May 3, 2023

Exasperated Tuberville on Space Command Decision: ‘Are We Getting Closer?’ (Source: AL.com)
The drawn-out decision process on the permanent home for U.S. Space Command remains drawn out more than two years after the Air Force declared Huntsville’s Redstone Arsenal its preferred location. That process appeared to well up in exasperation Tuesday in U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville. At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall – who has been tasked by President Joe Biden to make the final decision on Space Command’s home – appeared as a witness.

After asking Kendall about another topic, Tuberville shifted gears. “Secretary Kendall, it wouldn’t be a hearing if I hadn’t asked you about Space Command,” Tuberville said. Tuberville also noted that Gen. James Dickinson, commander of Space Command, said more than a year ago he would like a decision to be made. “So what are your thoughts?” Tuberville asked Kendall. The Air Force secretary responded by saying, “I don’t have anything new to report today, Senator Tuberville. We’re hopeful that we’ll be able to get a decision out as soon as possible, but I don’t have any new information.” (5/2)

Every Nation Needs a Space Agency (Source: Nature)
Major space-faring nations — those with launch capability, sizeable government space budgets and significant space industries — are already implementing new ways of managing space activities nationally and globally. Nations without major space programmes will be affected by these changes, and need to consider how to avoid losing out. My view is that every country should consider establishing its own space agency to protect its interests and meet national objectives in this period of rapid change.

Almost every nation is already a regular consumer of some level of space capability, mostly satellite services. Satellites are integral to global telecommunications, carrying television and Internet traffic. Precision timing, used by financial systems and energy grids, is based on satellite signals. Satellite observations drive forecasting models that predict both daily weather and life-threatening events such as hurricanes. Transportation infrastructure, land management and a host of industries, including agriculture, depend on satellite imagery. (5/2)

Private Space Companies in India Prepare for Liftoff (Source; Bloomberg)
Since the 1970s the barrier island of Sriharikota on India’s east coast has served as the country’s Cape Canaveral, with the national space agency launching scores of spacecraft headed as far as the moon and Mars. But in November a new tenant appeared: Agnikul Cosmos, a startup based in Chennai, 60 miles to the south, which plans to use its own launchpad on the island for its first mission, scheduled for May or June. The company aims to complete at least four launches in 2024, taking advantage of the country’s new embrace of space startups.

Agnikul has no intention of taking on heavyweights such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Instead the company says its Agnibaan rocket can serve customers seeking to launch payloads of 100 kilograms. And with the number of satellites in orbit projected to grow tenfold, to more than 60,000, by 2030, Ravichandran says private companies such as his can prosper by catering to price-conscious customers. “There is enough stuff for everyone to do,” he says.

Promoting India’s space sector is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategy of offering an alternative to China for goods ranging from auto parts to iPhones. As in many other industries, India’s space startups got a late start compared with their Chinese peers, which have been allowed in the field for almost a decade and have completed several orbital launches. India didn’t start liberalizing the sector until 2020. (5/3)

Biden is Committed to NASA’s Artemis Program for the Moon and Beyond (Source: US Embassy in Italy)
President Biden is committed to NASA’s multilateral mission to return to the moon and send astronauts to Mars. “Through the Artemis program, the United States is building the broadest and most diverse international human space exploration coalition in history,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. The Artemis program is also bolstering international partnerships. The United States and seven other nations signed the Artemis Accords on October 13, 2020. The Artemis Accords are a series of guiding principles to ensure future space exploration is peaceful, sustainable and beneficial to all. (5/2)

How Much More Money Can SpaceX Spend on Starship? (Source: Quartz)
The brief flight of Starship, the world’s largest rocket, was fueled by methane and liquid oxygen, but the ultimate propellant for SpaceX’s ambitious new projects is money. That’s why it’s surprising that CEO Elon Musk said his company wouldn’t raise more capital, despite plans to spend about $2 billion improving the vehicle’s Raptor engines this year. Musk’s comment during an April 29 Twitter conversation comes as the secondary market in SpaceX shares is weakening for the first time, according to Greg Martin, a managing director at Rainmaker Securities.

“We’re starting to see softening in demand from SpaceX. Never seen that before—always more buyers than sellers,” Martin said. “The $137 billion valuation in the last round is causing people to take a little bit of a pause.” Raising money for frontier technology companies is more difficult now than it was just a few years ago. Musk’s ability to pull in huge amounts of capital for SpaceX has never been questioned before, but as more private firms face cost-cutting and lower valuations, can SpaceX continue to defy gravity?

In 2021, Elon Musk famously warned SpaceX employees that unless Starship could begin regular flights in 2022 to launch new, larger Starlink satellites, the company might go bankrupt. While warnings of financial calamity are frequent Musk motivational tool, there are reasons to believe he was serious about the issues, if not the timeline. (5/2)

ESA Recruiting for Key Divisional Directors (Source: Space Daily)
The European Space Agency is currently looking for a new Director of Connectivity and Secure Communications and new Director of Internal Services to join its executive board and support the Director General, with responsibility for relevant ESA activities and overall objectives. (5/3)

CryoSat Reveals Ice Loss From Glaciers (Source: Space Daily)
When one thinks of the damage that climate change is doing, it's probable that what comes to mind is a vision of huge lumps of ice dropping off one of the polar ice sheets and crashing into the ocean. While Greenland and Antarctica are losing masses of ice, so too are most of the glaciers around the world, but it's tricky to measure how much ice they are shedding. Thanks to ESA's CryoSat satellite and a breakthrough way of using its data, scientists have discovered that glaciers worldwide have shrunk by a total of 2% in just 10 years, and it's because of higher air temperatures.

Scientists have used a particular technique of processing CryoSat data to reveal that glaciers lost a whopping 2720 Gigatonnes of ice between 2010 and 2020. Their research also demonstrates that higher air temperatures are responsible for 89% of this ice loss. Glaciers are found on all continents except Australia. They provide an essential source of freshwater. For example, glaciers in high-mountain Asia alone provide water for over 1.3 billion people. Glaciers are also important for industries such as hydropower.

The demise of glaciers around the world is, therefore, set to cause serious problems for local populations and those relying on outflow water further downstream. In addition, ice being lost from glaciers is contributing more to sea-level rise than the ice being lost from either of the giant ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica. (5/3)

Did NASA Forget How to Put People on the Moon? (Source: Gizmodo)
NASA’s plodding, iterative approach to its Artemis program gives the distinct impression that it has somehow forgotten how to land humans on the Moon. A closer inspection uncovers the many reasons—whether justified or not—for why it’s taking NASA so long to return boots to those vaunted lunar grounds. When Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt said goodbye to the Moon in December 1972, no one would have guessed that at least 50 years would go by before the next set of humans would return. Click here. (5/2)

Aalyria Aims to Enable 'Network of Networks' in Space (Source: Aviation Week)
Connecting everything, everywhere, all at once seems like a network engineer's dream, but that is close to what Aalyria says it an do in outer space. The startup launched in 2022 on the back of Project Loon networking and laser communications tech purchased from Alphabet. That project sought to broadcast the internet from high-altitude balloons. Aalyria has partnered with Rivian Space Networks to use Aalyria's Spacetime software to coordinate laser communications within a planned constellation of 600 LEO satellites. Their fist satellite launch is set for 2025 and global service is planned in 2026. (5/2)

Artemis 1 Cubesat Nearing End of Mission (Source: Space News)
A cubesat launched as a secondary payload on Artemis 1 may end its operations at the end of the month unless it can get its propulsion system working. The LunaH-Map spacecraft was one of 10 cubesats launched as secondary payloads on the inaugural flight of the Space Launch System last November. The spacecraft had planned to use an ion propulsion system on the 6U cubesat to perform a maneuver as it flew by the moon days later, ultimately allowing it to go into orbit.

The propulsion system is the only spacecraft system not working, Hardgrove said. “If we didn’t have to wait over a year, I think we would at least have had a chance at conducting our full science mission.” That mission involved going into an orbit that would take the spacecraft close to the lunar south pole, using a neutron spectrometer to map the presence of hydrogen linked to water ice deposits there. He noted the mission did test the spectrometer during the November lunar flyby at higher altitudes. (5/2)

European Consortium Plans Bid to Develop IRIS² Constellation (Source: Space News)
A coalition of Europe's largest space companies are planning to bid on a European Union satellite constellation. The "open consortium" features satellite operators Eutelsat, SES and Hispasat along with satellite manufacturers Airbus Defence and Space and Thales Alenia Space, among others. They will bid on the Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²) multi-orbit broadband constellation being developed by the European Commission using a mix of public and private funding. The companies leading the consortium were part of an earlier study group the European Commission chose in 2020 to explore the feasibility of a sovereign constellation, which also included launch services provider Arianespace. (5/3)

LeoStella Offers Satellite Bus for DoD Missions (Source: Space News)
Smallsat manufacturer LeoStella is looking to do more business with the government as commercial demand declines. LeoStella's CEO says the company is in discussions with multiple defense contractors about using the company's new satellite bus as part of future bids for Space Development Agency contracts to develop communications and missile-tracking satellites. LeoStella is co-owned by Thales Alenia Space and the geospatial intelligence company BlackSky and had focused initially on the commercial market. However, that demand has been weak, and the company's factory, able to produce 40 satellites a year, will only deliver seven this year. (5/3)

AFRL Cubesat Set to Launch on Transporter-8 Mission (Source: Space News)
An experimental cubesat equipped with a tactical communications radio is set to launch next month. The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory expects to launch its XVI cubesat on SpaceX's Transporter-8 rideshare mission, currently scheduled for June. It will test Link 16, an encrypted tactical data protocol used in military radios. Viasat built the satellite for AFRL under a $10 million contract awarded in 2019, with Blue Canyon Technologies providing the 12U cubesat bus. XVI was scheduled to launch in 2020 but was delayed by supply chain issues. (5/3)

Plutonium Shortage Could Delay NASA Mission to Uranus (Source: Space News)
Limited availability of plutonium could push back a proposed NASA mission to Uranus to the latter half of the 2030s. Last year's planetary science decadal survey had recommended NASA develop a Uranus Orbiter and Probe mission for launch as soon as 2031. However, at an advisory committee meeting Tuesday, a NASA official said that available supplies of plutonium-238 needed to produce power for the mission, and demand from other missions in development, would likely push back the mission's launch to the mid to late 2030s even if budget was not an issue.

NASA does have sufficient plutonium to power the Dragonfly mission to Titan launching in 2027 along with smaller heating units being offered to ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover launching in 2028. NASA is also reserving plutonium for a future New Frontiers-class mission that would launch in the early 2030s. NASA says it is in discussions with the Department of Energy on ways to increase plutonium-238 production to support the Uranus mission and others. (5/3)

UP Aerospace Failed Launch Over Spaceport America Did Not Explode (Source: Albuquerque Journal)
UP Aerospace says a sounding rocket it launched from Spaceport America on Monday did not explode as previously reported. The company said the Spaceloft XL rocket experienced an "anomaly" that kept its solid-fuel motor from burning as planned. The company emphasized that the rocket did not explode and that the malfunction is likely a minor issue. While video from the launch appeared to show debris from the rocket falling back to Earth, UP Aerospace said it was able to recover all the payloads on the rocket and return them to customers. The rocket carried a set of student experiments for NASA and cremated remains from Celestis. (5/3)

AeroVironment Wins $10 Million for Future Mars Helicopter Drones (Source: AeroVironment)
A developer of terrestrial drones will help produce helicopters for flying on Mars. AeroVironment said Tuesday it received a $10 million contract from JPL to work on two helicopters that will be used as part of the overall Mars Sample Return campaign. The helicopters, upgraded versions of the Ingenuity helicopter currently on Mars, will be able to pick up individual sample tubes left on the Martian surface by the Perseverance rover and return them to a lander to launch them into orbit. The contract covers conceptual designs and engineering development units for the helicopters, and could be expanded to produce flight hardware. (5/3)

NASA Promotes Nelson to Chief Flight Director (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected a new chief flight director. The agency said Tuesday that it selected Emily Nelson as chief flight director, overseeing 31 flight directors and directors-in-training at the Johnson Space Center supporting the International Space Station and Artemis missions. Nelson had been a flight director since 2007. She replaces Holly Ridings, who is taking over management of the Gateway program. (5/3)

Saturn's Rings Won't Last Forever (Source: Space.com)
Saturn's rings may have a limited lifetime, at least on astronomical timescales. Scientists plan to use the James Webb Space Telescope to pin down the rate at which icy material in the rings falls into Saturn's atmosphere. Past studies, based on observations from the Cassini mission, estimated that the rings could be depleted in about 300 million years, but the rings could disappear in as little as 100 million years or survive for more than 1 billion years. (5/3)

Redwire and Microsoft Support Guardians of the Galaxy (Source: CollectSpace)
The new Guardians of the Galaxy movie includes a tie-in involving the ISS, Redwire and Microsoft. As part of a Space Act Agreement, Redwire and Microsoft will collaborate on 3D-printing a Zune music player — Microsoft's short-lived competitor to the iPod featured in the movie — on the space station. Microsoft will also provide educational materials on Zune.net. Marvel, the company behind the Guardians franchise, had previously partnered with the ISS National Lab on educational projects related to ISS research. (5/3)

Airbus Designs a Space Station With Artificial Gravity (Source: Universe Today)
The International Space Station (ISS) is nearing the end of its service. While NASA and its partners have committed to keeping it in operation until 2030, plans are already in place for successor space stations that will carry on the ISS’ legacy. China plans to assume a leading role with Tiangong, while the India Space Research Organization (ISRO) plans to deploy its own space station by mid-decade. NASA has also contracted with three aerospace companies to design commercial space stations, including Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef, the Axiom Space Station (AxS), and Starlab.

Well, buckle up! The European multinational aerospace giant Airbus has thrown its hat into the ring! In a recently-released video, the company detailed its proposal for a Multi-Purpose Orbital Module (MPOP) called the Airbus LOOP. This modular space segment contains three decks, a centrifuge, and enough volume for a crew of four, making it suitable for future space stations and long-duration missions to Mars. The LOOP builds on the company’s long history of human spaceflight programs, like the ISS Columbus Module, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV), and the Orion European Service Module (ESM). (5/2)

How Aliens with 'Right Technology' Could Hear Us on Earth (Source: Sky News)
Did you know that humans have been unintentionally transmitting signals into space for nearly a century? Experts think if there are intelligent aliens on nearby stars with advanced technology, they could detect life on Earth through leaked radio signals and other transmissions from our day-to-day life. From radio and television to radars, these high-frequency signals can reach space. Most recently, mobile phones have also contributed to the leakage.

Scientists used crowd-sourced data to simulate radio leakage from mobile towers. Researchers wanted to determine what alien civilizations might detect from various stars that were close to Earth - including the Barnard's star, which is six light years away from Earth. The results also showed the Earth's mobile radio signature includes a substantial contribution from developing countries such as Africa. "Although it's true we have fewer powerful TV and radio transmitters today, the proliferation of mobile communication systems around the world is profound... while each system represents low radio powers, the "spectrum of billions of these devices is substantial." (5/2)

Massive Radio Array to Search for Signals From Other Civilizations (Source: Space Daily)
One of the world's most powerful radio telescope arrays is joining the hunt for signals from other galactic civilizations. The National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), situated about 50 miles west of Socorro, New Mexico, is collecting data that scientists will analyze for the type of emissions that only artificial transmitters make, signals that would betray the existence of a technically accomplished society.

The VLA is one of the most productive radio telescopes in the world and consists of 27 antennas spread over 23 miles of desert real estate. Since 2017, it has been engaged in a project known as VLASS (Very Large Array Sky Survey), a radio reconnaissance of 80 percent of the sky. But while these observations are being undertaken, a tap on the signal distribution network will shunt a copy of the data into a special receiver sporting very narrow (approximately one hertz wide) channels. Researchers expect that any signals from a deliberately constructed transmitter will contain such narrow-band components, and their discovery would indicate that the signal is not produced by nature, but by an alien transmitter. (5/2)

CGI to Extend Machine Learning to LEO Satellite Network Optimization (Source: Space Daily)
CGI has been awarded a further contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) under ESA's ARTES Core Competitiveness program, with the support of the UK Space Agency, to expand the development of its Dynamic Predictive Routing (DPR) tool. The tool uses machine learning to enhance the routing of traffic in dynamic networks in LEO, especially those incorporating laser inter-satellite links (ISLs). This enables operators to increase revenue by optimising network fill factor and improve customer satisfaction by responding more quickly to changing user demands. (4/27)

Ireland Touted as 'Ideal Launching Site' for New Spaceport (Source: Irish Examiner)
Ireland is an “ideal launching site” for a spaceport and it is of “paramount importance” that the State invest in the area given EU efforts to build up its own defence of space, a former senior army officer has said. Retired Brigadier General Peter O’Halloran said commercial companies are looking at remote locations along the south and west coast of Ireland as possible sites for a launchpad.

The defense and security of space has been added to traditional responsibilities of defending land, air, sea, and cyber. Last March, the European Commission issued a formal statement on a European Space Strategy for Security and Defense. He said studies have shown that such a facility is viable in Ireland, but that it “needs financial backing and becomes something that is also supported by the State”. He said a spaceport must have a 2km radius free of built-up areas, and would fire out over water. (5/2)

ABS Launches Guide for Offshore Spaceports (Source: MarineLog)
Seeing an increase in global demand for offshore spacecraft launch and recovery, ABS used the opening day of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston to announced the publication of the first international requirements for the design and construction of offshore spaceports. The announcement came hard on the heels of ABS’s revealing its role in preparing a former Edison Chouest OSV for a new role as as the world’s first marine spaceport for human space flights.

ABS has produced its new set of requirements based on service experience with industry leading aerospace rocket launch and recovery companies. The requirements have been published to guide the space flight industry in the safe design and construction of offshore assets. Previously there were no industry requirements to address an offshore spaceport’s unique concept of operation. ABS defines offshore spaceports as marine or offshore assets that conduct spacecraft launch or recovery. The ABS Requirements for Building and Classing Offshore Spaceports address several vessel types including barge type units, column-stabilized, offshore installations and self-elevating units. (5/1)

The UAE’s Space Program is Propelling the Nation to the Forefront of Space Exploration (Source: Jerusalem Post)
Space exploration is of great significance to the UAE and has taken another major leap with Al Neyadi arriving at the ISS as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Mission, marking the Arab world’s first long-duration space mission and the UAE’s second mission to the ISS. Dr. Al Neyadi’s presence provides the UAE with an opportunity to participate in collaborative scientific research. In addition to collecting data that will help enable doctors to treat and prevent space-related heart conditions, Al Neyadi will assist in experiments including the fabrication of 3D printed tools and components—a practice critical for the success of future deep-space missions.

There are, however, broader objectives that the UAE is seeking to accomplish. By investing in space-related activities the UAE intends to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on oil. The UAE has set a goal of transitioning to a knowledge-based economy, and space exploration is seen as a key area of growth and development for the country. In addition, the UAE sees space exploration as a way to enhance its international reputation and promote the country as a global leader in science and technology. By investing in space-related activities, the UAE aims to position itself as a hub for space research and innovation in the Middle East and beyond. (5/2)

US Report Shows China Taking Steps Toward Space Dominance (Source: Army Times)
An annual space threat assessment released on April 14 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies pointed to China as the biggest competitor of the United States when it comes to developing space capabilities. This dynamic, the report indicated, comes despite China remaining relatively quiet in the counter-space arena over the past year.

The open-sourced report by the center’s Aerospace Security Project analyzed space activities of various adversaries and allies, including China, Russia, Iran and North Korea. Of the nations reviewed, the Chinese government was found to be pressing the most to have its satellites function faster in coordination with its precision weapons, the report stated. (5/1)

Eglin Squadron Supports Link 16 Satellite Testing (Source: Eglin AFB)
The first Link 16 satellites were launched into low-Earth orbit April 2 via Space X Falcon 9 from California as part of Space Development Agency’s Tranche 0 of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. Link 16 is a tactical datalink communication system used by the United States, NATO, and coalition forces to transmit and exchange real-time situational awareness data among all network participants. Eglin AFB's 46th Test Squadron began testing Link 16 in the early 2000s and is considered the center for excellence in Link 16 testing. 

Currently, the squadron’s datalink flight conducts both strategic and tactical developmental testing of datalink networks to enable information sharing across the military. This testing develops confidence for warfighters who need to share data in combat and provides the ability for them to fight as a single united team. Eglin’s 46th Test Squadron personnel provided risk reduction support for the Link 16 payload on the satellites before launch and will play a large part in testing them while situated in their new orbits. (5/2)

Rocket Lab Hitting its Stride with High Cadence, New Venture for Electron (Source: Ars Technica)
Life is pretty good right now for Rocket Lab and its founder, Peter Beck. With a total of nine launches last year and as many as 15 planned for 2023, Rocket Lab now flies more boosters than any other company in the world not named SpaceX. In recent years, Rocket Lab's cadence has surpassed United Launch Alliance, Arianespace, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and other major players. This year, Rocket Lab may even launch as many boosters as Russia does, something that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. Click here. (5/2)