March 13, 2021

SpaceX Starlink Beta Testers See big Speed Boosts, Major Outages (Source: Teslarati)
A portion of the thousands of consumers participating in SpaceX’s “Better Than Nothing” Starlink beta test have begun to see massive speed boosts at the cost of equally significant network instability. In its current state, SpaceX’s ever-growing constellation of Starlink satellites regularly vacillates between inspiring awe and nail-pulling frustration between users.

Still firmly stuck in the process of beta testing, SpaceX engineers are almost constantly tweaking parameters and software and performing a variety of tests on the live network, ranging from geographically-limited trials with a few satellites to network-wide updates.

On February 22, Elon Musk revealed plans to upgrade the Starlink network and “double” download speeds to ~300 megabits per second (Mbps) – more than three times the global average for a wired connection. Mere weeks after that quiet announcement, beta users across North America have begun to see huge boosts in their peak download and upload speeds, although that speed appears to be coming with a tradeoff in network up-time and reliability. (3/11)

NASA Ames Could House Unaccompanied Migrant Children (Source: NBC Bay Area)
NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Federal Airfield next to Mountain View could be a future site to house unaccompanied migrant children. According to the White House, the United States Department of Health and Human Services is looking into whether federal facilities, like NASA Ames, have the room to house the children. "We still want to ensure that we have facilities that are safe, licensed and prepared to house children," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

A record number of unaccompanied migrant children are in Border Patrol custody – more than 3,200, with nearly half held beyond the legal 3-day limit – and the facilities holding them currently are dangerously overcrowded, especially during a pandemic. Local charitable agencies said they'll be watching closely. HHS, in a statement, confirmed plans to tour the site on Thursday. (3/11)

For NASA, Practice Makes Perfect When Building a Moon Rover in Houston (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Practice makes perfect when building a moon rover. A team at NASA's Johnson Space Center is building a full-scale replica of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, that is set to reach the moon in late 2023 to look for ice. Building this replica inside a new 1,000-plus-square-foot clean room will allow the team to be more efficient when building the actual rover in the summer of 2022. (3/11)

SpaceX Prepares for Air Force Test Connecting an Aircraft to its Starlink Satellite Internet (Source: CNBC)
SpaceX is preparing to further test its Starlink satellite internet in a demonstration for the U.S. Air Force, the company revealed in a request to the Federal Communications Commission. The company disclosed it is working with Ball Aerospace for this test, with the contractor providing antennas necessary to connect to “tactical aircraft.”

The Starlink test is under the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program, for which Ball was awarded a contract in August. (3/11)

KSC's Apollo/Saturn V Center Reopens After a Year-Long COVID-Related Closure (Source: Orlando Weekly)
After a yearlong closure related to COVID-19, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex plans to reopen the Apollo/Saturn V Center this month. The Brevard County attraction reopened many of its exhibits last summer after a short closure, but kept the Apollo/Saturn V Center closed. The Apollo/Saturn V Center is located 7.5 miles north of the main Visitors Center and must be accessed via shuttle bus. Multiple new safety protocols have been implemented in response to the ongoing pandemic while providing access to the Apollo/Saturn V Center. (3/12)

Hubble Telescope Inspires Symphony for Eyes and Ears (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Composer Eric Whitacre has his sights set high. “I have one item on my bucket list,” he said. “To go to space.” If he hasn’t gotten there physically, the Los Angeles-based composer has soared with the stars musically. He is the composer of “Deep Field: The Impossible Magnitude of Our Universe,” a multimedia symphony presented in concert by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra on March 20. It’s a multimedia presentation because the music is accompanied by a film of images taken by the Hubble telescope. (3/11)

Russia, USA at Odds Over ISS Commander (Source: Sputnik)
NASA and Roscosmos diverged on information concerning the next commander of the International Space Station. NASA's press office told Sputnik that after Soyuz MS-17 dispatches from the ISS on 17 April with Ryzhikov, Kud-Sverchkov and Rubins on board, Walker will become the 65th expedition commander. When she leaves the station on the board of the Crew Dragon spaceship in late April, Japan's Akihiko Hoshide, arriving in the ISS on 23 April, will assume commander responsibilities.

However, according to the Roscosmos website, Novitskiy will be the commander of the next expedition. Russian astronaut Sergey Ryzhikov is currently the ISS' 64th expedition head, commanding Russia's Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, NASA's Kathleen Rubins, Michael Hopkins, Shannon Walker and Japanese national Soichi Noguchi. On 9 April, Roscosmos' Oleg Novitskiy, Petr Dubrov and NASA's Mark Vande Hei will arrive at the station by spaceship Soyuz MS-17. (3/12)

Pioneering UK Space Technology Gets Government Cash Boost (Source: Space Daily)
Five UK organizations have been awarded a total of 300,000 pounds from the UK Space Agency to speed up the development of innovative space technology. Recipients include the University of Leeds, which will develop 3D printing methods and liquid-crystal technology, similar to that in our television screens at home, to develop far-infrared sensors for studying climate change and star formation.

Another project, led by Rocket Engineering in London, will create a compact propulsion system the size of a house brick for use in nano and small satellites. The engines use electromagnets to enable the satellites to move for in-orbit spacecraft servicing or space debris mitigation. The funding comes from the UK Space Agency's National Space Technology Programme (NSTP), which supports development of space technologies, encourages collaboration between industry and academia, and encourages new entrants to the space sector. (3/12)

India to Launch Four Commercial Satellite Missions (Source: CNBC)
ISRO’s commercial arm NewSpace India Limited (NSIL) has bagged four more dedicated launch service contracts even as it plans to pursue satellite building deals. NSIL launched its first dedicated commercial mission on February 28, orbiting Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 from the Sriharikota spaceport. (3/12)

India to Partner With Japan, Italy, Brazil on Space Projects (Source: Deccan Herald)
Indian and Japanese space agencies on Thursday reviewed their ongoing cooperation to launch a joint lunar polar exploration (LUPEX) mission. Scientists from Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have been working on the mission that aims to send a lander and rover to the Moon's south pole around 2024.

Also, India and Italy decided to explore opportunities in the field of earth observation, space science and robotic and human exploration. And the Brazilian space agency "has requested India's support in procurement of material and systems for its launch vehicle program," according to a DoS statement. (3/12)

Canadian Firm Builds Satellites to Track Space Trash (Source: Space Daily)
A Canadian startup plans to launch the first-ever commercial fleet of satellites designed to track dangerous space trash in 2022. Montreal-based NorthStar Earth and Space has three of its Skylark satellites under construction for the new network, which eventually will number about 52 spacecraft. The fleet would be the first of its kind to track space trash from space, rather than from ground-based radar or other technology. (3/12)

ELSA-d Mission Licence Approved by UK Space Agency (Source: Astroscale)
The End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration (ELSA-d) mission has been licenced by the UK Space Agency this week. The ELSA-d launch, scheduled for Saturday, March 20 2021, will mark the world’s first commercial mission to demonstrate the core technologies and capabilities necessary for space debris docking and removal.

The ELSA-d mission presents a leading test case for licensing for future missions undertaking complex rendezvous operations in space, such as active debris removal. This licence approval by the UK marks an important regulatory advancement that places the UK Space Agency at the forefront of global licensing for in-orbit services and manufacturing (IOSM) missions. (3/12)

Space Debris? SCOOP it Up! (Source: Cosmos)
A network of mobile observatories deployed across Australia’s vast expanse could be a new weapon in the battle against dangerous space debris. The Southern Cross Outreach Observatory Project (SCOOP) already takes a mobile observatory – towed by an SUV – into communities to teach people about astronomy. Project founder Muhammad Akbar Hussain presented the idea to the Inquiry into Developing Australia’s Space Industry this week, and hopes to create a detailed database of where space junk is – and where it’s going. The next step would be to use high-quality data to de-orbit debris with lasers. (3/12)

Critics Take Aim at SpaceX’s Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper and Other Satellite Constellations (Source: GeekWire)
SpaceX, Amazon and OneWeb say their satellite mega-constellations will make broadband internet goodness available to billions of people around the world who are unserved or underserved — but some say those promises have to be weighed against the potential perils. These critics cite the risk of catastrophic satellite collisions, concerns about cybersecurity and worries about environmental and health impacts  — including impacts on astronomical observations and the beauties of the night sky.

Such concerns are likely to intensify as SpaceX and OneWeb add to their current fleets of satellites in low Earth orbit, and as Amazon gets set to deploy more than 3,200 satellites for its Project Kuiper broadband network. If all the plans laid out for those ventures come to pass, tens of thousands of satellites could be put into orbit over the next decade.

The latest challenge to the mega-constellations was filed today with the Federal Communications Commission. A coalition of policy groups is calling on the FCC to put a 180-day hold on further approvals for broadband data satellite deployments, in order to conduct a more thoroughgoing assessment of the risks. (3/11)

Branson Wants to Take Virgin Orbit Public Through SPAC (Sources: Parabolic Arc, Wall Street Journal)
First Virgin Galactic. Now Virgin Orbit. Richard Branson has hired Credit Suisse Group AG and LionTree LLC to take Virgin Orbit public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at a valuation of up to $3 billion. The move represents the latest effort by Mr. Branson to take advantage of a recent boom in similar, blank-check listings. His Virgin Group has played on both sides of the SPAC craze: In 2019, he listed his space-tourism company,  Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc., by merging it with a SPAC, essentially a pool of money with a stock-market listing.

Then in February, a Virgin-backed blank check company said it would merge with 23andMe Inc. in a deal that valued the genetic-testing company at $3.5 billion, including debt. Mr. Branson’s company owns 80% of Virgin Orbit, with Mubadala Investment Co., the United Arab Emirates sovereign-wealth fund, owning the rest. The targeted valuation would mark a significant jump from the $1 billion the rocket startup had been aiming for last year, from a previously planned private fundraising. The company still hasn’t ruled out a private fundraising but is now focused on a SPAC, these people said. (3/12)

Court Revives Ex-NASA Engineer's Military Leave Suit (Source: Law360)
The Federal Circuit on Thursday gave a former NASA engineer a second chance to prove that his active role as a Navy commander led his supervisor at the agency to reprimand and fire him, saying an administrative board stepped out of line in tossing the worker's case. (3/12)

LyteLoop Developing Laser Comm Satellites (Source: Politico)
Space start-up LyteLoop recently raised $40 million to prove out its concept of laser communications satellites. “We’ve been spending the last five years building our proof of concept, doing all this hard science and physics,” CEO Ohad Harlev tells us. “Now we have traction with potential customers and partners.” It will be made possible by what the company calls its “storage in motion” technique, relying on high-bandwidth lasers. “It’s storing data in motion, on photons, or laser beams,” Harlev explains. “In essence it’s having data stored [and] going back and forth and back and forth ... and very, very fast.”

What does it offer? “So first thing is, you can have a constellation of satellites and you can access it from anywhere in the world,” according to Harlev. “One file can be accessed by multiple users globally. [The] second benefit is security. Because the data is in motion in space you have added extra layers of cybersecurity that cannot be duplicated.” When will it be available? The first satellite is set to be launched in three years, Harlev says. “Five years from today, I have a product ready.” (3/12)

Commerce Dept. Nominee Urged to Support Space (Source: Politico)
Don Graves, the former Treasury official who is President Joe Biden’s pick to be deputy Commerce secretary, had his confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee this week. The department has a growing role in regulating space commerce but the issue did not come up in his testimony.

But that doesn’t mean it wasn't on the minds of senators. “The department's role in advancing space commerce should also continue and I hope we will,” Roger Wicker (R-MS) told the nominee. “We will not retreat from the ambitious schedule set out by the previous administration with regard to putting a woman on the moon by the year 2024 and Americans on the surface of Mars. “We need to continue capturing the imagination of the American people on this issue that unites us the department's role in advancing space,” he added, citing “the department's role in advancing space." (3/12)

The Man Who Photographs Rocket Launches for a Living (Source: Air & Space)
Bill Ingalls has never been in space, but in more than 30 years as a contract photographer for NASA, he has traveled nearly everywhere else. He was dropped into an active Alaska volcano to snap a shot of NASA’s Dante II robot. He flew through a hurricane aboard a DC-8 and, when space dwellers have returned to Earth in Soyuz spacecraft, he’s endured the subzero temperatures in Kazakhstan.

How Ingalls has approached the task of documenting the U.S. space program is reflected in a comment about the end of the space shuttle era, when the shuttles were being flown to their “retirement homes.” After taking one photo after another of the spacecraft, he realized the real story was the “people on the ground pointing and looking up with their jaws dropped. I was like, ‘There’s the emotion, there’s the tie-in.’ ” Portraying the emotions of the space program, in circumstances both grand and intimate, has made Ingalls only the second photographer ever to receive the prestigious National Space Club Press Award. (12/2020)

KSC Prepares for First Flight of Rocket and Spacecraft for Moon Missions (Source: NASA)
The rocket that will take America and its international partners back to the Moon will launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. With a busy year ahead, the team at Kennedy is preparing for the Artemis I mission in which the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket lifts off the pad and sends the Orion spacecraft on its way to the Moon. Each of the 10 segments of the two SLS solid rocket boosters are fully stacked on the mobile launcher and ready for further integration and testing with other flight components. (12/5)

Does Joe Biden Take Space Seriously? (Source: Politico)
The early signs coming from the Biden administration have more than a few of us worried about its approach to space policy. The decision to assign oversight of space to the National Security Council has fueled speculation that the high-level National Space Council will be discontinued. To date, no senior appointees have been nominated for the most senior space positions, including NASA administrator or the space policy and space acquisition positions in the Pentagon.

As we move into summer with these unfilled, it seems to be another indication that space is not high on the agenda for the new administration. Without the high-level attention imbued by an improved National Space Council, none of these issues will be resolved. Low earth orbit will become the opposite of its promise: a no man’s land of discarded satellite and rocket debris. What’s left might be exploited commercially, but only by a handful of the ultrawealthy while small business owners are kept out. The unique ability of the space sector to promote commerce, enhance international trade and strengthen diplomacy will be greatly diminished. Throughout history, these are the statesmen’s best tools to prevent military conflict.

If the Biden administration cannot see the value in the National Space Council to lead a whole-of-government policy coherence for a new century, it should disband it. Simply pretending it is important but assigning it no clear purpose would actually slow down progress and be a waste of time and resources for the hundreds of people trying to make it useful. (3/12)

Polarization: From Better Sunglasses to a Better Way of Looking at Asteroid Surfaces (Source: UCF)
Using the same principles that make polarized sunglasses possible, a team of researchers at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico have developed a technique that will help better defend against asteroids on a collision course with Earth. A new study recently published in The Planetary Science Journal  found a better way to interpret radar signals bounced off asteroids’ surfaces. The data can better tell us if an asteroid is porous, fluffy or rocky, which matters because there are hundreds of near-Earth asteroids that could potentially hit the planet. (3/11)

This Strange Lava-Rich Alien Planet is Making Itself a New Atmosphere (Source: Space.com)
Scientists think they've spied an alien world that lost its atmosphere — then conjured itself a new one. That's according to a new analysis of Hubble Space Telescope observations gathered in 2017 of a planet dubbed GJ 1132 b. The world tightly orbits a red dwarf star located about 41 light-years from Earth, completing one circle every 1.5 Earth days and soaking up lots of stellar radiation in the process. And now, scientists think they see signs of a secondary atmosphere, one that was born of the exoplanet itself long after the planet formed. (3/11)

'Moon Registry' Catalogs Human Heritage Left Behind on Lunar Surface (Source: CollectSpace)
The moon may be devoid of humans (at least for now), but there is plenty of humanity to be found strewn across the lunar surface. A new website catalogs the human heritage items that were left behind on the moon, for posterity and for the public to reference.

The Moon Registry, presented by For All Moonkind, celebrates the sites and hardware that can now be found on Earth's natural satellite. The free resource provides overviews of every robotic and human missions that made contact with the moon, including details on the objects related to those excursions that also remain there today — from commemorative medallions and flags to rovers and scientific experiments.

Launched on March 11, the For All Moonkind Moon Registry contains entries for both robotic and crewed missions to the moon dating back more than 50 years. Each record has a brief description and photographs about the mission, as well can a section for related items. For example, each of the Apollo moon landings has an entry for the lunar module descent stage that brought the astronauts to the surface, as well as an area to list the individual equipment and mementos that the crew members left behind. (3/11)

The 10 Most Innovative Space Companies of 2021 (Source: Fast Company)
While things on Earth weren’t so great, the conquest of space proceeded full speed ahead this year, led by SpaceX, which sent its first manned vessel to the International Space Station and added nearly 1,000 satellites to its Starlink constellation. Its commercial launch business could face increasing competition from up-and-comers Rocket Lab and Relativity Space. Rounding out our list are companies that identify and clean up space junk, and that offer an orbital view of wide range of human activity. Click here. (3/9)

Space Force is Using Virtual-Reality Headsets to Train its Guardians to Work on Satellites (Source: Washington Post)
The U.S. Space Force is using virtual reality headsets to launch satellite mission operators into places they’ve never been before. The military branch, started under former president Donald Trump, is working with government contractor SAIC on a gamified training platform that allows employees to interact with full-scale digital replicas of national security satellites. The platform lets the armed forces practice responding to missile warning scenarios and collaborate in cyberspace.

They’re not exactly rehearsing how to destroy alien spaceships. But if satellite solar panels need to be fixed, they can practice doing that — without having to travel to space to do it. If a spacecraft needs to be repositioned, they can execute that too. If troops need more information about a mission, it’s as simple as pressing a button. No space suits or textbooks necessary.

The branch’s main purpose is to improve national-security capabilities in space, according to the Pentagon. More directly, Space Force’s job is to maintain, protect and expand the U.S. fleet of advanced military satellites. The contract with SAIC was established to create a virtual replica of space stations, mission control rooms and satellites, which can be difficult or costly to get to. That way, the space agency can streamline operations and train teams on what to expect before being launched on a mission. (3/12)