Businesses Now at the Center of NASA's
Transition (Source: Quartz)
A transition toward complete focus on the Artemis moon-landing program
is what NASA would like, but moving on it won’t be simple, and not only
because Boeing is still working to deliver the spacecraft it owes NASA
as part of the commercial crew program. Unlike NASA’s partnerships with
private companies to replace the Space Shuttle, Artemis isn’t obviously
time sensitive (whereas every year without access to the International
Space Station meant waste); it’s definitely not cheap; and it doesn’t
help the US save face with the Russians, on whom the Americans had
become embarrassingly dependent for access to low-earth orbit, and
paying out the nose for the privilege, until SpaceX came along.
However Artemis proceeds, it is clear that the mode of space
exploration has changed permanently. Trump’s commentary on NASA was
posted over a video not of a NASA activity, but of SpaceX’s newest
Starship prototype taking its first short hop. While technically a
NASA-funded project, Starship never would have made it off a NASA
whiteboard. The ability of private companies to carry humans into orbit
as effectively as governments will increasingly put businesses at the
center of space activity. (8/6)
SES Picks Both SpaceX and ULA for
Satellite Launches (Source: Space News)
SES awarded contracts to SpaceX and ULA for the launch of new C-band
satellites. Under the contracts announced Wednesday, ULA will launch
two satellites built by Boeing on a single Atlas 5 in 2022, while
SpaceX will launch two satellites built by Northrop Grumman on a Falcon
9 rocket the same year. SpaceX's contract includes an option for
launching an additional "contingency satellite" not yet ordered. SES
emphasized its decision to procure exclusively U.S.-built satellites
and rockets, as the cost for both will be covered by winning bidders of
the FCC's December C-band spectrum auction. (8/6)
China Launches Imaging Satellite
(Source: Xinhua)
China launched a new Earth imaging satellite overnight. A Long March 2D
rocket lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at 12:01
a.m. Eastern Thursday and placed the Gaofen-9 04 satellite into orbit.
The satellite is the latest in a series to provide high-resolution
imagery. The launch also carried a small secondary payload from
Tsinghua University called Q-SAT that is described as a gravity and
atmospheric science satellite. (8/6)
Space Force Plans Portfolio of
Smallsat and Commercially Developed Capabilities (Source: Space
News)
Much of the U.S. Space Force's future space infrastructure will be
commercially developed. Col. Russell Teehan, portfolio architect of the
U.S. Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, outlined an
operational architecture that has three key parts: space superiority,
strategic effects, and theater effects. The center plans to fund
technology demonstrations for key elements of that architecture, which
Teehan said will include many opportunities for smallsats, including
those developed commercially. (8/6)
NanoAvionics Triples Revenue
(Source: Space News)
Smallsat manufacturer NanoAvionics says its revenue has tripled in the
last year. The company, headquartered in Lithuania and with facilities
in the United States, did not disclose specific revenue numbers but
announced orders so far this year from British space video startup Sen,
a consortium of Dutch and Norwegian government agencies and Thales
Alenia Space. NanoAvionics also announced it is expanding its product
line to provide "full control" of the overall development of its
customers' satellites. (8/6)
California Seeks to Expand Commercial
Operations at Vandenberg Spaceport (Source: Space News)
California is seeking to expand commercial launch activity at
Vandenberg Air Force Base. State officials announced Wednesday an
agreement with the Space Force and others to improve commercial space
launch infrastructure at the base. Under the agreement, the
organizations will develop a master plan for increasing commercial
launch activity at the spaceport. The announcement didn't include any
specific funding commitments by the state, Space Force or others
regarding spaceport infrastructure. Click here.
(8/6)
ATLAS Wins NASA SBIR Phase II for
Constellation Management (Source: Space Newsfeed)
ATLAS Space Operations) ATLAS Space Operations has been selected by
NASA for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II award to
further the development of an algorithmic solution to develop satellite
ground station contact schedules designed to optimize ground station
antenna usage around a customer’s mission requirements. ATLAS’ intent
is to provide this unique ability to satellite communications ground
antenna owners, enabling automated analysis of a mission’s requirements
and providing intelligent satellite communications schedules on a
lights-out basis. (8/3)
Smallsat Reliability Improves
(Source: Space News)
The reliability of smallsats is improving even as the number of such
satellites continues to increase. An Aerospace Corporation study found
that 87% of smallsats launched between 2009 and 2018 that had completed
their missions had done so successfully, with higher success rates for
satellites launched in the latter half of the study. Smallsats that do
fail tend to do so in the first months after launch, with power and
communications malfunctions the leading causes. (8/6)
ExoTerra to Expand Production of
Smallsat Propulsion Units (Source: Space News)
Smallsat propulsion company ExoTerra Resources is preparing to
quadruple production capacity to meet government and commercial demand.
The company is moving into a new, larger facility in September that
will allow it to produce 200 propulsion units a year. ExoTerra has
grown rapidly in the last year, nearly doubling its staff to 35 people.
It has won awards from the U.S. Air Force and NASA, including one from
NASA for a miniature solar electric propulsion system. (8/6)
Interplanetary Cubesats: Difficult But
Not Impossible (Source: Space News)
Two cubesats that successfully flew to Mars demonstrated that
interplanetary cubesats are possible, but not easy. The twin Mars Cube
One (MarCO) cubesats accompanied the InSight Mars lander spacecraft and
flew past Mars, relaying data from InSight as it landed. Cubesats have
the advantage of being cheaper to build than traditional larger science
spacecraft, but those being used for deep space missions require more
durable components than cubesats flown in low Earth orbit. Those
challenges, though, have not deterred other missions under development
at NASA and ESA to send cubesats to the moon and asteroids. (8/6)
Should South Korea Pursue a Launch
Capability? (Source: Korea Times)
A new agreement with the U.S. could help South Korea's space program,
but the country still faces other obstacles to its space ambitions. An
agreement with the U.S. on missile guidelines will allow South Korea to
develop larger solid-fuel motors that the country's government says
could be used for future launch vehicles. However, others in the
country's space industry say that South Korea is unlikely to be able to
compete on the global launch market, and would be better off launching
its satellites on foreign vehicles. [Korea Times]
Rideshare Available on Russian Lunar
Mission (Source: Space News)
GK Launch Services is offering a smallsat rideshare opportunity on a
Russian lunar mission. The company says it is selling space for
secondary payloads on the Soyuz-2 launch of the Luna-Glob lunar lander
mission, scheduled for October 2021. Secondary payloads launched on
that mission would be placed in Earth escape trajectories. The company
didn't disclose the cost of that launch opportunity, or rideshare
missions on other Soyuz missions, other than to say they were
"competitive" with SpaceX. (8/6)
Air Force Lab Prepares to Spend
Billions on New Tech (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Air Force Research Laboratory has organized its first WARTECH
summit to help the lab prioritize the development of promising
technologies. The Air Force's Science and Technology Strategy 2030
calls for 20% of the lab's annual budget to be allocated toward
"transformational capabilities." (8/5)
A Hypersonic Air Force One?
(Source: Aerospace America)
Startup Hermeus aims to show how its planned Mach 5 airliners could
carry the U.S. president, diplomats, others. Today, the president of
the United States and other high-ranking officials fly from here to
there no faster than you and I do. Now, the U.S. Air Force, which
manages today’s executive fleet of converted Boeing, Bombardier and
Gulfstream jets, is looking into the feasibility of adding a Mach 5
plane to the mix.
Hermeus Corp. of Atlanta, a 2-year-old startup, announced today that it
has received a 12-month, $1.5 million contract from the Air Force
Presidential and Executive Airlift Directorate to study how its
conceptual Mach 5 planes might someday join the U.S. government’s
fleet. Hermeus has so far targeted the civilian air transport market.
(8/6)
Manufacturers Worry About Smallsats
Getting Too Hot (Source: Space News)
As small satellites become more powerful, manufacturers say they need
better ways to manage excess heat generated by their electronics
systems. Small satellites are increasingly handling more data, be it
collecting remote sensing imagery or routing traffic for ground-based
sensors and smart devices. Planet’s optical-imaging cubesats increased
in onboard memory from 16 gigabytes a satellite eight years ago to 2
terabytes in 2020, a 125-fold increase, Chester Gillmore, Planet vice
president of spacecraft development and manufacturing, said
Tim Lynch, executive director of the Space and Airborne Systems
Multi-Domain Architecture Group within L3Harris Technologies, said
power-intensive spacecraft functions, such as high-data-rate
communications can generate a lot of unwanted heat. “We’ve built
electronics packaging in very small volumes and getting the heat out is
tough,” he said. “Thermal management is a big deal.” Manufacturers and
their suppliers are developing new ways to deal with unwanted heat on
smallsats. Atlanta, Georgia startup Carbice anticipates seeing
satellites launch this year with its new nanotech carbon fiber thermal
management material onboard. (8/6)
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