July 30, 2021

What Northrop Makes of Bezos' Offer to Subsidize NASA Moon Lander (Source: Washington Monthly)
During Northrop Grumman’s second quarter earnings call Thursday, one analyst representing institutional investors asked CEO Kathy Warden what she makes of Bezos’ proposal to NASA and the idea of adopting a loss leader approach in space. Before sharing her answer, first the context to remind: Northrop and Lockheed Martin are subcontractors to Blue Origin’s “National Team” that vied for the contract to build the lander and help return NASA to the moon.

“When we lead an effort, we will choose to make sizable investments to protect that program and increase our probability of a win over its life because of the advantage that you get when you are the leader on the effort, and that's exactly what Blue Origin is doing,” Warden said on the call. “It's important to also note that the business case for Blue Origin extends well beyond the NASA program as they think about their aspirations for commercial space travel.” (7/29)

Rocket Lab's Electron Booster Returns to Flight, Delivers Monolith Payload to Orbit (Source: AmericaSpace)
With a powerful crackle from its nine Rutherford liquid-fueled engines, Rocket Lab’s Electron booster returned smoothly to flight early Thursday, following a ten-week hiatus in operations. Liftoff of the 56-foot-tall, two-stage vehicle took place at Launch Complex (LC)-1 at the southernmost tip of the Mahia Peninsula on New Zealand’s North Island.

In keeping with Rocket Lab tradition, today’s mission bore its own uniquely comical nomenclature—“It’s Chile Up Here”—as it delivered a U.S. Space Force demonstration payload called “Monolith” to low-Earth orbit on behalf of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and the Space Test Program (STP). It was Rocket Lab’s second flight in support of Department of Defense objectives, following a previous mission in May 2019. (7/29)

Move Asteroids Now Before They Become a Threat (Source: Space.com)
A pair of astronomers is proposing two new strategies. One, we should limit the number of asteroid missions to minimize human-caused orbital changes. Two, we should actively manage the positions of asteroids to place them into orbits that will be safe over the long term. It turns out that innocent missions to asteroids can have grave consequences. The problem has to do with gravitational "keyholes," or relatively tiny regions in space where a planet can gravitationally influence an asteroid in such a way that it sets the asteroid on an eventual planet-crossing trajectory.

Some asteroids should be left alone to skate near Earth, because the risk of a collision now is less than the risk of entering a keyhole should we move it, the researchers said. But others should be actively managed, even if they pose no active risk at this moment.In the end, the researchers found, finding safe harbors for asteroids — orbits that don't intersect with Earth and aren't near any keyholes — will have to be made individually. (7/30)

How Serious Was the Nauka Incident? (Source: SPACErePORT)
"So it turns out there's more to the Nauka story than first thought. Firstly, ISS was out by way more than 45 degrees - it sounds more like it was full-on tumbling. Secondly, Nauka's thrusters were unable to be turned off for a full 70 minutes(!), as it had to pass over a Russian ground station for commands to be sent, which is why Progress was drafted in to help fight MLM. There's a question mark about whether control of MLM's thrusters was ever actually regained, or whether the module simply ran out of fuel. ISS continued to tumble even after MLM had stopped firing as the rates were brought back under control. All told, the tumbling lasted for a few hours."

Editor's Note: This unconfirmed account was from a series of tweets by a writer for NasaSpaceFlight.com. I'm interested to see more reporting on the seriousness of the Nauka incident, and whether NASA softened it in any way. Another tweeter, claiming to be NASA Flight Director during the event, said he had to declare a spacecraft emergency and was happy to see that the ISS solar arrays and radiators remained attached after the incident. (7/30)

GAO Denies Human Landing System Protests by Blue Origin & Dynetics, Affirms SpaceX Award (Source: Parabolic Arc)
On Friday, July 30, 2021, the GAO denied protests filed by Blue Origin and Dynetics. The protesters challenged their non-selection for awards and the award to SpaceX. Broad Agency Announcements (BAA) typically provide for the acquisition of basic and applied research for new and creative research or development solutions to scientific and engineering problems. The rules for BAA procurements are not the same as those for standard competitive federal procurements, as agencies generally enjoy broader discretion in selecting the proposals most suitable to meeting their R&D needs when using BAA procedures. 

The announcement was issued by NASA, for a demonstration mission for a human landing system for lunar exploration. NASA made award to SpaceX for a total evaluated price of $2,941,394,557. After noting that SpaceX submitted the lowest-priced proposal with the highest rating, and that the offers submitted by Blue Origin and Dynetics were significantly higher in price, NASA also concluded that the agency lacked the necessary funding to make more than one award. (7/30)

Nelson Confident For More HLS Funding (Source: Space News)
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said he remains confident Congress will provide NASA with funding for a second Human Landing System (HLS) award. At a press conference Thursday, Nelson said he was "very optimistic" Congress would appropriate funding to enable the competition in the HLS program he says is vital. A House spending bill, though, offers only a modest increase to the HLS program. Nelson declined to comment on Blue Origin's proposal to waive up to $2 billion in costs if NASA gives it an HLS award, citing the ongoing protest that the GAO is scheduled to make a ruling on next week. (7/30)

Nauka Docks to ISS But Thrusters Cause Tilt and International Scramble For Fix (Source: Space News)
A Russian module that docked with the International Space Station Thursday morning started firing its thrusters hours later, causing the station to briefly lose attitude control. The Multipurpose Laboratory Module, or Nauka, docked with the station's Zvezda module at 9:29 a.m. Eastern. About three hours later, though, the module's thrusters started firing, causing the station's attitude to drift. Thrusters on Zvezda and a Progress cargo spacecraft fired in response, and Russian controllers were able to turn off the thrusters on Nauka and restore attitude control within an hour.

There was no evidence of any damage to the station, and the cause of the thruster firing remains under investigation. NASA postponed the launch of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle, which was scheduled for this afternoon, to no earlier than Tuesday to give the space station time to recover from the incident. (7/30)

AST SpaceMobile Plans SpaceX Launch of Prototype Satellite (Source: Business Wire)
AST SpaceMobile will launch a demonstration satellite next year with SpaceX. The company announced Thursday that its BlueWalker 3 prototype satellite will launch in March 2022 on a SpaceX launch from Florida. The companies did not disclose the terms of the agreement. The satellite will deploy a 64-square-meter antenna to test its ability to communicate directly with mobile phones. (7/30)

Varda Space Raises $53 Million for Microgravity Manufacturing (Source: CNBC)
A space manufacturing startup has raised $42 million. Varda Space Industries announced Thursday the Series A round led by Khosla Ventures and Caffeinated Capital. With an earlier seed round, it has raised $53 million to date. The company says it's developing a spacecraft to manufacture high-value products in microgravity and return them to Earth. The company says the spacecraft could produce products ranging from pharmaceuticals to semiconductors, but past efforts at space manufacturing have struggled to identify items that can be profitably produced in space. (7/30)

China's Mars Rover Nears Area of Study (Source: Xinhua)
China's Zhurong rover has reached an area of "complex terrain" on Mars. The rover, after passing sand dunes, arrived recently at an area with rocks and impact craters, according to the China National Space Administration. The rover will study the region with its instruments, but Chinese officials did not disclose additional details about its work. Zhurong has been on Mars for 75 Martian days, or sols, with a planned mission of at least 90 sols. (7/30)

ISRO Merch Available (Source: Times of India)
The Indian space agency ISRO is getting into the merchandising business. ISRO announced Friday it had reached licensing agreements with several companies to sell ISRO-branded clothes, toys and other products. The goal of the merchandising project is to create public awareness of, and interest in, ISRO's activities. (7/30)

FCC Wants Broadband Subsidy Clawback (Source: Quartz)
The FCC would like its money back, please. The US Federal Communications Commission has asked SpaceX and other participants in its program to subsidize rural broadband internet to give back portions of their awards. The recall comes after public complaints that the agency made areas that already have broadband access eligible for subsidies. SpaceX, which received $880 million through the process, is being asked to return subsidies related to about 6% of the geographic areas where it won them. (7/29)

Portland School No. 1 in American Rocketry Challenge (Source: Space.com)
A Portland-area high school came out on top in a new "distributed" version of this year's American Rocketry Challenge that was optimized for pandemic safety. Oregon Episcopal School received $20,000 for coming within one foot and 6.7 feet (2 meters) of a specified altitude in two flights, putting it best among 100 national finalists. As a first-time finalist, the school also received $2,500 for posting the best results among the rookies, and an additional $1,000 given to each finalist participant as a thank-you for their time and efforts — bringing the total haul close to $25,000. (7/28)

Competition Between DoD Space Acquisition Agencies Called a Good Thing (Source: National Defense)
The Space Force will likely not pursue agency consolidation as a path forward for acquisition reform, a key leader said July 28. Keeping acquisition agencies separate preserves their unique roles in the space enterprise and promotes competition, said Space Force Vice Chief of Operations Gen. David “DT” Thompson at a Mitchell Institute event.

“I look at what we're doing in acquisition a little differently than, let's say, the term ‘consolidation,’” he said. “... one is bringing focus and unity of effort and activity to that enterprise, but we are not at this point, looking at what's called consolidation.” The director of the Space Rapid Capabilities Office said in July it was too early to consider consolidation between other acquisition agencies after the Space and Missile Systems Center recently underwent a redesign to address concerns about streamlining processes.

However, a House Appropriations Committee report earlier this month criticized the Air Force and Space Force for what it termed the lack of “aggressive action” toward space acquisition reform. Thompson said the Space RCO, Space Development Agency and the recently redesigned SMC all have their own roles and responsibilities that are key to the acquisition. The Space RCO is pursuing innovative space solutions, while the Space and Missile Systems Center has legacy programs in its portfolio. The Space Development Agency brings its own focus on low-cost satellites to the table, he noted. (7/28)

Biden Taps Aerospace Corp.’s John Plumb to Run DoD Space Policy (Source: Space News)
President Biden has nominated John Plumb to be assistant secretary of defense for space policy, a White House spokesman said July 29. Plumb currently is the chief of government relations at the Aerospace Corp. He is a captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve with expertise in space, missile defense, nuclear deterrence and submarine warfare. Before assuming his current post at Aerospace, Plumb was a senior engineer at RAND Corp. The assistant secretary of defense for space policy is a new post that Congress established in the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. (7/29)

Boeing Starliner Test Flight Delayed Due to Incident at Space Station (Source: Florida Today)
NASA and Boeing have decided to stand down from Friday’s launch attempt of Starliner's Orbital Flight Test-2 mission. The delay allows the International Space Station team time to do checkouts of the newly arrived Roscosmos’ Nauka module and to ensure the station will be ready for Starliner’s arrival. (7/29)

Kleos Space Establishes Partnership with Japan Space Imaging Corporation for Promotion in Japan (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Kleos Space, a space-powered Radio Frequency Reconnaissance data provider, has established a partnership with Japan Space Imaging Corp. (JSI) to support Kleos’ geolocation data promotion in Japan. Under the agreement, Kleos’ RF geolocation data will enhance Japanese customers in their operations, such as defense of the homeland, and identification of illicit activities in territorial and international waters. (7/30)

Virginia Groups Team on Playbook for Autonomous Space Technologies (Source: VISA)
The Virginia Institute for Space Flight & Autonomy (VISA) and Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) have launched a program to develop a Hampton Roads-Eastern Shore Unmanned Systems (UxS) Strategic Playbook to focus on the continued development and expansion of unmanned ground, aerial, maritime, and space technologies across Virginia. VISA is a research enterprise of the Virginia Modeling, Analysis, and Simulation Center (VMASC) at Old Dominion University. CIT is the primary source for information, grants, partnerships, and seed funding for UxS in the Commonwealth. (7/30)

We Need a 'Special Relationship' for Space (Source: The Telegraph)
Seventy-five years ago, Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered a famous address at Westminster College. It was a speech that mixed despair with hope. Despair at Communism’s “iron curtain descending across the continent” but hope that together our great nations “hold the power to save the future.” Today, Churchill’s words are more resonant and relevant than ever as we look to adversaries threatening us not just from Earth but from space. Even with the level of threat to our interests in space, our objective remains to keep the domain peaceful.

Churchill’s contemporary, Supreme Allied Commander and later President Dwight Eisenhower once suggested that, “we are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it.” Today, our ability to deter conflict in space could well depend on our preparedness to win in the domain, which is critical given how much we rely on space-based capabilities.

It is the duty of every nation to keep the space environment safe and secure for all. Just as it is the responsibility of all countries to prevent our worst day in space from becoming our worst day on earth. So, the US and UK will continue to deepen our space partnership and promote responsible behaviours in the space domain. We will continue to guard our outer limits. And we will continue to keep our sights firmly fixed on the stars. (7/29)

The U.S. Should Send a President to Space (Source: Wall Street Journal)
The U.S. president has a responsibility to inspire and lead all Americans, and to set the example on the world stage. To comprehend that responsibility fully, he (or she) should personally view Earth from the highest possible vantage point—outer space. When we think of journeying to space, the famous pilgrimages of Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong often come to mind. Yet suborbital space is becoming increasingly accessible to nonastronauts.

The recent flights by Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos on rockets their companies built demonstrated this dramatically. The promise of private space enterprise should be harnessed by American leaders to gain an advantage in the space race with China. China has been active by landing a rover on Mars and achieving the first landing on the far side of the moon.

If the U.S. hopes to win this space race, public support will be crucial. Yet a recent Morning Consult poll shows Americans rank space 25th in a list of 26 priorities for the Biden administration. Americans aren’t inspired by space in the way they were in the 1950s and ’60s, when space travel thoroughly captured the American consciousness. To rekindle the spirit of American adventure, a U.S. president should travel to space by the end of the decade. This will show that space is a priority for American leadership, and it will signal that the best has yet to come. (7/29)

Scottish Sites in the Running for UK's First Ever Space Launch (Source: The National)
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has announced the new rules provide a framework to regulate the space industry and will unlock “a potential £4 billion of market opportunities over the next decade”. The first launch is expected to take place next year. It would be the first time a spacecraft or satellite has taken off from a European country, the Department for Transport (DfT) said.

Many European companies currently launch from a site in French Guiana, South America. Proposed locations for UK spaceports include the Western Isles, Glasgow, Machrihanish, Sutherland and Shetland. Newquay in Cornwall and Snowdonia in North Wales are the other proposed locations. (7/29)

India to Encourage Private Participation in Space Sector (Source: Daily Excelsior)
Union Minister of State Dr. Jitendra Singh stated that the Modi government is committed to encourage private participation in the Space sector. He further informed that the Space Activities Bill is under active consideration of the Government, which will include aspects pertaining to regulation and promotion of private players in the space sector. He disclosed that the Government is in the process of creating an ecosystem to encourage more private participation in indigenous production of space technologies, services and devices. (7/30)