June 4, 2022

Opportunities and Challenges of Spaceport Development in the High North (Source: Arctic Institute)
Satellite-based communication systems are indispensable for Arctic coastal states, as they facilitate management and surveillance of vast maritime areas under their jurisdiction in the Arctic. Small satellites enable such important services as data transmission for Internet and other applications to any point on Earth. Polar orbiting satellites are particularly useful for mapping or surveillance missions in the Arctic.

Development of space infrastructure and satellite-based services is generally positive for the sustainable development of the Arctic as it contributes to resolving a major problem of connectivity in the Arctic, improve global and regional weather and climate monitoring, protecting the environment and detecting illegal activities at sea. The operation of autonomous launch facilities is promising good business for Norway and Sweden, as they will attract commercial customers from Europe and around the world. (5/31)

Blue Origin Flies Another Successful Suborbital Tourism Mission (Source: Ars Technica)
Blue Origin flew its 21st successful suborbital crewed space launch on Saturday, carrying six explorers. Blue Origin's excellent safety record continues. And nearly a year after Richard Branson "beat" Jeff Bezos to space, there is a clear leader in the suborbital space tourism competition. Virgin Galactic hasn't launched since, but Blue Origin has four additional crew launches. (6/4)

Michael Colglazer's Space Race (Source: Orange County Business Journal)
The longtime Orange County business and tourism exec, who from 2013 to 2018 headed operations of Disneyland, is now CEO at Virgin Galactic—ramping up its tech-heavy local operations via an aggressive employment push—that aims to send people from around the world on an out-of-this-world trip.

Colglazer, earlier this year moved company’s headquarters designation in Orange County. The spot holds a new engineering and design division that will serve as “our primary hub for R&D and the design of our new vehicles,” Colglazier told analysts earlier this year. A hiring push is underway. "We continue to ramp up engineering and support team talent to this location,” Colglazier said. He says it will be ready to begin commercial service with suborbital space flights sometime in the first quarter of 2023. (6/1)

Space Travel is Here and it’s Changing Lives. We Have Jeff Bezos to Thank for That (Source: San Diego Union)
“Launch. Land. Repeat.” That’s the motto of Blue Origin, the aerospace company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos that shuttles civilians to the edge of outer space. While the so-called “billionaire space race” has garnered a lot of controversy, the accessibility it has provided is worth recognizing.

On April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin, a pilot and cosmonaut for the Soviet Union, became the first human to fly into space. Sixty-one years later, just over 600 people have joined him. Although years in the making, it wasn’t until 2021 that a door opened to welcome a greater pool of participants. Space tourism refers to human space travel for recreational purposes. Space tourists are everyday people, and they are visiting space with no specific frontier beyond space itself. (6/2)

Pandemic Lockdowns, Supply Shortages, and Inflation Wreak Havoc with Big Science Projects (Source: Science)
Many large science projects around the world have been pushed behind schedule and overbudget by pandemic-related delays, supply chain issues, and, now, the worst inflation in 40 years.

Scientists build a major project using the same process engineers employ to build a bridge, developing a detailed cost and schedule known as a performance baseline that guides every step of construction. That baseline is nearly sacrosanct. Ordinarily, if a project starts to exceed its budget, funders lop off parts of it to contain costs. They increase a project’s budget and stretch its schedule—“rebaseline” it—only as a last resort.

But these are not ordinary times. The United States’s premier builder of big facilities, the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science, has 13 baselined projects costing more than $100 million and has or is considering rebaselining six of them. NSF has four, including the Rubin observatory, and intends to rebaseline them all. (6/2)

NASA Moon Mission Set to Break Record in Navigation Signal Test (Source: NASA)
As the Artemis missions journey to the Moon and NASA plans for the long voyage to Mars, new navigation capabilities will be key to science, discovery, and human exploration. Through NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, Firefly Aerospace will deliver an experimental payload to the Moon’s Mare Crisium basin.

NASA’s Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) payload will test a powerful new lunar navigation capability using Earth’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals at the Moon for the first time.  GNSS refers to satellite constellations commonly used for position, navigation, and timing services on Earth. GPS — the GNSS constellation operated by the U.S. Space Force — is the one many Americans are familiar with and use on a daily basis. (6/2)

4 Hostile Alien Civilizations May Lurk in the Milky Way, a New Study Suggests (Source: Space.com)
The Milky Way is home to millions of potentially habitable planets — and approximately four of them may harbor evil alien civilizations that would invade Earth if they could, new research posted to the preprint database arXiv(opens in new tab) suggests.

The new paper, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, poses a peculiar question: What are the odds that humans could one day contact a hostile alien civilization that's capable of invading our planet? To answer this, sole study author Alberto Caballero — a doctoral student in conflict resolution at the University of Vigo in Spain — began by looking back at human history before looking out to the stars. (6/3)

New ‘Strategic Space Review’ to Shape Space Force Offensive-Defensive Capabilities Mix (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Pentagon and the Intelligence Community are in “the middle” of a “space strategic review” due to the White House in “the late June/July timeframe,” according to Lt. Gen. Bill Liquori, the Space Force’s head of strategy, plans and requirements.

Liquori, whose formal (and unwieldy) title is deputy chief of space operations for strategy, plans, programs, requirements and analysis, told the Mitchell Institute today that the review was tasked to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and the Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.

He explained that two critical and inter-related issues are on the table. First, the Space Force’s balance of offensive and defensive capabilities to deter and, if necessary, defeat adversaries. Second, there’s the long-running debate over whether the US needs to de-classify information about both adversary threats and US capabilities to underpin deterrence. (6/3)

Mayan Descendants and Western Scholars Team to Understand Their Sophisticated Astronomy (Source: Science)
Poz Salanic, a lawyer, serves as a daykeeper for her community, which means she keeps track of a 260-day cycle—20 days counted 13 times—that informs Maya ritual life. In April, archaeologists announced they had deciphered a 2300-year-old inscription bearing a date in this same calendar format, proving it was in use millennia ago by the historic Maya, who lived across southeastern Mexico and Central America. In small villages like this one, the Maya calendar kept ticking through conquest and centuries of persecution.

Some Western scholars also include today’s Maya as collaborators, not just anthropological informants. They seek insight into the worldview that drove Maya astronomy, to learn not only what the ancient stargazers did, but why. And some present-day Maya hope the collaborations can help recover their heritage. In Zunil, members of the Poz Salanic family have begun to search for fragments of the old sky knowledge in surrounding communities.

Researchers studying the codices and stone inscriptions at archaeological sites have recognized that precolonial Maya clocked motions of the Sun, Moon, and likely Mars with sophisticated algorithms; that they likely aligned buildings to point at particular sunrises; and that they inscribed celestial context such as the phase of the Moon into historical records. (6/2)

Price Tag for NASA's New Moon Suits? $3.5 Billion (Source: Time)
This week, as NASA and others report, the space agency awarded contracts worth a maximum combined $3.5 billion to Houston-based Axiom Aerospace and North Carolina-based Collins Aerospace to compete to develop the next generation of so called Extravehicular Mobility Units (EMUs)—NASA-speak for spacesuits. One or both companies could produce suits that meet NASA's approval and go into service. Either way, the contracts come just in time (or by some measures, years too late).

NASA is laying out the seed money for the suits, but as with so much else in the increasingly privatized space sector, it will not own them. Rather, it will be for Axiom and Collins to design them, build them, and then lease them to the space agency, and any other paying customers with eyes on spacewalking or reaching other worlds. The next great step on the surface of the moon will, in a sense, be taken in a rented tux. (6/3)

Astronauts Face Mental and Emotional Challenges for Deep Space Travel. Scientists are Working on Solution (Source: CNN)
Astronauts have been venturing into space for 61 years to unlock the human potential for exploration. But the floating freedom offered by a lack of gravity also presents a number of limits when it comes to the human body and mind. The ISS has served as an ideal backdrop for scientists trying to understand what truly happens to every aspect of the human body in the space environment -- radiation, lack of gravity and all.

A 2021 study had participants live for nearly two months in simulated weightlessness by resting in a special bed with their heads tilted down at a 6-degree angle. The tilt creates a headward shift of bodily fluids that astronauts experience in a lack of gravity. Participants were regularly asked to complete cognitive tests designed for astronauts, relating to memory, risk-taking, emotion recognition and spatial orientation. Click here. (6/4)

NASA Prepares to Solve 'Lunar Mystery' With New Moon Explorer (Source: CNET)
In the coming decade, NASA is determined to emulate Apollo-era energy by bringing space exploration back to the moon. The agency has a timeline of ambitious missions, collectively dubbed the Artemis plan, poised to culminate in the practical realization of stunning sci-fi fantasies like lunar ground stations, vehicles, power sources and even the "Lunanet." And on Thursday, NASA announced an update to one such exciting moon project: Solving the puzzle of the Gruithuisen Domes.

Basically, telescopes from here on Earth show scientists that there are a few dome-shaped structures on the moon distinct from surrounding terrain. After years of observation, many concluded the so-called Gruithuisen Domes must be made of a type of magma, or melted rock typically stemming from volcanic activity, rich in silica and similar to the composition of granite.

But there's an outstanding question. "On Earth," NASA said, "silicic volcanoes typically form in the presence of two ingredients -- water and plate tectonics." Neither of those are available on the moon. Thus, it's still a mystery how the Gruithuisen Domes could've formed. What are they? (6/3)

NASA Picks New Experiments for Commercial Delivery to Moon in 2026 (Source: Space.com)
Privately developed spacecraft will carry a new suite of science gear to the moon in 2026 to support NASA's Artemis lunar exploration program, if all goes according to plan.

The agency has selected two sets of instruments as a part of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which aims to study the moon's history and environment using gear delivered by privately developed landers and rovers. Aside from the science value, such work will help NASA figure out how best to support Artemis astronauts in the harsh lunar environment, agency officials have said.

The Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) will focus on this "rare form of lunar volcanism," Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA's Science Mission Directorate, said in the statement. In addition, a biological experiment on a small cubesat-based device will separately study how yeast is affected by the low gravity and high radiation on the moon's surface. (6/3)

Over 100 Hidden Asteroids Detected Thanks to New Algorithm Studying Old Telescope Data (Source: Space.com)
Researchers using an innovative astrodynamics algorithm have uncovered over 100 asteroids that had gone undetected in archived images of the sky. The 104 previously undiscovered asteroids were detected using a new algorithm called Tracklet-less Heliocentric Orbit Recovery (THOR), which is a part of the Asteroid Institute's Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping (ADAM) cloud-based astrodynamics platform. (6/3)

Biden Wishes Elon Musk ‘Lots of Luck’ on Moon Trip That NASA is Funding (Source: The Verge)
When asked about Elon Musk’s pessimistic attitude toward the economy, President Joe Biden made a dismissive little quip: “Lots of luck on his trip to the Moon.” It’s a funny aside — but there’s one tiny hitch. Technically, a good chunk of SpaceX’s funding to return people to the Moon comes from the Biden administration.

Biden was asked about Musk’s opinions today during a press conference at the White House. Specifically, a reporter wanted to know what Biden would say to the Tesla and SpaceX CEO “around his feeling about the economy.” The question was in reference to a recent report that Tesla would be freezing hiring and cutting its workforce by 10 percent because of Musk’s “super bad feeling” about the economy, according to an email he wrote to Tesla executives. (6/3)

How the U.S. Space Force Plans to Police Outer Space (Source: CNBC)
“We’ve been collaborating with private industry for years now,” said Maj. Gen. Shawn N. Bratton, commander of the U.S. Space Force Space Training and Readiness Command. “And certainly we increase that activity as the presence of commercial industry increases in space.”

SpaceX, Virgin Orbit and United Launch Alliance, which is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, are launching more and more satellites into space. And in SpaceX’s case, some have increasingly ambitious projects involving reusable rockets, crewed flights and potential colonization.

“That’s what really provides us the edge over any other country in the world,” said U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., a member of the Space Force Caucus in Congress. “We really have a great partnership between our Department of Defense and those companies who make their own personal investments in technology for their own economic interests, of course, and we are able to spur that innovation” (6/3)

Texas Locals Unhappy as Realtors Lure Elon Musk's Engineers with Listings (Source: Business Insider)
Realtors in south Texas are tailoring house listings to SpaceX workers, but residents aren't happy. "Perfect for SpaceX workers" and "just minutes away from SpaceX" are written on some listings. Brownsville locals told Insider they are upset that realtors are luring SpaceX staff to the area.

David Prchal, a realtor at GRT, told Insider the real estate company has dealt with many clients who have worked at SpaceX. Grove said he even set up a subsidiary of GRT called "Starbase Realty" designed to cater for SpaceX workers. Residents of Brownsville — considered one of the poorest cities in the US — have criticized SpaceX for destroying the surrounding environmental habitats, but they're also worried about rising house prices.

A common problem in Brownsville is that locals can't afford the Guevara's  rent jumped by $175 from one month to the next and other locals have told her about their struggles with affording their own homes, she said. Josette Hinojosa said it is "utterly disgusting and disturbing." Her rent for the house she's lived in for 10 years will rise in July by $425, she said. (6/3)

Houston-Based Space Companies Formalize an Agreement to Put a Commercial Science and Testing Facility on the Moon (Source: Aegis Aerospace)
Officials of space and defense technology company Aegis Aerospace Inc. and pioneering space company Intuitive Machines yesterday formally announced they have entered into the first Texas-based business-to-business contract to deliver a commercial science payload to the Moon. This agreement extends Aegis Aerospace’s Space Testing as a Service (STaaS) business model from Earth orbit to the Moon and sets the stage for Intuitive Machines’ IM-4 mission, its fourth planned commercial lunar delivery.

The unique subcontract, issued under Aegis Aerospace’s Tipping Point Prime contract with NASA, calls for Intuitive Machines to deliver Aegis Aerospace’s Space Science & Technology Evaluation Facility – First Flight (SSTEF-1) to the Moon in 2025. SSTEF is a general-purpose science and testing facility designed to accommodate a variety of experiments in a single package.

The SSTEF-1 experiments come from six U.S. technology companies and an academic institute, and are expected to include a 3D printed antenna and other experimental printed materials, electronic systems, sensors, radiation protective materials, solar cells, a cryogenically-cooled IR sensor, and a novel solar cell-protective cover. SSTEF provides the structure, control and interfacing software and electronics, data management, electronics, cameras, and environmental sensors. (6/2)

NASA Selects UCF for $35 Million Mission to the Moon’s Mysterious Gruithuisen Domes (Source: UCF)
NASA today tapped UCF’s dynamic duo, planetary scientists Kerri Donaldson Hanna and Adrienne Dove, to lead a $35 million science mission that will land a spacecraft on a part of the moon never visited before — the Gruithuisen Domes.

The domes, located in the western portion of the Imbrium basin rim, remain a mystery to scientists. Flyover data from previous missions indicate that they are made of silicic minerals — rock hardened from cooled magma. On Earth, the closest comparison may be Mount St. Helens. The volcanic features appear to have large concentrations of heat producing elements, which could potentially be used for resources for long term exploration of the moon. (6/2)

Hubble Helps Explain Why Uranus and Neptune Are Different Colors (Source: ESA)
Astronomers may now know why Uranus and Neptune are different colours. Using observations from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, as well as the Gemini North telescope and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, researchers have developed a single atmospheric model that matches observations of both planets. The model reveals that excess haze on Uranus builds up in the planet’s stagnant, sluggish atmosphere and makes it appear a lighter tone than Neptune. (5/31)

European Parliament Member Touring to Build US/Europe Space Ties (Source: Space News)
A member of the European Parliament is touring the U.S. to build up ties on space policy. Niklas Nienass met with officials in Washington earlier this week and visited Denver and Houston. He said in an interview he wants to enhance relations between the European Union and the United States on space policy, particularly on topics like space traffic management and space resource utilization. He is also working in Europe to win support for a European space law that would harmonize national space legislation. The European Parliament is slated to take up a resolution next week calling for such a law, which may still take years to enact. (6/4)

Firefly Plans Alpha Launch From California in July (Source: Ars Technica)
Firefly is planning its next Alpha launch in mid-July. Tom Markusic, CEO of Firefly, said in an interview the company is tentatively planning the second launch of Alpha for July 17 from Vandenberg Space Force Base, pending range approvals and an FAA launch license. The company has previously declined to give a launch date for the mission, even as it announced it was sending the vehicle to Vandenberg for launch preparations. (6/4)

Apollo 1 Crew Finallly Memorialized at Arlington (Source: Space Policy Online)
A monument for the Apollo 1 crew is finally in place at Arlington National Cemetery. The monument was formally dedicated in a small ceremony Thursday at the cemetery attended by family members of the three astronauts. While there had long been monuments for the Challenger and Columbia crews at Arlington, the Apollo 1 memorial wasn't created until after the passage of the 2018 defense authorization bill, which included language directing the secretary of the Army, which oversees the cemetery, to establish one. (6/4)

SpaceX Making Good Progress Toward Super Heavy Static Fire Campaign (Source: Teslarati)
SpaceX appears to be making great progress towards the start of its first full Super Heavy static fire campaign, building upon extensive Starship testing and a single booster static fire completed in July 2021. On May 14th, upgraded Super Heavy booster B7 was moved back to SpaceX’s South Texas Starbase Starship factory after completing a successful round of tests and smoothing out an otherwise rocky start to its life.

It was not the booster’s first time on that journey: after first leaving the Starbase ‘nest’ on March 31st, Booster 7 suffered significant internal damage during a structural stress test on April 14th and was forced to return to the factory for repairs. Impressively, despite the cramped environment and extremely limited access to the interior of the Super Heavy’s primary and secondary propellant tanks, SpaceX engineers and technicians somehow completed those repairs and Booster 7 sailed through a new round of ‘cryoproof’ testing on May 9th and 11th.

In the ~20 days since its second return, SpaceX teams have been hard at work preparing Super Heavy B7 for its next major challenges – the results of which could determine whether the massive rocket helps launch a Starship into space later this year. (6/2)

Crew Relaxes Day Before Three Tons of Station Cargo Arrives (Source: NASA)
The Expedition 67 crew is taking a well-deserved day off following a busy few weeks of commercial crew and private astronaut missions. Meanwhile, the next cargo craft to resupply the International Space Station stands ready to launch from Kazakhstan on Friday morning. The seven orbital residents are relaxing today following an intense period that saw three different SpaceX Crew Dragon vehicles come and go, as well as the arrival and departure of Boeing’s Starliner crew ship. (6/2)

GAO Finds Flaws in Space Command HQ Basing, Who Made the Decision? (Source: Space News)
The Government Accountability Office said the Air Force's process to select a Space Command headquarters suffered "significant shortfalls" in transparency and credibility. The GAO report, released Thursday, said that process by which the Air Force selected Redstone Arsenal for the command's permanent headquarters was not consistent with best practices for such basing decisions, particularly after then-Secretary of Defense Mark Esper directed changes to the process in March 2020. The GAO report added there was "no consensus among the officials we interviewed regarding who ultimately made the decision" to select Redstone Arsenal, including what role President Trump might have played. Colorado senators said the report confirmed their doubts about the selection process. (6/4)

NASA Buys More Crew Dragon Flights to ISS, Ensuring Access Through Station's Planned Retirement (Source: Space News)
NASA plans to buy five more Crew Dragon flights to the ISS. In a procurement filing this week, the agency said it intended to modify its existing contract with SpaceX to add five more missions, bringing the total to 14. NASA officials said they needed to make the change to ensure long-term access to the station while ensuring there was no schedule pressure on Boeing to complete certification of its Starliner vehicle. The additional missions, coupled with those already under contract with both companies, would be enough to ensure access to the ISS to 2030, the planned retirement date for the station. (6/4)

Lockheed Martin and ABL Delay First UK Launch to 2023 (Source: Space News)
Lockheed Martin no longer expects its UK Pathfinder mission will launch this year. Lockheed contracted with ABL Space Systems to launch that company's RS1 vehicle from SaxaVord Spaceport in the Shetland Islands, a launch that had been planned for this year. But delays in development of the RS1 mean that launch is now expected no earlier than the first quarter of 2023. The launch could still be the first vertical orbital launch from UK soil, although Orbex is planning the first launch of its Prime vehicle late this year or early next year from Scotland. (6/4)