August 4, 2020

Swarm to Launch 24 Satellites on Falcon 9 (Source: Space News)
Swarm Technologies signed a deal with Exolaunch to launch 24 of its satellites on a Falcon 9. Exolaunch will arrange the launch of the SpaceBee satellites on a Falcon 9 mission launching in December under terms of a contract announced Monday. Earlier this year, Exolaunch announced an agreement with SpaceX to send multiple small satellites into orbit on the December rideshare flight. Swarm is planning a constellation of 150 such satellites, each one-quarter the size of a single-unit cubesat, to offer internet-of-things services. (8/4)

Momentus Offers Hosted Payload Services (Source: Space News)
In-space transportation startup Momentus plans to offer hosted payload services. The company announced Monday it will offer space for technology demonstrations, qualification missions and short-term demonstrations in its Vigoride transfer vehicle. Those experiments can be carried out once the Vigoride completes its primary mission of deploying satellites into their final orbits after launch on rideshare missions. Momentus purchased rides on five SpaceX Falcon 9 smallsat rideshare missions in 2020 and 2021. (8/4)

NRO Plans Increased Use of Smallsats (Source: Space News)
The director of the National Reconnaissance Office says his agency plans to make increasing use of small satellites. In a keynote at the 34th Small Satellite Conference this week, Chris Scolese said the NRO sees cubesats as both a way to develop technologies as well as to carry out intelligence missions. The availability of low cost small satellites and launch services allows the agency to put up more technologies in space "to research future mission capabilities," said Scolese, who also noted the NRO's interest in buying more commercial data. (8/4)

Swamp Watch: White House Withdraws FCC Commissioner Nomination (Source: Space News)
The White House has withdrawn the nomination of FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly for a second term. The administration didn't give a reason for its decision Monday to withdraw the nomination, which was pending confirmation in the full Senate. While Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, had placed a hold on the nomination to force O'Rielly to vote to rescind the FCC's approval of Ligado's 5G network that could interfere with GPS, sources say the withdrawal is not related to that issue. O'Rielly was the most vocal FCC commissioner on the topic of C-band, having pushed satellite operators to give up more of the spectrum for 5G cellular services. (8/4)

'Save Space Camp' Drive Pulls In More Than $1 Million in Days After Pandemic Losses Threaten Closure (Source: WESH)
A fundraising drive launched to help the U.S. Space and Rocket Center and Space Camp through the coronavirus pandemic has pulled in more than $1.1 million in just a few days. The online effort that began Tuesday had brought in nearly $620,000 by Friday afternoon, and officials said Boeing contributed another $500,000. That brings total donations to nearly 75% of the $1.5 million that officials say is needed to keep the operation going after stiff losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The center is in danger of closing its doors for good because of coronavirus pandemic's financial hits. The museum in Huntsville, Alabama, which houses the legendary Saturn V rocket, is usually the state's top paid tourist attraction. But since the pandemic began, it has lost two-thirds of its revenue. More than 6,000 people and corporations worldwide have contributed to the fundraising drive, museum officials said in an announcement. (8/4)

Canadian Space Agency Awards $7.15 Million in Technology Contracts (Source: SpaceQ)
In just over the last month the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has awarded $20.6 million in contributions as part of the Space Technology Development Program (STDP) AO 6. The third, and most recent list of awards was posted to their website yesterday. The contributions went to 20 different companies with more than half going to small businesses, including several first time winners, and for some very interesting technologies. (8/4)

Loft Orbital to Fly Canadian Quantum Communications Satellite (Source: Space News)
Loft Orbital on Aug. 4 announced a contract to provide the spacecraft platform and arrange a launch for a Canadian quantum communications experiment. Loft Orbital signed the contract with Honeywell, the prime contractor for the Canadian Space Agency’s Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite mission, or QEYSSat for short. The terms of the contract were not disclosed. (8/4)

Space Catalog to Add RVS Thermal Vacuum Systems and YURI Microgravity Hardware (Source: Orbital Transports)
Rydberg Vacuum Sciences (RVS) today announced that they have joined the Orbital Transports partner network and will offer their 6UB and 6UC Thermal Vacuum Systems product line in the Space Catalog. RVS Thermal Vacuum Systems provides space simulation systems of exceptional value for flight qualification of small satellites and components. The advanced and affordable thermal vacuum bake-out and thermal vacuum cycling products are designed specifically for the small satellite community, providing a standard test platform sufficient for nanosatellites up to 6U in size.

Also, yuri GmbH announced today that they have joined the Orbital Transports partner network and will offer their modular experiment hardware and services for microgravity research through the Space Catalog. yuri offers a growing portfolio of off-the-shelf, flight-proven, reusable modules suitable for conducting microgravity experiments ranging from growing cell cultures in three dimensions and studying protein crystallization, to understanding fluid dynamics and interfacial phenomenon in the absence of gravity. (8/4)

Captured Flag (Source: Space Review)
On Sunday afternoon, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft completed its Demo-2 mission with a splashdown that successfully returned two NASA astronauts to Earth. Jeff Foust reports on the end of a mission that was a long-awaited milestone for NASA’s commercial crew program. Click here. (8/3)
 
How the “Department of Exploration” Supports Mars 2020 and More (Source: Space Review)
NASA’s Mars 2020 mission that launched last week included a role for the Department of Energy, both for the rover’s power supply and its instruments. Paul Dabbar explains how his department supports Mars 2020 and other space science and exploration missions. Click here. (8/3)
 
Propelling Perseverance: The Legacy of Viking is Helping NASA Get to Mars (Source: Space Review)
NASA’s latest mission to Mars has an unexpected link to the first NASA mission to land on the planet nearly 45 years ago. Joe Cassady describes how a thruster used on Viking is still in demand on Mars missions today. Click here. (8/3)
 
Mars Race Rhetoric (Source: Space Review)
The wave of missions launched to Mars in recent weeks have led some to claim there’s a new “race” involving the Red Planet. Ajey Lele argues that the countries embarking on Mars missions are doing so for different reasons and with different capabilities that rules out any real competition. Click here. (8/3)

Exim Bank Guarantee Helps Support Florida Jobs with Embraer (Source: AIN Online)
Embraer has received a $97.2 working capital loan guarantee from the US Export Import Bank to help support 800 US jobs. "With [the] unanimous board action supporting 800 jobs, many of which are in Florida, Exim proudly reaffirms our dedication to American businesses and workers in overcoming the economic challenges posed by the unprecedented global pandemic," said Exim President and Chairman Kimberly Reed. (7/31)

Ice Sheets, Not Rivers, Carved Valleys on Mars, Study Says (Source: UPI)
The majority of Mars' valleys were carved by ice sheets, not flowing rivers, calling the Red Planet's supposed warm, watery past into question, according to new research. "Valley networks on Mars have historically been interpreted as surface water flows, either sourced by surface liquid water or by ground water," says study lead author Anna Grau Galofre. "The problem is that there are thousands of them and they all have very different morphologies," said Grau Galofre, former doctoral student in the department of earth, ocean and atmospheric sciences at the University of British Columbia. (8/3)

Virgin Galactic Delays SpaceShipTwo Commercial Flights to 2021 (Source: Space News)
Virgin Galactic has pushed the beginning of commercial flights of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle to no earlier than the first quarter of 2021 while announcing plans to sell additional stock to raise money. The company, in its fiscal second quarter financial results released Aug. 3, said it expected to perform two more test flights of SpaceShipTwo from Spaceport America in New Mexico, both of which will be powered flights. The vehicle has made two glide flights since moving to the spaceport early this year.

The first of those powered flights, scheduled for the fall, will have two pilots on board. It will also carry payloads for NASA’s Flight Opportunities program that arranges flights of experiments on suborbital vehicles, said George Whitesides, chief space officer and former chief executive of Virgin Galactic, in a company earnings call. (8/3)

Virgin Galactic Announces Proposed Public Offering of Common Stock (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Virgin Galactic Holdings announced today that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of 20,489,977 shares of its common stock, for expected gross proceeds of approximately $460 million. All of the shares in the offering will be sold by Virgin Galactic. In addition, Virgin Galactic expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 3,073,496 shares of its common stock in the offering. The proposed offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering. (8/3)

Surprising Number of Exoplanets Could Host Life (Source: Space Daily)
Our solar system has one habitable planet - Earth. A new study shows other stars could have as many as seven Earth-like planets in the absence of a gas giant like Jupiter. This is the conclusion of a study led by UC Riverside astrobiologist Stephen Kane. The search for life in outer space is typically focused on what scientists call the "habitable zone," which is the area around a star in which an orbiting planet could have liquid water oceans - a condition for life as we know it. Kane had been studying a nearby solar system called Trappist-1, which has three Earth-like planets in its habitable zone. (8/3)

Breakthrough Method for Predicting Solar Storms (Source: Space Daily)
Extensive power outages and satellite blackouts that affect air travel and the internet are some of the potential consequences of massive solar storms. These storms are believed to be caused by the release of enormous amounts of stored magnetic energy due to changes in the magnetic field of the sun's outer atmosphere - something that until now has eluded scientists' direct measurement. Researchers believe this recent discovery could lead to better "space weather" forecasts in the future. (7/30)

UK Claims Russia Has 'Reignited' Space Arms Race, But Ignores US Spending Spree (Source: Sputnik)
Last week, the US's new Space Force accused Russia of testing an anti-satellite weapon from one of its orbiting satellites. The Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed the claims as "propaganda," and urged "our US and British colleagues to show professionalism" and "sit down for talks." Russia's alleged July 15 satellite weapons test is responsible for reigniting fears of a new space-based arms race, The Financial Times has reported, citing US officials and Washington-based think tank analysts.

"To be clear, Moscow and Beijing have already turned space into a warfighting domain," Christopher Ford, assistant secretary as the State Department's Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation," was quoted as saying. Calling Russia "the most prominent space mischief-maker right now," Ford alleged that last month's alleged test was Moscow's second recent space-based projectile-firing satellite weapons trial following a similar reported test earlier this year.

UK Space Directorate chief Air Vice-Marshal Harvey Smyth chimed in to echo US concerns, suggesting that Russian actions like the alleged satellite weapons test "threaten the peaceful use of space" and could lead to debris damaging nearby satellites. Moscow has rejected the allegations regarding the alleged weapons test, with the Foreign Ministry urging Washington and London to come to the negotiating table for talks, and the Kremlin emphasizing that Russia remains committed to the full demilitarization of space. (8/3)

Iranian Satellite Once Derided as 'Tumbling Webcam in Space' Snaps Pics of US's Largest Mideast Base (Source: Sputnik)
The images were reportedly obtained amid the ongoing massive war games in southern Iran involving multiple branches of the armed forces, including elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) formations. The IRGC has released detailed images of Al-Udeid Air Base - the Qatar-based home of the US military's Central Command, with the snaps taken by Iran's new domestically-developed 'Noor' (Light) military satellite.

The images include several detailed snaps of the airbase itself, with the pictures apparently taken during various intervals, based on the changing positions of aircraft on runways. One of the images appears to be an infrared view showing heat signatures emitted by aircraft and the nearby facilities. Al-Udeid is the US's largest military base in the Middle East, with as many as 11,000 personnel permanently stationed at the facility at any one time, and the base used to direct US military operations across the region. (8/3)

Small Launch IndustrySees Pandemic, Government Affecting Market (Source: Space News)
Executives with several major small launch vehicle companies say both the economic repercussions of the pandemic and the growing interest by the U.S. government in such vehicles could reshape the industry. During an Aug. 3 SpaceNews panel discussion associated with the online version of the annual Small Satellite Conference, Dan Hart, president and chief executive of Virgin Orbit, said he believed the pandemic may accelerate a long-awaited shakeout of the industry, where dozens of companies are pursuing vehicles.

“This is a developing market area, and it’s messy. I think COVID is amplifying the dynamics,” he said. “We’re seeing winners and we’re seeing people fall out and we’re seeing reinventions, in some cases, of concepts.” Interest in small satellites is growing, he noted, particularly by government agencies. “That said, we’re not going to have a hundred healthy small launch providers launching on a frequent basis,” he said. “There will be a shakeout.” (8/4)

West Point Offering Space Education (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Army is expanding space education programs at West Point. The academy started a new space-focused program and graduated its first cadets with degrees in space science this year, part of efforts to encourage more officers to pursue space operations. Many West Point graduates go on to join the Army's cadre of space operations officers after serving in their core branch like armor, infantry, aviation or engineers. (8/4)

Ball Aerospace Proves Green Propellant on Satellite (Source: Space News)
Ball Aerospace is wrapping up a satellite mission to test a green propellant. The Green Propellant Infusion Mission satellite, built by Ball for NASA, proved that the new fuel, called AF-M315E, could be used to fly a satellite. AF-M315E is a higher performance fuel than hydrazine that is also nontoxic. The satellite launched last summer on the STP-2 Falcon Heavy mission and, with the tests complete, controllers are lowering the satellite's orbit for reentry late this summer. (8/4)

Cubesat Demonstrates Atmospheric Monitoring (Source: Space News)
A cubesat launched earlier this year is demonstrating an instrument to be flown on a later NASA mission. The Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (HARP) cubesat was deployed from the International Space Station in February and is collecting data on cloud and aerosol particles. The Space Dynamics Lab, which built the three-unit cubesat, says the mission demonstrates that cubesats can perform useful work in the Earth sciences. A version of the HARP instrument will be flown on NASA's PACE Earth science mission launching in late 2022. (8/4)

Made In Space Explores Military Work (Source: Space News)
Made In Space is emphasizing national security applications for its in-space robotic assembly and additive manufacturing technologies. The company is best known for working with NASA to demonstrate those technologies, but is also working with DARPA to convert a payload adapter after launch into a structure for a phased array radar. The company also expects the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command to be receptive to its technologies. (8/4)

France's Mecano ID to Develop Small Satellite Deployer for CNES (Source: Space News)
French company Mecano ID has won government support to accelerate development of a small satellite deployer. The EOS deployer, developed with support from the French space agency CNES, is designed to accommodate satellites weighing 15 to 60 kilograms. The company received in July an undisclosed amount of funding from the French General Secretariat for Investment's Future Investment Program, an initiative aimed at encouraging innovative and promising projects. (8/4)