January 17, 2021

The Case for More State Spending on R&D (Source: The Economist)
There is nothing new about economists arguing for more government spending on research and development (r&d). Theoretical work done by Kenneth Arrow in the 1960s convinced his colleagues that the private sector would not on its own provide the amount of innovation that economies need to maximise their growth. Empirically the coincidence, in the 1950s, of increased governmentr&d spending and excellent rates of productivity and gdp growth strengthened the case further.

It is true that the hard evidence for a positive impact of such r&d spending on overall growth is both fairly weak and suggests that it lags the outlay by quite a while. But few doubt that the return is, in practice, significant. Rich-world governments currently spend, on average, a bit over 0.5% of gdp on r&d; a couple more tenths of a percentage point could make a big difference. (1/16)

LauncherOne Reaches Orbit (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne reached orbit for the first time on Sunday with 10 CubeSats aboard, marking a major milestone for Richard Branson’s air launch operation. The modified Cosmic Girl Boeing 747 took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port and flew out over the Pacific Ocean where it dropped the booster. Virgin Orbit tweeted that the NewtonThree and NewtonFour engines on the first and second stages fired as planned to reach orbit.

The rocket is now coasting in orbit. The NewtonFour engine will ignite a second time to circularize the orbit before the 10 CubeSats are released. The CubeSats are aboard as part of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellites program. NASA provided funding for the launch under its Venture Class Launch Services program, which is designed to help fund new small satellite launch vehicles. (1/17)

BEA Measures Space Economy (Source: Quarz)
In 2018, the most recent year estimated, the Bureau of Economic Analysis found that the US space economy produced $178 billion worth of goods and services, employing some 356,000 people in the private sector. That’s not half bad! But it’s not enormous, either, considering that all US industries produced $36 trillion of gross output that same year. Still, Highfill is right that space is adding value across the economy, which makes this satellite account so interesting.

For example, nearly 8% of all US computer and electronics output is attributable to the space economy. That may reflect the nature of electronics products made in the US—only the most high-precision manufacturing is done in the US—but also the importance of space to the high-tech industrial base.

One big question that these statistics unfortunately don’t yet answer is whether the space economy is getting bigger, smaller, or simply more productive. The initial figures have not been adjusted for inflation, which means that as the value of these outputs changes, it’s difficult to tell if that means the level of production is changing, or if the cost of the product is falling. (1/14)

2021 Spaceport Summit Planned in February (Source: NSCFL)
The 47th Spaceport Summit (formerly Space Congress) will be held February 23-25, 2021. The event will be conducted virtually to better engage industry leaders from all over the world and “Small Steps, Giant Leaps” is the theme for this year’s event. The program will feature panels and notable speakers covering such topics as Spaceports Around the Nation, Inspiring the Next Generation, Lunar/Mars Exploration, LEO/Suborbital Commercialization, Exploration & Innovation, and International Initiatives. There will be special sessions for an astronaut meet and greet as well as networking/mentoring with seasoned professionals. Click here. (1/15)

Swamp Watch: Acting Defense Secretary Orders NSA Director to Immediately Install Former GOP Operative as Top Lawyer (Source: Washington Post)
Acting defense secretary Christopher Miller ordered the director of the National Security Agency to install on Saturday a former GOP political operative as the NSA’s top lawyer, according to four individuals familiar with the matter. It is unclear what the NSA will do. The agency and the Pentagon declined to comment.

In November, Pentagon General Counsel Paul C. Ney Jr. named Michael Ellis, then a White House official, to the position of general counsel at the NSA, a career civilian post at the spy agency. He was selected after a competitive civil service competition. He has not taken up the job, however, as he needed to complete administrative procedures, including taking a polygraph test. In a November letter to DoD's Acting Inspector General, Sens. Mark Warner and Jack Reed requested that the acting inspector general “investigate the process for the recent selection."

NSA Director Paul Nakasone was not in favor of Ellis’s selection and has sought to delay his installation, according to several people who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Ellis’s naming, made under pressure from the White House, drew criticism from national security legal experts. It “appears to be an attempt to improperly politicize an important career position,” wrote Susan Hennessey, a former lawyer in the NSA Office of General Counsel, on Lawfare, where she is the executive editor. (1/16)

SLS Four-Engine Test Cut Short on Saturday, Potentially a Big Hit to Artemis Schedule (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program and Core Stage prime contractor Boeing were ready for the big moment of the rocket’s Green Run campaign and the biggest moment in the 10-year old program, a static firing of the stage. After a year of test cases at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, visits from hurricanes, and waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, an eight-minute long, flight-duration Hot-Fire test was planned for Jan. 16 to demonstrate the readiness of the new rocket stage for its first launch.

The firing lasted only 67.7 seconds, well short of full-duration and the minimum two minute duration firing NASA said was necessary to complete the test.  The abort was triggered by a Major Component Failure indication on Engine 4. Four veteran Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME), now equipped with upgraded computers and adapted to meet SLS performance requirements, supported this crucial test. The Hot-Fire test was planned as a full flight duty cycle to demonstrate the real-world performance of the large, complicated rocket.

The Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-25 engines were to be put through a set of circular and sinusoidal gimbaling experiments to demonstrate operating margins predicted by analytical models. "I want people to be encouraged because the future is very bright, and certainly we're going to learn a lot from this test," said NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine. (1/16)