Air Force Tests a
Minuteman III Missile with Vandenberg Launch (Source: Ars
Technica)
The weapon, with a mock warhead, blasted out of its underground silo at
Vandenberg Air Force Base at 11:01pm Tuesday. For the test, the
military sought to track the mock re-entry vehicle as it traveled to a
predetermined target site. "Though the reentry vehicle reached its
intended target, the test and analysis data is not releasable to the
public," Joe Thomas, a spokesman for Louisiana-based Global Strike
Command, told Noozhawk.
The military would provide no further details of the test. The Air
Force conducts about four Minuteman III missile tests annually from
Vandenberg to gather information about the weapon system’s accuracy and
reliability. The last test, on July 31, ended prematurely with
Vandenberg personnel sending a self-destruct command due to some
unspecific anomaly spotted during the flight. (11/9)
Azores Spaceport Idea
Draws Interest from Launchers (Source: Ars Technica)
A proposed Azores spaceport appears to be popular. A spaceport concept
in the southernmost-island in the Azores, Santa Maria, received 14
formal proposals from international space consortiums, the Portuguese
news site Expresso reports. Contracts for development of the site may
be let in 2019, with the first launch tentatively scheduled for 2021.
Among those reportedly interested are industry heavyweights such as
ArianeGroup and Roscosmos, as well as some emerging US commercial space
companies like Sierra Nevada and Virgin Orbit. The Portuguese
government had only expected four respondents. (11/9)
Space Command to Oversee
Purchase of DOD Satellite Services (Source: Space News)
The Air Force Space Command is taking over the responsibility of buying
satellite communications services for the Pentagon, per congressional
order. "Our team is looking forward to an unprecedented window of
opportunity to transform how we acquire commercial satcom," says Clare
Grason, division chief for satellite communications at the Defense
Information Systems Agency, who will begin reporting to the Air Force
in late December. (11/8)
NASA Certifies SpaceX
Falcon 9 for High Value Science Mission (Source: Space
News)
NASA has certified SpaceX's Falcon 9 to launch the agency's most
valuable science missions. SpaceX said Thursday it received the
Category 3 certification from NASA's Launch Services Program, which
makes the Falcon 9 available to launch high-value science missions,
from flagship-class missions down to planetary science missions in the
Discovery program. SpaceX had previously launched lower-priority
science missions on the Falcon 9 that did not require Category 3
certification, and its commercial cargo and crew missions are handled
separately. (11/9)
Canadian Military Seeks
MUOS Access (Source: Space News)
The Canadian military is seeking to become part of the U.S. military's
MUOS satellite system. Col. Cameron Stoltz, director general of space
for the Canadian Armed Forces, said Thursday that Canada is seeking to
become a partner in MUOS, paying "hundreds of millions of dollars" for
assured access to the system. MUOS, the Mobile User Objective System,
features five satellites to provide mobile communications services
worldwide. Canada is already a partner on two other military
communications systems, the Wideband Global Satcom and Advanced
Extremely High Frequency constellations. (11/9)
Spaceflight Arranges
Launch of 12 Satellites Aboard India's PSLV C43 (Source:
Space Daily)
Spaceflight, the leading satellite rideshare and mission management
provider, reports it will launch 12 spacecraft in November from India's
Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). Payloads aboard the mission
include Fleet Space Technologies' Centauri I, Harris Corporation's
HSAT, Spire's LEMUR satellites, and BlackSky's Global-1 microsatellite.
(11/9)
India Plans Venus
Mission, Seeks Partners (Source: Hindustan Times)
India is seeking partners for a Venus mission under devleopment. The
Indian space agency ISRO said it is working on a Venus orbiter mission
it expects to launch in 2023 that will carry a dozen instruments. ISRO
released an announcement of opportunity this week for the mission,
soliciting proposals from space agencies and other organizations
outside India for instruments that could be included on the spacecraft.
(11/9)
China Shows Off Space
Hardware (Source: GB Times)
A variety of space hardware was on display at a Chinese airshow.
Exhibits at the Zhuhai Airshow in southern China this week included a
full-size model of the core module of China's space station, as well as
a model of the Chang'e-4 lunar lander set to attempt the first landing
on the far side of the moon next month. A variety of launch vehicles
were also on display, from the planned Long March 9 heavy-lift rocket
to Smart Dragon 1, a vehicle capable of placing 150 kilograms into
orbit. (11/9)
NASA Looks to University
Researchers for Innovative Space Tech Solutions (Source:
Space Daily)
University-led research could transform the future of space
exploration, from small spacecraft to "smart" systems for the Moon,
Mars and beyond. NASA has selected 14 proposals for the study of
innovative, early stage technologies that address high-priority needs
of America's space program. The universities will work on their
proposed research and development projects for up to three years and
will receive as much as $500,000 each in Early Stage Innovations grant
funding from NASA's Space Technology Research Grants program. Click here.
(11/9)
Northrop Grumman Eyes
Synergy Between OmegA and SLS Solid Rocket Boosters
(Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
With an Air Force development contract secured for the OmegA rocket,
Northrop Grumman has provided an update on their primarily solid rocket
fueled medium- and heavy-lift rocket that is expected to begin a four
flight test program from the LC-39B at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in
2021. Northrop Grumman received $792 million in Air Force funding to
continue development of their OmegA launcher family – though a vast
majority of the groundwork was first funded by Orbital ATK.
With the Air Force contract secured and funding for Phase 1 of the
contract guaranteed, work will soon begin in earnest at the Kennedy
Space Center on needed infrastructure, stacking, and launch hardware
builds and needs. As of August 2018, former Space Shuttle MLP (Mobile
Launch Platform) #2 had been driven into VAB in preparation for its
reconfiguration efforts for OmegA. Northrop will contract significant
modifications to MLP-2 to account for the different thrust and blast
profiles the platform will experience during an OmegA liftoff.
The new tower will also contain all of the fueling lines and systems
for OmegA’s cryogenic third stage as well as the necessary height
differentials (the Heavy variant is significantly taller than the
Intermediate) for those systems to serve both the Intermediate and
Heavy configurations, which will both launch from the same MLP and be
serviced from the same OmegA tower. High Bay #2 of the VAB will also
require reconfigurations to allow workers access to the OmegA tower and
rocket during stacking operations. (11/5)
House Science Committee
May Soon Become Pro-Science (Source: WIRED)
For the past eight years, climate science has been under a sort of
spell in the House of Representatives. Instead of trying to understand
it better or even acknowledging some of the field’s current
uncertainties, House Science Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith
(R-Texas) used his position to harass federal climate scientists with
subpoenas while holding hearings on “Making the EPA Great Again” or
whether “global warming theories are alarmist” and researchers are
pursuing a “personal agenda.”
But Smith retired this year and Democrats won control of the House on
Tuesday. Now some on Capitol Hill say that the anti-climate science
spell may be broken. “Hopefully we will no longer see the science
committee used as a messaging tool for the fossil fuel industry,” says
Rep. Bill Foster, an Illinois Democrat and science committee member.
Foster, who was a particle physicist before being elected to Congress
in 2008, said he also wants to see more appearances from cabinet
members like Energy Secretary Rick Perry or EPA Administrator Andrew
Wheeler to explain both their budget and their rulemaking on
environmental and science issues. Neither agency head was called before
Smith’s committee during his tenure, Foster says. (11/7)
The Space Launch Legend
Who's Backing a Startup (Source: Popular Mechanics)
Jim Cantrell, a quiet force behind the new U.S. space industry, is on
the verge of an orbital launch with his small satellite launch company,
Vector. Here he delves into the past and future of the space industry,
as only a veteran who has Forest Gump-ed his way through aerospace
history can do.
During a four-decade career as a mechanical engineer and entrepreneur,
Cantrell has been there for the founding of SpaceX, designed the
Planetary Society’s LightSail solar sail program, and formed the Moon
Express lunar landing company that competed in the Lunar X Prize and
recently received a venture cash infusion to finish building its lunar
lander. Now the venerable engineer is the man behind Vector, a startup
growing into a major player in the boom business of launching small
satellites. Click here.
(11/8)
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