May 6, 2023

Another Flyover Report on Progress at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
In this Cape Flyover, we saw loads of activity on the Blue Origin side, and almost none on the SpaceX side - could New Glenn finally be catching up to SpaceX? We look at progress on Relativity's front, and all that SpaceX is doing (or not) at 39A. It's an unusual flyover at Kennedy Space Center. Included is video of the site for Space Florida's "Project Comet" at the Launch and Landing Facility (which should be renamed to honor Frank DiBello). Project Comet will be a payload processing facility for an as-yet unnamed company. Click here. (5/4)

Dragonfly Mission Studying Effects of Potential Budget Cut (Source: Space News)
A proposed cut of nearly 20% in the budget for NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan in 2024 could force changes to the mission or its schedule, a top project official said May 3. NASA’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal requested $327.7 million for Dragonfly, a rotorcraft that would land on Titan and then fly through the moon’s dense atmosphere, going to various locations to study the building blocks of life. Dragonfly is scheduled for launch in 2027, landing on Titan in 2034. (5/6)

US, Russian EVAs Install Upgrades and Make History Aboard ISS (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
NASA and Roscosmos astronauts have both conducted spacewalks this week aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The spacewalks prepared the Station for additional iROSA panel installation activity later this summer, added a long-awaited airlock to the Nauka science module, and made history with the first citizen of an Arab country to conduct an EVA. US EVA-86, with NASA astronaut Steve Bowen as EV1 and Emirati astronaut Sultan AlNeyadi as EV2, began at 13:11 UTC on Friday, April 28. At that moment, their spacesuits went on battery power, marking the official start of Bowen’s eighth spacewalk and AlNeyadi’s first. (5/5)

DoD Spending on Commercial Space Services Negligible, Despite Growing Space Force Budget (Source: Space News)
Pentagon officials have called attention to DoD’s need to access commercial space industry services. However, very little of the Space Force’s budget is being allocated to these types of services, a space industry and budget analyst said May 2. Commercial space services — enabled by increasingly capable small satellites and cheaper access to orbit — include imagery, space surveillance, weather data, broadband communications and others that could be procured as an alternative to traditional acquisitions.

What the Space Force budget shows is that, other than satellite communications, very few technologies today are bought as services, said analyst Mike Tierney. The Pentagon’s funding proposal for fiscal year 2024 seeks $30 billion for the U.S. Space Force, which DoD called its largest ever space budget. Most of that funding is for the development and procurement of next-generation satellite constellations and other systems that the government owns and operates. Tierney said it’s difficult to quantify spending on commercial space services because there is no separate funding line for that. He estimates it is only a small fraction of overall spending. (5/5)

Space Force Wants Key Allies to Join 24/7 GPS Ops Center (Source: Breaking Defense)
The Defense Department is inviting seven of the closest US allies — the members of the Five Eyes intelligence coalition, plus France, Germany and Japan — to participate in operations of GPS satellites by assigning their own military personnel to serve alongside the Space Force’s 2nd Space Operations Squadron, according to the squadron’s commander. With the US, the Five Eyes allies are Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. (5/5)

SAIC Signs Another Commercial Partner for its Small Satellite Business (Source: Space News)
U.S. defense contractor SAIC will partner with European manufacturer GomSpace to develop small satellites for U.S. government agencies, commercial firms and universities. SAIC signed a similar agreement last year with small satellite startup Rogue Space Systems. Based in Virginia, SAIC is looking to grow its space business integrating commercial satellite buses and payloads at a newly expanded research-and-development facility in Charleston, South Carolina.

The company is standing up a space systems development center within the 300,000 square foot facility in order to perform payload, cubesat, smallsat and launch rideshare integration. At the Charleston facility, SAIC, Rogue Space and GomSpace North America — a subsidiary of Denmark-based GomSpace Group AB —  will build cubesats and smallsats for space domain awareness, autonomous rendezvous and proximity operations, and in-orbit servicing, the company said. (5/5)

BlackSky Seeks to Extend Operations of Satellites Running on Empty (Source: Space News)
BlackSky is requesting permission to operate two of its satellites in lower orbits as the spacecraft are running out of propellant. The company filed a request for special temporary authority (STA) with the Federal Communications Commission April 28, asking the FCC to allow the company to continue operations of its Global 7 and Global 8 imaging satellites below the originally authorized lower limit of 385 kilometers. The company is requesting permission to operate the satellites at altitudes as low as 340 kilometers. (5/5)

Lance Armstrong, Tinashe Among Cast for Fox Reality Series ‘Stars On Mars’ (Source: Variety)
This summer, Lance Armstrong, Marshawn Lynch, Ronda Rousey and Tinashe are among the 12 celebrities packing their bags for Fox’s “Stars on Mars,” an unscripted series originally ordered in April that takes put real world stars in competition to conquer the planet (via simulation of course) as they receive orders from mission control William Shatner, legendary “Star Trek” actor. (5/5)

King Charles Met NASA's Space Shuttle Enterprise in 1977 (Source: Space.com)
More than four decades ago, King Charles III got an up-close look at NASA's very first space shuttle, a test vehicle known as Enterprise. Charles greeted Enterprise and its four-astronaut crew at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California on Oct. 26, 1977, shortly after the shuttle had completed its fifth and final "free flight" in Earth's atmosphere. (5/6)

Firefly Takes On High-Speed Space Force Mission for Crucial Next Launch (Source: CNBC)
It’s an experimental test run of national security capabilities in space, and a high-stakes mission for a pair of burgeoning space companies — a crucial chance to prove they can handle the high-speed demands of the U.S. Space Force. The mission for the military’s Space Safari team calls for flying a Millennium Space Systems-built satellite on Firefly Aerospace’s Alpha rocket — on remarkably short notice.

For Boeing subsidiary Millennium the mission will be just the 14th satellite it’s flown to date, and for Firefly it’s only the third launch of its rocket. The challenge of this mission lies in its unique requirements for the companies, said Lt. Col. MacKenzie Birchenough, leader of the Tactically Responsive Space program. “They don’t know when they’re going to get the call to launch,” she said. “From their perspective, the things that normally happen over weeks or months are now crunched down to basically minutes and days.” (5/6)

Space Monument Planned at Capitol Building in Tallahassee (Source: Tallahassee Democrat)
A bill designed to initiate the first steps toward bringing a space-themed monument to Florida's capital is on track to be signed by the governor. HB 1189 would establish the Florida Space Exploration Monument. The Florida Department of Management Services would be tasked to develop a design plan, location within the Capitol Plaza, and cost projections. The bill also allows for the creation of a design contest and selection committee to offer input. A potential price tag for the monument is not yet available. DMS will work with Space Florida on strategizing an approach toward what's feasible. (5/5)

Local University Gets Green Light to Launch New Building at Houston Spaceport (Source: Innovation Map)
With a financial boost from the City of Houston, the aviation program at Texas Southern University will operate an aeronautical training hub on a two-acre site at Ellington Airport. The Houston Airport System — which runs Ellington Airport, George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Hobby Airport, and Houston Spaceport — is chipping in as much as $5 billion to build the facility, which will train aeronautical professionals. On May 3, the Houston City Council authorized a five-year agreement between the airport system and TSU to set up and operate the facility. (5/5)

Texas Space Bill Moving Toward Passage (Source: Texas2036)
HB 3447 creates a Texas Space Commission and an Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium. The Texas Space Commission, governed by a nine-member board, is charged with: providing financial services for aerospace development and infrastructure activities; managing and executing intergovernmental agreements with govt, nonprofit and academic organizations; working with the Aerospace and Space Economy Consortium to plan and implement educational opportunities; strategic planning that includes developing a list of projects to promote space-related economic development; and making grants to eligible institutions from the Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund.

This last item — the Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund — will be funded by gifts, grants, and donations to the commission, as well as any funding designated by the Texas Legislature. Separately, the Aerospace and Space Economy Consortium's nine-member executive committee includes representatives from major university systems. It will primarily serve to identify opportunities for research that promote development and commercial space activity in the state. The consortium will also make recommendations to the commission about the use of space-related funds and will be responsible for developing a strategic plan. Texas lawmakers want to provide $350 million for the plan.

Editor's Note: HB 3447 appears on-track for passage and being signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. The bill establishes a dual-track structure similar to what Florida had with the Florida Space Authority and the Florida Space Research Institute. One focused on economic development and the other on boosting space research and education. These Florida entities were collapsed into Space Florida 2006. The level of funding proposed for Texas far exceeds what Florida has committed annually to space development. (5/6)

Astronomers Observe Giant Star Destroying Planet for the First Time (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Using the California Institute of Technology’s (Caltech) Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) and NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) observatory, a group of scientists has observed an aging star destroying a planet within its own star system for the first time. Astronomers have long believed that such a phenomenon occurred in red giant star systems, but have never directly observed the event — until now. (5/6)