January 26, 2021

The Ugly Bargain Behind NASA's SLS Rocket (Source: Supercluster)
Lori Garver got the bad news from President Obama's deputy chief of staff. The president had decided to cave on Constellation, he said. Make the most of it, Lori. Make it a win. So, under protest, she made what she knew was a terrible deal, but the best that she would ever get. She gave Congress the Orion capsule and the Ares V heavy-lift rocket. In exchange, the administration would get, among other things, a robust “commercial crew” program, enabling the private sector to handle, eventually, launches to low-Earth orbit.

The smaller Ares rocket was dead, and we were not going back to the moon. (We couldn’t afford a lander!) The White House and Congress were thus agreed. And then the Senate went to Crazytown, legislating a litany of rocket requirements so specific that you’d think the entire chamber had completed coursework on propulsion engineering. They wanted a rocket capable of lifting 70 to 100 tons of mass into low-Earth orbit, and 130 when married to an integrated upper stage. They wanted liquid fuel engines and solid rocket motor engines. They wanted Ares I and space shuttle technology reused wherever possible. And they wanted it flying by December 31, 2016. Click here. (1/26) https://www.supercluster.com/editorial/the-ugly-bargain-behind-nasas-sls-rocket

Concorde Successor AS2 Takes Leap Forward with Vast New Florida HQ (Source: CNN)
The race is heating up to produce the first supersonic passenger aircraft to enter commercial service in more than 50 years. US planemaker Aerion, whose AS2 jet promises to fly New York to London in 4.5 hours, is building a massive new global headquarters in Florida ahead of production beginning on the supersonic craft in 2023. It's a big step forward for the company, which will use some of the $300 million it has attracted in capital investment to develop the 110+ acre Aerian Park in Melbourne, right next to Orlando Melbourne International Airport.

The new HQ and integrated campus for research, design, production and interior completions of the supersonic craft promises to bring 675 new high-paying jobs to the area by 2026. The 8-12 passenger AS2 business jet will travel at Mach 1.4 (more than 1,000 mph), which means it could shave three and a half hours off standard journey times from New York to Cape Town, and more than four hours off trips between JFK and Singapore and JFK and Sydney. (1/25)

Bridenstine Joins Aerospace/Defense-Focused Financial Firm (Source: Space News)
Former NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has joined a private equity firm. Bridenstine will be a senior adviser for Acorn Growth Companies, which invests in companies in the aerospace, defense and intelligence sectors. Bridenstine said he will support Acorn's existing portfolio of companies and assist in future investments. Acorn has not invested in pure-play space companies, but the firm sees growing opportunities as space startups mature into companies that are a better fit for private equity funds. (1/26)

DoD's SDA Invites Space Tech Pitches (Source: Space News)
The Pentagon's Space Development Agency (SDA) is seeking industry proposals to develop a wide range of technologies. A broad area announcement published Monday asks companies to submit pitches for space technology projects that the SDA might be interested in funding if they meet specific needs. Those technologies include communications, navigation and missile tracking capabilities. SDA is open to funding R&D projects for technologies it might not be able to find in the open market and plans to make multiple contract awards based on the quality of the proposals. (1/26)

Startup Albedo Plans 10cm Resolution Satellite Imagery (Source: Space News)
A startup is proposing a satellite system that would produce imagery with a resolution of 10 centimeters. Albedo is part of the latest class of the Y Combinator startup accelerator and believes it can start launching satellites producing ultra-high-resolution images in 2024. Albedo plans to fly spacecraft in very low orbits to generate that imagery, and rely on on-orbit refueling to extend those satellites' lifetimes. U.S. regulations don't allow the commercial sale of imagery that sharp today, but the company's founders are confident those restrictions can at least be lessened before its first launch. (1/26)

Newest Starlink Satellites Feature Laser Links (Source: Space News)
The newest Starlink satellites feature laser intersatellite links. The 10 satellites, launched Sunday, are the first Starlink spacecraft to operate in polar orbits. Elon Musk said that the satellites have laser crosslinks to allow them to relay communications while out of reach of ground stations over the poles. SpaceX originally planned to include laser links on its satellites, but so far has only conducted tests involving a couple satellites. Musk said that by next year all new Starlink satellites will have laser intersatellite links. (1/26)

NASA and Boeing Move CST-100 Launch Forward to March 25 (Source: Boeing)
NASA and Boeing have moved up the next test flight of the CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle. That Orbital Flight Test 2 mission is now scheduled for launch March 25, four days earlier than previously announced. NASA officials hinted earlier this month that the flight could be moved up, based on the pace of preparing the vehicle for launch as well as range availability. The uncrewed test flight will last about a week and include a docking at the International Space Station. (1/26)

Virgin Orbit Picked to Launch Dutch Cubesat (Source: Virgin Orbit)
Virgin Orbit will launch a smallsat for the Dutch military. The BRIK-II cubesat will fly as a secondary payload on a LauncherOne mission flying out of Mojave Air and Space Port in California later this year. The cubesat will test communications technologies and demonstrate the utility of cubesats to support military operations. Virgin Orbit will also use the cubesat to test the ability to "late load" satellite payloads shortly before launch. (1/26)

Cartwright to Chair House Appropriations Subcommittee (Source: US House)
The House appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA has a new chairman. Rep. Matt Cartwright (D-PA) announced Monday he had been selected to chair the commerce, justice and science subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee in the new Congress. He previously served as vice chairman of the subcommittee, which funds agencies such as NASA, NOAA and the NSF. He succeeds former Rep. José Serrano (D-NY), who retired at the end of the last Congress. (1/26)

Axiom Space Names First Private Crew to Launch to Space Station (Source: CollectSpace)
The crew of the first entirely-private orbital space mission will include the second oldest person to launch into space, the second Israeli in space, the 11th Canadian to fly into space and the first former NASA astronaut to return to the International Space Station. Axiom Space revealed its clients for its first privately-funded and operated mission, being arranged under a commercial agreement with NASA. Slated to launch on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft are: Larry Connor, an American real estate and tech entrepreneur; Eytan Stibbe, a businessman and former Israeli fighter pilot; Mark Pathy, a Canadian investor and philanthropist; and Michael Lopez-Alegria, a retired NASA astronaut who logged almost 260 days on four prior missions. (1/26)

Florida, Tampa Bay, Ranked High in Defense Spending in 2019 (Source: Tampa Bay Times)
Florida and Tampa Bay ranked high in defense contract and payroll spending in FY2019 according to a new DoD report. In fFY2019 Florida ranked fourth in total defense spending with about $29.8 billion spent in the state. Of that, about $22.3 billion was in defense contract spending, with $7.5 billion spent on personnel. That’s an increase from the year prior when about $24.1 billion total was spent in the state. The latest report also found that Hillsborough County ranked third in the state both in contracts awarded (about $2.1 billion spent) and gross pay for all military personnel in the area (about $857.5 million spent on active duty, reserve, civilian and National Guard pay). (1/25)