May 3, 2019

NASA Looks To NEOCam To ID Dangerous Asteroids (Source: Aviation Week)
As NASA looks to step up its detection of potentially dangerous Near Earth Objects (NEOs), it is working on a dedicated deep-space observatory first proposed more than a dozen years ago. NEOCam, equipped with infrared optics that include a 50-cm (20 in.) aperture and 4 to 4.5 micron and 6 to 10 micron wavelength channels, would be launched to the Earth/Sun L-1 LaGrange point, a gravitationally stable space coordinate about one million miles from Earth in the sunward direction.

There NEOCam would trail the Earth as it orbits the Sun with a wide field of view of the Solar System to help identify, track and characterize potential impactors large and small. “From my perspective, there a couple of critical questions we want to know about NEOs: when they might impact on human versus astronomical and geological timescales, and how bad they might be,” said Amy Mainzer. “This breaks down to finding the objects and getting good, reliable orbits for them.” (5/1)

Firefly Successfully Tested the Upper Stage of its Alpha Rocket (Source: Ars Technica)
Last Thursday, on a green expanse at the edge of the Texas Hill Country, Firefly Aerospace prepared to test the second stage of its Alpha rocket. After years of development, engineers bolted the rocket stage to a vertical test stand and began to feed kerosene and liquid oxygen into the engine. Then, for 300 seconds, the rocket's Lightning-1 engine fired, blowing white and yellow flame out of its exhaust nozzle. The five-minute test demonstrated the performance of the engine and upper stage over an entire cycle of flight in space, during which the upper stage would boost a satellite and insert into orbit.

During the test, all of the second stage's flight avionics, structures, and propulsion systems were subjected to a sustained firing consistent with a normal flight mission. According to Firefly, preliminary analysis of data from the test show that all of the rocket's systems performed nominally, and a post-test inspection revealed no observable degradation of the stage systems. Firefly is attempting to complete development of its Alpha rocket, which has a capacity of up to 1 ton to low-Earth orbit, for a launch by the end of this year from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The company could reach another milestone as early as August, when Firefly anticipates performing the first long-duration test of the Alpha rocket's first stage. (4/29)

Droneship Problem Scrubs SpaceX Launch Attempt (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX scrubbed a launch of a Dragon cargo mission overnight because of a problem with the droneship used for the rocket's first stage landing. The company scrubbed the launch shortly before the scheduled 3:11 a.m. Eastern liftoff because of a power problem with the droneship just off the Florida coast. SpaceX moved the landing to the ship from its Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral because the site is still closed for an investigation into the Crew Dragon test incident last month. SpaceX will also use the delay to correct a helium leak in ground equipment detected during the countdown. (5/3)

Root Cause Still TBD for Crew Dragon Explosion (Source: Space News)
SpaceX said Thursday that it has yet to identify the root cause of that Crew Dragon anomaly that destroyed the spacecraft during an April 20 test. At a prelaunch news conference for the cargo Dragon mission, SpaceX vice president Hans Koenigsmann said the anomaly took place during the activation of the SuperDraco thrusters on the spacecraft a half-second before they were to ignite in a static-fire test.

The problem, he said, did not appear to be with the thrusters themselves, and he also said it was not likely linked to composite-overwrapped pressure vessels in the spacecraft, which are of a different design from those on the Falcon 9 rocket. At that briefing, NASA said it concluded there was no risk to flying the cargo version of Dragon on the upcoming space station mission because of a lack of commonality with Crew Dragon. (5/3)

LeoStella to Build Cloud Constellation Satellites (Source: Space News)
Cloud Constellation has picked LeoStella to build a fleet of data storage satellites. The order, announced Thursday but to be finalized later this year, covers 10 satellites that Cloud Constellation plans to use to provide secure data storage in space. Cloud Constellation said that LeoStella, a joint venture of Thales Alenia Space and Spaceflight Industries, beat Northrop Grumman on price, among other factors, lowering the total price of the system from $480 million to $350 million. (5/3)

Inmarsat Profit Hit By Weak Maritime Demand (Source: Reuters)
Inmarsat's profit fell ahead of a vote by shareholders next week on takeover bid. The company reported this week that earnings fell by 13 percent in the first quarter. The company said weak demand from its maritime business along with a lower contribution from Ligado led to the lower earnings. Shareholders are set to vote May 10 on a takeover bid by Apax Partners, Warburg Pincus and two Canadian pension funds that values the company at $3.4 billion. (5/3)

Loft Fills 'Condosat' for 2020 Launch (Source: Space News)
Loft Orbital has filled up its first small "condosat" for launch in 2020. The company said its YAM-2 spacecraft, which will launch on an Indian Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle to low Earth orbit, will carry payloads for five customers, including hyperspectral imaging startup Orbital Sidekick, blockchain startup SpaceChain and a UAE government agency. Loft Orbital plans a quarterly cadence of such missions in 2020 using spacecraft weighing about 100 kilograms and carrying payloads too large for a cubesat but too small for a dedicated microsatellite. (5/3)

Japan Eyeing Role in Lunar Gateway (Source: Kyodo)
The Japanese government plans to determine what role it will play in NASA's lunar Gateway by the end of this year. Masahiko Shibayama, the government's science minister, said that decision will come after internal deliberations that will take into account developments in the U.S., such as accelerating the timeline for a human lunar landing. Shibayama met Thursday with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, where the two signed a letter of intent for cooperation on the lunar Gateway. (5/3)

Mars 2020 Heat Shield Passes Test (Source: Popular Mechanics)
A new heat shield for NASA's Mars 2020 mission has passed a key test. Lockheed Martin said Thursday that the heat shield completed tests that confirmed its structural integrity, including one where it was subjected to 120 percent of the expected loads it will experience upon entry into the Martian atmosphere. A different heat shield built for the mission cracked during similar tests last year. (5/3)

Gravitational Wave Detections Continue to Rise (Source: Space.com)
Astronomers are reveling in a surge of gravitational wave detections by upgraded instruments. Scientists said they have detected five potential gravitational wave events in the first month of a new round of observations by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, working in cooperation with the Virgo observatory in Italy. Both LIGO and Virgo underwent upgrades in the last 18 months to improve their sensitivity, allowing them to detect more events such as collisions of black holes and neutron stars. (5/3)