May 28, 2022

NASA Picks Latest SBIR and STTR Phase 1 Winners, 11 From Florida (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected hundreds of small businesses and dozens of research institutions to develop technology to help drive the future of space exploration, ranging from novel sensors and electronics to new types of software and cutting-edge materials. The newly awarded projects under the agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program also

include a high-power electric rocket and a coating to make solar panels more efficient that could be used both in space and here on Earth. The awards total nearly $50 million, with investments spread out over 39 states and Washington. Under the selection, 333 proposals from 257 small businesses and 41 research institutions - including 10 Minority Serving Institutions - will be awarded first-round funding for technology development.

Editor's Note: Eight Florida SBIR projects were selected, along with three STTR projects involving the Florida Institute of Technology, University of Central Florida, and University of Florida. Click here for the list of SBIR winners, and here for the STTR winners. (5/26)

Extraterrestrial Civilizations May Colonize the Galaxy Even if They Don't Have Starships (Source: Space Daily)
Astronomers have searched for extraterrestrial civilizations in planetary systems for sixty years, to no avail. In the paper published by International Journal of Astrobiology, Cambridge University Press, and titled "Migrating extraterrestrial civilizations and interstellar colonization: Implications for SETI and SETA," Irina K. Romanovskaya proposes that the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) may have more chances to become successful when including the search for migrating extraterrestrial civilizations.

For example, extraterrestrial civilizations may leave their home planetary systems when they face existential threats. One of the ways to do so is to ride free-floating planets. Free-floating planets can offer space and resources, as well as protection from space radiation, for very large populations embarking on interstellar travel. It is most likely technically impossible that huge starships, also called world ships, can offer the same.

Extraterrestrial civilizations may also use free-floating planets to send biological or post-biological species to survey interstellar space, stars, and planetary systems, or to establish their colonies in several planetary systems to preserve and expand their civilizations even before they face existential threats at home. (5/27)

OneWeb, Astroscale, ESA and UK Partner to Launch Space Junk Servicer ELSA-M (Source: Space Daily)
OneWeb together with Astroscale will seek to safeguard the satellite economy with ground-breaking new spacecraft technology, thanks in part to a new investment of 14.8 million euro. The mission to demonstrate Astroscale's ELSA-M servicer will launch towards the end of 2024, with ambitious plans to deliver a debris removal service to satellite operators thereafter.

The announcement builds upon Sunrise, a Partnership Program launched in 2019 between the European Space Agency (ESA) and OneWeb to support the advancement of next generation technologies ranging from artificial intelligence for flying the satellites to new payload and user terminal technology to supporting research in active debris removal.

This latest funding agreement, will be in support of Astroscale Ltd. and their UK partners, and will complete the design of the ELSA-M servicer, progressing through manufacturing up to the satellite pre-integration phase. Once complete, the servicer will be capable of capturing and removing multiple satellites in a single mission, once they reach the end of their operational life in low Earth orbit. (5/27)

Space Race for an Identity: Why the Space Force Needs Beards (Source: Military Times)
What is the Space Force’s culture? This is a tough question to answer, mainly because the culture does not fully exist yet. Obviously, a very large proportion of the Space Force’s initial personnel and culture came from the Air Force. However, after listening to the chief of space operations, Gen. John W. Raymond, conduct a town hall meeting with all the inter-service transfers, it became very clear that the Space Force needs a very different culture, purposely distinct from the Air Force.

It makes sense. After 70 years of being separate services, would the average airman or soldier agree that the Army and Air Force are different in culture, mission and attitude? How about the Navy and Marines? Would you ever tell a Devil Dog that “technically” they are part of the Navy? This is why the Space Force needs a strong and radically different culture from every other branch, especially the Air Force. This is our chance to influence and build a new culture.

Countless articles have been written about how the Space Force should enforce international norms in space, maintain dominance, and exploit technical innovations; however, few discuss the service culture needed to accomplish these goals. The Space Force needs to embrace innovation, break tradition, allow for creative problem solving, and make every effort to distinguish its personnel in appearance, uniforms and culture. (5/27)

Senate Confirms More Than a Dozen Air Force, Space Force Generals to New Ranks, Positions (Source: Air Force Magazine)
In the final few hours before the Senate adjourned for its Memorial Day recess on May 26, lawmakers approved a raft of some 3,400 pending military nominations, including a number of high-profile Air Force and Space Force generals to assignments that will significantly reshape some of the upper echelons of leadership.

The Space Force will see its number of total general officers expand by more than 20 percent, as five colonels were confirmed to become brigadier generals—Col. Robert J. Hutt, Col. Anthony J. Mastalir, Col. Jacob Middleton Jr., Col. Kristen L. Panzenhagen, Col. Brian D. Sidari.

Prior to their confirmation, the Space Force only had 24 generals in its ranks, 11 of them one-stars. Panzenhagen in particular will become just the third woman to be a Space Force general, and Middleton will be just the third Black man. (5/27)

Philippines Gives Green Light to Starlink (Source: Space News)
The Philippines has approved plans that will see it become the first country in Southeast Asia to access SpaceX’s Starlink broadband services. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) approved May 26 the registration of Starlink Internet Services Philippines Inc., a subsidiary of SpaceX that will provide the satellite broadband to the archipelago. (5/27)

Hands-On Work Can Launch Careers (Source: ERAU)
Tyler Grinnell worked at Kennedy Space Center while he was still an Aerospace Engineering student at Embry-Riddle, juggling a full load of classes. That real-world experience propelled Grinnell, who is now Virgin Orbit’s vice president of flight and launch, as well as serving on the university’s boards for the College of Engineering and the Department of Aerospace Engineering, to a successful career in the commercial space industry.

An Embry-Riddle alumnus, Grinnell talked about his unique career path and experiences working in the space industry, including roles at SpaceX, The Boeing Company and NASA at Kennedy Space Center. Ryan Kirby, a graduate student from the David B. O’Maley College of Business, moderated the discussion.

Congressman Mike Waltz, who serves on the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, also spoke at the event. He said it is critical for the U.S. to continue making advancements in space, and Embry-Riddle plays an important role in training the next generation of aerospace industry leaders. (5/26)

Blue Origin May Ferry Futuristic Radio Telescope To Moon’s Far Side (Source: Forbes)
In the foothills of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain front range —- an area well known for cutting-edge space technology —- Jack Burns, a longtime astrophysics professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder —- may finally be seeing a decades-old vision of a low frequency lunar radio telescope coming to fruition. Since the mid-1960s, Burns and colleagues have been saying that our Moon’s far side would make a perfect spot for low frequency radio astronomy.

“It’s the most radio quiet location in the inner solar system,” Burns told me in his Boulder office. In order to get this quiet, you would have to go all the way out to the equivalent orbit of Jupiter in order to reduce the amount of radio noise coming from Earth down to the same level it is on the Moon’s far side, he says.

But unlike previous initiatives to make a lunar far side telescope array a reality, this time commercial space technology’s accessibility has created a paradigm shift so that new space players like Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin have expressed a strong interest in ferrying this telescopic array to the Moon. Whether this ambitious billion-dollar far side array will ultimately be funded solely by NASA or via a public-private partnership has yet to be determined, however. (5/24)

BlueHalo Gets $1.4B Space Force Satellite Control Contract (Source: Aviation Week)
The U.S. Space Force’s Space Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO) has awarded BlueHalo a $1.4 billion contract to increase the capacity of the Satellite Control Network (SCN) as the service projects an increase in demand. The Satellite Communications Augmentation Resource (SCAR) contract was awarded May 21. (5/24)

China May Want Capability to Disable Starlink (Source: South China Morning Post)
Chinese military researchers say the country needs to be able to disable or destroy SpaceX’s Starlink satellites if they threaten national security.
According to a paper published last month, China needs to develop anti-satellite capabilities, including a surveillance system with unprecedented scale and sensitivity to track and monitor every Starlink satellite.

The study was led a researcher with the Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications under the PLA’s Strategic Support Force. Co-authors included several senior scientists in China’s defence industry. They could not immediately be reached for comment and it is uncertain to what extent their view represents an official stance of the Chinese military or government. Starlink is the most ambitious satellite communication project ever, providing broadband internet services to commercial and military users around the globe. (5/25)

Relativity Space Ready for First Terran Rocket at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
Lorenzo Locante has become something of an expert on the history behind Launch Complex 16, a Space Race-era pad that sits a few miles north of the tip of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. But his real expertise lies with its future as the complex that hosts Relativity Space, a California-based company breaking into the launch provider business, and its upcoming family of 3D-printed Terran rockets.

The pad itself, flanked by brand new lightning mitigation towers, propellant storage tanks, a hangar for horizontal processing, and support buildings, is ready for the next piece of the puzzle: receiving Terran 1 rocket hardware after it makes the trek to from California to Cape Canaveral. If everything checks out, Relativity hopes to fly its first mission before the end of this year. In a nutshell, Relativity is ready to transition the pad from a construction site to an operational site with about 60 full-time workers. The company currently employs about 750 across sites in California, Mississippi, and Florida.

Combined with low initial launch costs and future plans for reusability through recovering rocket stages, the company hopes to become one of the top players at the Cape next to SpaceX, United Launch Alliance, and Blue Origin. Relativity has already signed contracts for more than a dozen launches and raised north of $1.3 billion in recent years. (5/27)

County Commission: Supporter, Opponent of Spaceport Camden Project Take GOP Primary Wins (Source: News4Jax)
In Camden County, Georgia, two Republican primaries for the county commission tie into the controversial Spaceport Camden project. It’s one of the main reasons two of the candidates decided to mount challenges. The county’s leadership has been continuing to develop an ambitious Spaceport project on the outskirts of Woodbine, but a referendum that would have advanced the land sale to make the project happen was rejected by roughly 75% of voters earlier this year.

That’s the main ideological split between candidates Martin Turner and Steve Weinkle, who are both Republicans. Turner has said he’s in support of the Spaceport project, while Weinkle has been leading the charge against it. With 51% of the vote (782 votes), Turner took the primary win in District 2. Weinkle received 49% of the vote (743 votes). In District 4, the chair of the board of commissioners and Spaceport supporter — Gary Blount — was hoping for a second term, but Jim Goodman, a St. Mary’s City Councilman and vocal opponent of the Spaceport project, emerged victorious in the primary with 55% of the vote (925 votes) to Blount’s 45% of the vote (742 votes). (5/24)