September 4, 2020

Army’s Tactical Network Team Looks to Satellites for Next Iteration of Tools (Source: C4ISRnet)
The U.S. Army’s tactical network modernization team is considering using satellite communications as a service capability for the next iteration of new network tools set for delivery in fiscal 2023. The Army’s Network Cross-Functional Team as well as Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical held a technical exchange meeting Sept. 2 to discuss with industry focus areas and goals for Capability Set ’23, the next round of new network tools the Army plans to deliver to soldiers every two years.

Col. Shane Taylor, program manager for the tactical network at PEO C3T, outlined several priority areas for his program office, including a satellite-as-a-service need that he said provides a “wide gamut of opportunity.” While Capability Set ’21 centered on delivering technology to soldiers to address immediate network gaps, Capability Set ’23 is working to increase capacity, bandwidth and resiliency of the Army’s tactical network. Satellite communications is critical to that effort, Taylor said. (9/3)

Satellogic Launches 11th Satellite to Low-Earth Orbit (Source: Space Daily)
Satellogic, the first company to develop a scalable Earth observation platform with the ability to remap the entire planet at both high-frequency and high-resolution, has announced the launch of a new spacecraft from the Guiana Space Center via a launch procured by Spaceflight, Inc. The satellite, a NewSat Mark IV, was delivered to a sun-synchronous low-Earth orbit on a Vega rocket from Arianespace at 1:51am UTC on September 3, 2020.

The launch demonstrates Satellogic's ability to adapt its satellites to different rockets and deployment systems. This mission will also allow Satellogic to test sub-meter imaging technology. Satellogic's current constellation remaps the planet at high resolution, which combined with Satellogic's low-cost offering, has opened up applications for its customers across industries. Through the refinement of sub-meter imaging, the company plans to further drive down the cost of high-frequency geospatial analytics. (9/4)

Kepler Reports Successful Launch of Third Satellite (Source: Space Daily)
Kepler's Low Earth Orbit constellation has expanded with the successful launch of its third satellite. This satellite, internally referred to as TARS, was launched onboard the Arianespace Vega SSMS (Small Spacecraft Mission Service) from the Guiana Space Centre at approximately 01:51 UTC, with communication established shortly thereafter.

Developed as part of the UK's Satellite Applications Catapult's In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) programme, IOD-5 TARS is the final pathfinding satellite launched by Kepler ahead of the deployment of their GEN1 satellites set to launch in the coming months. The satellite bus and integration work was completed in partnership with AAC Clyde Space at their facility in Scotland, with launch services provided by Innovative Space Logistics B.V (ISL). (9/4)

Space Flight Laboratory Reports Dual Launch of Atmospheric Microsats (Source: Space Daily)
Space Flight Laboratory (SFL), a developer of 52 distinct microspace missions, has announced the successful launch and deployment of the GHGSat-C1 greenhouse gas monitoring microsatellite and the Slovenian NEMO-HD Earth observation microsatellite. SFL developed the small satellites at its facility in Toronto. Both satellites were in contact with ground control within hours of their launch on September 2, 2020, aboard an Arianespace Vega rocket from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, South America. The satellites are healthy and operating as planned. (9/4)

HyperScout 2 is in Space (Source: Space Daily)
On 3 September 2020 at 03:51 CEST, a Vega launch vehicle carried two FSSCat nanosatellites into orbit, one of which houses the brand new HyperScout 2 instrument. This advanced remote sensing system has two unique aspects. Firstly, it is equipped with both a spectral channel operating at visible wavelengths and a multispectral channel operating in the thermal infrared. Secondly, it incorporates an ultra-low-power artificial intelligence accelerator to perform processing tasks that were previously only possible on the ground. (9/4)

Air Force Test-Launches Unarmed ICBM at California Spaceport (Source: Space Daily)
A test launch on Wednesday of an unarmed Minuteman III missile shows that the nuclear deterrent remains safe and reliable, the U.S. Air Force said. The Air Force Global Strike Command successfully launched the intercontinental ballistic missile, equipped with a test reentry vehicle, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The reentry vehicle traveled about 4,200 miles to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. (9/2)

Beijing Pillories Pentagon Report on Chinese Military Ambitions (Source: Space Daily)
China on Wednesday condemned a Pentagon report for claiming Beijing wants to double its stockpile of nuclear warheads within a decade as it seeks to deter the United States from any intervention linked to Taiwan. The Pentagon's annual study on China's military power issued Tuesday said it has already matched or outstripped the US military in several areas of defence. It added that the People's Liberation Army aims to be ready to win any conflict with the US over self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory. (9/2)

China Launches Military Spaceplane (Source: Space News)
China launched a secretive reusable spaceplane early Friday. A Long March 2F vehicle lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center and placed the unnamed spacecraft into orbit. Chinese state media said the launch was a success. That report said the spacecraft will test reusable space technologies while in orbit before returning to land in China. China stated in 2017 that it aimed to test a reusable spaceplane in 2020, and this may be similar to the U.S. X-37B spaceplane currently on its sixth flight. (9/4)

How a Russian Rocket Launch Failed Spectacularly In Just 118 Seconds (Source: Popular Mechanics)
Sitting in the capsule atop the Soyuz MS rocket, NASA astronaut Nick Hague is surrounded by buttons etched in Cyrillic, screens streaming data, and Russian radio chatter. To his right is cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin, from northwest Yaroslavl. Hague’s from Kansas. The unlikely pair are bound for the International Space Station with 5,600 pounds of supplies and six months’ worth of research materials. It’s launch day at Baikonur Cosmodrome in southern Kazakhstan—October 11, 2018.

The Soyuz MS-10 mission arrives amid a contentious period between the U.S. and Russia. So far in 2018, proxy soldiers of both nations have clashed in Syria, the U.S. has expelled Russian diplomats from American soil under accusation of spying, and suspicions of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election have intensified. Space travel hasn’t brought much respite. In August 2018, MS-09 sprung an air leak while connected to the ISS, through a 2mm hole in the orbital module. Russian officials speculated that one of the NASA crew members drilled the hole as an act of sabotage. Click here. (9/3)

What Makes Up a Good Space Show? (Source: The Ringer)
Away is the third TV drama in the past four years to tackle a journey to the red planet, after National Geographic’s creatively titled Mars and Hulu’s The First, both of which followed on the success of the 2015 adaptation of The Martian. In late July, Apple TV+ released the teaser for Season 2 of its alternate-history NASA drama For All Mankind, and mere weeks from now, Disney+ will debut The Right Stuff, a limited series adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book about Project Mercury.

Netflix announced Tuesday that it has tapped the Game of Thrones team of David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to adapt Liu Cixin’s Three-Body Problem series, while Phil Lord and Chris Miller are adapting lunar heist thriller Artemis—the second novel by The Martian author Andy Weir—for the screen. Factor in recent past blockbusters like Interstellar, Gravity, First Man, Hidden Figures, and Ad Astra, and it seems that if space exploration were as popular in Congress as it is in TV and movie production circles, we may have actually landed on Mars by now.

But how do you make good astronaut fiction? What goes on the checklist before a show like Away can even get off the ground, and how can such a program stand out from a constellation of others like it? Just as Newton’s three laws of motion govern actual space travel, here are four laws that ought to govern TV shows about space travel. Click here. (9/3)

NASA's Europa Clipper Will Find Out if Jupiter's Icy Moon is Habitable (Source: Astronomy)
Water. Energy. Chemistry. Europa has all the necessary ingredients for life. And unlike Mars or other potentially habitable worlds, Jupiter’s icy moon doesn’t have just a little water — it boasts twice as much of the liquid as Earth’s oceans combined. Despite Europa's deep-space locale, the moon doesn’t completely freeze because Jupiter’s hulking gravity heats up its core. As the most massive planet in the solar system, Jupiter constantly tugs on Europa, creating tides and, potentially, hydrothermal vents that can mix up life-enabling chemical cocktails below the moon's icy shell.

All that water, heat, and mixing makes Europa one of the most promising places to find alien life in our solar system. And that’s why NASA is building a dedicated mission to the ocean world called Europa Clipper. The primary goal of Europa Clipper is to find out if the moon is actually habitable. And in just a few short years, around 2023, the spacecraft will be ready for launch. So, less than a decade from now, depending on the space agency’s final rocket choice, Europa Clipper should reach its destination. (9/3)

Rocket Lab Launches Company-Built Satellite (Source: Space News)
Rocket Lab said Thursday its latest Electron launch included its first Photon satellite. The company said that it activated the Photon spacecraft, based on the rocket's kick stage, after deploying the primary payload on the Aug. 30 launch. The Photon, dubbed "First Light," is intended to test spacecraft technologies that hadn't previously flown on the kick stage, and also allow potential customers to try out the spacecraft. The company announced Photon last April as part of an effort to provide end-to-end services for customers that includes the satellite, launch and ground stations. A version of Photon will be used for launching NASA's CAPSTONE lunar cubesat mission next year, but Rocket Lab has not yet disclosed other customers for the spacecraft. (9/4)

Could SpaceX Starlink Solve Vermont’s Broadband Problem? (Source: VT Digger)
Could Vermont solve its known broadband inequality issues in a timely and cost-effective manner by leveraging SpaceX’s Starlink system? I note that North Carolina is already exploring this option. As we think about broadband solutions, we need to ask 1] what is the cost per connection? 2] When could all connections be made? 3] What is the cost per month to the end user? 4] Should broadband be infrastructure or a billable service?

I am suggesting that we look into making it very attractive to Starlink to turn on its service in Vermont in general, and the Northeast Kingdom in particular, sooner. Could we achieve this goal if we guarantee a reasonable number of takers? The state published estimates in May that about 80,000 locations have inadequate or no access to broadband. How many locations would we have to offer to be attractive to Starlink as a reasonable test? (9/3)

Slow Progress on Space Norms (Source: Space News)
Nations are making little progress in establishing rules and norms of behavior in space, according to a new report. The Center for Strategic and International Studies examined three key governance issues that it argues need more attention: orbital debris mitigation, rendezvous and proximity operations, and insurance requirements. Current national policies are "uneven and irregular" on those issues, the study found, and a lack of international norms increases the risks of collisions and puts burdens on private satellite operators. (9/4)

Starship Prototype Makes Another Texas-Sized Hop (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
A SpaceX Starship prototype made another hop Thursday afternoon. The vehicle, known as SN6, flew to an estimated altitude of 150 meters during the flight, lasting less than a minute, at SpaceX's Boca Chica, Texas, test site. The flight was similar to the one performed by another prototype, SN5, a month earlier, although SpaceX CEO Elon Musk later tweeted that Thursday's flight was a "much smoother and faster operation." The company hasn't disclosed when, or if, either SN5 or SN6 will make additional flights, with additional prototypes in development. (9/3)

Canada Appoints Lisa Campbell to Lead Space Agency (Source: Global News)
The Canadian government has selected a new leader of the Canadian Space Agency. The government announced Thursday that Lisa Campbell will start later this month as president of the agency, succeeding Sylvain Laporte, whose term ends next week. Campbell previously served as associate deputy minister of veterans affairs and worked in defense procurement. Campbell doesn't have a space background but said in an interview it was an "exciting time to be in the space field" given government and commercial activity. (9/3)

NASA Patents New Route to Moon (Source: Business Insider)
A NASA mission found a new trajectory for getting to the moon that was so innovative they patented it. The patent covers a low-energy trajectory for going from geostationary transfer orbit to lunar orbit, using the gravity of the Earth and moon to minimize the amount of propellant needed but also completing the transfer in less time than other low-energy trajectory options. The trajectory could be used by the Dark Ages Polarimeter Pathfinder, or DAPPER, a smallsat that would use the radio-quiet zone on the far side of the moon for astronomical observations. NASA patented the trajectory "to ensure access to government-funded innovations," an agency spokesperson said, with NASA charging a nominal fee to license it and similar patents. (9/3)

What Would a Biden Presidency Mean for the Space Program vs. a Second Trump Term? (Source: Florida Today)
Space might not be the hottest topic for presidential candidates to talk about when making stump speeches. Except when they come to Central Florida. Florida, with its 29 electoral college votes, is the largest swing state in the nation and is considered key to winning the White House. And with statewide elections often decided by less than a single percentage point, every vote really does matter in the Sunshine State. With the space industry a large source of high-paying jobs in Brevard County, presidential candidates often tell Space Coast voters how dedicated they are to the nation's space program.

So what would a Biden presidency actually mean for the space program vs. a second Trump term? President Trump has been a vocal advocate of the space industry since he took office in 2017. He re-launched the National Space Council, authorized the Artemis lunar mission and backed that up with proposal to increase NASA’s budget $3.3 billion dollars. And most notably, he created the Space Force as the sixth branch of the military. The Biden campaign has not released a space policy but a look at his political record gives insight to what a Biden administration would mean for space. Here is where the pair stand on some key space-related issues. Click here. (9/4)

Air Force Academy Gets New Mascot Signaling Support for Both Air and Space Force Commissioning (Source: USAFA)
The Air Force Academy's new mascot is Nova, a white falcon. "We’re excited to announce the name of our new mascot will be Nova. Nova, an exceedingly bright star, represents the future of our Academy as a commissioning source for both Air & Space Force officers." (9/2)

Gravity, Gizmos, and a Grand Theory of Interstellar Travel (Source: WIRED)
Funded by a grant from a NASA program that also supports research on far-out concepts such as inflatable telescopes and exoplanet photography, the duo has been developing what they call a Mach-effect gravitational assist (MEGA) drive, a propulsion system designed to produce thrust without propellant. Jim Woodward’s MEGA drive is different. Instead of propellant, it relies on electricity, which in space would come from solar panels or a nuclear reactor. His insight was to use a stack of piezoelectric crystals and some controversial—but he believes plausible—physics to generate thrust.

The stack of crystals, which store tiny amounts of energy, vibrates tens of thousands of times per second when zapped with electric current. Some of the vibrational frequencies harmonize as they roll through the device, and when the oscillations sync up in just the right way, the small drive lurches forward. This might not sound like the secret to interstellar travel, but if that small lurch can be sustained, a spacecraft could theoretically produce thrust for as long as it had electric power. It wouldn’t accelerate quickly, but it could accelerate for a long time, gradually gaining in velocity until it was whipping its way across the galaxy. An onboard nuclear reactor could supply it with electric power for decades. (9/3)

Space Force or Air Force-Lite? Identity Matters (Source: Military Times)
So far, much of the Space Force organizational effort has happened behind closed doors without public discussion or debate. Yet, even less forthcoming is the proposed options for America’s Space Force from Space Force senior leadership, whose silence on this subject has invited all the suggestions from experts, humorists and the general public across the inter-webs. A lively public discussion about the military is generally a positive development when important decisions are to be made, especially if the outcome could impact the American people who fund the military, but in the Space Force rank structure debate, additional context is necessary to properly frame the discussion.

First, while in the field, the Navy and Air Force work very well together, but inside the beltway they are bitter rivals. Both often feel the other has gotten the better of a resource or mission area fight. This has led to some mistrust when it comes to political and policy discussions and a sense that any statement coming out of the other service might be an information campaign trying to undermine the other. There's a second concern, that Space Force leadership is too vested in their Air Force identity. Because they have always thought of themselves as airmen and viewed the world with an airman’s perspective, it may be difficult for them to craft a new identity for military space professionals within the Space Force. This perception is made more emphatic because of the efforts of some Air Force leadership, including the former secretary, to stop the creation of Space Force. (9/3)

SpaceX Seeks FCC Broadband Funds, Must Prove it Can Deliver Sub-100ms Latency (Source: Ars Technica)
SpaceX, Charter, Verizon, CenturyLink, Frontier, Cox, and about 500 other companies are seeking government funding to provide broadband in rural areas. The Federal Communications Commission yesterday released a list of applicants for the first phase of the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF), which is set to pay up to $16 billion to Internet service providers over 10 years. SpaceX would be the first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite provider to get FCC rural-broadband funding. The RDOF and predecessor programs generally fund expansion of wired or terrestrial wireless services by paying ISPs to expand their networks into rural areas where they would not otherwise have built.

As a satellite provider, SpaceX won't need to install wires or wireless towers in any particular area. But traditional satellite providers have obtained FCC funding before despite already offering service throughout the United States. For example, the FCC's Connect America Fund last year awarded $87.1 million to satellite operator Viasat on condition that it provide service in specific parts of 17 states at lower prices and with higher data caps "than it typically provides in areas where it is not receiving Connect America Fund support."

SpaceX could follow a similar model, seeking FCC funding to offer lower-priced broadband in census blocks that lack service, meeting the FCC's speed standard of 25Mbps downloads and 3Mbps uploads. We asked SpaceX about its plans for the FCC funding today and will update this article if we get a response. SpaceX Starlink prices have not been revealed yet, so we don't know what Starlink will cost either at full price or if subsidized by FCC funding. Ookla speed tests of SpaceX's Starlink service during the current beta trials recently found download speeds of 11Mbps to 60Mbps and upload speeds of 5Mbps to 18Mbps. Another set of speed tests at TestMy.net found SpaceX averages of 39.6Mbps downstream and 10.7Mbps upstream. (9/2)

Business Students Partner with Space Florida to Boost Spaceport Revenues (Source: ERAU)
Graduate students in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s David B. O’Maley College of Business are taking a hands-on role in the exciting but complicated process of transforming the Cape Canaveral Spaceport into a hub for the emerging commercial space industry. Space Florida aims to expand and modernize the state’s space facilities, which includes several thousand acres of land, a multi-building office and manufacturing complex, a 15,000-foot-long runway and vertical launch facilities at Cape Canaveral. Primarily, the task requires identifying sources of revenue.

Vertical view of a rocket on a launch pad.In their fall 2019 analysis of Space Florida's horizontal launch and landing facility (formerly known as the Shuttle Landing Facility) at Cape Canaveral Spaceport, eight Eagles from MBA programs conducted an underlying analysis, researching and assessing a wide range of relevant factors. Those factors included national support for commercial space development, the anticipated doubling of the $360 billion space industry by 2030, local tax incentives and environmental benefits, risks and safeguards — among other considerations.

Following this comprehensive review was a comparison of rents charged by other spaceports across the nation. Securing more tenants is one way that Space Florida can finance development and modernization of the facilities, many of which were built in the 1960s or earlier. This semester’s analysis focuses on select vertical launch facilities that are operated and managed by Space Florida. The collaboration between Space Florida and Embry-Riddle came about when Dr. Janet Tinoco met two Embry-Riddle College of Business alumni — Space Florida Airfield Manager Jimmy Moffitt and Space Florida Director of Spaceport Operations Pat McCarthy — at industry meetings. (9/2)