April 8, 2022

Florida Set to Get Delta 10, and Possibly More of Space Force's STARCOM (Sources: Air Force Times, SPACErePORT)
Patrick Space Force Base in Florida will become the home to Delta 10, a component of Space Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) which focuses on space doctrine and wargaming. PSFB is the only candidate being considered to host the Delta 10 mission because it can tap into local military modeling and simulation capabilities, largely based in Orlando, as well as the Space Coast’s commercial and civilian space expertise. Although details on the size and scope of Delta 10's PSFB presence are still TBD, the wargaming mission of Delta 10 is viewed by the local community as a key prize within Delta 10, with substantial opportunities for leveraging future growth. (4/7)

E-Space and Rocket Lab to Launch Prototype Satellite for Proposed Megaconstellation (Source: Space News)
Megaconstellation startup E-Space will launch the first of potentially hundreds of thousands of satellites this month. The company has three prototype smallsats on a Rocket Lab Electron rideshare mission scheduled for launch no earlier than April 19. The prototypes will test guidance and control systems for the satellites, company founder Greg Wyler said in an interview. E-Space plans to launch several more prototypes this year before going into serial production next year. Despite having Rwanda-backed spectrum filings for 300,000 satellites, Wyler claims E-Space will ultimately have a net positive impact on the space environment because the broadband satellites will also have the ability to capture and de-orbit debris too small to track. (4/8)

Shortage of Antonov Aircraft Complicates Space Supply Chain (Source: Space News)
A shortage of Ukrainian Antonov aircraft raises the prospect of more delays for satellite projects already bogged down by supply chain issues. Those large cargo aircraft are commonly used to transport satellites from manufacturing facilities to launch sites, but several have been destroyed in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and others are either run by Russian companies subject to Western sanctions or are being used to support the war effort. Companies are considering other options, including transporting satellites by ship or truck. (4/8)

BlackSky Strategizes for More Defense Work (Source: Space News)
Amid a surge in demand for satellite imagery, BlackSky wants to expand its national security and defense business. The company operates a fleet of high-resolution imaging satellites. It has seen its business grow since Russia's invasion of Ukraine as the U.S. government turned to commercial providers for imagery to help track Russian forces and support humanitarian relief efforts in war-torn parts of Ukraine. The company announced this week it formed a strategic advisory group of retired military officials to help grow its defense and intelligence business. BlackSky CEO Brian O'Toole says he expects to be one of the companies picked by the NRO to be primary providers of commercial imagery for the U.S. intelligence community later this year. (4/8)

Astroscale Revising Debris Removal Plans After Thruster Failures on Demo Sat (Source: Space News)
Astroscale is revising plans for tests of its space debris removal technology demonstration spacecraft after half its thrusters failed. The company said four of eight thrusters on its ELSA-d spacecraft are "non-functional," complicating efforts to have the servicer spacecraft rendezvous and dock with a client spacecraft. Astroscale said it would move the servicer to within 160 meters of the client "in the near future" for detection and tracking tests, and then move away while it considers options for trying to dock with the client. Astroscale provided few technical details about the thruster malfunction, but Bradford Space, which manufactured those thrusters, said the problems "do not relate to and are not a result of the design or build of the thrusters." (4/8)

Russia Launches Intelligence Satellite (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
A Soyuz rocket launched a Russian intelligence satellite Thursday. The Soyuz-2.1b rocket lifted off at 7:20 a.m. Eastern from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome and placed the Cosmos 2554 satellite into a highly inclined low Earth orbit. The satellite is thought to be Lotos-S1 No. 5, the latest in a series of electronic intelligence gathering spacecraft. (4/8)

NASA SLS Rehearsal Overcoming Glitches (Source: Spaceflight Now)
As NASA prepares for the next attempt to go through a countdown rehearsal for the Space Launch System, it's dealing with another technical glitch. NASA said Thursday that engineers ran into problems maintaining helium purge pressure in the rocket's upper stage engine after replacing a regulator on the mobile launcher. The agency's statement was unclear about whether they had fixed the problem. NASA has tentatively scheduled the next SLS wet dress rehearsal for no earlier than Monday. (4/8)
 
Companies Following Different Paths for Space Traffic Management (Source: Space News)
Some companies, frustrated by the slow pace of government efforts in space traffic management, are moving ahead on their own. Several companies are developing growing capabilities to track space objects and provide warnings of potential close approaches, roles traditionally held by the government. Some are calling on government agencies like the Office of Space Commerce and the FCC to make more use of those growing private capabilities through public-private partnerships. (4/8)

Relativity Space Still Plans Terran 1 Launch From Cape Canaveral Spaceport This Year (Source: Florida Today)
Relativity Space says it still expects its first launch to take place this year from Cape Canaveral. The company is developing the Terran 1 small launch vehicle, which it will launch from Launch Complex 16 at the Cape. Relativity CEO Tim Ellis said in an interview that the launch site itself is nearly complete and the company is doing acceptance testing of the flight engines for the first rocket. He said Relativity is "just a few months away" from a first launch. (4/7)

L3Harris Awarded $117 Million Space Object-Tracking Modernization Contract (Source: Business Wire)
L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has been awarded $117 million for option-year three of a U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command contract to continue maintaining and modernizing infrastructure to track objects in space. The Maintenance Of Space Situational Awareness Integrated Capabilities (MOSSAIC) program has an estimated contract value of $1.2 billion over 10 years. L3Harris won the initial MOSSAIC contract in February 2020 to maintain and upgrade radar and optical sensors and command and control systems that provide timely, accurate space domain awareness data for military, civil and commercial users. (4/6)

Space Force Eyeing New Space Domain Awareness System (Source: Aviation Week)
The U.S. Space Force is preparing to decommission the system that was tracking space activity and transition to a new system by year’s end on an “aggressive schedule,” service and industry officials say. L3Harris Technologies is building the Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System (ATLAS)–part of the Space Command and Control architecture–following on in the breakup of the Joint Space Operation Center Mission System (JMS). It is modernizing the Space Force’s space command-and-control capabilities using modern software development methods. (4/6)

ULA Expects Amazon Deal to Drive Down Space Force’s Vulcan Launch Costs (Source: C4ISRnet)
A newly announced contract between United Launch Alliance and Amazon could have implications for the next phase of the Space Force’s National Security Space Launch competition. Amazon's 38 missions are on top of nine Atlas V rockets Amazon has already ordered from ULA. ULA CEO Tory Bruno said the deal will translate to lower prices for future government launches and will drive infrastructure investments that will have benefits across its portfolio, which is now split 50-50 between government and commercial customers.

ULA is one of two launch companies providing launch services under Phase 2 of the Space Force’s National Security Space Launch program. The company in August 2020 won 60% of launches in a five-year manifest; SpaceX received the remaining 40%. Ordering for Phase 2 missions — which will fly between 2022 and 2027 — runs through the end of 2024. The service plans to launch another competition to select providers for the third phase and expects to begin awarding those missions in 2025. (4/6)

Virgin Orbit to Launch Maritime Data Satellite From the UK (Source: Virgin.com)
Virgin Orbit has announced an agreement with The Satellite Applications Catapult (The Catapult) to launch the latest satellite in The Catapult’s In-Orbit Demonstration (IOD) programme into space from the UK later this year. The satellite, called Amber-1, is a partnership between The Catapult and Horizon Technologies. Built by AAC Clyde Space in Scotland, it will be launched by Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne on its historic flight from Spaceport Cornwall this year – a mission that will mark the first-ever orbital launch from a UK spaceport. (4/6)

Danish Billionaire Reaches Agreement Over Flights From UK's Highland Spaceport (Source: The Scotsman)
Fashion tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen, who is also Scotland’s richest billionaire owns Eribol Estate near the £17.3 million project in the Flow Country near Melness in Sutherland and raised a legal action over Highland Council's approval, citing its impact on protected areas. Orbex, a spaceflight company, plans to use the site to launch its Prime rocket, which will carry into orbit small, commercial satellites, from the A’ Mhòine peninsula. (4/7)

The Carbon Footprint of SpaceX (Source: Cosmos)
Unusually, for the actual rocket launch, the CO2 isn’t really the biggest deal here. It’s possible to use rocket fuel without any carbon in it at all – NASA has been using liquid hydrogen for decades, and Jeff Bezos’ rocket used it too. But commercial hydrogen is made in a very carbon-intensive way, although it’s possible to make with zero emissions. SpaceX’s rockets, on the other hand, have kerosene and methane-based fuels, while Virgin Galactic’s Richard Branson zoomed up with a carbon-based fuel too.

While some of these fuels emit CO2, all of them cause other atmospheric problems. The biggest deal is ozone depletion, which can heat the Earth as well as damaging the ozone layer. The soot, carbon dioxide, water vapour, and nitrogen oxides emitted by the rockets all have a warming effect too. This is compounded by the altitude the gases are emitted at. One study suggests that 0.22% of the upper stratospheric ozone could be lost from three years of space tourism, which could “substantially offset” the progress done by the Montreal Protocol.

As a ballpark, one researcher has suggested that per person, a space tourism flight is 50-100 times worse for the atmosphere than a long-distance plane flight. While many of us find billionaire space tourism tiresome, we do get a range of other benefits from these rocket launches. Earth-monitoring satellites are the clearest example here – giving us a lot of the very data we use to track climate change. According to the Australian Space Agency, other benefits include massive technological innovations, communications technology, and scientific exploration. (4/7)

UCF Doctor Working with Axiom to Study Effects of Space Travel on Eyesight (Source: Click Orlando)
UCF Health ophthalmologist Mehul Patel is preparing to study how the microgravity environment of space affects the structure and function of the eye. Patel is one of three physicians with UCF Health working along with Axiom Space and two Israeli medical centers to conduct clinical studies with the civilian passengers of the upcoming SpaceX Crew Dragon flight. (4/6)

SpaceX, USAID Deliver 5,000 Satellite Internet Terminals to Ukraine (Source: Reuters)
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) said on Wednesday it has provided 5,000 Starlink satellite internet terminals to the Government of Ukraine in partnership with Elon Musk-founded SpaceX. Starlink's terminals help a user connect to the internet through the company's constellation of satellites without the need for a cable connection. The U.S. agency said SpaceX donated 3,667 terminals and the internet service itself, while USAID purchased the remaining 1,333 terminals. (4/6)

Space Tourism Is Betting Its Future on a Crew of Billionaires (Source: Daily Beast)
The billionaires are at it again. Three of the wealthiest people on Earth are headed to the International Space Station for a first-of-its-kind mission. Spaceflight company Axiom Space is launching an all-private four-person crew to the ISS on Friday as part of the Ax-1 mission. The team will fly aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket to the orbital outpost, where they’ll spend 10 days living and working.

Regardless of whether or not this constitutes true space tourism or not, criticism can be made that while initiatives from companies like Axiom Space and Blue Origin ostensibly open the door to space flight to private citizens, it’s still really only limited to the elite, ultra-wealthy, and Pete Davidson. However, space policy expert Wendy Whitman Cobb told The Daily Beast that it’s all a part of the process to eventually democratize space travel to the masses.

“It’s demonstrating the concept that minimally trained people can go into space,” said Cobb, who is also an associate professor of strategy and security at the US Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. “Because before you can get regular people willing to pay for a ticket, you have to demonstrate that your equipment and your mission concept is reliable and safe.” (4/7)

A Hypersonic Plane? Houston Company Seeks to Fly From Los Angeles to Tokyo in 1 Hour (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Venus Aerospace, a Houston company developing a spaceplane that could fly passengers from Los Angeles to Tokyo in one hour, has raised $20 million, the company announced Tuesday. This brings its total fundraising to $33 million. Sassie Duggleby and her husband Andrew Duggleby, who co-founded the company, left jobs in California to grow Venus Aerospace in Houston. The company is designing a spaceplane that will travel 12 times faster than the speed of sound and at an altitude of 150,000 feet, which is high enough to see the blackness of space.

Its recent round of funding was led by Prime Movers Lab, which invests in breakthrough scientific companies. Venus Aerospace will use this money to mature its rocket engine, aircraft shape and leading-edge cooling, which allows the spaceplane to take off from spaceports like the Houston Spaceport. (4/5)

Study Confirms Feasibility of High-Speed Airspace Corridor Out of Midland TX Spaceport (Source: Midland Reporter-Telegram)
Midland Development Corp. got some encouraging news as it delves further into developing an aerospace industry out of Midland International Airport. A recently-completed study commissioned by the MDC and prepared by Kimley Horn on the feasibility of a high-speed airspace corridor out of Midland International found such a corridor is feasible.

An initial study conducted in February 2020 investigated the extension of existing Part 420 licensed flight corridors at the spaceport and one of the recommendations from that study was to refine a preferred corridor option. The just-released study focused on one option identified in the first study as a high-speed airspace corridor capable of accommodating a variety of high-speed missions to include subsonic, supersonic, hypersonic and point-to-point suborbital missions.

The study “looked at possible air space for a corridor and its possible use for testing, given commercial and military use,” explained Sara Harris, MDC executive director. There are times and space available, she said, but there remains questions to be answered. The MDC will be seeking funding for the next phase, which will include defining how authorization from FAA stakeholders and the military would be received. Harris said the MDC will be looking for grants to fund this next study, which she said will initially cost about $500,000. (4/6)

5 Space Startups Challenging SpaceX for a $30 Billion Market by Making Launches Faster and Cheaper (Source: Business Insider)
The launch-services sector of the space industry is expected to be worth $29.6 billion by 2026. A number of startups have popped up in recent years to meet the growing demand for launch services, all with the goal of making it easier and cheaper to shoot things into space. Here are five startups space-industry experts say are worth keeping an eye on... (4/6)

ABL Space Systems (Source: Business Insider)
ABL was founded in California, in 2017 by Harry O'Hanley and Dan Piemont, alums of SpaceX and Morgan Stanley, respectively. The startup has created what it calls the GSO ground system, which is a launch pad built into a standard shipping container that it says allows its rockets to launch from anywhere in the world. "Give us a concrete pad anywhere in the world, and we deliver everything else," ABL's company website says. The startup says its minimal infrastructure and streamlined operations let it execute a rocket launch in hours rather than months. It also created the RS1 rocket, which can launch roughly 3,000 pounds of payload into low earth orbit for $12 million. (4/6)

Dawn Aerospace (Source: Business Insider)
Based out of New Zealand and The Netherlands, Dawn Aerospace has created a space plane called the Mk-II Aurora, which is designed to be fully reusable and can take off from any decent-size airport. Founded in 2016, Dawn also makes propulsion systems to move satellites around once they're in space. Dawn says on its company website that the Aurora space plane is built for multiple trips to space every day and doesn't need the typical launch infrastructure that rockets do, as it can take off from any standard runway. The goal is for the space plane to one day deliver satellites and other cargo to and from space. (4/6)

Firefly Aerospace (Source: Business Insider)
Founded and run by the SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic alum Tom Markusic in 2014, Firefly designs, manufactures, and operates launch vehicles and spacecraft. Based in Austin, Texas, Firefly has said its launch facilities on both coasts of the US will allow it to launch as frequently as once a month by late 2022. The company's website says it's on track to be able to launch payloads between 2,20o and 22,000 pounds to LEO by mid-2022 for a starting price of $15 million. Firefly has designed two launch vehicles: Alpha and the second-stage launch vehicle Beta. The startup says Beta will have the lowest cost per pound of all launch vehicles in its class. (4/6)

Skyrora (Source: Business Insider)
Founded by CEO Volodymyr Levykin in 2017, Skyrora designs and manufactures rockets for the small-satellite market. The Edinburgh, Scotland, company has designed several launch vehicles, including the Skyrora XL, Skylark L, and SkyHy. The startup lists its goal as becoming the leading launch provider in the UK and No. 1 global commercial provider of access to space. In addition to designing and building launch vehicles, Skyrora is developing a type of fuel it calls ecosene, made from plastic waste. (4/6)

SpinLaunch (Source: Business Insider)
SpinLaunch, founded in 2014 by CEO Jonathan Yaney, is eschewing the traditional rocket launch. Its orbital launch system uses kinetic energy to get the rocket spinning in a circle up to 5,000 mph, then flings it into orbit (or most of the way there), with electricity used to power the launch system. The goal of the startup is to create an emissions-free way to get payloads into space. With backing from Airbus Ventures and Google's venture-capital fund, the Long Beach, California, startup says it plans to put 440-pound-class satellites into low earth orbit, with the first customer launches planned for 2025. (4/6)