January 9, 2019

Small-Satellite Launch Service Revenues to Pass $69B by 2030 (Source: Space Daily)
The total projected launch capacity supply, including the success of multiple dedicated, planned launch services, is 11,746 small satellites
Frost and Sullivan forecasts an estimated launch demand for 11,746 small satellites for new constellation installations and replacement missions by 2030. Such demand would take the small-satellite launch services market past the $69 billion mark and present significant growth opportunities throughout the industry.

In order to keep up with market demand, Frost and Sullivan anticipates innovative solutions will be deployed across the value chain including launch, manufacturing, and supply chain. In such an evolving market it will be critical for market participants to develop long-term sustainable partnerships to maintain and establish robust business operations. (1/9)

Blue Origin Still Holding Off on New Shepard Ticket Sales (Source: Space News)
Blue Origin expects to start flying people on its New Shepard suborbital vehicle early this year, but has yet to start selling tickets or even establish a ticket price for future commercial flights. Ariane Cornell, head of astronaut strategy and sales at Blue Origin, said the company is eager to start flying people on New Shepard but that it places a greater emphasis on safety over schedule.

“We are aiming to fly people early in 2019, but let’s be very clear — we’ve also said this before — only when we’re ready,” she said. “We are so focused right now on testing New Shepard through and through.” The suborbital vehicle has performed a series of test flights, none of which have carried people. The company had planned to carry out another uncrewed test flight last month, but postponed it because of technical issues. (1/8)

Have Ph.D. in Astrophysics, Willing to Sweep Floors to Pay Rent (Source: Florida Today)
The federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) recently provided 800,000 federal workers with advice on how to live without a paycheck during the government shutdown. One sample letter prepared by OPM suggests locked-out federal workers write their landlords with this appeal: "I would like to discuss with you the possibility of trading my services to perform maintenance (e.g. painting, carpentry work) in exchange for partial rent payments."

After a national outcry, OPM is trying to backpedal. They should. This is ridiculous.

As the president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, a union that represents 80,000 highly skilled professionals in the public and private sector, including 25,000 Boeing engineers and 8,000 rocket scientists and technical workers at NASA, I understand how much demand there is for professionals with advanced degrees in science and engineering. I also understand the frustration dedicated NASA scientists have when they’re given two hours on Dec. 26 to remove their personal possessions from their labs and offices because after that, the gates to their research center will be padlocked for the third time in a year. (1/8)

Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Triggered Mile-High Tsunami That Spread Through Earth's Oceans (Source: Space.com)
When the dinosaur-killing asteroid collided with Earth more than 65 million years ago, it did not go gently into that good night. Rather, it blasted a nearly mile-high tsunami through the Gulf of Mexico that caused chaos throughout the world's oceans, new research finds. The 9-mile-across (14 kilometers) space rock, known as the Chicxulub asteroid, caused so much destruction, it's no wonder the asteroid ended the dinosaur age, leading to the so-called Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction.

"The Chicxulub asteroid resulted in a huge global tsunami, the likes of which have not been seen in modern history," said lead researcher Molly Range, who did the research while getting her master's degree in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan. (1/8)

Wide Field Camera 3 Anomaly on Hubble Space Telescope (Source: NASA)
At 17:23 UTC on Jan. 8, the Wide Field Camera 3 on the Hubble Space Telescope suspended operations due to a hardware problem. Hubble will continue to perform science observations with its other three active instruments, while the Wide Field Camera 3 anomaly is investigated. Wide Field Camera 3, installed during Servicing Mission 4 in 2009, is equipped with redundant electronics should they be needed to recover the instrument. (1/8)

SpaceX Confident About Its Starlink Constellation for Satellite Internet; Others, Not So Much (Source: IEEE Spectrum)
SpaceX has, of course, been ferrying quite a bit of stuff into space lately. But last February, SpaceX launched two small satellites of its own. They were for an initial test of gear intended for use in a globe-spanning broadband data network, called Starlink, made up of thousands of small satellites. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk nicknamed the two test satellites Tintin A and Tintin B, after the beloved Belgian cartoon character known for his adventures. And just as their fictional namesake often did, the satellites ran into unexpected troubles.

After launch, Tintin A and B were supposed to propel themselves from their initial orbital altitude of 511 kilometers to their final operational orbit of 1,125 km. But the satellites remained in their initial orbits; SpaceX has never been clear about why. “The propulsion system is one you check out pretty quick after launch. One of the satellites wasn’t able to move at all. The other one has tried to maneuver without much success,” said TMF's Tim Farrar. Even so, Musk tweeted about the satellites’ strong, low-latency signals. He has acknowledged that the Starlink concept still has some challenges to overcome. But SpaceX nevertheless plans to launch the first wave of satellites in 2019.

Outside observers aren’t as optimistic about SpaceX’s chances. There is a consensus that SpaceX’s business model, even more than the technical challenges it faces, could doom the constellation of satellites it plans to deploy. And it’s a big constellation: The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has currently approved SpaceX to launch 4,425 of these communications satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) and 7,518 more in very low Earth orbit (VLEO), for a total of nearly 12,000 satellites. (1/6)

Space Microbes Aren't So Alien After All (Source: Space Daily)
Microbes stranded in the International Space Station (ISS) are just trying to survive, man. A new Northwestern University study has found that - despite its seemingly harsh conditions - the ISS is not causing bacteria to mutate into dangerous, antibiotic-resistant superbugs. While the team found that the bacteria isolated from the ISS did contain different genes than their Earthling counterparts, those genes did not make the bacteria more detrimental to human health. The bacteria are instead simply responding, and perhaps evolving, to survive in a stressful environment.

"There has been a lot of speculation about radiation, microgravity and the lack of ventilation and how that might affect living organisms, including bacteria," said Northwestern's Erica Hartmann, who led the study. "These are stressful, harsh conditions. Does the environment select for superbugs because they have an advantage? The answer appears to be 'no.'" (1/9)

Bipartisan Support for Space Force Expected by Top HASC Republican (Source: Space News)
The top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee says he expects a proposal to establish a Space Force to ultimately win bipartisan support. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX), who chaired the committee in the last Congress when Republicans controlled the House and is now the ranking member, said that past efforts by the House to reform military space had broad support, and would expect that to continue. He cautioned, though, that the House would not accept without debate whatever the White House proposes for the Space Force in its 2020 budget request. The committee's new chairman, Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), has been skeptical of the proposed Space Force, but previously voted for a Space Corps concept. (1/9)

Swarm Hires Expert to Avoid Future FCC Problems (Source: Space News)
The company fined by the FCC for launching satellites without licenses has hired an expert to handle its regulatory activities. Kalpak Gude, who previously led regulatory activities at OneWeb and Intelsat, will be Swarm Technologies' new general counsel and head of regulatory affairs. Swarm ran into trouble with the FCC last year when it launched four small satellites without an FCC license, an incident that led to a $900,000 fine and requirements to develop procedures to comply with FCC regulations. Gude said he will not be the compliance director stipulated by that FCC ruling but will instead guide Swarm's efforts to win regulatory approvals worldwide for its planned constellation of 150 satellites for Internet of Things connectivity. (1/9)

Defense Companies Starting to Feel Effect of US Government Shutdown (Source: Defense One)
As the partial government shutdown moves into its third week, some American defense firms are starting to get multi-million-dollar IOUs instead of payments. Even though Pentagon projects are unaffected — the Defense Department is already funded for fiscal 2019 — the shutdown is squeezing contractors who do work for NASA, DHS, FAA, and other federal agencies. Many companies aren’t getting paid, even as they continue to pay the salaries of employees shut out of closed government offices.

Take SAIC and Engility, two of the government’s largest service contractors. Executives for the soon-to-merge companies say the payroll for workers idled by the shutdown comes to $10 million every week. And just three weeks into the freeze, they say, the government is some $40 million to $50 million behind in payments. (1/7)

Air Force Trains for Contingencies During Crewed Launches (Source: Space Daily)
The U.S. is gearing up to bring human spaceflight back to American soil. Human spaceflight could return to the U.S. as early as 2019 and a unit within the 45th Space Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, will play a direct role in the recovery and rescue of landing astronauts.

As astronauts prepare to land back on Earth from space, one unit is responsible for their recovery and rescue, Detachment 3 from the 45th Operations Group. Det 3 is the Department of Defense's office of primary responsibility for all aspects of human spaceflight recovery. This includes the development of rescue tactics, training and equipping of forces, real world execution, and overall command and control rescue aspects of the human spaceflight missions. (1/8)

FCC Grants Akash Systems Approval of Experimental GaN-on-Diamond Satellite Launch (Source: Akash)
Akash Systems, Inc., focused on resolving the explosive growth of data consumption by enabling the world’s fastest and most efficient satellite systems, announced today it has been granted an Experimental Special Temporary Authorization license from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for a satellite launch featuring its proprietary GaN-on-Diamond transmitter technology. The GaN-on-Diamond technology will be integrated into a Ka-band (17.2 to 20.2 GHz) 3U radio transmitter and launched in a 12U CubeSat allowing for new levels of data transmission for customers to increase capacity and reduce end-user costs.

The company’s satellite launch will demonstrate the transmitter’s capability to handle more than five gigabits per second (5Gbps+) downlink speeds from a 10-Watt 3U radio transmitter. Tentatively slated for early 2020, the launch will validate the datarates, reliability, and space-qualification readiness of the GaN-on-Diamond transmitter technology. The new technology enables a smaller, lighter and higher performing satellite that will pave the way to lower launch costs, reduced cost-per-bit, more launch cycles, and increased communications access around the earth. (1/8)

Satellite Images Reveal Global Poverty (Source: Space Daily)
How far have we come in achieving the UN's sustainable development goals that we are committed to nationally and internationally? Yes, it can be difficult to make a global assessment of poverty and poor economic conditions, but with an eye in the sky, researchers are able to give us a very good hint of the living conditions of populations in the world's poor countries.

If we are to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals - which 93 member countries have committed themselves to - it is particularly important to track the living conditions in poor nations around the world where the future population growth is highest. Researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark, recently found that high resolution satellite data can be used to map economic living conditions down to a household level, findings that are published in the prestigious American journal PNAS. (1/8)

MDA Plans Prototyping Phase For Space Sensor Layer (Source: Aviation Week)
A future satellite constellation aimed at tracking zigzagging hypersonic glide vehicles will soon enter the prototyping stage, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) says in a new notice to industry. The Space Sensor Layer, formerly known as the Missile Defense Tracking System (MTS), started taking shape in September with the award of contracts to nine teams to develop concepts for the infrared sensor-based, low Earth orbit constellation.

The next step is a scheduled “industry day” on Jan. 15 in El Segundo, California, where the MDA will lay out a plan to launch the Phase IIa prototyping phase for the future constellation’s  payloads and signal chain processing. The MDA’s Space Systems Program Office plans to release a request for prototype proposals after the industry day event through the Space Enterprise Consortium, an industry group set up in 2017 to compete for rapid prototyping projects. (1/78)