December 22, 2020

Japan’s Office of National Space Policy signs historic MOU with the U.S. Space Force (Source: USSF)
The U.S. Space Force and Japan’s Office of National Space Policy signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding this week to launch two U.S. payloads on Japan’s Quasi Zenith Satellite System. The Department of the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center is developing the payloads, which feature Space Domain Awareness optical sensors and will launch from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center in 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Enhancing Space Domain Awareness is essential to protect the space operations of the U.S, Japan, and other partners. A secure, stable, and accessible space domain is critical to our national security, the health of our respective economies, and enables scientific endeavors which provide environmental benefits. Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett hailed the agreement. (12/18)

German Regulator Allocates Frequencies to SpaceX for Starlink Satellite System (Source: TelecomPaper)
The regulator has created the legal framework to provide broadband internet via satellite in Germany, said agency president Jochen Homann. The Starlink satellite system enables satellite-based broadband internet services, including secure connections (VPN) to the home office and remote access (remote desktop), with similar latency as terrestrial networks. There are currently around 800 Starlink satellites in orbit. (12/21)

SpaceX Falcon 9 Ends Year as the Most-Launched Rocket of 2020 (Source: Teslarati)
With just a few global launches left before 2021 and SpaceX’s last December launch behind it, it’s now safe to say that Falcon 9 has officially ended the year as the world’s most-launched rocket of 2020. On December 19th, Falcon 9 booster B1059 lifted off for the fourth time, carrying a secretive US spy satellite to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and marking SpaceX’s 26th successful launch and 23rd landing of 2020 – an exactly biweekly annual launch cadence.

Barring several surprise launches, Falcon 9 will end the year as the world’s most-launched rocket and – by best measures – the world’s most reliable rocket, setting SpaceX up for a potentially unprecedented 2021. Perhaps thanks to Starlink and any number of unknown hardware, software, and operational refinements, SpaceX has crushed its previous annual launch record – 21 flights, set in 2018 – by almost 25%. (12/20)

From TACSAT to JUMPSEAT: Hughes and the Top Secret Gyrostat Satellite Gamble (Source: Space Review)
In the late 1960s, Hughes was becoming a major player in satellite communications, but was looking to get into intelligence satellites. Dwayne Day and Nicholas Watkins describe how the company leveraged its technology for one project to combine signals intelligence and infrared missile tracking payloads. Click here. (12/21)
 
Twilight for Trump Space Policy (Source: Space Review)
The Trump Administration is in its final weeks, but its efforts in space policy have not been slowing down. Jeff Foust reports on the release this month of both a new national space policy and a national strategy for space nuclear power and propulsion. Click here. (12/21)
 
Candy CORN: Analyzing the CORONA Concrete Crosses Myth (Source: Space Review)
Several years ago, a news report claimed that unusual sets of concrete crosses found in the Arizona desert were calibration targets for the CORONA spy satellites. Joseph T. Page II discusses why that explanation doesn’t hold up. Click here. (12/21)
 
Creating an Inspector “Mascot” Satellite for JWST (Source: Space Review)
The James Webb Space Telescope is one of the most complex scientific spacecraft yet built, with dozens of deployments required after launch. Philip Horzempa explains why it would be wise to have a small satellite accompany JWST to watch over those deployments and troubleshoot any issues. Click here. (12/21)

Lockheed Martin Just Bought a Rocket Maker. It’s a Big Bet on Space (Source: Barron's)
Sunday evening, defense giant Lockheed Martin announced it is buying rocket maker Aerojet Rocketdyne for the equivalent of $56 in cash per share. Aerojet stock closed Friday at $42.04. The deal will bulk up Lockheed’s space portfolio. Investors, however, will lose another space-investing pure play. Total deal value is about a 33% premium to Friday’s close. At $56 a share, Aerojet (AJRD) stock would be up about 23% year to date, better than comparable gains of the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Aerojet makes rocket engines that can propel space launch systems, defense systems, and hypersonic travel. About 35% of Aerojet’s sales are generated from Lockheed, so the deal, in some ways, amounts to Lockheed buying a key supplier. Roughly, an additional 35% of Aerojet sales come from the U.S. government and Raytheon Technologies (RTX). Part of those government sales is to NASA for components of a new space launch system that will take cargo and astronauts, eventually, to Mars.

Space has captured the imagination of investors lately as reusable rocket technology drops launch costs significantly. That is enabling new space-based business models. “This transaction enhances Lockheed Martin’s support of critical U.S. and allied security missions and retains national leadership in space and hypersonic technology.” said Lockheed CEO James Taiclet. (12/20)

First European Service Module for Artemis Accepted and Handed Over to NASA (Source: Airbus)
On 11 December the first European Service Module passed its Acceptance Review and was  formally handed over to NASA, the hardware is now officially NASA property. This marks the end of 9 years of designing, building and putting all the pieces together to make the next-generation powerhouse that will propel Orion spacecraft to the Moon. The Acceptance Review was held as teleconference with 85 people attending specifically for the first European Service Module – each module gets their own individual acceptance review.

The complete Orion stack will now be handed to NASA’s launch processing teams for a launch next year. Orion is a foundational element of the Artemis program, beginning with Artemis I, the first integrated flight test of Orion and SLS next year. Artemis II will follow as the first human mission, taking astronauts farther into space than ever before. (12/15)