August 16, 2019

Air Force Invites Proposals for Small and Medium Class Launch Services (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Air Force is soliciting bids for small and medium-class launch services. Proposals are due Aug. 29 for the Orbital Services Program 4 (OSP-4) contract, designed for payloads weighing at least 180 kilograms, with the Air Force anticipating 20 missions over nine years. Lockheed Martin, Orbital Sciences (now Northrop Grumman) and SpaceX received contracts for the previous OSP-3 program in 2012, with Northrop and SpaceX ultimately awarded six missions. (8/16)

Next Week's Delta Launch From Florida Will Be The Last of Its Kind (Source: Florida Today)
The final launch of the "single stick" version of the Delta 4 is on track for next week. A Delta 4 Medium-Plus (4,2) rocket is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Thursday morning carrying the second GPS 3 satellite. The launch will be the last for the single-core version of the Delta 4, which United Launch Alliance is retiring to focus on the Atlas 5 and the upcoming Vulcan, both of which are more cost-competitive. The triple-core Delta 4 Heavy will remain in service at least to the mid-2020s. (8/16)

Philippines Creates Space Agency (Source: Rappler)
The Philippines is the latest country to establish a space agency. President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law this month a bill passed by the country's Congress authorizing the creation of a Philippine Space Agency. The agency will be responsible for issues of space science, technology and applications in the country. The government hasn't announced when the agency will start operations. (8/16)

China's LinkSpace Reusable Rocket Prototype Makes Its Highest Flight Yet (And Lands, Too!) (Source: Space.com)
The Chinese company LinkSpace successfully flew a rocket prototype on its highest flight yet, then nailed the landing as the firm pursues reusable spaceflight technology. The LinkSpace Aerospace Technology Group launched its Reusable Launch Vehicle T5 vehicle on Aug. 10 at the company's Mangai test site in China's Qinghai province. The brief flight, the third for this booster, lasted less than a minute and reached an altitude of just over 984 feet. (8/14)

Starhopper Flight Needs More Analysis for FAA Go-Ahead (Source: Teslarati)
According to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the company’s next major Starhopper flight test is still awaiting FAA approval due to a need for more hazard analysis, presumably required because Starhopper will be traveling much higher than before. On Aug. 9, SpaceX completed a routine wet dress rehearsal (WDR) with Starhopper, loading the vehicle with propellant and fluids and replicating a launch countdown up to the point of Raptor ignition.

Starhopper remains untethered in a sign that SpaceX doesn’t have plans for a static fire test before the low-fidelity rocket prototype’s next flight milestone. Originally scheduled for Aug. 12, that milestone – a 200 meter hop test – has been indefinitely delayed as SpaceX awaits an updated permit from the FAA. The oddity of the apparent difficulty SpaceX is having with the FAA’s experimental permit process is deepened by the fact that Starhopper is already permitted by the FAA and demonstrated its first successful flight just a few weeks ago. (8/15)

Rockets, Risks, Rewards: A Look At The Economics Of Building Spaceport Camden (Source: WABE)
Camden County, on the Georgia coast, is known as the home of Cumberland Island and a naval submarine base, Kings Bay. But the government wants to be known for something else, too: launching rockets. Camden has spent about $6.7 million and about seven years on a plan for a spaceport. But the county is taking a big economic development bet on this vision of space jobs in coastal Georgia, despite little proof their proposed business model will work.

They’re awaiting an FAA decision on the idea, due by December. “Our vision is a big vision. It’s a bold vision,” Steve Howard, Camden’s county administrator, said to the Georgia House Science and Technology Committee in 2016. “To develop a successful, world-class spaceport through a public, private partnership that establishes Camden County as a commercial space center of the United States.”

The spaceport idea isn’t new. There are already 12 in the U.S. And they’re all chasing a piece of the big-dollar success expected of the commercial space industry. Camden has spent at least $6.7 million and about seven years on a plan for a spaceport. In addition, the county included a line item for $720,000 in its 2020 budget titled “SP Purchase Option,” but declined to confirm whether or not the “SP” stands for spaceport, and whether or not the money had actually been spent. But that amount is just a fraction of what other spaceports have ultimately cost. And the county hasn’t paid for the land yet. Click here. (8/15) 

NASA Unveils New Megarocket to be Launched From Space Coast (Source: WESH)
It’s the world’s largest, and it’s coming to Central Florida to be launched past the moon. The core stage of the new SLS rocket is more than 20 stories tall, bigger by itself than the Falcon 9 and Atlas rockets now launching from the Cape. The SLS will add a second stage and spacecraft to reach 32 stories tall for launch. The SLS will be the only rocket capable of carrying an Orion spacecraft, astronauts and supplies to the moon on one launch, but the moon is only the first step.

"The moon is the proving ground. How do we use the technology and resources and then go on to Mars," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said. The rocket is still under construction in a Louisiana factory where space shuttle fuel tanks were built. At the bottom of the rocket, there are four openings where fuel will flow into four engines to produce 2 million pounds of thrust. The next job for workers at the build site is to add those engines. The rocket’s first launch from the Kennedy Space Center is tentatively set for late next year. Click here. (8/15)

How Many Planets Like Earth Are In the Universe? (Source: Independent)
Scientists have worked out just how many planets like our own might be waiting out in the universe. The new study gives the best estimate yet of how many Earth-like planets are orbiting around Sun-like stars. The discovery will help guide astronomers as they search those planets for signs of alien life, by trying to understand more about the planets.

NASA's Kepler Space Telescope helped find that there are thousands of planets waiting outside of our solar system, orbiting around their own suns. Over the nearly ten years it scanned the sky, it was watching out for transit events – the slight dips in light that happen when a planet moves in front of a star, which can be used to understand those planets' size and characteristics. But scientists want to know how many of those alien worlds are like ours, sitting close enough to their star that they get enough light to provide energy for life.

The researchers found that there are probably planets like our own – between three-quarters and one-and-a-half times as big as our planet, and similar length years – waiting to be found around roughly one in four stars. But they also worked out how accurate that estimate could be. The potential uncertainty means that missions should plan to find such worlds as often as every two stars, they suggest. (8/15)

Virgin Galactic's Spaceport America is No Longer an Empty Hangar (Source: Engadget)
Virgin Galactic has officially opened Spaceport America's "Gateway to Space" building few months after it started moving its staff and spacecraft to the New Mexico facility. In addition, the VMS Eve has arrived at the spaceport this week, which Chief Pilot Dave Mackay says brings "Virgin Galactic closer to starting commercial service." VMS Eve is the aerospace company's launch vehicle, in charge of carrying its spacecraft to the skies before dropping it mid-air.

The Earth-themed first floor, with its elevated and interactive digital walkway, will serve as the point of departure and return for spacecraft launching from the port. Meanwhile, the sky-themed second floor has a dedicated space for mission control, as well as a briefing room. The company will use VMS Eve to fly simulated spaceship launch missions from the spaceport in the coming days. Later this year, it'll go back to Mojave to pick up Virgin's VSS Unity suborbital vehicle, so their flight tests can be conducted from New Mexico where commercial flights will take place. (8/15)

How Lockheed Martin is Using Augmented Reality in Aerospace Manufacturing (Source: Engineering.com)
Lockheed Martin is making use of innovative augmented reality technology in their manufacturing process and across entire product lifecycles. Lockheed Martin’s AR project began in the Space Systems division, for example in assembly and quality processes for NASA’s Orion Spacecraft, but has been so successful that the company has deployed the Microsoft Hololens hardware and Scope AR software in other divisions, namely Aeronautics, Missiles and Fire Control, and Rotary and Mission Systems. The company may even send Hololens to space on crewed missions to support training and maintenance tasks. (8/13)

DOJ Antitrust Unit Wants More Info On UTC, Raytheon Merger (Source: Reuters)
United Technologies UX.N and Raytheon Co (RTN.N) have received requests for additional information from the antitrust division of the U.S. Department of Justice related to their $120 billion merger, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. The two companies last month were also asked to provide documentary material, the filing showed. On June 10, United Technologies and Raytheon announced a deal that would intensify the pace of consolidation in the aerospace and defense industry. The merger is expected to be completed in the first half of next year. (8/15)

I Am Paying $200,000 for Five Minutes in Space (Source: Popular Mechanics)
In 2010 I gave Virgin Galactic a five-figure downpayment. Vrgin's spacecraft crashed in the desert in 2014, killing one of its test pilots. I'm not worried. I'm still training. On a blindingly bright January afternoon in 2010, I went to my bank to get a cashier's check for $20,000. It was my birthday, and I was buying myself the present I'd been waiting for my entire life: a trip to space.

This fat chunk of cash would become a 10 percent downpayment for a ticket aboard Virgin Galactic, billionaire Richard Branson's bold plan to hurl ordinary humans into space. To do this, Branson plans to use rocket planes that can carry space tourists 62 miles up and travel at three times the speed of sound. Ninety days before my trip, I'd need to pay the remaining $180,000. That's $200,000 for a five-minute sojourn beyond Earth's stratosphere. It's been almost seven years since I bought my ticket—No. 610. But I'm not just idly waiting for my space ride. I'm preparing. (12/2016)

NASA Giving Away Apollo-Era Saturn Rocket to Anyone Who Can Carry it Out (Source: Vintage News)
Ever wanted your own Saturn 1 rocket? For anyone with the means to transport it, it can be yours. Live or work in one place for a long enough time, and you being to accumulate a growing stockpile of, well… stuff. That’s true for the average person’s home, but it’s equally true for organizations, even NASA. NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Alabama has ‘excessed’ a Saturn 1 Block 1 Booster, which is part of the Saturn rocket, and the space organization is looking to find it a good home.

The booster itself is the bottom-most stage of the Saturn 1 rockets. Even though NASA will ‘re-home’ it for free, there is one catch.  Whomever takes the rocket has to pay the whopping $250,000 cost to have it shipped.  The cost for transporting the behemoth certainly puts most individuals out of the running for getting it, but shouldn’t be a problem for many museums or educational institutions. (8/14)

Greenland's Ice is Melting at the Rate Scientists Thought Would Be Our Worst-Case Scenario in 2070 (Source: Business Insider)
Greenland is known for its glaciers, but in the past month, the island has shed ice and taken on fire. Scientists didn't expect to see Greenland melt at this rate for another 50 years: By the last week of July, the melting had reached levels that climate models projected for 2070 in the most pessimistic scenario.

On August 1, Greenland's ice sheet lost 12.5 billions tons of ice, more than any day since researchers started recording ice loss in 1950, The Washington Post reported. The dramatic melt suggests that Greenland's ice sheet is approaching a tipping point that could set it on an irreversible course towards disappearing entirely. (8/15)

SpaceTEC and Space Coast Apprenticeship Program Heading to Germany (Source: SpaceTEC)
SpaceTEC, the Space Coast Consortium Apprenticeship Program (SCCAP), Kamm Consulting Group (KCG), and Wichita State University were awarded a $120,000 grant to arrange US College tours to Germany so instructors, students, and apprentices at selected colleges can learn about Industry 4.0 advanced manufacturing apprenticeship programs and also establish apprenticeship exchange programs between the US and Germany. (8/15)

How SpaceX's Starship Will Help Establish a Mars Base (Source: Space.com)
As NASA works toward its long-term goal of establishing a human settlement on Mars, SpaceX is fleshing out its plans to help NASA make that dream a reality. The private spaceflight company, which regularly launches cargo to the International Space Station with the Falcon 9 rocket and will soon launch astronauts up there, is currently building an interplanetary spacecraft for Mars. Known as Starship, the rocket-spacecraft combo will be able to launch 100 passengers and large amounts of cargo to and from the Red Planet.

Before Starship can launch to Mars, it will start off launching commercial satellites as early as 2021, followed by a crewed flight around the moon in 2023. Although SpaceX has not given a timeline for its first missions to Mars, SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said that the first Mars base could be up and running in 2028. And while Musk shared some eye-catching artist illustrations depicting what he called "Mars Base Alpha" as an intricate network of buildings and infrastructure, SpaceX's plans for the Red Planet are not quite that extensive. (8/15)

Bolton Says Russia 'Stole' US Hypersonic Technology (Source: Sputnik)
The senior White House official made the highly contentious claims while commenting on the recent explosion at a military facility in Russia's Arkhangelsk region involving the testing of an unspecified "new piece of armament," which the US has alleged was a new Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile. Russia's new hypersonic glide vehicle and hypersonic cruise missile systems are "largely" a rip-off of American technology, US National Security Advisor John Bolton has claimed. "We know more than I'm going to tell you," Bolton coyly added, referring to last Thursday's accident, which claimed at least eight lives, and left three scientists in hospital. (8/16)

Space Florida Chief to Serve on National Investment Advisory Council (Source: USDOC)
US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the names of 25 international business and economic leaders who will advise the Secretary of Commerce on how government policies and programs affect the United States’ ability to attract and facilitate business investment. The Investment Advisory Council (IAC) was first chartered in 2016, and has made recommendations on issues including infrastructure investment priorities, improving U.S. workforce development initiatives, and creating/improving digital tools to support economic development.

Editor's Note: Among the members are two with explicit interests in space industry development, including Space Florida CEO Frank DiBello and Virgin Orbit CEO Dan Hart. (8/16)