September 11, 2020

Florida Officials Hopeful, Anxious Space Will Capture Campaign Attention (Source: SPACErePORT)
Florida's 29 Electoral College seats and large numbers of both Republican and Democratic voters make the it a battleground state for this year's Presidential campaigns. The I-4 Corridor has consistently been a key region for statewide and national campaigns, with a huge population of voters in both parties, and a broad array of industries and constituent groups. The aerospace and defense industries are key components of the I-4 Corridor economy.

With the growing national visibility of space issues, state, local, and industry officials from the Space Coast are anxious to see space emerge as a key Florida issue for the Trump and Biden campaigns during the final month leading to the election. Local leaders have typically hosted roundtable discussions with candidates for all statewide and federal offices, and they hope soon to hear from the Biden/Harris and Trump/Pence campaigns, to ensure local voters' concerns are reflected in their space policy platforms. The next crew launch may provide a perfect opportunity for the candidates or their surrogates to gain some visibility for their support to space exploration, defense, and commerce. (9/11)

Bolden Foresees End to SLS (Source: Politico)
Former NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden says ‘SLS will go away,’ regardless of who is in office in 2021, he predicts. “It could go away during a Biden administration or a next Trump administration … because at some point commercial entities are going to catch up,” he said. “They are really going to build a heavy lift launch vehicle sort of like SLS that they will be able to fly for a much cheaper price than NASA can do SLS. That’s just the way it works.” (9/11)

Bolden: Biden Administration, with Female NASA Administrator, Would Not Dramatically Change NASA Path (Source: Politico)
Joe Biden should choose a woman as the head of the space agency if he wins the White House, former NASA Administrator and astronaut Charles Bolden told us when we asked if he’d be interested in the job again. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it … but I think it’s critical to have a woman,” he said. “There are well-qualified women out there who are steeped in history in terms of their involvement with NASA or other organizations.” A woman has never held the top job at the space agency.

Bolden said he has no formal role with the BIden campaign, but he did endorse the former vice president, who he worked with as the head of the space agency from 2009 to 2017. Bolden also participated in a press call at the end of May publicized by the campaign about the Obama administration’s space achievements ahead of the historic Commercial Crew launch.

What will Biden’s space policy look like? “I would expect to not see any dramatic change to the path NASA is on,” Bolden said, contending that space goals need stable funding and vision. Biden, however, is likely to focus a bit more on Earth science and Bolden expects that studying the planet and its weather from space will play a big role in Biden’s Green New Deal plan to counter climate change. (9/11)

Bolden Wins NAA Award (Source: NAA)
Former NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has won a major award from the National Aeronautic Association. The group announced this week that Bolden is the winner of the 2020 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, given annual to a person who has provided "significant public service of enduring value to aviation" in the U.S. Bolden is a former Marine aviator and NASA astronaut who flew on four shuttle missions, and served as NASA administrator during the Obama administration. (9/11)

Raytheon to Test Commercial Satellite Broadband for DoD Aircraft (Source: Space News)
Raytheon has won a U.S. Air Force contract to test commercial satellite internet services on military aircraft. The $13 million contract is one of several awarded by the service for its program known as "defense experimentation using commercial space internet," or DEUCSI. The military wants to know if military platforms can communicate with multiple commercial space internet constellations, such as SpaceX's Starlink and SES's O3b, using common terminals. Ball Aerospace won a $9 million award for similar work last month. (9/11)

Senators Form Space Force Caucus (Source: Space News)
A bipartisan group of senators has established a Space Force Caucus to support the new service. Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) will chair the group, while Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) will be co-chairs. Cramer said in a statement that the caucus will "provide an avenue to craft bipartisan legislative ideas and further support America's newest military branch." (9/11)

Japan's First H3 Rocket Launch Slips to Spring 2021 (Source: Space News)
The first launch of Japan's H3 rocket has slipped to no earlier than the spring of next year. The Japanese space agency JAXA said Friday that a technical problem with the LE-9 engine being developed for the rocket's first stage prompted a delay in the first flight to Japanese fiscal year 2021, which begins April 1 of next year. JAXA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries had previously targeted a first flight of the rocket by the end of 2020. The H3 is a successor to, and intended to be less expensive than, the existing H-2 rocket. (9/11)

UK's Cornwall Airport May Use Spaceport Funds (Source: The Packet)
A British airport may use money set aside for spaceport activities to cover a funding shortfall. The Cornwall Council is considering using a little more than half of the £10.2 million ($13.1 million) it previously allocated to work on a spaceport at Cornwall Airport Newquay to cover a decline in revenues at the airport due to a drop in flights during the pandemic. That funding was intended to pay for infrastructure at the airport needed to support flights by Virgin Orbit's air-launch system there. Local officials said that while they still backed development of a spaceport, an "operational airport" was their top priority. (9/11)

Virgin Orbit asks OneWeb Bankruptcy Court to Mandate Payment for Canceled Launches (Source: Space News)
Virgin Orbit has asked OneWeb’s bankruptcy court to require OneWeb pay $46.3 million on a contract termination fee for 35 LauncherOne missions it canceled in 2018. Virgin Orbit sued the megaconstellation startup 15 months ago over a 2015 launch contract that called for 39 LauncherOne missions, with options for 100 more. OneWeb canceled all but four of those launches, none of which have occurred.

Virgin Orbit asserted that the cancellation triggered a $70 million termination fee, of which $46.3 million remains outstanding. OneWeb said in August 2019 that the contract allowed for termination without cause, and for prior payments — of which it made $66 million — to apply to the termination fee. (9/11)