August 13, 2020

SpaceX Quiet Thus Far on DoD Launch Award (Source: Quartz)
Neither SpaceX nor its voluble CEO, however, has had anything to say about it in the six days since the new DoD launch contract award was announced, unlike other participants in the bid. One reason SpaceX might be silent is that they’re waiting for an official debrief explaining how the decision was reached. Another potential reason? SpaceX is still suing the United States over the precursor to this award, and might be inclined to do the same over this decision. SpaceX may be contemplating a new challenge to the Space Force’s final decision to give 60% of the upcoming flights to ULA, versus the 40% it was awarded.

That’s a rough difference of six launches, a significant chunk of revenue for any launch company, especially one with an expensive R&D agenda. Still, the rates being paid by the Air Force may be designed to discourage complaints: SpaceX’s first launch under the new contract will cost the government $316 million. That mission is classified, but we can assume it uses SpaceX’s larger, most expensive rocket, the Falcon Heavy—which cost just $130 million when the US Air Force last bought it two years ago.

Update: Elon Musk on Aug. 13 tweeted this: "Efficiently reusable rockets are all that matter for making life multiplanetary and 'space power'. Because their rockets are not reusable, it will become obvious over time that ULA is a complete waste of taxpayer money." (8/13)

Moldovan Lawsuit Against Kazakhstan Seeks Disclosure From Falcon-9 Launch (Source: Quartz)
In other SpaceX litigation news…The launch company has been caught up in a Moldovan oil investor’s effort to claim a $500 million judgement from the Republic of Kazakhstan. His global hunt for Kazakh assets brought him to the US, and his attorneys want to know the details behind the 2018 launch of two satellites for Kazakhstan on a SpaceX Falcon 9. Both the rocket-maker and Spaceflight, which brokered the launch agreement, have fought subpoenas from Stati’s lawyers; Spaceflight was forced to disclose documents, while a judge has not yet ruled on whether SpaceX will cough up details about its launch negotiations. (8/13)

Responsive Launch Will Be a Space Force Priority (Source: Space News)
The Space Force expects to invest in responsive launch and in-space logistics services. In a presentation Wednesday, Col. Casey Beard, one of the authors of the Spacepower report released by the Space Force earlier this week, said the Space Force will need to develop concepts for responsive launch operations and logistics to implement the doctrine in that report. Dozens of companies in the space industry are currently developing small launchers, orbital transport vehicles, on-orbit satellite servicing systems and other technologies in anticipation of government demand for these capabilities. (8/13)

Small Launchers Will Deploy Military Constellations (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon is already playing a role in shaping the small launch vehicle industry. The most visible sign of that was an effort early this summer to award Defense Production Act awards to six small launch companies, which were later withdrawn. Industry officials believe the Defense Department had good intentions with the awards, helping to sustain companies that can't rely exclusively on the commercial market, but failed at the implementation. The Pentagon foresees small launch vehicles playing a role in deploying and maintaining future constellation of military spacecraft. (8/13)

Griffin Joins Rocket Lab Board (Source: Space News)
A month after leaving the Pentagon, Mike Griffin has joined the board of small launch vehicle company Rocket Lab. The company said Wednesday that it was adding Griffin to its board to take advantage of his extensive experience in government and industry. Griffin resigned last month as undersecretary of defense for research and engineering to pursue opportunities in the private sector. Besides joining the board of Rocket Lab, he is the co-founder and co-president of a new consulting company, LogiQ. (8/13)

Hughes' Investment in OneWeb a Play for Subsidies (Source: Space News)
Hughes Network Systems believes its recent investment in OneWeb will give it a chance at FCC rural broadband subsidies. Pradman Kaul, Hughes president, said in a recent earnings call that he believes that geostationary satellites are still more cost effective for delivering satellite broadband than low Earth orbit constellations, but the FCC's requirements for low-latency systems in its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund led Huges to pursue LEO opportunities through its OneWeb investment. Kaul said Hughes expects hybrid networks comprised of satellites in different orbits to become the industry norm as more operators diversify from GEO. (8/13)

PredaSAR Chooses SpaceX to Launch Synthetic Aperture Radar Satellite (Source: Space Daily)
PredaSAR Corporation, has announced that its first of 48 advanced commercial Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellites will launch on SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems, Inc. is the launch integration provider in addition to manufacturer of the spacecraft. As part of the agreement, PredaSAR, Tyvak, and SpaceX will be working together to optimize the deployment plan for the remainder of PredaSAR's groundbreaking constellation - the world's largest and most advanced commercial SAR satellite constellation. (8/12)

Equity Investors Bundling Space Acquisitions (Source: Space News)
Private equity firms are moving to acquire space companies, including some established decades ago. For years space industry entrepreneurs and investors bemoaned the lack of exits, like initial public offerings and acquisitions that offered investors an opportunity to sell their stake in a company, but such exits are now on the rise. Private equity firms can provide greater resources to startups and, by acquiring several, can take advantage of synergies among them. (8/13)

Streamlined FCC Regulations Kick In for Small Satellites (Source: Space News)
New FCC regulations take effect next week to make it easier for smallsat operators to get a license. The streamlined regulations, published in the Federal Register last month and which take effect Aug. 19, provide a streamlined licensing approach for small groups of smallsats. Eligible systems will be able to pay an application fee of $30,000, a small fraction of current fees, with the promise of faster processing. (8/13)

ULA Prepping Delta 4 Heavy Mission, Plans Phase-Out After 2023 (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
United Launch Alliance is continuing preparations for a Delta 4 Heavy launch later this month as that vehicle moves one step closer to retirement. The rocket, carrying a NRO payload, is scheduled to launch Aug. 26 from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Five more Delta 4 Heavy launches are scheduled through 2023, after which ULA plans to retire the vehicle in favor of the Vulcan Centaur. Tory Bruno, president and CEO of ULA, said the company is allowing the Delta 4 supply chain "to begin drying up" after they deliver components for those final vehicles. (8/13)

CASIS Gets New Board Members (Source: CASIS)
The nonprofit organization that operates the national laboratory portion of the International Space Station had added four new board members. The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) said Wednesday that Gale Allen, Elizabeth Cantwell, Eric Isaacs and Michael Moloney were joining the board, joining three existing board members. Cantwell chaired an independent review of CASIS, published earlier this year, whose recommendations included altering the size and composition of the board to make it more effective. (8/13)

Thailand Interested in LEO Constellations (Source: Bangkok Post)
A state-owned telecom company in Thailand says it's interested in LEO constellations. TOT announced it signed a memorandum of understanding with mu Space, a space startup in Thailand, to study LEO constellation initiatives, starting with a gateway station to support such constellations and which ultimately could involve its own constellation or a stake in such a system. The announcement provided few details on the schedule for the initiative, as well as funding and access to spectrum. (8/13)

Moon To Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge (Source: FSGC)
NASA and the National Institute of Aerospace (NIA) invite undergraduate and graduate student teams to participate in the 2021 RASC-AL Special Edition: Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge. The 2021 RASC-AL Special Edition: Moon to Mars Ice & Prospecting Challenge seeks proposals from eligible teams of undergraduate and graduate students in the U.S. to design and build prototype hardware that can extract water and assess subsurface density profiles from a simulated off-world test bed to advance critical technologies needed on the surface of the Moon and Mars.

Up to 10 teams will be selected to receive $10,000 to build their proposed concept. Finalist teams will travel to NASA’s Langley Research Center (LaRC) in Hampton, VA during the summer of 2021 to participate in a multi-day competition where the universities’ prototypes will compete to extract the most water from an analog environment simulating lunar and Martian surfaces, while using system telemetry to distinguish between overburden layers (i.e., prospecting) and create a digital core of the various layers. Click here. (8/12)

Cubic to Develop Inflatable Satellite Antennas for DoD (Source: Cubic)
Defense and transportation company Cubic has received a contract worth up to $172 million to provide inflatable GATR satellite communications antennas to the U.S. military. The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract from United States Special Operations Command is split into five one-year ordering periods for Cubic’s 1.2-meter and 2.4-meter GATR antennas, which are often used to rapidly deploy communications in military or emergency response situations. (8/12)

Will Any New Smallsat Rockets Make it to Orbit This Year? (Source: Ars Technica)
In case you hadn't noticed, we're approaching mid-August. As of Wednesday, there are a mere 142 days left in the year. So as the calendar churns toward the end of the year, this is a good time to ask whether any new commercial rockets that launch small satellites will make it to orbit this year. Back at the optimistic, pre-pandemic beginning of 2020, we had high hopes for the debut of new rockets from Astra, Firefly, and Virgin Orbit. We also expected to see the first flight of Europe's Vega C rocket, which is now confirmed to slip into 2021.

Since then, a few companies have made launch attempts and failed to reach orbit. Others have been slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's a rundown of the companies that could still make orbit this calendar year. Click here. (8/12)

To Ensure America’s Space Future, Reelect Donald Trump (Source: Daily Caller)
Recently, former NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe and former astronaut, NASA Chief Scientist and NASA Associate Administrator for Science John Grunsfeld published an op-ed in Florida Today that advanced the supposition that “Joe Biden is the best choice for space progress.” Unfortunately, aside from a few statements filled with platitudes, former Vice President Biden has not provided any evidence that the supposition has any basis in reality. Indeed, the near sum total of the argument was based on an alleged foreign policy expertise that Biden lacks.

Biden, as vice president, did not have any influence on President Obama’s space policy. However, he is associated with that policy, which included the high handed and abrupt cancellation of President Bush’s Constellation deep space exploration program. The cancellation without a sensible substitute delayed America’s space progress for almost a decade. Because the decision was taken without consultation with Congress, Mr. Obama destroyed the trust that his administration had with the legislative body on space matters, which inhibited acceptance of the one good space decision he undertook, the Commercial Crew program. President Trump, on the other hand, has undertaken a series of measures that have made him the greatest space president since John F. Kennedy. (8/11)

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Offers Another Virtual Space Camp for Students (Source: Florida Today)
To end the summer right and start the new school year with a twist, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is adding another "Virtual Camp KSC" for elementary-age students. The new dates will be from Aug. 25-27 from 1 to 4 p.m. The cost of the Virtual Camp KSC is $65 and will offer hands-on science, technology, engineering and math activities. Campers will receive a kit with materials they will need to complete the activities and experiences centered around NASA-based science.

The sessions will focus on three main topics: the Apollo and Artemis moon programs, the mission challenges of the space shuttle program and the International Space Station and virtually traveling to Mars to learn the skills needed to settle on the red planet. (8/12)

Biden's VP Pick Kamala Harris Could iInherit a 21st-Century National Space Council (Source: Space.com)
Space fans of all political persuasions should care that Joe Biden just picked Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his running mate. If Biden defeats President Trump this November and decides to retain the newly resurrected National Space Council (NSC), Harris will play a large role in U.S. space activities going forward. That's because the vice president chairs the NSC, a body that reviews national space policy options and makes recommendations to the White House.

Those are two pretty big "ifs," of course; nobody knows how the election will turn out, and there's no guarantee that a President Biden would choose to keep the NSC going. President Trump reinstated the council in 2017; it had last been active in the early 1990s, during the administration of President George H.W. Bush. The uncertainty deepens when speculation extends to the possible space priorities of a Biden-Harris administration.

The Democratic Party's official 2020 platform voices support for NASA, as well as the agency's drive to return American astronauts to the moon and then get them to Mars. But it's far too early to make predictions about specific policy goals and priorities. It is worth keeping in mind, however, that new administrations often bring new space priorities with them. (8/12)