Spooctober 31, 2017

Data Stories: The Future of Small Launchers (Source: Avascent)
To date, small launchers (defined by Avascent as rockets with a payload capacity of less than 2,500 kg to orbit) have played a niche role in the global satellite launch market. However, in recent years, dozens of companies have announced plans to develop small launch vehicles that will cater to the burgeoning small satellite market. Although the dreams of many of these companies may not succeed, the energy and resources surrounding the small launch market suggest that the desire from small satellite operators for more launch options is real. Click here. (10/31)

NASA Tests New Battery Module on Electric X-57 (Source: Business Aviation)
NASA's X-57 Maxwell electric aircraft will receive a redesigned battery module as the agency gets the aircraft ready for its first flight, scheduled for next year. NASA will soon conduct a full-scale test of the batteries, setting the stage for flight module fabrication. (10/26)

NASA Looking for Private Organizations to Take Over Spitzer Mission (Source: Space News)
NASA is considering handing over operations of one of its flagship “Great Observatories” to a private organization that would also be responsible for funding the spacecraft. In a request for information (RFI) issued Oct. 12, NASA said it was looking for U.S.-based institutions interesting in taking over operations of the Spitzer Space Telescope after NASA funding for the infrared observatory ends in 2019. Responses are due by Nov. 17.

The one challenge for extended operations of Spitzer, though, is the spacecraft’s orbit around the sun. Spitzer is in an Earth-trailing orbit that causes the spacecraft to drift further away from the Earth each year, complicating communications. As of October 2017, Spitzer was about 235 million kilometers from the Earth. In addition to the increasing distance, the spacecraft has to pitch to larger angles from the sun in order to point at the Earth for transmitting data. (10/31)

Vector Expands National Footprint with New Silicon Valley Headquarters (Source: Vector Space)
Vector announced the opening of a new office in San Jose, California to expand its current business operations throughout the West Coast. Vector's Silicon Valley headquarters, its first office addition since beginning operations in 2016, will house a software engineering team responsible for the development of the first software defined satellites for GalacticSky. The new headquarters will also be influential in supporting GalacticSky's partnership with Citrix, as well as accommodating the company's growing sales and marketing teams. (10/31)

OneWeb to Help Bridge Digital Divide in Saudi Arabia (Source: Satellite Today)
he Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and OneWeb have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to cooperatively develop solutions to connect 237,000 homes throughout the country — bringing affordable, high-speed, low latency broadband access to those living in rural and remote areas. This MOU comes within the efforts of MCIT to extend all the Kingdom’s areas of high-speed internet and to enhance the infrastructure of communications and data networks. (10/30)

Space Industry Booms Thanks To Investors (Source: Forbes)
The space travel industry is currently witnessing the dawn of a new age -- one where huge budgets and a heightened investor interest are fueling a surge of innovation and the development of more efficient technologies. This picture is similar to what was obtainable in the 20th century, save for one critical change: Instead of the government, private investors with what some might describe as largely ambitious plans are the brains behind this 21st-century push to test the limits of space travel.

SpaceX’s daunting achievements ignited a modern-day space race championed by private investor-backed companies all with a similar goal of establishing man’s presence in space. The success of these space travel early birds -- notably SpaceX, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic -- sent a ripple through the industry, spurring a new wave of space investors determined to join in.

From just 125 private space agencies in 2011, the industry has expanded to almost 1,000, and it is projected that by 2026 this figure will rise to 10,000. This influx of new private investors and space companies has heightened the bar for innovation in the sector. Challenges thought to be previously insurmountable have been scaled, and newer more efficient tech is being developed. (10/30)

CU Breaks Ground on $82.5M Aerospace Building (Source: Denver Business Journal)
The University of Colorado Boulder this week broke ground on its new $82.5 million, 144,000-square-foot aerospace engineering sciences building. The building will house CU Boulder's Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. Ann Smead and her husband, Michael Byram, gave CU $10 million in January. It will house an indoor flight environment for unmanned aircraft and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2019. (10/27)

Embratel Picks Loral for Satellite, Arianespace for Launch (Source: Space News)
A Brazilian company placed orders with Space Systems Loral and Arianespace for its next satellite. Embratel Star One announced Monday that it awarded a contract to SSL to build the Star One D2 satellite, and to Arianespace to launch it on an Ariane 5 in the second half of 2019. The 6,200-kilogram satellite will carry a multi-band commercial payload as well as a military X-band payload, serving Latin America and part of the Atlantic Ocean. (10/27)

Phasor Raises $16 Million for Flat Phased Arrays (Source: Space News)
Antenna startup Phasor has raised $16 million in a Series B round. The company, based in London and Washington, said that a "group of leading satellite communications mobility companies, financial investors and shareholders" contributed to the round, not identifying any specific investors. Phasor is developing a series of flat-panel phased-array antennas and has raised $41 million to date. (10/31)

Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (Source: NASA)
Is our universe haunted? It might look that way on this dark matter map. The gravity of unseen dark matter is the leading explanation for why galaxies rotate so fast, why galaxies orbit clusters so fast, why gravitational lenses so strongly deflect light, and why visible matter is distributed as it is both in the local universe and on the cosmic microwave background. Click here. (10/31)

Space Race Part Two (Source: The Avion)
Setting the base for a lunar station on the moon is in the works by many agencies that want to be the first one there, with the best idea. ESA is striving towards this goal and was present in early October for the International MoonBase Summit, which brought respected academia, government, and the private sector to lay the groundwork for a moon base on the lunar surface. Hawaii was the region of choice based on the similarity of the lava crusted surface to that of the moon.

One such idea from ESA is the potential to 3D print the moon base. They will also be sending missions accompanied by a European clock that is accurate to a trillionth of a second, which when combined with LIDAR will create data that the ESA can use to better map out the lunar surface. Russia and China are set to sign an agreement to work together conducting joint space operations which would start in 2018 and possibly resume past their set date of 2022, at the point where both countries are planning on having fully operational lunar orbiting space stations.

The entire deal would cover five areas in total: lunar and deep space exploration, satellite systems, space debris research and Earth remote sensing. China’s head of the International Cooperation Department of the China National Space dministration, during their talks back in June, said that the two agencies were in talks in the first place because China’s Chang’e missions were similar to Russia’s Luna missions. Russia is also exploring working with other countries like India, Brazil, Chile and some others. All of this is, of course, on top of the confirmation that Russia is working to contribute to NASA’s Deep Space Gateway project. (10/30)

Chinese Firm Sends Reptile to Near Space in Flight Test (Source: GB Times)
A Chinese company sent a turtle to near space last week in a successful test of a helium-filled craft, marking a step forward in the firm's space tourism plans. Traveller 3, developed by the Shenzhen-based Kuang-Chi Group, was launched at 03:57 on October 25 from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China.

The helium-filled balloon and capsule rose to an altitude of around 21,000 meters above sea level, expanding to a diameter of around 18.8 metres with a volume of 2,150 cubic meters. The craft and the yellow-headed turtle passenger landed safely around 8:28 am, validating key technologies needed for the company's plans to proceed. (10/30)

Space Florida Approves Financing for Satellite Component Makers, MagLev Test Track (Source: Florida Politics)
Space Florida's board approved financing and other support to spur three new technology expansions in Florida, including two companies that want to expand satellite component operations in Florida and one that wants to build a magnetic-levitation ground-transportation test track at Kennedy Space Center.

Matrix Composites of Rocklege will access nearly $3 million in loans, and York Space Systems will get $750,000 for a satellite components manufacturing facility at a place to be determined in Florida. Matrix s projecting 105 new full-time jobs with an average annual salary of about $48,000. York is promising 24 jobs averaging $70,000 a year.

The third deal is a lease, for terms yet to be determined, that would allow skyTran to set up a test track and research center  with a longterm lease for 15 acres at the former NASA space shuttle landing strip at Kennedy Space Center that Space Florida now controls. (10/30)

SpaceX Says Progress Ongoing at Texas Launch Site, With Florida Antennas (Source: Valley Morning Star)
SpaceX has finished installing a second ground station antenna at its future Boca Chica spaceport for the purpose of tracking Crew Dragon missions to the International Space Station beginning in 2018. Crew Dragon is the company’s seven-seat spacecraft designed to carry humans to the ISS and other destinations. A SpaceX spokesman said the antennas will also be used to track flights from Boca Chica once they’re underway. The company acquired the 86-ton antennas from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and transported them to Boca Chica. The first antenna was installed this summer. (10/30)

India to Launch 31 Satellites in December (Source: Deccan Herald)
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) will launch 31 satellites, including the Cartosat-2 series, in the second week of December. A PSLV rocket will carry the satellites from Sriharikota. Of the 31 satellites, 28 belong to other countries. (10/30)