March 10, 2023

New Pad Assignments at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: SPACErePORT)
The Space Force's assignment of Launch Complexes 13, 14 and 15 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport is another step toward maximizing the productive use of these taxpayer funded assets, and could substantially expand the Space Force's (and the nation's) access to space. However, the assignments raise questions not addressed in the Space Force's announcement, including the types of operations to be allowed on the sites, impacts on historic preservation, multi-user de-confliction, Q/D (hazard) impact zones, the role of Space Florida, and others. Will the companies be launching at these pads or will they be limited to development and testing while nearby tenants aren't doing hazardous operations?

LC-13 has already been converted (and FAA licensed?) for SpaceX as a booster landing zone. How will SpaceX share LC-13 with Phantom and Vaya? LC-14 is protected as a Project Mercury historical site. Although "adaptive reuse" is possible, how will Stoke Space operate there? ABL's activities on LC-15 will be very close to Relativity's launch operations on LC-16. (And what's up with Firefly's plans for LC-20, and their development of a manufacturing site near the Blue Origin campus?) One reason these and other old launch pads on "ICBM Road" have not been used for decades has been their close proximity to each other, often within the hazard radius of nearby facilities. Also, some pads have been left untouched due to ground contamination from prior users.

Probably these new users will be limited to certain developmental and test work at the launch pads, in advance of (potentially) achieving FAA approvals for launch operations. Their actual launch operations for each company could migrate to LC-46, a multi-user pad managed by Space Florida. On that topic, does Space Florida have a role at these newly assigned facilities? I would guess that Space Florida stands ready to support their infrastructure modification, development, and financing in deals with the new users. As for the Q/D arcs, Space Force range safety folks (and the FAA?) may become busy with requirements to shut down operations at one or more launch complexes while their neighboring facilities are busy with launches, landings, and other hazardous operations. (3/9)

Is It Really the "Cape Canaveral Spaceport"? (Source: SPACErePORT)
Confusion from the co-location of NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and the Air Force's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) led the Florida Legislature to approve what is now Chapter 331.304, Florida Statutes, establishing "Cape Canaveral Spaceport" as a proper name for "The territory consisting of areas within the John F. Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station." Chapter 331 is the law empowering Space Florida, and this subsection establishes the Cape Canaveral Spaceport one of multiple territories where Space Florida is allowed to support launch activities.

NASA and the Air Force jointly used the new moniker for a few years, under a formal project to combine their resources and planning for managing the sprawling facility. After that formal effort ended, both agencies reverted to their previous names. But the state's "Cape Canaveral Spaceport" usage remains valid and is a convenient way for Space Florida and other stakeholders (tenants, the Legislature, the FAA, news media, etc.) to avoid direct alignment with the NASA and military installations.

Space Florida's territorial powers/restrictions are only marginally defined. The agency has performed all sorts of functions outside of those territories, including financing, developing, and operating facilities in support of launch and non-launch operations. With empowerment similar to an airport or seaport authority (while clearly operating outside of "spaceport" boundaries), Space Florida has been able to leverage its status as a governmental "Special Purpose Entity" to provide some very innovative and tax-advantageous financing for projects across the state, extending even to projects in space. (3/9)

Relativity Scrubs First Terran 1 Launch Attempt at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Sources: Tech Crunch, Florida Today)
Relativity Space called off the first launch attempt of the Terran 1 rocket a little over a half hour before the close of the launch window, joining every other space company in history in not launching their vehicle on the first attempt. The next attempt has been set for the same window – 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST – on Saturday, March 11. Company co-founder and CEO Tim Ellis said teams would take the three days in between to work on the "propellant conditioning" issue.

SpaceX Launches/Lands Falcon-9 at Cape Canaveral Spaceport, Delivering OneWeb Satellites to Orbit (Source: SPACErePORT)
SpaceX on Thursday afternoon successfully launched 40 OneWeb constellation satellites from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, landing the first stage booster at the spaceport's landing zone. This was OneWeb's third use of a Falcon-9 to expand its constellation, after previously being manifested on Russian-made rockets. (3/9)

Limits on Ukraine’s Use of Starlink for War Operations is a Lesson for U.S. Military (Source: Space News)
SpaceX’s decision to limit Ukrainian troops’ use of the company’s satellite internet is a cautionary tale for the U.S. military as it grows its reliance on commercial services, the head of U.S. Space Command Gen. James Dickinson told lawmakers March 9. The issue was raised by Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He questioned SpaceX’s actions to prevent Ukraine’s military from using the company’s Starlink service to control drones in the war against Russia.

The success of Starlink in providing internet services in Ukraine “demonstrates how commercial space capabilities can play a significant role in our modern high intensity conflicts,” said Dickinson. However, SpaceX’s decision to curtail services highlights the “importance of shared understanding between commercial service providers and their customers and users,” he said. (3/9)

Astranis' Different Approach (Source: Quartz)
Instead of pursuing a LEO constellation, Astranis proposes a GEO approach with focused service offerings and fewer moving parts. This straightforward pitch made Astranis the first space investment by the influential venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz in 2018; it was valued by its investors at $1.4 billion during a 2021 capital raise. The company has been working through design and construction of its first commercial satellite, called Arcturus, which John Gedmark says was ready a year ago and has been waiting for its rocket.

The spacecraft is dedicated to one customer, Pacific Dataport, an internet service provider in Alaska, and will offer connection to an area of the world that, thanks to a low population and high latitude, hasn’t gotten much in the way of dedicated satellite coverage. The idea of a dedicated geostationary satellite might not stand out in a world where Starlink and other large networks promise low-latency broadband from tens of thousands of dedicated spacecraft. But the costs of operating such a complex system are high.

Astranis is betting that customers with specific, regional needs like Pacific Dataport, or two other announced customers—the country of Peru and Anuvu, a US airline internet provider—will choose a simpler model they have more control over. The main downside is higher latency service thanks to the sheer distance between users and satellites. Astranis’ spacecraft will orbit about 30,000 kilometers farther away from someone on Earth than a Starlink or OneWeb satellite would. (3/9)

Biden Budget Seeks $27.2 Billion for NASA, with Increases for Moon and Mars Programs (Source: CNBC)
President Joe Biden is seeking to increase the budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to $27.2 billion next year, according to a proposed 2024 budget released Thursday. The request represents a 7% increase from NASA’s budget in fiscal year 2023, with more funds allocated for the space agency’s Artemis lunar program.

In addition to $8.1 billion for Artemis, $500 million above the prior year, the Biden administration aims to earmark $949 million for a mission to return Mars rock and soil samples. The request also adds $180 million so NASA can begin development of a “space tug” to help deorbit the International Space Station when it is expected to retire in 2030, as well as $39 million to study the risk associated with debris in orbit around the Earth.

The White House request does not represent what NASA’s budget will be in 2024, as Congress often adjusts budget amounts during the approval process. (3/9)

Chinese Rocket that Delivered Military Spy Satellites Breaks Up Over Texas (Source: USNI)
The second stage of a Chinese rocket that delivered a trio of military surveillance satellites in June disintegrated over Texas on Wednesday, USNI News has learned. The four-ton component of a Chang Zheng 2D ‘Long March’ rocket punched through the atmosphere on Wednesday over Texas at 17,000 miles per hour and disintegrated, two defense officials confirmed to USNI News on Thursday.

Military officials have yet to find any debris from the rocket stage, however USNI News understands the debris field could be miles wide and several hundred miles long. According to NORAD satellite tracking data, the stage was a piece of space junk in low earth orbit before it made its unscheduled descent. (3/9)

Ripples in Spacetime Are Passing Through You Right Now. This Mission Will Reveal Their Secrets (Source: Vice)
Gravitational waves are created by practically everything in the universe, from the ambient remnants of the Big Bang, to the explosive deaths of stars, to the mergers of giant galaxies. Even on the most boring days of your life, when you are laid-up sick in bed or handling the most tedious of workplace tasks, you can take comfort in the bizarre fact that you and everyone you know are being gently buffeted by these cosmic waves that warp the fabric of reality.

Now, scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) are working toward a new milestone in the hunt for gravitational waves unlike anything that has come before. The mission, known as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA), will be made up of three spacecraft flying in a synchronized formation that will stretch across millions of miles of deep space. If all goes to plan, this futuristic trio will be able to eavesdrop on epic cosmic events that have remained far out of reach for other detectors, such as encounters between supermassive black holes, while also probing unexplored realms of the universe. (3/8)

Pentagon UFO Chief Says Alien Mothership in Our Solar System Possible (Source: C4ISRnet)
There is a possibility that extraterrestrial motherships and smaller probes may be visiting planets in our solar system, the head of the Pentagon’s unidentified aerial phenomena research office noted in a report draft shared Tuesday.

“[A]n artificial interstellar object could potentially be a parent craft that releases many small probes during its close passage to Earth, an operational construct not too dissimilar from NASA missions,” Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the Pentagon’s All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, wrote in a research report co-authored by Abraham Loeb, chairman of Harvard University’s astronomy department.

The AARO was established to investigate unidentified “objects of interest” around military installations. “With proper design, these tiny probes would reach the Earth or other solar system planets for exploration, as the parent craft passes by within a fraction of the Earth-Sun separation — just like ‘Oumuamua’ did,” the authors explained. “Astronomers would not be able to notice the spray of mini-probes because they do not reflect enough sunlight for existing survey telescopes to notice them.” (3/9)

Musk Reportedly Plans to Build a Town for Texas Staff (Source: Business Insider)
Elon Musk is planning to build his own town for SpaceX and The Boring Company staff to live and work. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Musk and his associates have bought up at least 3,500 acres of land about 35 miles outside of Austin, Texas over the last few years. The billionaire plans to turn the location into a town called "Snailbrook" — a reference to The Boring Company's mascot.

Musk and his employees have described the vision for the city as a "sort of Texas utopia along the Colorado River," the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the project. While Musk has overseen all purchases, Kanye West and the billionaire's ex-girlfriend, Grimes, also discussed the idea last year, the Journal reported. The location would be near SpaceX and The Boring Company facilities.

The town will be outfitted with a pool, an outdoor sports area, and a gym in addition to the prefabricated homes, the Journal reported. The town may also include a small school, per the Journal. The publication said plans for the location include a private compound for Musk that would likely be located outside of the town. (3/9)

Asteroid as Wide as a Football Field Could Hit Earth in 2046 (Source: USA Today)
In about 23 years, it may finally be time to look up. A recently discovered asteroid over 150 feet in diameter has a chance of hitting Earth on Valentine's Day in 2046. Although agencies have said the asteroid, named 2023 DW, has a "very small chance" of crashing into our planet, NASA and the European Space Agency have each added it to their respective risk list. (3/9)