August 27, 2017

Army’s Space Force Has Doubled in Six Years, and Demand Is Still Going Up (Source: Defense One)
The U.S. Army is growing its small force of space operators and enablers, building a Space Cadre of soldiers who understand how to work in space and integrate it into land operations, even as a contentious proposal to reshape the bulk of the U.S. military’s space operations is making its way through Congress.

The Army space force comprises two distinct types of operators: there are the commissioned officers designated for Space Operations, and then there is the Space Cadre, a larger group of uniformed and civilian “space enablers” who spend up to about half of their job working on related issues.

That structure came together about nine years after the 2000 Rumsfeld Space Commission report raised fears about a “space Pearl Harbor” and prompted the Army to start looking at expanding its space force. But in the last few years, there’s been a concerted effort to grow the cadre, said Mike Connolly, who directs the Army Space Personnel Development Office. (8/23)

Ireland Told it Must Create a National Space Agency to Compete Globally (Source: Silicon Republic)
As the International Space University’s Space Studies Program (SSP17) comes to a close in Cork this evening (25 August), 110 of the program’s participants are to present a new report urging the Irish Government to place greater focus on the country’s growing space sector. Of the four key recommendations of the report, the main priority was to establish a national space agency to help coordinate start-ups, companies and researchers working in this field in Ireland. (8/24)

Dynetics to Break Ground on Aerospace Complex (Source: Decaturdaily.com)
Dynetics Inc. will break ground Tuesday on a new aerospace testing and manufacturing complex at the United Launch Alliance site in Morgan County. The project includes a $14.2 million aerospace testing facility slated for completion in July and a $7.4 million hardware integration building slated for completion in December 2018. Huntsville-based Dynetics will use the new facility to build components for NASA’s new Space Launch System as well as perform structural testing on rocket components for the Department of Defense and NASA commercial customers. (8/27)

Conflicts Coming Over Space Rock Mining Rights (Source: Lifeboat Foundation)
Space has become a veritable goldmine of natural resources for many companies, yet can anyone lay claim to them? That’s the question legal experts claim will become relevant in the future as firm turn to the stars for precious metals and minerals, and it’s one that also needs to be answered as soon as possible to avoid hostility between competing firms and countries.

Barry Kellman, law professor of space governance at DePaul University in Chicago, explained: “There is a huge debate on whether companies can simply travel to space and extract its resources. There is no way to answer the question until someone does it.” (8/27)

Turning Human Waste Into Plastic, Nutrients Could Aid Long-Distance Space Travel (Source: Space Daily)
Imagine you're on your way to Mars, and you lose a crucial tool during a spacewalk. Not to worry, you'll simply re-enter your spacecraft and use some microorganisms to convert your urine and exhaled carbon dioxide (CO2) into chemicals to make a new one. That's one of the ultimate goals of scientists who are developing ways to make long space trips feasible. Click here. (8/23)