December 24, 2020

Firefly Aerospace Announces Multi-Launch Agreement with Adaptive Launch Solutions (Source: Firefly)
Firefly Aerospace, a leading provider of economical and dependable launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services, and Adaptive Launch Solutions (ALS), a designer of multi-manifest hardware, avionics and sequencers, and an integrator of single and multiple satellites, today announced they have signed a multi-year Launch Services Agreement (LSA) which includes four Alpha launches beginning in 2021.

“Our agreement with Firefly Aerospace will provide the flexibility and responsiveness demanded by government operators and commercial owners.  Under the agreement, ALS is the launch service provider for Alpha Flights 2 and 3, planned for launch in 2021  These two missions offer our customers the earliest commercial launch opportunities on Firefly Alpha. ALS brings to our Firefly partnership decades of launch integration experience, most recently utilized on the United States Space Force (USSF) Launch Manifest Systems Integrator (LMSI) program. 

“Firefly is very pleased to welcome ALS as a customer and partner for missions in 2021 and beyond,” said Dr. Tom Markusic, Firefly CEO. “In addition to providing launch services to ALS, Firefly plans to leverage ALS’ unique primary and secondary payload integration capability, processing experience and proprietary hardware for current and future launch campaigns.” (12/23)

AIA Supports NASA Authorization Bill (Source: AIA)
The Aerospace Industries Association is calling for Congress to pass the NASA Authorization Act of 2019, following its approval in the Senate. "We must harness the momentum of this strong authorization act in the next Congress and administration, ensuring America's continued leadership in space and aeronautics for years to come," said Eric Fanning, AIA president and CEO. (12/18)

NASA Marks Halfway Point In Supersonic X-Plane Construction (Source: AVweb)
Construction of NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (QueSST) aircraft has reached the halfway point, according to an announcement from the agency last week. The X-59 is being assembled by Lockheed Martin at the company’s facility in Palmdale, California. NASA also announced that it has awarded Lockheed Martin a $40 million contract to provide support for the community overflight response phase of the Low-Boom Flight Demonstration (LBFD) mission.

“In 2024, NASA will fly the X-59 over select communities to measure public perception of the sound,” the agency said. “The data from these tests will be given to U.S. and international regulators, potentially opening the future to commercial supersonic flight over land.” Construction and systems integration are expected to be completed next year with the aircraft’s first flight scheduled for 2022. The X-59 was designed to test “technology that reduces the loudness of a sonic boom to that of a gentle thump.” (12/23)

NASA Concerned About Space's Growing Trash Problem (Source: Florida Today)
2020 has been a banner year for the space industry with a record number of 31 launches from Kennedy Space Center and five more in Virginia and California. With more stuff going to space, there’s also more trash in space -- nearly 6,000 tons -- and it’s becoming a major problem. NASA says low-Earth orbit is a space junk yard filled with millions of pieces of rockets, spacecraft and satellites flying at speeds up to 18,000 miles per hour – almost seven times faster than a bullet.

All that junk orbiting Earth poses a significant safety risk to people and property in space and on Earth. This year the International Space Station had to redirect three times to avoid space debris. Prior to that, the last time a move was necessary was in 2015. (12/23)

No Bomb-Grade Uranium in Space, Says White House (Source: Physics Today)
A month before it turns over the White House, the Trump administration has issued a new policy on space nuclear reactors that all but prohibits the use of highly enriched uranium (HEU) fuel. NASA, which had previously planned to use an HEU-fueled reactor to provide power on the lunar and Martian surfaces, now promises to use only low-enriched uranium (LEU).

In a space policy directive issued on 16 December, President Trump spelled out a “national strategy for space nuclear power and propulsion (SNPP)” that applies to both radioisotope power systems and fission reactors being developed to provide surface power and to propel spacecraft and rovers. The directive states that the use of HEU in SNPP systems “should be limited to applications for which the mission would not be viable with other nuclear fuels or non nuclear power sources.” HEU-fueled space systems must be approved by a gauntlet of White House entities, including the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Security Council. Other relevant agencies also could be invited to participate in the review, the directive stated. (12/23)

Nuclear-Powered Rockets Get a Second Look for Travel to Mars (Source: IEEE Spectrum)
For all the controversy they stir up on Earth, nuclear reactors can produce the energy and propulsion needed to rapidly take large spacecraft to Mars and, if desired, beyond. The idea of nuclear rocket engines dates back to the 1940s. This time around, though, plans for interplanetary missions propelled by nuclear fission and fusion are being backed by new designs that have a much better chance of getting off the ground.

Crucially, the nuclear engines are meant for interplanetary travel only, not for use in the Earth’s atmosphere. Chemical rockets launch the craft out beyond low Earth orbit. Only then does the nuclear propulsion system kick in. The challenge has been making these nuclear engines safe and lightweight. New fuels and reactor designs appear up to the task, as NASA is now working with industry partners for possible future nuclear-fueled crewed space missions. (12/23)

14 Candidates Qualify for Final Phase of UAE Astronaut Program (Source: Gulf Today)
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) on Wednesday announced that 14 candidates have qualified for the final phase of the second batch of the UAE Astronaut Program, which aims to train and prepare a team of Emiratis for scientific space missions, as part of the UAE’s National Space Program. The selected candidates will now undergo final interviews conducted by a committee consisting of specialists from MBRSC, including Emirati astronauts Hazzaa Al Mansoori and Sultan AlNeyadi along with NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Jessica Meir. (12/23)

Houston’s Spaceport to Become Axiom’s Home for Constructing Its Commercial Space Station (Source: Houstonia)
Houston's spaceport may have sounded like a high-tech daydream when it was first announced back in 2015, it’s now one step closer to becoming a reality. Why? Well, because Axiom Space has just announced plans on constructing its 14-acre headquarters on the site where Ellington Airport currently sits. This is an impressive score for the city and the long-held goal of turning the former World War I-era training site and airport into a spaceport—essentially, a base from which spacecraft are launched into space—and then transforming that spaceport into a focal point of aerospace activity.

Although the spaceport has already secured a handful of tenants, it had failed to lock in the bigger names in the private commercial space industry, until now. Axiom, a company created by former NASA engineer Michael Suffredini and longtime government contractor Kam Ghaffarian in 2016, is already an up-and-coming name in commercial space, having won a bid from NASA to begin building a spaceport on the International Space Station earlier this year.

The plan is to use the company’s new hub to construct the spaceport and train astronauts working in the private sphere. (The company also intends to send foreign astronauts and “space participants” for 10-day stays aboard the ISS for $55 million per person.) The company wants to start construction in 2021 and to actually move in by 2023, pending the ironing out of details, like how the deal will be financed and Houston City Council’s official approval. (12/23)

Indian Spacemen to Finalize Training in Russia in March 2021 (Source: TASS)
In August 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that his country will sent its first national space crew to orbit in 2022, in order to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the independence. Indian cosmonauts are expected to finalize their training in the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in March 2021, says Glavkosmos CEO Dmitry Loskutov. In the future, it would be possible to send Russian specialists to train cosmonauts in India, but it would depend on a many factors, including the epidemic. (12/23)

Big Leap for India’s Space Diplomacy! ISRO’s PSLV to Launch Brazilian Satellite (Source: Financial Express)
The Amazonia 1 satellite which will be launched by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is now on its way onboard an Emirates B777 plane. This was loaded at São José dos Campos Airport (SP). This announcement was made by Clezio de Nardin, director of the National Institute for Space Research (INPE / MCTI).

India’s ambassador to Brazil Suresh K Reddy had in an interaction told Financial Express Online recently that the indigenously developed Brazilian Remote Sensing Satellite, Amazonia-I is scheduled to be launched on a PSLV (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) of ISRO early next year. Though date/month has been officially announced, sources have confirmed that the launch could take place in February 2021. It was earlier scheduled for July, however, had to be pushed for later due to the global pandemic of COVID -19. (12/24)

What’s It Like To Work With Space Dust? Ask This Colombian! (Source: Forbes)
Colombian scientist Laura Chaves fell in love with geology but didn't want to go into extractive industries, so she shifted her career horizons upwards: she now studies microscopic mineral particles gathered by trail-blazing space missions. Chaves, a PhD student in planetary sciences at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, , is currently working with samples from the near-Earth asteroid Itokawa returned to Earth by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and their Hayabusa mission. (12/20)

Scientists Asked to Submit Experiments to be Conducted by 2nd Israeli in Space (Source: Times of Israel)
The Israel Space Agency is soliciting ideas for research experiments to be carried out by the second Israeli ever in space when he takes part in a mission to the International Space Station late next year. The agency, part of the Ministry of Science and Technology, announced last month that Eytan Stibbe will take part in a mission made up entirely of privately funded individual funding their own flights. Stibbe, a former fighter pilot in the Israel Air Force who holds numerous IAF records, is the head of a private equity fund and reportedly a multi-millionaire. (12/23)

SLS Core Stage Green Run WDR Countdown Ends Early – Next Steps Considered (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
NASA partially completed the Green Run Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) test of the Space Launch System (SLS) Core Stage on the second attempt in the B-2 Test Stand at the Stennis Space Center. The test was again conducted in secrecy on 20 December, and the test team was able to fill the rocket stage with its liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) propellants for the first time ever; however, a crucial, 10-minute long terminal countdown was aborted inside of the 5 minute mark when a valve failed to close within pre-set time limits.

In a statement, NASA said that despite the early end to the test the issue doesn’t appear to be with the vehicle; after draining the stage, the agency’s SLS Program and Core Stage prime contractor Boeing are now reviewing data from the test and inspecting the stage after its first propellant loading cycle while they deliberate what to do next. The 8-minute long Hot-Fire test was expected about two weeks after a fully completed WDR, but with the countdown demonstration incomplete, SLS engineers and management will have to decide if and when to proceed to the stage firing. (12/23)

FAA Approves Santa Trip to ISS, Probably From Alaska Spaceport (Source: Space.com)
Santa won't be flying on SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule, however. St. Nick will travel aboard "his StarSleigh-1 space capsule powered by the Rudolph Rocket," FAA officials wrote in a statement. "The mission license includes both launch and reentry operations and will occur from a U.S.-based spaceport." That spaceport isn't specified. But the Pacific Spaceport Complex in Alaska, which recently hosted the California startup Astra's first spaceflight, would be a natural choice, given its relative proximity to the North Pole. (12/23)