January 26, 2019

Virgin Galactic Lays Off Dozens as it Prepares for Commercial Flights (Source: NM Politics)
Virgin Galactic laid off dozens of employees earlier this month, including three in Las Cruces, as it transitions from building its spaceship in California to launching commercial flights from southern New Mexico. The layoffs of “around 40 people” at the company’s offices in Mojave, Calif. and Las Cruces were necessary “to position our organization for the drive to commercial operations” and to “make room for new skill sets that we need to bring in over the course of this year,” said Aleanna Crane, Virgin Galactic’s spokeswoman.

A source confirmed that three of the eliminated jobs were based in Las Cruces; the others were in Mojave. Virgin Galactic had increased staff in southern New Mexico from 21 in August 2017 to approximately 43 late last year, according to information provided to state lawmakers by Spaceport America. (1/25)

Swarm Raises $25M for IOT Constellation (Source: Space News)
A smallsat company that ran into trouble with the FCC last year has raised $25 million for its proposed constellation. Swarm Technologies said Thursday it raised the Series A round, led by Craft Ventures and Sky Dayton. The company, which has raised $28 million to date, will use the funds to develop a 150-satellite constellation over the next 18 months for Internet-of-Things applications. The company launched four smallsats last year despite the FCC denying the company a license because of concerns the satellites were too small to be accurately tracked. Swarm agreed to a settlement last month that included a $900,000 fine and a new regulatory compliance plan. (1/25)

Test Paves Way for First Dragon Crew Flight (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
SpaceX performed a static fire Thursday of the Falcon 9 rocket that will be used for a commercial crew test flight next month. The Falcon 9 fired its engines on the pad at Launch Complex 39A for several seconds at about 4 p.m. Eastern, and SpaceX confirmed the test was successful Thursday night. The rocket will launch the company's Crew Dragon spacecraft on a test flight without astronauts on board no earlier than late February. (1/25)

India Launches Imaging Satellite (Source: PTI)
An Indian rocket successfully launched a small military imaging satellite Thursday. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 1:07 p.m. Eastern and placed the Microsat-R satellite into a sun-synchronous orbit. The satellite is a small reconnaissance satellite for the Indian military, although the Indian space agency ISRO provided few details about it. A secondary payload, the student-built Kalamsat 1U cubesat, was also on the rocket and remained attached, as planned, to the rocket's upper stage. (1/25)

Chinese Companies Plan First Orbital Launches Soon (Source: Space News)
Two Chinese companies are planning to perform their first orbital launches in the first half of 2019. OneSpace is currently working toward a launch of its OS-M rocket that could come as early as late March after completing engine tests late last year. OS-M will be able to place 205 kilograms into low Earth orbit. Another company, iSpace, has also quietly been making progress toward reaching orbit and in a recent press release stated it would launch three launch vehicles in 2019, with the first of the Hyperbola-1 orbital series to launch in the first half of the year. That rocket is designed to place 150 kilograms into a sun-synchronous orbit. (1/25)

Branson Expects to Fly on First Commercial Virgin Galactic Mission (Source: Space News)
Richard Branson said Thursday he expects to be on the first commercial SpaceShipTwo suborbital flight around the middle of this year. Branson, in a television interview, said three more test flights of the vehicle are planned in the next few months, the first of which be in "a handful of weeks," after which operations will shift to Spaceport America in New Mexico. Branson was interviewed as part of an announcement that athletic apparel company Under Armour will provide the clothing that SpaceShipTwo customers and pilots, as well as other Virgin Galactic personnel, will wear for those flights. (1/25)

Nuclear Modernization Costs Rise with Space Component (Source: Space News)
Satellites and command-and-control systems are increasing the costs of nuclear modernization efforts. A report by the Congressional Budget Office projects that the cost of modernizing the U.S. nuclear forces over the next decade will be $494 billion, an increase of $94 billion in the last two years. That increase includes an additional $19 billion to maintain and modernize the nuclear early warning, command, control and communications systems, with satellites a major cost driver. (1/25)

New Hubble View is 'Deepest Image of the Universe From Space' (Source: C/Net)
One of the Hubble Space Telescope's most iconic images is the Hubble Ultra Deep Field, a view of thousands of galaxies of all different shapes, sizes and colors. The Hubble team released a deeper version in 2012. So what's next? Going even deeper. On Thursday a team of researchers from the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias in Spain released what they're calling "the deepest image of the universe ever taken from space." It looks very different from previous Hubble shots.

The original Ultra Deep Field image from 2004 is described as "a 'deep' core sample of the universe, cutting across billions of light-years."  Improvements in image processing technology helped the researchers create the new, more detailed look, which shows masses of gray areas that were previously dark in the 2012 Hubble release. This deeper view highlights distant regions of space that had been invisible. Click here. (1/25)

Japanese Company Seeks to Pioneer Artificial Meteor Showers (Source: Sputnik)
Astro Live Experiences (ALE), a Japanese company founded in September 2011, is hoping to become the first company to produce artificial meteor showers in an effort to offer earthlings the jaw-dropping experience on demand. In order to make the venture a reality, ALE's first satellite booked a ride to space aboard a Japanese Epsilon rocket on Friday from the Uchinoura Space Center last week, along with six other satellites.

All satellites transported by the Epsilon rocket were released at roughly 310 miles above Earth, and ALE's satellite is expected to gradually descend to the 248 mile marker. Once situated at the correct altitude, ALE will then be able to begin deploying its color pellets for the show. ALE's satellite carries 400 pellets, an amount expected to be enough for 20 to 30 shows. While the exact chemical makeup of the pellets are kept under lock and key, ALE has shared that pellets will appear green, blue and purple as a result of various compounds burning upon entering the atmosphere. (1/25)

Scientists Explain Formation of Lunar Dust Clouds (Source: Space Today)
Physicists from the Higher School of Economics and Space Research Institute have identified a mechanism explaining the appearance of two dusty plasma clouds resulting from a meteoroid that impacted the surface of the Moon. The collision of a meteoroid with the surface of the Moon greatly changes the properties of the surrounding dusty plasma system by throwing a large quantity of lunar soil-regolith debris - dust particles measuring 10-100 microns - into the otherwise relatively unsullied exosphere.

In 2015, astronomers at the Garden Observatory in Gordola (Switzerland) observed a similar phenomenon when they recorded an optical flash resulting from a meteoroid impacting the Moon. An international group of scientists using data from astronomical observations concluded that a fairly large and fast-moving meteoroid hadimpacted the Moon, raising two clouds of unknown composition. (1/25)

NASA Has a New Plan to Revive the Mars Rover Opportunity, as Time Runs Short (Source: Space.com)
NASA has developed a new, more powerful collection of commands to try to force the long-silent Opportunity rover on Mars to resume operations. Engineers haven't heard from the beleaguered robot since June 10, 2018, shortly before a global dust storm developed on Mars. The Opportunity rover, which is solar-powered, has ignored hundreds of calls from Earth since it first fell silent, which made team members worry that its mission has come to an end.

"Over the past seven months we have attempted to contact Opportunity over 600 times," John Callas, project manager for Opportunity, said in a statement. "While we have not heard back from the rover and the probability that we ever will is decreasing each day, we plan to continue to pursue every logical solution that could put us back in touch." (1/25)

Meet the Alien Whisperer (Source: Medium)
When astrophysicist Laurance Doyle was six, his father presented him with a map of the solar system and said, “The stars are other people’s suns.” The line sparked Doyle’s interest in space, and he’s been studying outer worlds ever since. In the past, Doyle has worked on discovering exoplanets with NASA’s Kepler mission. Today, he’s leading a project that could be equally groundbreaking: building a framework for understanding alien languages. Click here. (1/23)

NASA Workers Relieved But Wary as Shutdown Ends — for Now (Source: Houston Chronicle)
NASA engineer Paromita Mitra was driving to a food bank Friday when she received word that the federal government would resume business after a 35-day partial shutdown. “I’m very grateful that the government has reopened,” said Mitra. But they haven’t gotten paid yet, she added. As President Donald Trump and congressional leaders announced an agreement to reopen the government for three weeks, affected workers in the Houston area expressed relief tempered by concern that the shutdown might resume.

And some of the programs that have emerged to assist furloughed federal workers continued to provide help as the employees wait for the back pay they’ve been promised. For example, Harris County’s Women, Infants and Children Centers will continue offering free food to federal workers for now, said Jolene Norbert-Harrell, the program’s director. The benefit cards are available to qualified parents. (1/26)

Blue Origin Breaks Ground for New Alabama Rocket Engine Plant (Source: Huntsville Times)
Blue Origin, the rocket company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, broke ground in Huntsville, Ala., today on a new $200 million rocket engine plant. CEO Bob Smith excited the groundbreaking audience by also announcing an agreement with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville to refurbish and reopen test stand 4670 on the center to test the new engines made in Alabama. The stand that once tested the Saturn V’s first stage and the space shuttle’s main engines will return to large-engine testing for the first time since the shuttle program ended.

The plant will open on 46 acres in Cummings Research Park in 2020 creating somewhere between 300 and 400 new jobs, company leaders said. It will build the company’s two main engines – a version of the BE-3 and the new BE-4 – on a “highly automated” assembly line featuring robots and additive manufacturing (3-D printing). The plant’s early customers will be the growing Blue Origin company itself and United Launch Alliance which builds rockets to launch government and commercial satellites in nearby Decatur. (1/25)

Hawaii Spaceport Meeting Gets Heated (Source: West Hawaii Today)
The CEO of Alaska Aerospace Corp. said the organization will have some homework to do after a contentious meeting with Department of Hawaiian Home Lands residents Friday about its proposed small satellite launch facility. The meeting at the Panaewa Community Center was held in advance of a public meeting planned for Feb. 6 in Hilo. About 50 people from Panaewa and Keaukaha attended, and none appeared interested in rockets being launched in the area. The site being explored is on W.H. Shipman land between the Mauna Loa macadamia nut farm and the ocean, about three miles from the nearest Panaewa homestead lot.

Many of the attendees said enough has already been built on or around homestead communities, whether it be the airport, landfill or drag strip. “We’re surrounded by pilau,” said Maile Lu‘uwai, who led efforts to relocate a proposed composting facility away from Panaewa. A common point of view was the proponents need to bring more than promises about jobs or education, but also an understanding of the culture and history. That’s where some said they felt Craig Campbell, Alaska Aerospace Corp. CEO, was lacking during his talk.

While he and other proponents, including the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems and University of Hawaii’s space flight laboratory, gave an overview of the project, there was no formal presentation or handouts. Campbell said the rockets would have an average height of 40 feet, and there would be a cap of 24 launches a year. He said it would only be used for commercial satellite launches, and the site would be smaller than the organization’s existing launch site on Alaska’s Kodiak island. Two launch pads — one 20 feet by 20 feet, the other 20 feet by 60 feet in size — would be built, but there would be little overall infrastructure. (1/26)

End to Shutdown Here, But Might be Temporary (Source: Space Policy Online)
The House and Senate passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to reopen NASA, NOAA and other agencies and departments that have been shut down since December 21, 2018.  It was signed by President Trump.  It is only for three weeks, however, expiring on February 15.  In announcing the deal with Congress Trump threatened to shut the government down again at that point if Democrats do not agree on a border security plan that meets his demands.

The deal is to reopen the agencies that have been shut down, and, separately, hold conference negotiations between the House and Senate on the FY2019 Homeland Security appropriations bill where funding for border security resides. Separating government operations from the policy debate over border security was a core Democratic demand.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer insisted that the functioning of the U.S. government and the jobs of federal employees should not be held hostage to a policy dispute.

The deal agreed to today is the same as what passed the Senate in December except for the expiration date.  On December 19, 2018 the Senate passed a “clean” CR to fund the government through February 8 with Trump’s agreement. Whether there will be another shutdown in three weeks is an open question. (1/25)

Tempers Flare When Meteorologists Discuss Commercial Weather Data (Source: Space News)
Everyone seemed calm at the annual American Meteorological Society (AMS) conference in Phoenix, sharing research and discussing public policy, until someone mentioned commercial weather data. Suddenly voices grew louder, one speaker interrupted another and tempers flared. As commercial companies expand their role in gathering and disseminating weather data, academic and government researchers are deeply concerned they will lose access to the data that fuels their work.

These concerns, while not new, have been brought into sharp focus by the emergence of startups building constellations of cubesats focused on radio occultation, a valuable data set for atmospheric and space weather forecasts produced until recently by large government satellites that complied with Resolution 40, the World Meteorological Organization’s policy of free and unrestricted data exchange.

What happens to free data policies when private companies gather and distribute more weather data? Is it time to update Resolution 40? “That was decided many years ago and there are lots of people who recognize it needs to be updated for current and future conditions,” Thorpe said. “It’s about policy, regulation and business models because all data, all observations have to be paid for. How can that be done in a way that enables all those people who need observations to get a hold of them?” (1/25)