February 18, 2021

L3Harris Tech Supports Mars Mission (Source: Florida Today)
L3 Harris equipment will be used to transmit data to and from Perseverance Rover through three relay satellites orbiting above the Martian surface. The company's communications technology will be used to transmit data to and from the Perseverance rover through three relay satellites orbiting 200 miles above the Martian surface. The orbiters provide a communications link with NASA controllers on Earth from up to 250 million miles away. (2/16)

BAE Systems Positioning for Growth in Military GPS Following Collins Acquisition (Source: Space News)
BAE Systems announced on Feb. 17 that it won the largest share of a $552 million deal the Space Force awarded to three companies in November to design and manufacture advanced GPS receivers that provide positioning, navigation and timing to U.S. military forces.

The Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center is buying new military GPS receivers that are smaller, lighter and will allow the military to use a jam-resistant GPS signal known as M-code, or military code. The Space Force selected three suppliers — Raytheon, L3Harris and BAE Systems — to develop these receivers. BAE Systems’ share of the $552 million deal is $247 million. (2/17)

L3Harris Leaped From Tracking Weather to Tracking Missiles (Source: Defense News)
In January 2017, one of the government’s newest weather satellites picked up the most bizarre signal: a wildfire moving at breakneck speeds across the Atlantic Ocean. Now, wildfires don’t spread across the ocean, and they certainly don’t move at the pace being reported. What was going on? It turns out the satellite ― one of NOAA’s GOES-R series — had accidentally detected a rocket launch off the Florida coast, mistaking the fiery exhaust of a ULA Atlas V rocket for a wildfire.

“It was actually — honest — by accident, where we saw a rocket launch on the East Coast of Florida,” L3Harris's Bill Gattle said. “Our weather sensor actually sent a trigger and said there’s a fire — our weather sensor actually tracks forest fires or hot spots.” That accidental discovery set L3Harris on a multiyear journey to transform its infrared weather sensor technology into a missile detecting capability for the U.S. military. The move would have the potential to bring in billions: The U.S. Air Force doled out $1.86 billion for just two missile warning satellites in 2014. However, the competition is tight.

Traditionally, the Air Force built one missile warning constellation at a time with limited overlap, with only a few companies awarded massive contracts. Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for all four geosynchronous satellites that make up the Space-Based Infrared System, as well as the final two expected to launch later this year. Northrop Grumman was the major subcontractor, building the satellites’ sensors. L3Harris isn’t exactly a lightweight in DoD contracting — it’s No. 9 on the Defense News Top 100 list of global defense companies and brought in nearly $14 billion in defense revenue in 2019. For perspective, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman secured about $57 billion and $29 billion in defense revenue, respectively. (2/17)

Texas Power Outages Delay Boeing’s Repeat Starliner Test Launch (Source: Click Orlando)
Sweeping power outages across Texas are also impacting space operations. Boeing announced Wednesday the repeat orbital test flight of its CST-100 Starliner spacecraft will be pushed at least one week because of winter storm-related impacts and launch preparations. Starliner is Boeing’s spacecraft designed to fly NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station under the agency’s Commercial Crew Program, however, the company must finish a series of tests before the U.S. space agency gives it the OK to fly humans on board. (2/18)

SpaceX Joins the Aerospace and Defense Elite as Its Valuation Soars (Source: Barrons)
SpaceX had an exemplary 2020, helping to re-establish America’s manned spaceflight capability while launching hundreds of its own satellites, which will eventually provide high-speed internet access around the world. And now this year is starting off with a bang. SpaceX is a private company, but its exploits are being recognized by investors. Valuation is, frankly, going to the moon. Elon Musk’s company recently raised more money, for a valuation of $74 billion, according to CNBC. That’s up from a prior valuation of $46 billion set this past summer.

That valuation makes SpaceX the fifth most valuable aerospace and defense franchise in the world, rivaling the likes of Boeing, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon. To put that in perspective, Boeing was founded in 1916. SpaceX has been around less than 20 years. SpaceX sales aren’t known. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment about valuation or sales. It’s safe to assume that sales are still relatively small compared with other aerospace giants; small but growing, with much of SpaceX’s value based on future business opportunities. (2/17)

SpaceX Setting the Stage for Starlink’s Widespread European Debut (Source: Teslarati)
Combined with regulatory filings, a series of new job listings suggest that SpaceX is in the late stages of preparations for a widespread Starlink internet rollout across Europe. Last week, SpaceX began publishing multiple job listings for bilingual “customer support associates” fluent in French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Greek. Meshing well with recent regulatory-side indications of Starlink’s imminent rollout in France, Germany, and Greece, SpaceX also began accepting preorders – with a $99 deposit – in all the above countries (and more) earlier this week. (2/18)

DART Launch Moves to Secondary Window (Source: NASA)
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), NASA's first flight demonstration for planetary defense, seeks to test and validate a method to protect Earth in case of an asteroid impact threat. The mission aims to shift an asteroid's orbit through kinetic impact – specifically, by impacting a spacecraft into the smaller member of the binary asteroid system Didymos to change its orbital speed. At the request of Science Mission Directorate (SMD) senior leadership, a risk assessment was performed on the DART project schedule to determine the viability of the primary (Jul. 21 - Aug. 24) and secondary (Nov. 24 - Feb. 15) launch periods. SMD has directed the DART project pursue their secondary launch window. The DART project is currently working with SpaceX and NASA’s Launch Services Program (LSP) to identify the earliest possible launch opportunity within this secondary window. (2/17)

Europa Clipper Launch on Commercial Rocket Could Save $1.5 Billion (Source: Space News)
A commercial launch vehicle will transport NASA's Europa Clipper mission to orbit. The space agency originally planned to fly Europa Clipper on the Space Launch System, but is now considering only commercial launch vehicles. Congress insisted for years that NASA launch Europa Clipper on SLS, but relented in the fiscal year 2021 appropriations bill when NASA said the move could save as much as $1.5 billion. SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket is the leading contender to launch Europa Clipper, but NASA will hold a full and open competition. (2/17)

BAE Wins Space Force GPS Contract (Source: Space News)
BAE Systems won a $247 million contract to design and manufacture advanced GPS receivers for the U.S. Space Force. The Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center has awarded contracts worth a combined $552 million to BAE Systems, L3Harris and Raytheon for receivers that are smaller and lighter than current models and will allow the military to use a jam-resistant GPS signal known as M-code, or military code. Over the coming decade, the U.S. military could spend billions of dollars replacing GPS receivers in precision-guided munitions, handheld devices and other systems. (2/18)

Raytheon to Challenge Lockheed's Acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne (Source: Space News)
Raytheon says it will challenge Lockheed Martin's acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne. Raytheon CEO Gregory Hayes said at an investor conference Wednesday that his company has "some concerns" about Aerojet's acquisition by a company that competes with Raytheon in tactical and strategic missiles. Hayes said Raytheon will make its case to regulatory agencies, including the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Defense. Lockheed CFO Ken Possenriede said later at the same conference that it would "play fair" as an engine supplier to competitors like Raytheon, arguing that Aerojet "is going to be a more reliable supplier" as part of Lockheed than as a standalone company. (2/18)

Satellite Imagery Specialist BlackSky is Going Public in Latest Space SPAC (Source: CNBC)
Seattle-based satellite imagery specialist BlackSky is the latest space venture that will soon begin trading publicly, with the company on Thursday announcing a SPAC deal. BlackSky is merging with special purpose acquisition company Osprey Technology. BlackSky will list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BKSY when the deal closes, which is expected in July. (2/18)

Russia Denies NASA Official's Visa Amid Diplomacy Spat (Source: Reuters)
A U.S.-Russia dispute is preventing a NASA official from getting a Russian visa. A Russian Foreign Ministry official told a Russian news agency that it denied a visa to the unidentified person who was to lead NASA's Moscow office in retaliation for the U.S. blocking a visa for a Russian diplomat. The U.S. government hasn't commented on the Russian report. (2/18)

Mars Rover Perseverance Also Carries MOXIE and Ingenuity (Source: Space News)
Mars 2020 is carrying more than scientific instruments, though. Hitching a ride to Mars is Ingenuity, a helicopter weighing less than two kilograms that will be released from Perseverance in the days after landing to attempt the first powered flight in the Martian atmosphere. Ingenuity, mission officials said, could be a precursor for future drones that could support later robotic and crewed missions. On Perseverance itself is a payload called MOXIE that will produce oxygen from carbon dioxide in the planet's atmosphere. Such in situ resource utilization technologies are critical for future human missions. (2/18)

InSight Lander Seeks to Sense Mars Perseverance Landing (Source: Space News)
The Mars 2020 landing will be monitored by another NASA lander, although it may not be able to do the same for a later Chinese lander. The InSight lander will listen for the acoustic and seismic impacts of the Mars 2020 landing, including its sonic boom and the impact of components it jettisons on the way down. China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft will attempt a landing in May or June much closer to InSight, which should make it easier for it to detect landing events. However, a lack of information about China's plans, in part because of restrictions on cooperation between NASA and China, have made it difficult for the InSight team to plan for such measurements. (2/18)

Acting NASA Chief Says 2024 Moon Landing No Longer a “Realistic” Target (Source: Ars Technica)
NASA's acting administrator said Wednesday evening that the goal of landing humans on the Moon by 2024 no longer appears to be feasible. "The 2024 lunar landing goal may no longer be a realistic target due to the last two years of appropriations, which did not provide enough funding to make 2024 achievable," the acting administrator, Steve Jurczyk, told Ars. "In light of this, we are reviewing the program for the most efficient path forward.”

Two weeks ago Biden's press secretary, Jen Psaki, said the new administration would support the space agency's Artemis program to land astronauts on the Moon and set the stage for an eventual human mission to Mars. Jurczyk said during an interview that NASA has welcomed a vote of confidence from the Biden administration. (2/18)

Boeing Delays CST-100 Mission to April After Avionics Units Damaged (Source: Space News)
An uncrewed test flight of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle has slipped to early April. NASA and Boeing announced Wednesday that they delayed the launch of the Orbital Flight Test 2 mission, previously scheduled for March 25, to no earlier than April 2. The delay takes into account time needed to replace avionics units on the spacecraft damaged by a power surge during final checkouts earlier this month. Boeing is also wrapping up tests of the Starliner's revamped software, including an upcoming end-to-end mission simulation. (2/18)

Russia Plans at Least 10 Launches from Baikonur in 2021 (Source: Sputnik)
Russia is going to carry out more than 10 launches of Soyuz-2 carrier rockets from the Baikonur cosmodrome this year, Ruslan Mukhamedzhanov, the head of the Centre for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities, said on Monday. "Twelve launches will be carried out from this site [in 2021]. These are federal launches, and commercial launches [in the interests of UK communications company] OneWeb," Mukhamedzhanov said. (2/16)

Dramatic Cost Reductions Improve Investment Outlook for Space (Source: CNBC)
The space industry is undergoing a change paradigm that Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood believes is dramatically opening the sector to investment opportunities. “The costs associated with launching, with rockets themselves, with antenna – they’re all coming down dramatically, thanks to both the private and the public sector,” Wood said on CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on Wednesday. Ark Invest last month revealed that it is preparing to launch a space exploration ETF, under the ticker ARKX. (2/17)

Scotland is Going to Infinity and Beyond with Cash Boosts Into Space Sector Rocketing (Source: Scottish Sun)
Scotland's space sector is going to infinity and beyond with employment and investment rocketing. This week the European Space Agency made calls for the next generation of adventurers to follow in Tim Peake’s footsteps as it recruits for new astronaut candidates. And as people of all ages and abilities are urged to apply, UK Government Minister for Scotland Iain Stewart says our country is reaching for the stars. Millions of pounds are being invested to create spaceports in the north while satellite scientists are using space tech to help our daily lives. (2/17)