October 26, 2017

SLS Rocket Advancing, But Launch Date May Slip to 2020 (Source: Ars Technica)
NASA will soon set a new date for the maiden flight of its massive Space Launch System rocket, which will send the Orion spacecraft on a test flight around the Moon. Previously, this flight had been scheduled for 2018, but NASA officials acknowledged earlier this year that the launch date would slip into 2019.

Now, there is the possibility of further delays, although NASA isn't saying this publicly just yet. On Wednesday, at the Wernher von Braun Memorial Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, a key official said that a 2019 date is still on the table because Marshall Space Flight Center expects to deliver the rocket's core stage to the launch site in Florida by the end of 2018.

Noting a recent Agency Program Management Council meeting, during which launch dates are decided, Marshall director Todd May said, "2019 is where we think we can get that done." NASA's acting administrator, Robert Lightfoot, should release an official launch date within the next few weeks, May added. (10/26)

Virgin Group, Saudi Arabia Sign MOU for $1 Billion Space Investment (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia and Virgin Group (Virgin), have signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for a partnership under which PIF intends to invest approximately $1 billion into Virgin Galactic, The Spaceship Company and Virgin Orbit, with an option for $480 million of future additional investment in space services.

The intention to invest was agreed by HRH Prince Mohammad bin Salman Al-Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the Council of Economic and Development Affairs and of the PIF, and Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group. The strategic guidance for the partnership was provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Economy and Planning. (10/26)

Virgin Galactic Secures OK to Launch From Spaceport America (Source: KOB4)
A big announcement from Virgin Galactic on Twitter makes it appear that, after more than a decade of waiting, the dream of commercial spaceflights taking off from the Land of Enchantment could soon be coming true. Spaceport America was built to be a hub for commercial space travel, with Virgin Galactic as the anchor tenant.

A Virgin Galactic tweet on Oct. 24 revealed: "It’s official: FAA has added our future home base @Spaceport_NM as an approved launch site in our operator license. We are getting #NMReady". Virgin Galactic originally planned to start commercial flights in 2015, but a deadly crash of Virgin’s prototype SpaceShip Two in October of 2014 put those plans on hold. (10/24)

Complex Designs Can Slash the Weight of Spacecraft Parts, But May Carry Hidden Costs (Source: Space News)
By combining additive manufacturing with advanced processing power, companies now can print the optimal design for many spacecraft parts. No longer angular or boxy, the new parts “look sexy for the first time,” said Franck Mouriaux, RUAG Schweiz AG aerospace structures general manager said Oct. 19 at the Additive Aerospace conference here.

Engineers are learning, though, that the hardest part of this process known as topology optimization is figuring out exactly what features make a part optimal. RUAG, for example, uses topology optimization to reduce the mass of spacecraft parts, which means customers can allot additional mass to commercial payloads. Mouriaux warned, however, that the complex designs may carry hidden costs. (10/

What Humanity’s History in Space Tells us About Our Future in the Stars (Source: Washington Post)
Humans became a spacefaring species 60 years ago this month, when Russia launched Sputnik, the world's first artificial satellite. We're the only species to achieve this milestone in the 4.5 billion-year history of Earth, and to date we've seen no evidence that any other species in our own galaxy or outside it has the same capability. That's a lot of responsibility to put on the collective shoulders of a few billion sentient apes huddled on a pale blue dot in a nondescript suburb of the Milky Way. How are we handling it so far? Click here. (10/25)

Gamma Rays Will Reach Beyond the Limits of Light (Source: Space Daily)
Researchers have discovered a new way to produce high energy photon beams. The new method makes it possible to produce these gamma rays in a highly efficient way, compared with today's technique. The obtained energy is a billion times higher than the energy of photons in visible light. These high intensity gamma rays significantly exceed all known limits, and pave the way towards new fundamental studies. (10/

In normal cases, if you shoot a laser pulse at an object, all the particles scatter. But if the laser light is intense enough and all parameters are right, the researchers have found that the particles are instead trapped. They form a cloud where particles of matter and antimatter are created and start to behave in a very special, unusual way.

The discovery is highly relevant for the future large scale laser facilities that are under development right now. The most intense light sources on earth will be produced at such research facilities - as big as football fields. (10/23)

Artificial Intelligence Finds 56 New Gravitational Lens Candidates (Source: Space Daily)
A group of astronomers from the universities of Groningen, Naples and Bonn has developed a method that finds gravitational lenses in enormous piles of observations. The method is based on the same artificial intelligence algorithm that Google, Facebook and Tesla have been using in the last years. The researchers published their method and 56 new gravitational lens candidates in the November issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

When a galaxy is hidden behind another galaxy, we can sometimes see the hidden one around the front system. This phenomenon is called a gravitational lens, because it emerges from Einstein's general relativity theory which says that mass can bend light. Astronomers search for gravitational lenses because they help in the research of dark matter. (10/25)

Lockheed Martin's Colorado-Based Space Business Drives Surprise Earnings Miss (Source: Denver Business Journal)
Lockheed Martin Corp.’s third-quarter profits fell short of what investors expected Tuesday, and its Colorado-based Lockheed Martin Space Systems unit had the roughest results. Lockheed Martin Space Systems third-quarter revenue dropped by one percent, or $28 million, to $2.25 billion compared to the $2.28 billion it recorded for the third quarter of 2016.

But the satellite and space probe-building unit’s third-quarter operating profit dropped $232 million, or 52 percent, year-over-year to $218 million. Reduced profits from rocketmaker United Launch Alliance caused some of LMSS’ decline, the company said. ULA is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing. LMSS’ share of ULA’s launch-business profits dropped by $20 million to $45 million in the third quarter, the company said. (10/25)

Spaceport Gains New Facility for Expanded Rocket Capabilities (Source: Albuquerque Business First)
A monthslong project at Spaceport America culminated earlier this month with the test firing of three rocket motors at a brand-new test facility. The rockets were also manufactured at the state-owned Spaceport. Dubbed the Space Propulsion Center, the solid rocket motor manufacturing and test facility is co-owned by Denver-based Spaceport tenant UP Aerospace Inc. and Canadian industrial manufacturer Cesaroni Technology Inc.

Cesaroni Technology, also called Cesaroni Aerospace, will use the facility to expand its manufacturing and motor testing operations, including military-grade rocket motors for the U.S. government. UP Aerospace will use the facility to support propulsion development for its orbital launch rocket, called the Spyder. The company, in collaboration with NASA, has a launch plan predicted to cost $1 million in which it will send the Spyder into orbit from the spaceport with a 20-pound payload. (10/25)

Army Space Project a Now-or-Never Moment for Low-Cost Military Satellites (Source: Space News)
It’s been years in the making. A very small, low cost, visible imagery satellite that soldiers in the field will be able to control, giving them access to real-time intelligence. The U.S. Army’s Kestrel Eye microsatellite was deployed into space from the International Space Station and activated Tuesday at 05:45 am EST.

If all goes as planned, the 110-pound spacecraft could become a catalyst for broader adoption of small satellites for military missions. The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville is leading the effort. For the first time, tactical commanders at the brigade level or lower would be empowered to control the entire imagery process from end-to-end, from the tasking of the satellite to the dissemination of the data.

The small satellite capability is significant because it would be far more responsive than traditional systems. Soldiers could access 1.5-meter resolution satellite imagery within minutes. (10/25)

Satlets: Crazy Idea or Ingenious Concept? (Source: Space News)
On Oct. 25, astronauts onboard the International Space Station plan to link NovaWurks’ spacecraft building blocks in the first on-orbit test of a radically new approach to satellite design and manufacturing. Instead of fitting spacecraft components into a rectangular bus as companies have for decades, NovaWurks invented Hyper-Integrated Satlets (HISats).

These are identical seven-kilogram modules with everything a satellite needs to function, including communications, pointing, power, data processing and propulsion. Satellite builders can mate any number of HISats, which measure 20 by 20 by 10 centimeters and snap together like Legos, to their payloads on Earth or in orbit. Software determines the role each HISat should play. If one HISat subsystem begins to fail, for example, the same subsystem on other HISats can help. (10/25)

Spaceport America Southern Road Project Moves Forward (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Doña Ana County commissioners have selected a contractor to pave a dirt road to provide easier access to Spaceport America from Las Cruces and other points to the south of the facility. County staff said the top bidder in a recent procurement process was Mountain States Construction — and county commissioners selected the company in a 4-1 vote.

The move allows Interim County Manager Chuck McMahon to negotiate a contract to build the 23.5-mile road, which could cost up to $15.2 million... The New Mexico Spaceport Authority only has about $13 million to $13.6 million to build the road on hand because of some expenditures already tied to the road project, said Dan Hicks, NMSA executive director.

But McMahon said there’s a chance the New Mexico Department of Transportation will pitch in additional revenue to reach the $15.2 million mark. That would allow for the construction of a better road, county administrators said. (10/25)

India's 2nd Moon Trip Will Analyze Atmosphere for Colonization (Source: Axios)
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is conducting a series of tests to prepare for India's second trip to the moon since 2008, Nature reports. The organization is only operating on a $93 million budget, which Nature notes is relatively low for these kinds of missions.

The motivation: Preparing for the possibility of human colonization on the Moon. By exploring the planet, India's researchers can better understand the Moon's atmosphere and suitable living conditions for humans. The country's first mission there discovered the presence of water, but the ISRO's next mission hopes to analyze floating lunar dust — particles that penetrate everything from astronauts' suits to space machinery, potentially causing significant damage. (10/25)