October 4, 2017

Copenhagen Suborbitals Chief Held for Gruesome Murder of Journalist (Source: Ars Technica)
Copenhagen prosecutor Jakob Buch-Jepsen announced in a court hearing today that "images" of the torture, decapitation, and burning of a woman were found on a computer hard drive at RML Spacelab, the organization devoted to building a manned suborbital rocket led by Peter Madsen. Madsen claimed the video was not his, but other evidence presented in this latest hearing on his case has prompted the judge overseeing the case to order he be held in custody.

Madsen is suspected of killing journalist Kim Wall, who was writing an article about Madsen's privately built submarine. She was last seen alive with him aboard the vessel. Her mutilated body was found after the submarine sank. Madsen initially said he had dropped Wall off after a cruise, but later changed his story to say a hatch had fallen on her head, killing her. (10/4)

ULA, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin Contracts Bring More Jobs to Central Florida (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
Defense work continues to ramp up in Central Florida with three big firms landing nearly $900 million in combined contract value. And even though all of the work is not taking place locally, it still will have a big impact. ULA won an $832.4M contract to continue to perform its launch services for the U.S. military, including mission assurance, program management, system engineering and integration of space vehicle with launch vehicle, launch site and range operations, and launch infrastructure maintenance and sustainment.

ULA launches on average once a month from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. ULA's increased rocket launch activity can impact Central Florida directly by needing more launch technicians and manufacturers — all high-paying jobs. Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman won two contracts totaling $28.7 million with a chunk of the work happening in Melbourne — an area where the defense contractor is building a 500,000-square-foot business complex that will lead to nearly 2,000 new jobs.

Further, Lockheed Martin Corp. won a $24.3 million contract from the U.S. Navy to perform services on the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System — a shipborne missile canister that provides rapid fire launch against threats. Work mostly will be done in Indiana, but a small part will be in Orlando where Lockheed Martin has more than 7,000 employees. (9/28)

What Central Florida Can Gain from SpaceX's Satellite Mega-Constellation (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
SpaceX wants to launch nearly 12,000 satellites — 4,425 in low Earth orbit and 7,500 satellites operating even closer to Earth — starting in 2019. And if the company will launch its own satellites, that’s big for Brevard County — a prime spot for rocket activity. SpaceX already launches its Falcon 9 rocket about three times a month from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. And there may be more if the company plans to begin sending its own satellites to space, said Dale Ketcham of Space Florida.

“Our share of that growth [would be] a significant increase in launch activity here at the cape,” Ketcham said. More Space Coast launches mean more manufacturing and software development jobs to support the continued repair of the rockets and other services. Right now, SpaceX has 23 Cape Canaveral job positions advertised on its website, including IT, launch engineering, manufacturing and production, and supply chain management positions. (9/27)

Ice in Space Might Flow Like Honey and Bubble Like Champagne (Source: Science News)
Ice in space may break out the bubbly. Zapping simulated space ice with imitation starlight makes the ice bubble like champagne. If this happens in space, this liquidlike behavior could help organic molecules form at the edges of infant planetary systems. The experiment provides a peek into the possible origins of life.

Shogo Tachibana and colleagues combined water, methanol and ammonia, all found in comets and interstellar clouds where stars form, at a temperature between ‒263° Celsius and ‒258° C. The team then exposed this newly formed ice to ultraviolet radiation to mimic the light of a young star. As the ice warmed to ‒213° C, it cracked like a brittle solid. But at just five degrees warmer, bubbles started appearing in the ice, and continued to bubble and pop until the ice reached ‒123° C. At that point, the ice returned to a solid state and formed crystals. (9/29)

Lockheed Martin Submits NASA X-Plane Proposal (Source: Aviation Week)
Amid a last round of preparatory wind-tunnel tests, Lockheed Martin has submitted its final bid to NASA for development of the agency’s Quiet Supersonic Transport (QueSST) low-boom flight demonstrator. The company’s proposal for NASA’s first purpose-built, manned, supersonic X-plane since the thrust-vectoring X-31 in 1990 is based on the slender-aircraft concept already developed under a 17-month preliminary design contract awarded in 2016. (10/3)

China Builds Space-Ground Integrated Quantum Communication Network (Source: Space Daily)
The first quantum-safe video conference was held between President Chunli Bai of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing and President Anton Zeilinger of the Austria Academy of Sciences in Vienna, as the first real-world demonstration of intercontinental quantum communication on September 29.

Private and secure communications are fundamental human needs. In particular, with the exponential growth of Internet use and e-commerce, it is of paramount importance to establish a secure network with global protection of data. Traditional public key cryptography usually relies on the perceived computational intractability of certain mathematical functions. In contrast, quantum key distribution (QKD) uses individual light quanta (single photon) in quantum superposition states to guarantee unconditional security between distant parties. (10/24)

SpaceX's Next Rocket Could See Florida's Space Coast Add Activity (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A component of SpaceX’s plan to establish spaceflight to Mars gained a critical component recently when he announced how he intends to pay for it — and part of the plan involves more frequent flights that can use smaller rockets. By developing a smaller vehicle, with a booster and ship that could replace the company’s Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and Dragon spacecraft, SpaceX could more frequently launch into low-earth orbit, increasing revenue opportunities.

That money could then be poured into the development of the BFR. Musk’s plans could bring more work to Central Florida and the Space Coast, a state official said Tuesday. “This location remains the spot in the U.S. that makes the most sense to do any serious deep-space exploration from,” said Dale Ketcham, Space Florida’s chief of strategic alliances. (10/4)

Companies Propose Sharing of C-Band Spectrum for Satellite and Terrestrial Broadband (Source: Space News)
Intel and Intelsat are proposing a way for satellite and terrestrial broadband companies to share C-band spectrum. The two companies submitted a proposal to the FCC this week on a process to allow terrestrial 5G companies access to a section of C-band spectrum between 3.7 and 4.2 gigahertz through agreements with satellite operators.

Satellite operators would identify geographical regions of the country, such as metropolitan areas, where it can clear its use of C-band spectrum in that range, allowing terrestrial broadband providers to use it without interference. Wireless operators have shown growing interest in C-band spectrum originally allocated to satellites in order to set up 5G broadband networks. (10/4)

Trump Cyberwar Strategy Calls for Whole-of-Government Response (Source: Space News)
The Trump administration is finalizing a "cyber deterrence strategy" that will affect, among other things, space. The strategy will recognize the need for cooperation among government agencies, and with international partners, to protect against attacks on computer systems, the administration's cybersecurity coordinator said this week. A recent report concluded space had become the "final frontier" for cybersecurity, as satellites and ground systems become vulnerable to attack. (10/4)

Blue Origin Gets CEO (Source: GeekWire)
Blue Origin has hired its first chief executive officer. The company quietly hired Bob Smith last month as CEO, and he will make a first public appearance in that role later this week at a meeting of the National Space Council. Smith previously was an executive with Honeywell, and also was executive director of United Space Alliance. (10/3)

Major Core-Stage Hardware Completed for First SLS Flight (Source: SpaceFlight Insider)
NASA has completed major work for all five parts of the core stage for the first flight of the massive Space Launch System (SLS). Additionally, manufacturing has been completed for all four core stage test articles with evaluation underway on the engine section structural test article at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. (10/3)

China to Launch Remote Sensing Satellite for Venezuela Next Week (Source: GB Times)
China is set to launch a remote sensing satellite for Venezuela on October 9, marking the third satellite collaboration between the Asian and Latin American countries. The one tonne Venezuelan Remote Sensing Satellite-2 (VRSS-2) will be sent into a Sun synchronous orbit by a Long March 2D rocket, launching from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. (10/3)

Lockheed Martin Secures Big Contract Mod for Continued Trident Work (Source: Zacks)
Lockheed Martin secured a modification contract for new procurement of Trident II (D5) missile production, D5 life extension production and D5 deployed systems support. Work related to this deal is expected to be over by Sep 30, 2022. Valued at $418.7 million, the contract includes base items and all option items, which if exercised, will enhance the total value of the modification to $1.1 billion. The majority of the work will be executed in Sunnyvale, CA and Cape Canaveral, FL. (10/3)

Sierra Nevada Signs MOU with Canadian Space Agency (Source: SNC)
Sierra Nevada Corp. signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) to explore possibilities of using the Dream Chaser spacecraft for future CSA missions and to facilitate the exchange of information between SNC and Canada. The agreement is a significant step toward greater collaboration to develop Dream Chaser technologies and applications that are mutually beneficial for SNC, the Canadian space industry and academia. (10/3)

Water Can Be Corrosive To Life, So What About Alternative Solvents? (Source: Space.com)
Life on early Earth seems to have begun with a paradox: while life needs water as a solvent, the essential chemical backbones of early life-forming molecules fall apart in water. Our universal solvent, it turns out, can be extremely corrosive.

Some have pointed to this paradox as a sign that life, or the precursor of life, originated elsewhere and was delivered here via comets or meteorites. Others have looked for solvents that could have the necessary qualities of water without that bond-breaking corrosiveness.

In recent years the solvent often put forward as the eligible alternative to water is formamide, a clear and moderately irritating liquid consisting of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. Unlike water, it does not break down the long-chain molecules needed to form the nucleic acids and proteins that make up life's key initial instruction manual, RNA. Meanwhile it also converts via other useful reactions into key compounds needed to make nucleic acids in the first place. (10/3)

Lockheed Martin and NASA Team to Send Humans to Mars in 10 Years (Source: Business Insider)
The race to Mars is on. Lockheed Martin and NASA have teamed up. Together, the 2 companies aim to build Mars Base Camp, the first Mars space station.

It's scheduled to send a 6-person crew to orbit Mars by 2028 and scout a site for the first human landing by the early 2030s. From orbit, it'll be easier to control robots on Mars. Astronauts may also leave the base to explore Mars' two moons firsthand.

Eventually, the base could be a haven for future landing missions. Astronauts could take a lander from the base to the surface and back. Surface missions could last 2 weeks and safely abort at any time. NASA and Lockheed plan to start building the base in 2021. The SLS rocket will launch pieces of the base into Earth's orbit, where it will be fully assembled before launching to Mars. (10/3)

Small-Satellite Owners Face Much Higher Prices for New Crop of Dedicated Rockets (Source: Space Intel Report)
The many new launch vehicles being developed to attract the small-satellite market look to be twice as expensive as the larger vehicles that are doing a mediocre job of serving that business now, according to a British government-ordered survey.

The survey further concludes that Britain, whose government wants to encourage, but not subsidize, a domestic launch capability, would be best served by importing a small Chinese rocket if it really wants to help create a long-term made-in-UK launch service.

The findings presented to the 68th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) here the week of Sept. 24 are not good news for small-satellite builders and system operators hoping to break free from the the second-class-citizen limits of their current status. (10/3)

OneWeb Hardware Finally Coming Together (Source: Space News)
After years of raising funds and preparing, OneWeb finally can show the hardware it will rely on to bridge the global digital divide by 2027, said Greg Wyler, OneWeb founder and executive chairman.

At the Satellite Innovation Symposium here, Wyler showed images of satellite components being built in the OneWeb factory in Toulouse, France, and rockets lined up in French Guyana to begin launching the first OneWeb satellites in 2019. “We are going to launch every 21 days over two years across multiple sites,” Wyler said. “There is an enormous amount of work going on in the background to make that happen.” (10/3)

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law launches Space Law Center (Source: National Jurist)
The demand for space lawyers is rocketing, and Cleveland State University Cleveland-Marshall College of Law wants to make sure its students are ready for lift off. The law school recently announced the launch of its new Global Space Law Center to expand its space policy initiatives. It is the first law school research center in the U.S. dedicated exclusively to the study of the law of outer space. (10/3)

Los Alamos Lab Engineer Looks for Partners for Cheap Spaceflight (Source: LAMonitor)
After he assembles his investors and has a board, Archer wants to start a project that will show the public their idea is feasible, and can be done at minimal cost. The project will involve launching a one-ton payload into space within a year of the company’s formation. He estimates he could do it for an amount between $200,000-$600,000.

“As a group of  retired professional and technical types, there is little doubt that we can accomplish such a modest objective,” he said in his statement. Archer said all people have to do is send him email to find out more to get started. In exchange for a non-disclosure agreement, Archer will send an overview of his plans and the curious can go from there. (10/2)

NASA Plans to Extend Use of Bigelow's BEAM Module on ISS (Source: Space Policy Online)
NASA issued a notice today that it plans to award a sole source contract to Bigelow Aerospace to continue use of the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) that is attached to the International Space Station (ISS).  BEAM has been used only as a technology demonstration so far. NASA now wants to use it for on-orbit storage and will allow Bigelow to use it for its own technology demonstrations. (10/2)

Senators Ask FCC to Lead Debris Mitigation Policy Prior to Mega Constellations (Source: Space Intel Report)
Two members of the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on Oct. 2 asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take formal steps to mitigate the proliferation of space debris as the FCC considers licensing mega-constellations of thousands of satellites. (10/3)

If Space Aliens Are Looking Our Way, Here's What They Might See (Source: NBC)
We see them — but can they see us? Robert Wells, a doctoral student in mathematics and physics at Queens University in Ireland, couldn’t get that question out of his mind.

In recent years, astronomers have discovered more than 2,500 planets orbiting other stars by observing the subtle dimming of light as these exoplanets pass in front of their host stars. Wells wondered if alien scientists on some distant world might be doing exactly same thing but in the opposite direction: pointing a telescope our way and noting the flickering of starlight caused by our very own Earth as it “transits” the sun.

Wells sifted through astronomical catalogs and identified nine known exoplanets in one of the celestial sweet spots from which an Earth transit would be visible. (10/2)

Sputnik Launch 60 Years Ago Was Slow to Resonate With Americans (Source: Seeker)
A Smithsonian Institution curator will argue at an event this week that when the Sputnik satellite launched 60 years ago on Oct. 4, it was "hyperbolic" to argue that the public immediately panicked about Soviet Union technological superiority.

Sputnik was the first space satellite and viewed as the beginning of the space race, when the Soviets and the United States used Earth orbit as an arena to test out space equipment and astronaut capabilities. The race culminated with the US putting astronauts on the moon beginning in 1969. While the Soviets targeted the moon as well, after several rocket failures they chose instead to focus on constructing space stations. (10/2)

Meteors Splashing Into Warm Ponds Sparked Life on Earth (Source: Space Daily)
How did life on Earth begin? A study out Monday backs the theory that meteorites splashing into warm ponds leached essential elements that gave rise to the building blocks of life billions of years ago.

The report is based on "exhaustive research and calculations" in astrophysics, geology, chemistry and biology, according a summary provided by McMaster University. The life-giving potential of these so-called "warm little ponds" was raised by the famed biologist Charles Darwin, who developed the theory of evolution, in a letter to a friend in 1871. (10/2)