATCOM, Brazil Sign Agreement to Share Space Services, Data (Source: AFSPC)
U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) signed an agreement with the Brazilian Ministry of Defense to share Space Situational Awareness (SSA) services and information. Rear Adm. Richard A. Correll, director of plans and policy for USSTRATCOM, signed the agreement as part of a larger effort to build a closer defense partnership with Brazil that will enhance each nation’s awareness within the space domain increasing the safety of their spaceflight operations.

Brazil joins 14 nations - the United Kingdom, the Republic of Korea, France, Canada, Italy, Japan, Israel, Spain, Germany, Australia, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, Norway, and Denmark - two intergovernmental organizations, the European Space Agency and the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, and over 70 commercial satellite owner/operator/launchers already participating in SSA data-sharing agreements with USSTRATCOM. (8/21)