May 27, 2020

Russian Operator Seeks to Provide Arctic Satellite Coverage (Source: Space News)
A Russian satellite operator plans to acquire four satellites to provide coverage over arctic regions. Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC) wants to have the satellites in highly elliptical orbits by 2024 to provide Ku-band coverage to Russia's Far North, a vast region beyond the reach of the state-owned satellite operator's 10 geostationary satellites. RSCC will consider bids from Russian and international manufacturers, though most of the operator's fleet has been domestically built. (5/27)

Terrestrial Bacteria Can Grow on Nutrients From Space (Source: Radoud UMC)
Researchers from the Radboudumc found that bacteria can survive on an 'extraterrestrial diet', which affected their pathogenic potential. No matter how well astronauts and material are decontaminated, co-traveling microorganisms into space cannot be prevented. Given the enormous adaptability potential of bacteria, it is conceivable that they will sometimes survive space travel and be able to settle in an extraterrestrial environment.

For this study, four non-fastidious environment-derived bacterial species with pathogenic features were selected, including Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A minimal 'diet' based on nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, iron and water to which carbohydrates found in carbonaceous meteorites were added was made to determine whether extraterrestrial survival and growth were possible. The four bacterial species were shown to survive and multiply on this minimal ‘diet’. (5/26)

SpaceX Raises $346 Million (Source: CNBC)
SpaceX has raised $346 million in its latest funding round. The company, in an SEC filing Tuesday, amended a previous filing from earlier this year about the latest funding with the revised, higher amount. SpaceX has now raised an estimated $1.7 billion in private placements since the beginning of last year. (5/27)

U.S. Lawmakers Unveil Bold $100 Billion Plan to Remake NSF (Source: Science)
The National Science Foundation (NSF) would get a sweeping remake—including a new name, a huge infusion of cash, and responsibility for maintaining U.S. global leadership in innovation—under bipartisan bills that have just been introduced in both houses of Congress. Many scientific leaders are thrilled that the bills call for giving NSF an additional $100 billion over 5 years to carry out its new duties. But some worry the legislation, if enacted, could compromise NSF’s historical mission to explore the frontiers of knowledge without regard to possible commercial applications.

The Endless Frontiers Act (S. 3832) proposes a major reorganization of NSF, creating a technology directorate that, within 4 years, would grow to more than four times the size of the entire agency’s existing $8 billion budget. NSF would be renamed the National Science and Technology Foundation, and both the science and technology arms would be led by a deputy reporting to the NSF director. Many academic leaders are praising the legislation, which was spearheaded by the Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer (NY), and co-sponsored by Senator Todd Young (R–IN). They see it as a huge vote of confidence in NSF, which this year is celebrating its 70th anniversary. (5/26)

The Space Business Is About to Get Really Serious (Source: Bloomberg)
At its peak in the mid-1960s, $7 out of every $1,000 of national income was spent by NASA. Having beaten the Soviet Union, the U.S. lacked a clear objective, and the space program drifted. In 2011, the space shuttle program was terminated. The SpaceX launch will mark a rebirth, the first time astronauts have flown to space from the U.S. in nearly a decade.

With the reins for much space activity handed over to commercial interests, the past decade has seen an explosion of investment in a profusion of companies. In a 2018 paper, economist Matthew Weinzierl documented the rise of “space access” companies sending people and payloads into space, “remote sensing” companies providing images of the earth, “habitats and space station companies” providing secure facilities for tourism, research and manufacturing, and “beyond low-earth orbit” companies focusing on asteroid mining, space manufacturing and colonizing the moon and Mars. Weinzierl listed several dozen companies, including SpaceX.

Information about consumer and industry preferences will need to be aggregated. Willingness to pay for space commerce needs to be determined. Resources and capital need to be allocated to their best uses. Innovation needs to be fostered. Only markets can build a commercial sector in space. Investors and entrepreneurs will be needed. They will be seeking the enormous profits promised by space commerce, but will need to tolerate enormous risk, as well. If Musk succeeds today, the risk they face will go down a notch. (5/26)

SpaceX Crew Launch Comes with New Weather Constraints for Downrange Aborts (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Mission managers will be closely monitoring the weather for the first launch of astronauts aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, not just around the Kennedy Space Center, but along a corridor stretching thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean in case the crew capsule has to escape from its Falcon 9 rocket during the climb into orbit. The parameters to screen for acceptable weather downrange were added on top of the standard launch weather rules that track cloud, lightning and wind conditions at Cape Canaveral.

“Some of these individually have to go ‘green’ and be a ‘go,’ and then on the entire launch corridor we have a common risk number that we use to basically make an assessment, and then get to a go/no go decision,” Koenigsmann said Monday. The downrange weather assessment involves risk matrices and numerous factors. To illustrate the various criteria, Koenigsmann said a weather briefing Monday looking at the abort weather constraints consisted of 65 presentation slides. (5/26)

Bankrupt OneWeb Wants FCC Approval to Increase Constellation Size (Source: OneWeb)
OneWeb told the FCC May 26 that it wants to increase its constellation size to 48,000 satellites despite having filed for bankruptcy over an inability to fund a smaller broadband megaconstellation. OneWeb is authorized for a constellation of 720 satellites, but declared bankruptcy in March after launching just 74 satellites. The British company said a 48,000-satellite constellation will “allow for greater flexibility to meet soaring global connectivity demands.” OneWeb said it has received “considerable interest from parties worldwide,” in its effort to sell its spectrum assets. (5/27)

OneWeb Move Seeks to Increase Company's Valuation as Buyers Consider Acquisition (Source: Ars Technica)
OneWeb's application to launch nearly 48,000 satellites is surprising because the satellite-broadband company filed for bankruptcy in March. OneWeb is highly unlikely to launch a significant percentage of these satellites under its current structure, as the company reportedly "axed most of its staff" when it filed for bankruptcy and says it intends to use bankruptcy proceedings "to pursue a sale of its business in order to maximize the value of the company." Getting FCC approval to launch more satellites could improve the value of OneWeb's assets and give more options to whoever buys the company. (5/27)

Commercial Crew’s Day Finally Arrives (Source: Space Review)
Weather and technology permitting, a Falcon 9 will lift off Wednesday afternoon, sending a Crew Dragon spacecraft with two NASA astronauts on board into orbit. Jeff Foust reports on this culmination of the commercial crew program amid some last-minute hiccups. Click here. (5/27)
 
Space Resources: the Broader Aspect (Source: Space Review)
Recent policy actions by the US government have reinvigorated the debate about space resources. Kamil Muzyka argues that the issue is not just the resources themselves, but how they’re used. Click here. (5/27)
 
Challenges at the Junction of Cybersecurity and Space Security (Source: Space Review)
The distinctions between cybersecurity and space security are becoming blurred amid risks that hackers could interfere with or even take control of satellites. Nayef Al-Rodhan examines the policy issues where these two topics meet. Click here. (5/27)
 
A New Use for InSight’s Robotic Arm (Source: Space Review)
The robotic arm on NASA’s InSight Mars lander has been busy deploying instruments and helping get one of the them, a heat flow probe, into the surface. Philip Horzempa describes how the arm can also be used for another scientific investigation similar to that done on some other lander missions. Click here. (5/27)

SpaceX to Test Sun Visors on Next Batch of Starlink Satellites (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
SpaceX will test sun visors on one of their Starlink satellites on their next launch, currently planned for early June. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced his plan to combat the reflectivity of the companies Starlink satellites in a new program called “VisorSat.” The program comes as a result of criticism from astronomers regarding the satellites brightness in the night sky. (5/18)

Indian 5G Constellation Planned (Source: Space Daily)
Government-sanctioned 5G trials in India, which were scheduled for this year, have reportedly been postponed by a year because of the coronavirus situation. As of now, India seems to have missed its seat in the global 5G wagon of 2020, which is being led by South Korea, China, the US, and the UK respectively. In a bid to speed up and at least begin the first 5G network services in India, a Pune city-based start-up called Vestaspace Technology has announced the launch of a constellation of more than 35 satellites covering major parts of India, while providing connections and Internet of Things (IoT) functionalities to Indian individuals as well as industries. (5/27)

Dinosaur-Dooming Asteroid Struck Earth at 'Deadliest Possible' Angle (Source: Space Daily)
The simulations show that the asteroid hit Earth at an angle of about 60 degrees, which maximised the amount of climate-changing gases thrust into the upper atmosphere. Such a strike likely unleashed billions of tonnes of sulphur, blocking the sun and triggering the nuclear winter that killed the dinosaurs and 75 per cent of life on Earth 66 million years ago.

Drawn from a combination of 3D numerical impact simulations and geophysical data from the site of the impact, the new models are the first ever fully 3D simulations to reproduce the whole event - from the initial impact to the moment the final crater, now known as Chicxulub, was formed. The simulations were performed on the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) DiRAC High Performance Computing Facility. (5/27)