September 16, 2020

Georgia Spaceport Opponents Concerned by Astra Failure (Source: Spaceport Facts)
Last Friday, Astra's third launch from Kodiak crashed when its guidance control failed, the engines flamed-out and the rocket tumbled to earth, exploding on impact BEHIND the launch pad. The spaceport and the FAA have kept the exact location of the impact a secret. Why? Astra has had 3 rockets explode after 3 launches for a 100% failure rate. One additional Astra rocket was destroyed on the launch pad during a fueling test fire. That makes them ZERO successful launches for all attempts. Astra is a prospective user for Spaceport Camden. Camden County proposes to put out rocket fires like this on our off-shore islands using an ATV towing a 500 gallon water tank (20 minute supply) that's refilled from a well.

For two years, the FAA has stonewalled FOIA requests for information they have accumulated about debris fields within 10 miles of the launch pad. It's likely they don't have the data because most debris falls into the ocean. They just do not know how much stuff has fallen four to 10 miles downrange, and how much of that debris was on fire. There have been a total of 14 orbital launches of small class liquid-fueled rockets. The FAA is being rushed to approve Spaceport Camden but recent launches from Kennedy Space Center, Kodiak, and Wallops have been postponed or canceled due to the intrusion of a single boat in the downrange hazard zone many miles downrange. (9/16)

SpaceX Wants to Test Starlink on its Fleet of Ships (Source: CNBC)
SpaceX plans to further expand testing of the Starlink satellite internet network it is building, with the company wanting to begin demonstrations using its oceangoing fleet of vessels. Elon Musk’s space company on Tuesday asked the FCC if it can add to its boats 10 Starlink user terminals, which are the small devices on the ground that connect to the network. SpaceX operates several ships, most of which focus on recovering its capsules, rocket boosters and rocket nosecones after missions. (9/16)

'Venus is a Russian Planet': Russian Space Agency Announces National Effort to Explore Earth's Twin (Source: Euro News)
Russia has announced an intention to independently explore Venus a day after scientists said there was a gas that could be present in the planet's clouds due to single-cell microbes. The head of Russia's space corporation Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, told reporters that they would initiate a national project as "we believe that Venus is a Russian planet," according to the TASS news agency.

In a statement, Roscosmos noted that the first missions to explore Venus were carried out by the Soviet Union. "The enormous gap between the Soviet Union and its competitors in the investigation of Venus contributed to the fact that the United States called Venus a Soviet planet," Roscosmos said. The Russians claim to have extensive material that suggests that some objects on the Venusian surface have changed places or could be alive, although these are hypotheses that have yet to be confirmed.

The national project would be in addition to the "Venera-D" project that the Russians are working on with NASA. Early reports suggested that Russia planned to cut all international partners on its Venus exploration project after Roscosmos said they would limit "international cooperation" in the Venera-D project. But later, Russian media reported that Roscosmos would launch a separate "national independent project" exploring Venus. (9/15)

Netflix Delves Into the ‘Human Side’ of Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Many Americans have vivid memories of Jan. 28, 1986. That was the day the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded over a chilly Florida, just seconds after liftoff. School children across the country had tuned in to see Christa McAuliffe become the first teacher in space. One person watching was Steven Leckart, a space-obsessed elementary school kid. Like everyone else, he was shocked by the blast and felt the slow, sickening realization that all seven aboard were gone.

The series airs just as space exploration has returned to America’s consciousness. In May, Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched astronauts into orbit from home soil for the first time in nearly a decade. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic also plan trips to space. “We are going to be going further in space and we’re going to be taking more risk. So the time is right to remind people of what can go wrong,” Zipper said. The series has lessons for any complex organization, especially how red flags are handled, the necessity to slow the process down when necessary and the need to have both transparency and clear decision-making. (9/16)

Space Force Warns of Continuing Resolution's Impact on Funding Transfers (Source: Space News)
The head of the U.S. Space Force says a long-term continuing resolution would pose problems for the new service. In a speech Tuesday, Gen. John "Jay" Raymond said a CR that extended into next year "won't be good for our service" because it could prevent the transfer of billions of dollars from the Air Force planned for fiscal year 2021. The White House has proposed an "anomaly," or change, to the CR to allow such transfers to take place, but it's not clear if Congress will go along with that. Congress is expected to pass a CR to fund the federal government from the start of the 2021 fiscal year Oct. 1 though at least the election, and perhaps as late as December. (9/16)

Dynetics Plans Rapid Launches (on Vulcan Centaur) and In-Space Refueling for Lunar Lander (Source: Space News)
Dynetics plans to use in-space refueling, and a rapid sequence of launches, for the lunar lander it's developing for the Artemis program. Company executives said in a webinar Tuesday that the Human Landing System (HLS) lander it is designing would launch on one ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket. Two more Vulcan launches would then transfer propellant to the lander to enable it to transport astronauts to and from the lunar surface. Those launches would be spaced two to three weeks apart. In-space refueling using cryogenic propellants is a new technology, but the company said it's confident it will mature it in time for the Artemis 3 mission in 2024. Dynetics also unveiled a full-scale mock-up of the lander that it will use for testing, such as to determine placement of equipment within its crew cabin. (9/16)

Air Force Research Laboratory’s NTS-3 Satellite to Launch on ULA’s Vulcan (Source: Space News)
An experimental navigation satellite will launch on a ULA Vulcan Centaur in 2022. The Navigation Technology Satellite-3 will be one of the payloads on the USSF-106 mission that was awarded to ULA last month when the company was selected as one of two National Security Space Launch Phase 2 winners. The 1,250-kilogram satellite is being built by L3Harris under an $84 million contract the Air Force Research Lab awarded the company in December 2018. The satellite, operating in GEO, will demonstrate next-generation technologies such as phased array antennas, flexible and secure signals and reprogrammable systems. (9/15)

Chinese Company May Have Tried to Steal ULA Tech (Source: Space News)
ULA says a Chinese company tried to infiltrate its supply chain. ULA CEO Tory Bruno said Tuesday that a supplier of software used in machine tools at its Alabama factory turned out to be partially owned by Chinese interests. Bruno said he doesn't believe that company was able to obtain any sensitive information, but sees it as a sign of growing Chinese efforts to gain access to sensitive technologies. Like all defense contractors, ULA has to ask all its suppliers to certify their ownership and identify their shareholders, and Bruno says those "not up to snuff" either have to make changes or be replaced. (9/16)

Satellite operator Avanti is looking for more customers for its underutilized fleet of communications satellites and hosted payloads. Avanti CEO Kyle Whitehill said that the company has cut operating costs by shedding 25% of staff since delisting from the London Stock Exchange a year ago. That and other streamlining efforts enabled the company to lower capacity prices and compete more effectively across its primary markets of Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He said that if the company can get the fill rate on its existing fleet to the "industry norm" of 70-80% it will then consider buying new small GEO satellites. (9/16)

OHB Tapped to Develop ESA Planetary Defense Spacecraft (Source: Space News)
OHB will build a spacecraft for an ESA planetary defense mission. The German company signed a $153 million contract with ESA Tuesday to build the Hera spacecraft to launch in 2024. Hera will fly to the near Earth asteroid Didymos to study the asteroid and its moon, Dimorphos, which is the target of NASA's DART mission to test asteroid deflect technologies. DART, launching next year, will collide with Dimorphos in October 2022 to test how that impact can change the moon's orbit. (9/16)

Polar Launches From Cape Canaveral Spaceport Won’t Affect Future of Vandenberg (Source: Space News)
The Space Force still plans to use Vandenberg Air Force Base for polar launches even after a successful polar launch from Cape Canaveral. At an FAA advisory committee meeting this week, Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt congratulated SpaceX for its Falcon 9 launch last month from the Cape that placed a satellite into polar orbit, the first polar mission from the Cape in more than 50 years. Burt, though, said that proof-of-concept would not alter the Space Force's use of Vandenberg for polar launches, saying the site offers "a capability today that cannot be fully replicated." Burt also emphasized efforts by the Space Force to increase the launch capacity at Cape Canaveral through the use of new technologies like autonomous flight safety systems. (9/16)

Orbion to Supply Thrusters for Blue Canyon's DARPA Blackjack Satellites (Source: Space News)
Orbion will provide electric thrusters for smallsats Blue Canyon Technologies is building for a DARPA program. The thrusters will be used in four satellites Blue Canyon is making for the Blackjack program. Blue Canyon selected Orbion, a startup developing Hall-effect thrusters, because it offered the most reliable solution for the price. Orbion says it has other customers for its thrusters, but the only one it disclosed is AST & Science, a company developing a LEO constellation to provide 4G and 5G cellular coverage. (9/16)

NASA/NOAA Predict Next Solar Maximum in Mid 2025 (Source: New York Times)
The next peak in solar activity should be relatively mild, scientists predict. NASA and NOAA announced Tuesday that the next 11-year solar cycle, known as Cycle 25, started last December when the sun reached its minimum of solar activity. Cycle 25 should peak in mid-2025 and will be about as strong as the last cycle, which saw a below-normal level of solar activity. (9/16)

SoCal Wildfire Threatens Mt. Wilson Observatory (Source: LA Times)
A wildfire in Southern California is threatening a historic observatory. On Tuesday, a fire known as the Bobcat Fire approached within 150 meters of Mt. Wilson, site of an observatory home to a telescope that was the world's largest for several decades in the early 20th century. Firefighters concentrated resources to protect both the observatory and a nearby complex of communications towers on the mountain, just north of Pasadena. (9/16)

JAXA Selects Next Target for Hayabusa2 Asteroid Probe (Source: Asahi Shimbun)
The Japanese space agency JAXA has selected the next target for its Hayabusa2 mission. The spacecraft will fly by Earth in December, releasing a capsule containing samples from the asteroid Ryugu that will land in Australia. The main spacecraft will continue on, headed for the small asteroid 1998 KY26. The spacecraft won't reach the 30-meter-wide asteroid until 2031. (9/16)

Spain's PLD Space Secures Financing (Source: Space Daily)
Spanish reusable launch vehicle developer PLD Space has announced the closure of further financing through a tie-up with independent financial advisory and alternative asset management group Arcano Partners. The 7M euro venture will fund the buildout of the PLD Space aerospace project in a deal forming part of its Series B investment round.

PLD Space, based out of Elche (Spain) and founded in 2011, is currently developing the MIURA 5 orbital launcher to provide a commercial launch service to the small satellite industry. As a technological and operational demonstrator, PLD Space is set to fire the suborbital rocket MIURA 1 to power the in-flight validation of the technologies needed to move forward with MIURA 5. (9/16)

US to Stop Using Russian Rocket Engine RD-180 in Mid-2020s Says ULA (Source: Space Daily)
US company United Launch Alliance (ULA) plans to end operation of the Atlas-5 launch vehicle with the Russian RD-180 engine in the mid-2020s, Julie Arnold, an ULA spokeswoman, told Sputnik. The RD-180 engine is manufactured at the Energomash rocket engine manufacturer (an enterprise of Russian state space corporation Roscosmos) and is used in the first stage of the Atlas-5 rocket. ULA provides launch services with Atlas-5.

According to Energomash, 116 RD-180 engines have been sent to the United States, of which 91 have already been used. In 2020, delivery of six more RD-180s is expected. The United States is developing a Vulcan launch vehicle to replace the Atlas-5, the first stage of which will be equipped with the BE-4 engines by Blue Origin. (9/16)