March 2, 2023

Biden Throws Government Support Behind Hypersonics (Source: Defense Scoop)
President Joe Biden has invoked the Defense Production Act to support domestic sourcing of materials for the development and advancement of hypersonics. A presidential memo notes that industry "cannot reasonably be expected to provide the additional investment required to provide airbreathing engines and constituent materials for hypersonic systems adequately and in a timely manner." (3/1)

Who Might Buy ULA? (Source: Quartz)
Boeing and Lockheed have yet to release their full-year earnings for 2022, but in 2021 ULA was valued by the companies at about $1.2 billion and returned about $134 million to its two parents. Both of those numbers were lower than in previous years, reflecting a slow pace of launch while the company awaits the Vulcan. A valuation of nine times earnings is reasonable for corporate accounting, but shareholders will likely look for a higher premium from outside investors.

So, who would buy the company? Nobody outside the US, for starters. Perhaps one of its existing parents could, but it is difficult to imagine Boeing taking on full ownership of ULA amidst its struggles. Lockheed has a major stake in small-rocket maker ABL Space Systems, which could be complementary to ULA’s products, or a reason not to take on the legacy rocket-maker—a varied product line could appeal to customers, or become a supply-chain mess.

Other defense contractors might be interested. Northrop Grumman already builds boosters for Vulcan and has previously competed for national security launch contracts. L3Harris recently made a deal to buy engine-maker Aerojet Rocketdyne, and could see ULA’s launch business as a complement. Outside the usual suspects, things get more interesting. A private equity bid is conceivable, perhaps from a company already active in the space like AE Industrial Partners. Would a tech firm like Apple or Amazon want to own a major rocket-maker? My guess is no. (3/2)

Researchers Find Asteroid Redirection a Viable Possibility for Planetary Defense (Source: Space Daily)
Redirecting near-Earth objects like asteroids before they impact the planet is a viable possibility, according to new research published Wednesday. Conducted last September, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test proved to be more successful than anticipated, according to the research published in the journal Nature. In October, NASA confirmed the DART mission successfully altered the orbit of the asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits the larger Didymos asteroid. (3/1)

Kleos Space Joins Ursa Space Virtual Constellation (Source: Space Daily)
Ursa Space Systems announced that Kleos Space will join its Virtual Constellation, the world's largest database of satellite imagery from the most trusted SAR, optical, and RF data vendors around the globe. Kleos intelligence products are available now to provide valuable intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability to governments and commercial entities. Complementing other intelligence sources to improve the detection of illegal and/or hidden activity such as piracy, drug and people smuggling, illegal fishing, pollution, and border challenges. (3/1)

Rocket Lab Signs Multi-Launch Deal to Deploy Satellite Constellation for Capella Space (Source: Space Daily)
Rocket Lab has secured a multi-launch deal for a rapid succession of four Electron missions for Capella Space. Scheduled for launch beginning in the second half of 2023, each Electron mission will deploy a single SAR Earth-imaging Acadia satellite, a new generation satellite designed, manufactured, and operated by Capella Space, to low Earth orbit. These missions, scheduled to launch in quick succession, will follow an existing launch on the Rocket Lab manifest for Capella Space which is scheduled to lift off from Launch Complex 2 in Virginia in March 2023. (3/1)

Air Force Presses its Advantage in a Controversial Intellectual Property Dispute (Source: FNN)
Can the Defense Department help itself to commercial intellectual property, even stuff not developed with federal dollars? Yes it can, as a matter of fact. At least judging from a recent case before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals. It’s a warning to contractors. The case is flight safety international incorporated, an appeal at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals. And this is actually an unusual dispute, between the United States government and a subcontractor FlightSafety. FlightSafety was providing commercial technology under a subcontract, and its specific technology was a visual system replacement for C-5 weapons system trainers.

It’s not uncommon for military technology to incorporate commercial components. And generally, that’s more cost effective for the government. The Federal Acquisition and Streamlining Act encourages the use of incorporating commercial technologies. In this case, FlightSafety developed this product under subcontract for the Air Force. And the Air Force looked at drawings that were submitted, related to this product, and challenged the contractor's 'proprietary' markings on the drawings.

The government, notably, didn’t contest that the bcontractor had used its own money or private funds to develop the drawings or the technology associated with drawings. What they argued was there was a special exception in the statute, and in the clause that says, if data is needed for operation, maintenance, installation or training, then the government gets a unrestricted rights, and there is an exception to the exception. (3/1)

Space Force Wants Launch Ranges to be More Resilient (Source: C4ISRnet)
Col. Mark Shoemaker, vice commander for operations at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Delta 45, said the service is “taking analytical steps” and building operational concepts to ensure its launch ranges can operate in adverse conditions, including national disasters or enemy attacks.

“Whether the degraded environment . . . is a hurricane or a powerline goes down off of our complex or there’s some other activity that goes on – by whatever means it arrives, we need to be able to operate through that,” he said Feb. 21 at the Space Force’s inaugural Space Mobility Conference in Orlando. “We can’t shut down the cape for weeks and months at a time.”

Shoemaker said that while the launch capability at the Eastern Range is secure and reliable, it’s also consolidated. To improve resiliency as launch rates increase, he said, the U.S. government must ensure that all of its spaceports offer the same level of security and reliability. Along with its internal work, the Space Force is also part of a National Spaceport Interagency Working Group created in 2022 to, among other tasks, develop a strategy to make U.S. spaceports more resilient and interoperable. (2/28)

Sidus Space Names Gillenwater as Chief Commercial Officer (Source: Sidus Space)
With over 20 years of experience in technology and business strategy development, Gillenwater has a proven track record of driving revenue growth and profitability through effective commercial strategy development and execution. Most recently, Gillenwater served as Vice President and Business Head, Global Carrier & Enterprise for OneWeb, where he was responsible for all aspects of global commercial strategy and operations across multiple verticals. (3/2)

Why Government Contracts are a Blessing and Curse for Rocket Lab (Source; NASDAQ)
Rocket Lab USA can look very appealing for investors looking to get in on this sector. The company just conducted its first U.S. launch in January. That launch may pave the way for government contracts. That would fuel further revenue growth and nudge the company toward profitability. But if you plan to take a position in RKLB stock based on those government contracts, you may want to wait a few months. 

Since its first US launch Rocket Lab failed to hold on to those gains and is down 4.19% in the month ending February 24, 2023. That may be due to the general risk-off sentiment returning to the market. But there are decisions to be made in the next six months that could have a much more lasting effect on Rocket Lab. Politicians on both sides of the aisle are now sounding the alarm about the growth of government spending. (2/28)

UK Companies Warn of Burdensome UK Launch Licensing (Source: Guardian)
U.K. companies claim that the country's new launch licensing system is too burdensome. In testimony before a parliamentary committee Wednesday, Space Forge, one of the companies that had satellites on the failed Virgin Orbit launch from Spaceport Cornwall in January, said the company spent more money getting a license for its satellite from the U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority than it spent on the launch itself. The company said the U.K. authorities were far less responsive than those in other countries. The chair of the committee warned that the U.K. had become "toxic" for private launches. (3/2)

SpaceX Launches ISS Crew From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space News)
A new crew is on its way to the International Space Station after a Crew Dragon launch overnight. The Falcon 9 launched from Kennedy Space Center at 12:34 a.m. Eastern on the Crew-6 mission. The Crew Dragon, with two NASA astronauts along with a Russian cosmonaut and Emirati astronaut on board, is scheduled to dock with the station a little more than 24 hours after liftoff.

The launch was originally scheduled for early Monday but was scrubbed because of an issue with igniter fluid that NASA and SpaceX said they had resolved. A sensor that is part of the system to deploy Dragon's nose cone malfunctioned after launch, but NASA and SpaceX said it did not prevent the nose cone from opening to expose the spacecraft's docking port and should not be an issue for docking or return to Earth. (3/2)

DoD Interested in Satellite-to-Phone Systems (Source: Space News)
The Defense Department says it is interested in commercial direct-to-handset satellite communications services. Emerging communications services that connect phones directly to satellites are attractive to military users that operate in locations where there is no cellular network connectivity, the head of the Pentagon's commercial satellite communications office said this week. That office is working on a solicitation for direct-to-device satellite communications services to be released later this year. (3/2)

CesiumAstro Wins $5 Million SDA Contract for Antenna Linkages (Source: Space News)
CesiumAstro won a Space Development Agency (SDA) contract to develop an antenna for a tactical data network. The $5 million contract, announced Thursday, will back development of an active electronically scanned array antennas compatible with the Link 16 tactical data network. Link 16, an encrypted, jam-resistant, high-speed radio frequency, is widely used aboard U.S. military and NATO aircraft, ground vehicles and vessels. The CesiumAstro award is not related to the SDA's Transport Layer Tranche 1 satellites but instead for future tranches of the program. (3/2)

DART Ejected Thousands of Tons From Asteroid (Source: Nature)
The DART impact ejected a thousand tons of material off the asteroid Dimorphos. A series of papers published Wednesday reviewed the impact of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission, where a small spacecraft slammed into Dimorphos. That included measurements of the amount of material thrown off the asteroid's surface by the impact as well as the degree of deflection in the orbit of Dimorphos around a larger asteroid, Didymos. One scientist said the results of the impact demonstrate that the "kinetic impactor" technique is a viable way of deflecting asteroids that pose an impact risk to the Earth. (3/2)