November 2, 2020

A Dynamic ISS prepares For Its Future, and its End (Source: Space Review)
Today marks the 20th anniversary of a continuous human presence on the International Space Station, a milestone hailed by NASA and its partners. But, as Jeff Foust reports, it’s unlikely the ISS will be around for 20 more years, putting pressure on NASA and the space industry to make the transition to commercial space stations. Click here. (11/2)
 
Russia Gears Up for Electronic Warfare in Space (part 2) (Source: Space Review)
In the conclusion of his two-part study of Russian space electronic warfare efforts, Bart Hendrickx examines proposals to conduct electronic warfare from space and efforts to protect Russian satellites from such attacks. Click here. (11/2)
 
US Space Missions Require Bipartisan Support for Optimal Long-Term Success (Source: Space Review)
A potential change administrations raises questions about the future of NASA’s Artemis program and other space initiatives. Namrata Goswami says that the US needs to maintain bipartisan support for those efforts to remain competitive. Click here. (11/2)
 
The Green New Deal for Space (Source: Space Review)
A Biden Administration might push for a “Green New Deal” to combat climate change. Mike Pavelec argues that spaceflight can support those efforts by opening up access to new resources and reducing the use of greenhouse gases. Click here. (11/2)

Airbus Backs a New Space Startup (Source: Motley Fool)
The ranks of companies lining up to launch rockets into space -- and challenge incumbent rocket launchers United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, and SpaceX -- just keep growing and growing. Last week we told you about "Exolaunch," a German launch aggregator that's buying berths aboard SpaceX rockets to launch satellites for its own third-party customers. Today we'll introduce you to another German company -- and this one makes rockets in its own right: Isar Aerospace is its name, and small rockets are its game.

Germany-based Isar has just begun production of a new rocket called "Spectrum" that will be the "first privately built rocket" in Germany, marking that nation's move to "join the commercial space race." Designed to launch mostly small satellites (generally defined as 500 kg or smaller) into orbit, the 27-meter-tall Spectrum is a two-stage rocket with an impressive payload, lifting up to 1,000 kg, or one full metric ton, to Low Earth Orbit. The rocket's first stage is powered by nine internally developed Aquila engines fueled by "light hydrocarbons and liquid oxygen." Its second stage uses a tenth Aquila engine, optimized for performance in a vacuum, and capable of turning off and on multiple times.

In addition to the cash, Airbus signed a memorandum of understanding with the start-up in December to help bring Spectrum to market, and promised "to add Isar Aerospace to our global portfolio of innovative launch systems." In this regard, Isar is in a curious position. On the one hand, it's sort of competing with European space giant Arianespace -- targeting small rockets at a time when Ariane is doubling down on development of heavy rockets like its new Ariane 62. On the other hand, because Airbus is the parent company of Ariane, but also backing Isar, Europe's most important aerospace company is making sure it has a finger in every pot, and a bet placed on every horse than might possibly win the space race going forward. (10/31)

Rockets Need intelligence Booster, Say China's Engineers (Source: Space Daily)
Chinese space engineers have begun to test technologies that they hope will help to make their carrier rockets smarter. Cheng Xing, a designer at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in Beijing, said analyses on failed launch missions have shown that some of previous problems could have been prevented if the rockets involved had been more intelligent. Currently, all rockets in China fly in accordance with a preset trajectory and maneuvers, and are unable to respond to emergencies. (10/29)

Comets Had Impact in the Start of Life on Earth (Source: Space Daily)
The "Big Bang" may have started the universe but it's likely that littler bangs played a key role in life on Earth, say Albion College physics professor Nicolle Zellner and chemistry professor Vanessa McCaffrey. They (along with former student Jayden Butler, '17) share their fascinating findings on the interspace dispersal of glycolaldehyde (GLA) in an article recently published by the journal Astrobiology.

Their project, funded by NASA and conducted at the Experimental Impact Laboratory at Johnson Space Center, exposed GLA samples to impact pressures between 4.5 and 25 gigapascals-at the low end, forces far greater than the deepest ocean water pressures, or that of a piano dropped from hundreds of miles above the Earth. Albion's team discovered that GLA, a sugar important in the chemistry leading to ribose, can retain its integrity under such intense pressures. (10/30)

Colorado Partners Launch "Aerospace Alley" (Source: Aerospace Alley)
Key organizational partners across Colorado, hand in hand with some of the nation's leading aerospace and aviation companies, well-known industry personalities, and education leaders, will launch the "Aerospace Alley" initiative. This new initiative was created in an effort to celebrate the aerospace and aviation innovation underway across the State of Colorado and will focus on recruiting ambassadors and industry champions to support the growing demand for industry talent in the state. Aerospace Alley will launch with an online silent auction, now underway, a virtual presentation on Thursday, and the unveiling of a new website, www.coaerospacealley.com.

Surpassing the states of Florida and Texas, Colorado has become the nation's second largest aerospace economy, behind only California, according to the U.S. Department of Labor & Statistics. Given the vast population difference between Colorado and California, this means that Colorado now has the highest per capita aerospace industry in the nation. The total aerospace industry contributes more than $15 billion to Colorado's economy on an annual basis and is rich with opportunity for new jobs amidst the nation's now struggling economy.

"For nearly 70 years, the combination of Air Force presence, open space, high altitude, and space-related science has made Colorado an increasing hub for the nation's aerospace economy. But because of a long history of developing rocket engines, space defense tools, and GPS satellites, and because we have not served as a physical rocket launch site due to our inland geography, little is spoken about aerospace here in Colorado," said Major General John Barry. (10/26)

HeroX Helps NASA Advance Lunar Exploration With a Miniaturized Payload Prototype Challenge (Source: Space Daily)
HeroX, the world's leading platform for crowdsourced solutions, has launched the crowdsourcing competition "Honey I Built the NASA Payload, The Sequel" on behalf of the NASA Tournament Lab (NTL) and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The challenge seeks to develop miniature payload prototypes that can be sent to the Moon to help fill gaps in lunar knowledge. Lunar resources are potentially abounding, and these prototypes can also help discover some of these key resources scientists think might be on the Moon. (10/16)

China Developing Architecture for Moon Missions (Source: Space News)
China has outlined an architecture for human missions to the moon as part of plans for long-term lunar exploration. A presentation at the 2020 China Space Conference in September detailed infrastructure including a new launch vehicle, new-generation spacecraft and a lunar lander, along with a potential lunar orbit module and crewed roving vehicle. A lunar landing mission would require separate launches of a crewed spacecraft and a lunar landing stack, which would dock in lunar orbit. There is no official word from China stating that a crewed lunar landing program has been approved, and no timeline for landing people on the moon. (11/2)

Space Industry Hopeful That Ongoing Regulatory Reforms Will Continue (Source: Space News)
The space industry hopes that any change in administrations doesn't affect ongoing commercial space regulatory reforms. At a conference last week, officials praised recent milestones such as revised commercial remote sensing regulations and streamlined launch and reentry rules. However, they said there is still considerable work to do to both implement those regulations as well as work on other reforms, ranging from other FAA commercial space regulations to establishing which agency is responsible for on-orbit oversight of commercial space activities not already regulated. (11/2)

ISS Interagency Agreement to Extend to Lunar Gateway (Source: Space News)
The interagency agreement that governs the ISS is being extended to the lunar Gateway. NASA and ESA announced last week they had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) about ESA's contributions to the lunar Gateway, under which ESA will provide two Gateway modules and two Orion service modules, and in return get three "crew opportunities" for later Gateway missions. NASA is in the process of negotiating similar MOUs with Canada and Japan, with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine stating last week they're "getting close" to finalizing them. (11/2)

Russia Plans ISS Spacewalk (Source: TASS)
Russian cosmonauts are preparing for a spacewalk later this month outside the ISS. Sergei Ryzhikov and Sergei Kud-Sverchkov will perform the spacewalk Nov. 18 to perform a variety of maintenance and science activities, Roscosmos said. The spacewalk will last about six hours. (11/2)

15-Kilometer Starship Hop Coming Soon (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Elon Musk is setting modest expectations for the first high-altitude Starship test flight. SpaceX is preparing the SN8 prototype for a flight to 15 kilometers, landing back at its Boca Chica, Texas, test site. That flight is expected in the coming weeks. In tweets over the weekend, Musk said he's hoping for a "stable, controlled descent" of the vehicle, and that simply transferring propellant and relighting the vehicle's Raptor engines for a landing attempt would be a "major win." SpaceX will broadcast that flight, but he warned that "it might be quite a short livestream!" (11/2)

Taiwan May Strengthen Space Agency (Source: Taiwan News)
Taiwan is proposing to create a stronger national space agency that would oversee commercial activities. Legislation would turn the existing National Space Organization, currently within the country's Ministry of Science and Technology, into an independent agency. The new agency would be involved in satellite and launch vehicle development, and also regulate commercial launch activities. One Taiwanese startup, TiSPACE, is developing a small launch vehicle but had a launch attempt earlier this year canceled. (11/2)

Supersonic Aircraft Startup Hermeus Raises $16 Million Series A (Source: Tech Crunch)
Hermeus, a company seeking to build a Mach 5 aircraft that would be capable of making the trip from New York to London in just 90 minutes has raised a $16 million Series A round, led by Canaan Partners and including contributions from existing investors Khosla Ventures, Bling Capital and the Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. The new funding will help the startup develop and ground test its first full-scale engine, the core component that will eventually power its debut Mach 5 aircraft.

Earlier this year, Hermeus was able to successfully demonstrate a subscale engine prototype, showing that the core design of its technology performed as intended. The company now plans to turn that into a version of the engine that matches its eventual production scale and power, while simultaneously expanding the footprint of its Atlanta-based test facility to also include some light in-house manufacturing capability. It’s also going to be working to continue the design of its debut aircraft, and says it will be sharing more info about that first plane over the course of the next few months. (10/29)

How Biden and Trump Differ on Space (Source: Scientific American)
The next administration must decide whether to push on toward Trump’s goal of sending astronauts back to the moon by 2024 and then on to Mars in the 2030s under the Artemis program. Budget uncertainties and technical challenges make the deadline for a moon landing tight. The main hurdle in returning to Earth’s satellite is transportation, and NASA is developing its Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket for the mission. It is also contracting with three commercial companies to develop vehicles to touch down on the moon’s surface and then launch astronauts back to lunar orbit for the return trip.

New presidential administrations have a history of changing space-exploration plans, with the inevitable result of delaying any eventual goal by forcing NASA to change gears. Former president George W. Bush had instructed the agency to head for the moon under the Constellation program, but his successor Obama cancelled Constellation and directed NASA to make a charge for an asteroid instead. When Trump took office, the U.S. set its sights back on the moon—resulting in neither goal being achieved so far. If Trump wins again, he will presumably continue on the current course. Biden has not explicitly stated his space goals, but he might at least push back the Artemis time line, as suggested by a U.S. House bill introduced in January 2020. (10/30)

How Elon Musk Is Revolutionizing Space Force Operations (Again) (Source: Forbes)
In the 1950s, President Eisenhower began the development of the MIDAS program, a satellite constellation that would carry infrared sensors to detect hostile ICBM launches. The architecture of this nascent mission and the companies that provisioned it have continued to this day as America’s missile defense surveillance system. The companies, operating under simple cost reimbursed contracts, have diligently built and operated these exquisite systems for generations. Their biggest challenge to success became less technical over time and more focused on keeping Congressional funding to ensure sufficient funding to counter an evolving threat.

Enter Elon Musk. When DARPA first took a chance and partnered with Musk on the small Falcon 1 launch in 2007, SpaceX got its first foot through the door of the Defense Department and ultimately brought Space Force launch costs down by as much as 80%. Critics who had at one time scoffed at Musk’s often-overzealous ambitions – especially after his first few failures – are now eating their words, over a decade since NASA first inked his partnership deal. Having demonstrated his tenacity and success with rockets, Musk’s critics should be mindful as he takes on his next challenge to the status quo: the seemingly intractable missile defense architecture.

Over the course of 60 years, our legacy companies have developed and upgraded existing constellations and ground systems, per the government’s explicit direction. Through a recently awarded contract with the Space Development Agency (SDA), however, Musk is again challenging conventional wisdom with the most vital of Space Force missions. If the SDA is successful in fusing commercial industry and private capital, there is a strong likelihood for a SpaceX repeat performance. The result? A few billion dollars saved and a better positioned U.S. space economy for competition on the world stage. (10/29)

L3Harris Developing AI for Military Space Applications (Source: L3Harris)
L3Harris Technologies will help the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) develop artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) systems to help reduce the amount of time it takes to decipher usable intelligence from increasing amounts of data collected from space and airborne assets. L3Harris will research, develop and demonstrate an AI/ML interface using data science techniques under a new multimillion-dollar contract to support DOD applications. (10/26)

NanoAvionics Invests and Expands in the UK (Source: NanoAvionics)
NanoAvionics, a leading nanosatellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator, is expanding its space sector business in the United Kingdom by moving to a new, larger facility for satellite assembly, integration and testing (AIT) as well as sales, technical support and R&D activities in Basingstoke (50 miles/80 km outside Central London) this month. Having already developed a hub in Lithuania and two in the USA, the move, entirely financed by NanoAvionics, is a first step for its UK growth plans by creating jobs in the space sector and a local technology cluster with a dedicated supply chain of companies in Britain. (10/29)

Psyche, an Asteroid Believed to be Worth $10,000 Quadrillion, is Observed Through Hubble Telescope (Source: CNN)
A rare metallic asteroid about three times farther away from the sun than our planet could yield secrets about Earth's molten core, and scientists want to learn all about it. Located between Mars and Jupiter, Asteroid 16 Psyche is one of the most massive objects in the asteroid belt in our solar system, and with a diameter of about 140 miles, it is roughly the same length as Massachusetts (if you exclude Cape Cod). The exact composition of Psyche is still unclear, but scientists think it's possible the asteroid is mostly made of iron and nickel.

It's been hypothesized that a piece of iron of its size could be worth about $10,000 quadrillion, more than the entire economy on our planet. Scientists believe that Psyche could be the metallic core of an early planet that lost its mantle and crust due to collisions that might have occurred early in the formation of the solar system. The study comes as the NASA mission to Psyche, led by Arizona State University, is plugging away. "We're building space hardware and getting ready for our launch in August of 2022," said Lindy Elkins-Tanton. The mission's launch, originally slated for 2023, was moved up to 2022, and will take place from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, using a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. (11/1)

Here's How NASA Fared Under Trump (Source: CNN)
President Donald Trump ignited a months-long political battle in 2017 when he appointed Jim Bridenstine, a Republican congressman from Oklahoma, to run NASA. The space agency is typically helmed by a scientist, a former astronaut or an otherwise publicly apolitical figure, and many lawmakers, space fans and stakeholders feared that Bridenstine's appointment could irrevocably politicize NASA and its efforts to return humans to the Moon and conduct climate research. Click here. (11/2)